Since we're using Linux in Network Security, but don't want to force you to install Linux, we've built this virtual machine image for you to use.

If you have a Linux machine with root rights, you should likely not use this virtual machine, but work directly on your existing installation. If, for some reason, you cannot do that, feel free to use this virtual machine in VirtualBox for Linux. However, be aware that using this setup requires you to install the non-free blob of Virtual Machine Extensions, because we need the USB passthrough functionality that it provides.

First, install Oracle VirtualBox, using the Windows installation package provided here. During installation, you need to select the USB support package, but you can deselect the Networking and Python support packages.
Also download the VirtualBox Extension Pack for the version you installed, available on the same page, and install it in VirtualBox.

Download the zip of the virtual machine from here. Unzip it in a location with sufficient space, the initial image is around 3GiB but may grow larger as you use the machine. Add the virtual machine to VirtualBox using the "Machine" --> "Add" menu.

Now check whether the Virtual Machine is listed with an Operating System of "Debian (64 bit)". If it is, no further configuration should be required, and you can simply start the machine. If it is not, then you will likely need to enable virtualization extensions in your BIOS. On Intel machines, these are often under BIOS configuration options named "VT-x" and "VT-d". On AMD machines, looks for similar entries and for "SVM". Enable them. Then reboot and check whether you can change the "Version" setting for the Virtual Machine to "Debian (64 bit)"
If you cannot do this, I will need to build a 32-bit guest image for your system, so please notify me as soon as you notice this problem.

User credentials are as follows. Normal user with sudo-rights: "student" with password "weinwentedit". Root user: "root" with password "nuclearwessels".

The Virtual Machine already has Python 3 installed, so you should be able to use it to complete assignment 1. For assignment 2 and onwards, you will need to use the USB WiFi dongle you can borrow from us. If you do this, first start the Virtual Machine and *then* insert the USB dongle into your laptop, not the other way around. It should then be captured by VirtualBox and inserted into your VM, which will then utilize it as wlan0 or similar. However, we have noticed that even this does not work flawlessly, and if you are unable to get it to work, and Pol is not successful in getting it to work on your machine either, your machine is not compatible with this setup and you must either install Linux natively or find a partner who does have a working setup. Pol will have some USB dongles available for quick testing during the first werkcollege so that you know whether you need to find different partners or the courage to install Linux.

You'll notice there are three files initially: the VirtualBox configuration file "NetSec-Debian.vbox", the disk image for the Linux root directory and swap space "NetSec-Debian-root.vdi", and the disk image for the Linux home directory "NetSec-Debian-home.vdi". If I at some point need to update the virtual machine, the idea is that I will only replace the configuration file and root image, so that your work and configuration in your home directories is not affected.