In my opinion tere has been no relevant hacking game since Uplink. I wanted to change that for years. That is probably the key point, why i started developing linkOS. It's core manifest is:

• Everything is hackable
• Everything is connected
• Every hack has consquences

Last update: 05.08.2017

The current game features are:

• Networks of systems (currently only one network is configured and reachable: internet)
• Systems containing: ip-address, name, file-system, network-services, daemons, user-logins
• Access-Rights for every file/folder
• SSH-access with terminal interface
• WEB-access with website interface (e.g. linkos-marketplace)
• a bunch of terminal-tools
• a smaller bunch of hacker-/security-tools
• one daemon (ids) which traces your connection chain and throws you out of the protected system once it reached the source node
• mails
• traceview which shows the connection hops and any ongoing active trace

There are a lot of things still to be done. If you want anything implemented, just add it at the end of the list with the next number available. If you want to help, just claim one of the TODOS and strike it through once finished. If you know how to easily setup a bugtracking system, come talk to me, i may have one or two questions…

Everybody who is able to read and manipulate this page is strongly invitated to participate in the further development of linkOS if he/she/it wants to. Don't hesitate to just try things out and see how you feel about it. You probably cannot break anything really hard. I would love to see a few rules followd though:

• The master-branch should be clean and compileable anytime.
• Use your personal branches for development.
• Only pull your modifications / additions to the master-branch after testing and if you are sure, nobody else is working on it.
• Communicating with the team solves 95% of all problems. You should probably start with that…

There are different kind of jobs to be done which categorize themself into the following development roles:

• Platform-dev: further develops the basic game engine aka simulation platform. Hardcore C++ know-how required
• Tool-dev: further implements hacker-tools, terminal-tools, etc. to be used by the players. Since this is mostly done inside one or two files based on templates, only basic C++ know-how required
• storyteller: writes awesome, thrilling and mindbreaking in-game hacker-stories. This can be done purely in the xml-based configuration language, so only creativity is required
• GUI-dev: implements high-level GUI-stuff. Currently everything is done in terminal-applications. Although this has its charme, it would love to add some cool looking GUIs lateron. There has been no decision made for the language/platform used. I personally would prefer using C++ with QT but what do i know…

Getting your development environment up and running is easy. Just login to your favourite linux box, cd into your development folder and clone the necessary git-repositories:

git clone USER@carsec.de:/usr/local/src/MultiThread
git clone USER@carsec.de:/usr/local/src/UltraCurses
git clone USER@carsec.de:/usr/local/src/HackSim

Before compiling you need some prerequisites:

apt-get install libncurses5*

Compiling the source-code can be done with the existing makefiles. For a successful compilation the main gameproject 'HackSim' depends on the libraries 'MultiThread' and 'UltraCurses' (also 'UltraCurses' has a Demo application which itself depends on 'MultiThread'), so the compilation sequence would be:

cd MultiThread
make clean && make all
cd ../UltraCurses
make clean && make all
cd ../HackSim
make clean && make all

You can run the game anytime after a successful compilation with

./linkOS

Since this is Pre-Pre-Pre-Alpha i didn't take care of stuff like making sure, this runs smoothly on every target-system or with any kind of terminal-emulator (linkOS is currently using gnome-terminal). So, if you run into stuff, eMail me and i will try to make it work.

The following is a simple copy&paste of the project-internal file TODOS_IDEAS_MANIFEST.txt which kind of serves the purpose of a chaotic specification…

################################# Direct next steps:

1. Implement simple network scanner, which burns a lot of time and sometimes finds one of the loaded network-nodes. Probably has to create new random network-nodes while “scanning”, which provides an theoretical nearly endless stream of network nodes 2. system name resolution / domain-name-resolution 3. Editor for Config-Files (World-Editor)

- more logging - better log-editing/-viewing - better connection-chain modifing, editing, viewing - sw-version updates for tools with convenience features - priv-escalations - shared-memory for networks for ipc (multiple gnome-terminals / windows) - saving at least for locahost - naming resolution. remembering all those nifty ip-adresses is kind of hard work. Also: ping could resolve names (right now it doesn't) - command line tool behavior based on file content (some kind of hex-bitmap) and not on filename - At some point we need daemons (such as the provided services, but also mail to receive mails parallely without the need of constant polling, chats, etc.) - I want to put the type of terminal used as a file inside the sys folder. Also the type of OS and the daemons running on the system should be files inside sys - rich applications (use ncurses windows!)

