The password for the next level is stored in the file data.txt in one of the few human-readable strings, preceded by several ’=’ characters. This file is a binary file, which means if you try to cat it, your terminal will likely fill with unreadable symbols and beeps!
When I tried to look at data.txt, I realized it wasn’t a standard text file. It’s a binary file, which is usually meant for computers to read, not humans.
To solve this, I used the strings command. This handy tool scans binary files and pulls out only the sequences of printable characters. Since the clue mentioned the password is preceded by “==”, I piped the output of strings into grep to filter for those equal signs.
Here is the command I used:
$ strings data.txt | grep "=="
The terminal filtered out all the binary junk and showed me a few lines containing ====. One of them clearly displayed the password right next to the equal signs.
[SPOILER]
strings command is essential for finding “hidden” text inside non-text files.strings with grep is a powerful way to find specific data in a sea of unreadable code..txt extension doesn’t mean it’s a plain text file—always check the content!