Corrupted Word Files for Sale

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/06/corrupted_word.html

by aminuit • 17 years ago

62 32 17 years ago

schneier.com

soundsop• 17 years ago

In unix, "strings corrupted_word_file.doc" should still provide almost all the text.

DenisM• 17 years ago

Office 2007 doc is a compressed XML file. strings wouldn't help much against that.

pmorici• 17 years ago

It's a zip format file, so it should still have correct headers to look plausible.

lpgauth• 17 years ago

I've never done that... Just rename an image to doc/docx and remove the top part of the file (in your favorite text editor) that could help identify it's an image. You're then ready to upload your file to Blackboard (which is terrible) so that your Profs will actually assume Blackboard is at fault.

p.s. this works even with CS profs...

rbanffy2• 17 years ago

dd if=/dev/random count=3000 of=~/assignment.doc

lionheart3• 17 years ago

Can't you just take any random non-Word file that's about the right size, change the extension to .doc and you have a corrupted Word file?

run4yourlives7• 17 years ago

Yes, but people don't know that.

aminuit2• 17 years ago

I posted it because of the interesting, if unethical, business idea. The technical bits are probably unsophisticated.

run4yourlives7• 17 years ago

How is it unethical?

lionheart3• 17 years ago

Definitely interesting and unethical.

I wonder how much they make though?

jmtulloss• 17 years ago

There's lots of ways to do it. My first thought:

dd if=/dev/random of=<mywordfile> bs=1024 count=1

run4yourlives7• 17 years ago

Unfortunately, a low barrier to entry:

http://www.xnet.se/fd/

Pretty funny though.

buugs• 17 years ago

Cool I guess, would never work for me my professors have always had a failsafe backup where online and hardcopy were turned in the same day. ESPECIALLY when using blackboard.

Radix2• 17 years ago

Ha ha :) I find it interesting the site operator knows where he stands. On the custom order page:

Please Note: I had deadlines with professors too, but I still got my sh[i]t done on time - its called Red Bull. If you need an extension, just be honest and ask your professor before you use a corrupted file.

http://www.corrupted-files.com/Custom_Order.html

[Did you know you cannot escape the asterisk?]

aminuit2• 17 years ago

Purported interview with the anonymous developer: http://fourpointreport.com/blog/?p=978

something• 17 years ago

i think one of the biggest differences between school and work is the deadline or due date and how it is perceived. most of the dates i have to hit now are the ones i give myself. when did your prof ask you "when do you think you'll be done with this class?"...

if i miss an estimate, i tell someone and we deal with it. the more i do that, the less i'm wrong with the estimate in the first place. (given, that's not so relevant in school as you have more than enough time, always;) i/we were there- went to college, had sideways priorities and schedule pressure. this kind of sh*t is for people that don't want to do the work in the first place...

bottom line- you think a good teacher doesn't know when they're getting snowed? you're wrong.

...and i say that as someone that, in school, didn't always want to do the work and still didn't lie to people when i missed deadlines and screwed myself.

i rant, but... as long as you care, even a little bit- TALK TO YOUR TEACHERS! they'll cut you ten times the slack that a corrupted file gimmick will ever win you.

jrockway• 17 years ago

I did this regularly in high school. It usually worked, although I failed a class as a direct result of this technique... so not recommended in general.

varaon• 17 years ago

I could see a hash tool being useful here - maybe even some sort of upload applet that sends the hash too. If the uploaded hash matches the hash generated on your machine, you have less plausible excuses.

Of course, you could just use Scribd's iPaper to preview the doc - puts the owness on the student to verify.

psyklic• 17 years ago

You do not even need to corrupt them. I wanted to open documents saved on a Windows 3.1 version of Word, and the modern Word software would not open them! This is not a good sign for the future ...

rbanffy2• 17 years ago

As Niklaus Wirth would say, "P. T. Barnum was correct"

deutronium• 17 years ago

"We also upload new files periodically." - I'm curious why the don't use their file corrupting technology to generate different files for each user.

"We didn’t just change a .jpeg extension into a .doc." - I guess they're mangling a doc file in someway to make it a little more believable, in case a prof. gets out a hexeditor.

TrevorJ• 17 years ago

As a person who deals with adult ADD, literally the biggest tool in my toolbox is an impending deadline with dire repercussions if I fail to meet it. The adrenalin clears my mind and allows me to concentrate. I'm glad I didn't know about this trick, otherwise I might not have ever been able to get my papers done!

Corrupted Word Files for Sale

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