way of the android cracker 0 rewrite

i have learned a lot since first writing way of the android cracker so i rewrote it. actually i rewrote it about 17 times. this one was the least annoyingly pedantic.

here's a direct link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5ybhkqbzwguubf3

lesson 1 rewrite is next.

update: crackme0b has been updated. thanks to zAWS! for writing a keygen for crackme0b so quickly (even copied the icon) and helping me see it. unfortunately the update breaks the keygen.

updated lesson 1

for lesson 2 i'm using html and javascript to make things more readable. to test the template i rewrote and updated lesson 1 of way of the android cracker to include stuff on threads, stack dumps and using jdb with android apps. it's also in html now and the code looks much prettier. i'll rewrite lesson 0 if i ever get around to it.

ideas for antilvl and new lesson

my discretionary time is limited lately but i have begun work on lesson 2 which will cover anti-cracking techniques. it will give examples of all anti-cracking methods i have seen in the wild. i will attempt to come up with some novel techniques as well, because that seems fun.

also thought of a possible feature for antilvl. one anti-cracking technique is signature checking. the apk compares the hashcode of its signature with a stored hashcode to see if the apk has been resigned, which would indicate tampering since all apks must be resigned if modified. antilvl could search for these uses, which rarely have any other purpose but to prevent cracking, and optionally disable them. it would then be possible to extend this to other common, easy to interpret anti-cracking techniques. just some thoughts.

way of the android cracker 1

lesson 1 is finished. it covers debugging methods such as log statements and smalidebugging with apktool and netbeans. it also features crackme1 which is still somewhat easy but more difficult and realistic. download here:
https://sites.google.com/site/lohanplus/files/WayoftheAndroidCracker1.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

lesson 0 has been renovated to include screen shots, a few fixes and an updated crackme0.
https://sites.google.com/site/lohanplus/files/WayoftheAndroidCracker0.zip?attredirects=0&d=1

hope you learn something. good luck.

way of the android cracker 0

this is the first tutorial in a series. it lays the foundation. as you follow along you will set up your cracking environment, learn to use apktool and will have a general idea on how various cracking methods can be implemented.

also included is a crackme, an ultraedit syntax highlighting file and some heavily commented dalvik code.

if you learn anything new on your journey share it with others.

download it here:
https://sites.google.com/site/lohanplus/files/WayoftheAndroidCracker0.zip?attredirects=0&d=1