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MacHeist 2:Heist 1
From WikiHeist, the unofficial MacHeist wiki
Mission Briefing
Mission 1
Welcome back agent!
Our first mission will be a training exercise to test MacHeist's internal security. On completion, you will receive a reward. Dr. Wallace has provided further details below:
"If you've been checking the MacHeist communication channels recently, you're sure to have heard of the mysterious puzzle pieces showing up at some of our member's doors. Agents put the pieces together, and discovered a URL to a mysterious portion of the website, at backdoor.macheist.com.
Your mission is to get yourselves on the other side of that door. Don't think that this'll be easy... I'm sending you guys out into the underbelly of the Internet for the very first step. Use your Peers to help you embark Upon the Looking Glass.
Good luck!
Mission Walkthrough
| Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Proceed at your own risk! |
While this walkthrough tries to encourage thinking and discovery, it does contain spoilers.
This walkthrough was initially based on the tutorial at http://home.ix.netcom.com/~dcwright/MacHeist/walkthrough.html. It's intended to be read a "post" at a time. Hopefully it provides organized and entertaining assistance if you get stuck.
Post 1
- Read the briefing for Mission 1.
- Note the capitalized "Peers".
- Can you think of a common, computer-related context in which the word peers is used, maybe one dealing with "the underbelly of the internet"?
- Try a Google Search for "Upon the Looking Glass".
Post 2
More Hints:
- BitTorrent peers perhaps?
- Hopefully, your search found this page: http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3923319/Upon_the_Looking_Glass
- Download the linked file using a BitTorrent application, like Transmission.
Post 3
- You should have downloaded a folder with two files: "*** README ***.bf" and "** BURNME ***.dmg"
- The .dmg is a password protected disk image, where could the password be?
- Try to find out what a .bf file is, and how to use it. Reading the file in a text editor may provide some hints.
Post 4
- Did you find out that this .bf file is a Brainf*ck program?
- To run it, you'll need to use a BF interpreter like the online one here: http://www.iwriteiam.nl/Ha_bf_online.html
Post 5
- You should have gotten "SECURELOL" as the program output.
- I bet you can guess how to use that.
Post 6
- Use "SECURELOL" as the password to mount the "*** Burn Me ***.dmg" disk image.
- Remember that passwords are case-sensitive.
- Helpful tip: There is no need to actually burn the image to a disk.
Post 7
- Having trouble opening those AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS files?
- Maybe you should take a break and watch a DVD or something.
Post 8
- To view the contents of the disk, make sure the disk is mounted and open DVD Player.
Post 9
- You probably made it to http://mac.mirroredperspectives.com/
- What might the "mirror image" of "mac" be?
- On a totally unrelated note, did you know that Safari has a really useful Debug menu?
- If you haven't enabled it, you might want to; it has some nice features, like the ability to change Safari's User Agent string to make it look like you're using another browser. It can be helpful trying to get certain sites to work. There's also a neat Web Inspector if you do any web development.
- Quit Safari, type (or copy) the following line at the command prompt in Terminal, press return, then relaunch Safari.
- defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1
- You might want to play around with those User Agents a bit. Just for fun, of course.
Post 10
- "pc" was a good guess for the mirror image of "mac" – but maybe something a bit more explicitly Microsoft?
Post 11
- Maybe you've found http://win.mirroredperspectives.com/, but don't worry if you didn't... neither did I.
- Now that you've found it, maybe you can play a bit more with those user agents.
Post 12
- Hopefully you found the MindSweeper game on the PC's screen when using an Internet Explorer user agent.
- Go ahead and download it. http://mhstatic.com/missions/1/MindSweeper.zip
Post 13
- You have a new game, what are you waiting for? Play it!
Post 14
If you've never played MineSweeper, MindSweeper may be a bit tricky to figure out. In a normal version of MineSweeper, each square will tell you how many mines are directly adjacent to it – from 1 to 8. You have to use logic to figure out which squares don't have mines and click on them. Once you've found all the squares without mines, you win. MindSweeper is something like that, only we've been dealing with mirrors lately.
Post 15
- Once you've won a game of MindSweeper, you should see the following message:
On the ninth day of the first month,
The God of War will rain fire on the heathens
they will burn with the sting of the Scorpion
and the heretics will be flushed from their dens
For two weeks, the battle will rage
but with faith the Scales will tip in our favor,
and with the blessings of the mighty Zeus,
we will have our enemy's defeat to savor.
They will be banished to the depths of the Seas,
where they will make company with the Fishes,
and if the signs are aligned with the titles,
the gods will grant us our wishes.
Post 16
- Did you notice what happens when you go to the menu of that "BURNME" DVD?
Post 17
- Those funny symbols are signs of the Zodiac, in case you were wondering. Did you notice you could click on them?
Post 18
- Those second levels are planetary symbols. You can click on them too.
Post 19
A bit more information:
Post 20
- A bunch of symbols and a cryptic poetic message. What to do?
Post 21
- Remember how "Peers" being capitalized was meant as a hint in the briefing?
Post 22
- God of War
- Scorpion
- Scales
- Zeus
- Seas
- Fishes
Post 23
- God of War: The Romans could be violent sometimes, you might say they worshipped War.
- Scorpion: This one was a bit too easy.
- Scales: Ever wonder why the symbol for a British pound looks like an L, despite the fact the pounds are measurements of weight? It has to do with the Latin word for scale.
- Zeus: The Romans appropriated Greek gods, but sometimes changed the names.
- Seas: Some god had to rule the seas, he probably liked tridents.
- Fishes: Another easy one.
More Info:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_%28mythology%29
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpio_%28astrology%29
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_%28astrology%29
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_%28mythology%29
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_%28mythology%29
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces_%28astrology%29
Post 24
- Maybe you can find some honest to goodness English words now.
Post 25
Three pairs:
- Scorpio:Mars
- Libra:Jupiter
- Pisces:Neptune
Post 26
- seventh = Scorpio:Mars
- enchanted = Libra:Jupiter
- reflection = Pisces:Neptune
Post 27
- What to do with three random words and the internet?
Post 28
Post 29
- Did you try clicking on the dice?
Post 30
- The order 6, 3, 1, and 5 seems to work, doesn't it?
- I wonder what the mirror could be for?
Post 31
- What could possibly be on the back of those dice?
- It turns out that opposite sides of a standard cubic die always sum to 7.
Post 32
- I think you know what to do now.
Post 33
- Remember to use the backdoor when entering your combination.
Final Information
The final loot was:
- Overflow (normally $14.95)
- Santa's Gizmo (normally $15.00)
Addendum
In addition to the loot, opening the backdoor revealed a vault door wired with explosives attached to a timer which was counting down. At 1800 GMT on December 9, the explosives went off, opening the vault. Visiting the backdoor revealed a video message, a transcript of which is available. In addition, the following loot was left behind by the vault thief:
- WireTap Pro (discontinued and replaced with WireTap Studio, but valued at $19.00)
- $2 bundle discount
- An image of a mysterious Apple branded device, wedged under the vault door.
The mystery of the vault theft led to the subsequent Philadelphia Miniheist.