1. music player
2. chat
3. mail
4. C&C Software
5. security software
6. database-interface
7. city infrastructure interface application (police, firefighter, executive, …)
8. marketplaces

- people! (good, bad, powerful bosses, powerless zombies): they work, they interact with security, they probably hack themselves, they have bank accounts, etc. - Groups / Companies with own networks - different sub-networks only reachable over gateways - LANs! - WLANs! (Spoofing, Disassociating, WPA-Key-Cracking, …) –> dynamic network-nodes on Wifis (e.g. customers of a café) - some applications do stuff locally. Some of them need special hw (so they only run on specific systems). Some of them need connection to a server (e.g. Chat-Server) - I want money-stuff, like banks and such. Probably starting with some cool bitcoin stuff - Automatic make of redundancies of headerfiles - Add “tabbing” of commandos and parameters in the terminal - Heavy enrichment of the basic filesystem tools (e.g. “cd bla/bla/bla”). Probably move 'ls' into the basic tools inside the class 'Terminal'

1. ls with paramter (e.g. folder to search in as first parameter). Generally becoming more like the real thing
2. 'rm' on a target in bin should probably remove the removed command from the list of tools available in this terminal
3. Catching stuff like strg+c from cin because: 1) it looks like shit now and 2) strg+c kills the game anytime but should kill the current command

- Probably interfacing the terminal for different implementations of the terminal (basic terminal, ncurses-enhanced-terminal, …)

################################# What is making it interesting?

- Secrets / Learning - finding hidden systems - finding vulnerabilities - exploiting vulnerabilities - finding links to more systems, subnets, credentials to secure systems - finding files, chat histories, personal details, …

- Consequences - you will be traced - hiding your trails - win against time

1. race against admins and other hackers when cracking systems
2. race against federal power offline (they will be searching you) → never let them learn your name or loose access to your gateway)

- not always know what is happening in the background (aka passive trace, …, face consequences in the 'real' world (e.g. Lose access to your gateway), get discredited by competing hackers, …))

- Power / Creation - gather enormous bitcoin wealth - grow your botnet(s), - grow your toolchain (get more powerful tools) - hacker ranking / status / …

- Freedom - no artificial borders - everything is hackable (systems, apps, networks, people, social data, financial data, …)

- Immersive Simulation - Systems, networks, darknets, gateways, people, tools, applications, different sw versions, different OSs, different look&feel, different terminal emulations, multiple windows, multiplayer, people, companies, rival hackers, hacking groups, IoT, challenging missions, …

################################# Game Modes:

When starting the simulation, the player can choose between different game/simulation modes:

- MMOHG - [Multiplayer] Massive Multiplayer Online Hacking Game - Coop - [Multiplayer] Take over the world together - Hunt - [Multiplayer] Hunt other players and kill their linkOS-gateway. NPC-Hackers present - Rogue - [Singleplayer] Only one gateway, when you're detected / identified, the game is over. Let's see how far you come - Endless - [Singleplayer] Several gateways allowed. If played clever you can take over the internet, even the world - Story - [Singleplayer] Dive into a deep story about corruption, world domination and the risks of next gen technology

################################# Core Manifest:

- core feature: everything has to be hackable! - core feature: everything has consequences!

- random creation of systems with ip4-adresses

1. systems have services running
   1. services have different applications and different versions
2. systems have different OSs with different kind of security and vulns
3. systems have folders with files and stuff

- NPCs representing admins and users of systems, other hackers, etc.

1. NPCs have names, email-adresses, phone numbers, bank accounts, money, etc.

- tools for finding systems, probing running services, finding vulnerabilities, etc.

1. marketplaces for those tools (some darkweb newsgroup or similar, e.g. SilkRoad, etc.)

- Money to buy stuff, like tools, servers, new hardware, etc.

1. there are banks and stuff
2. the currency is probably some bitcoin version, e.g. leetcoin, 1337c01n, co$n, bytecoin, etc.

- systems can be compromised over vulnerabilities in their running services (getting limited access, than getting au-access via priv-escalations)

1. once compromised there can be placed a rootkit, backdoor, etc. to make them to zombies

- there are tools for binding zombies to networks, so called botnets

1. botnets are used for stuff like
   1. DDOS-attacks
   2. distributed calculation of heavy stuff, like bruteforcing passwords, etc.

- there has to be some kind of Multiplayer-Engine, ranging from simple Coop-Hacking-Stuff on small dedicated servers to a MMOHG (Massive Multiplayer Online Hacking Game)

################################# Ideas for system links and/or credentials to be found in the game: - Logs - Mails - Chat History - local PostIt-Files - applications' conf-files - Html files - Chat Msgs - mission details - Scan Library

################################# Ideas for missions / storylines - Help an gangster with his evil stuff by doing several hacking support. For example, support a gang of bankrobbers with their robbery with:

1. deactivating security systems at the bank, police, etc.
2. diversion of police / security
3. getting layout plans before the actual robbery
4. support the getaway with manipulating the city's infrastructure
5. change the robbers details in police databases
6. …

- getting ditigal data to the real world. The player has to deliver data / sw / etc. to a specific system (probably inside a corporate network)

 then an real-life agent will pick it up via usb-stick or similar and transport it to another system / network / ... where it opens a backdoor or anything

################################# Possible future updates: - multiple windows for different connections (but with the same shared memory) and different applications, services, etc. - Hardware-Devices as in IOT - identity theft - LANs - simple scripting engine