How to Hack the Gibson

Are you ready for the ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, and the ULTIMATE REWARD waiting behind it? Probably not. But if you think you are, then this guide can give you some useful tips to get you started on The Gibson.

Introduction/What is the Gibson?

NOTE: This guide is exclusive to the "Labrynths" DLC for Hacknet.

"The Gibson" is a reference to ancient and decrepit 90's movies - specifically, "Hackers". However, this Gibson bears no resemblance to the real one. It's MUCH worse.

First off, before you begin, your save file MUST have fully completed Labrynths AND normal hacknet data, with all the tools, abilities, knowledge, and skills that come with it.

No, really. You need EVERYTHING. This isn't something you should try to attempt until everything else is beaten, because it is THE hardest challenge in the game.


Once you're certain you're ready, go ahead and connect to 54.235.88.143 - this IP is hard-coded, rather than randomized like the others, so it should work on any save file.


Now that you're in, take a look around. Go right ahead and probe the system.

In a different hacking game, hackmud, there's also a puzzle called the Gibson, and it's a nigh-impossible task that few have solved. But hacknet isn't that hard of a game, really. So this shouldn't be too bad, right?

WRONG.

Count 'em. 9 ports. NINE. A firewall. A proxy. And before you ask, yes, there most definitely is a passive trace on the system - and it isn't a slow one, either! Also, TraceKill just flat out does not work, so don't think you can hide behind it while taking care of the proxy and firewall!

Intimidated yet? If not, I envy you.

Now that we're on the same page, let's discuss how to solve this beast. You'll need to do it in (at least) 3 passes - detailed on downwards.

Pass One

First things first! The firewall at the top. Do you really want to be trying to pick out specific characters from tons of 0s, while your hands are already sweating and your eyes are bleeding from concentrating so hard? No. You can't handle everything at once, and you shouldn't try to. However, while the ports and proxy will reset on each go-around, the solution for the firewall will stay the same - so spend some time finding it!

This entire first pass should be spent typing out "analyze" until you have the solution, then getting out before the trace completes. Once you do, go ahead and type "solve (insert solution here)" even if you aren't actually staring down the gibson's defenses at the moment. That way, later on, all you have to do is press the "up" key a bunch to bring down your previous commands until you find it again. Easy peasy. Now, that's the firewall out of the way...

Pass Two

The firewall might not be a problem any longer, but that proxy is still dangerous. You're VERY short on time with all the ports you have to open, and the proxy is just making things even worse. Sure, you could summon an entire army of Shells, but you'd have to click "overload" on each individually, and then "close" on each once the proxy was out... The gibson is a bad time already, but it would turn into a HORRIBLE time if you had to do that!

Now, the technique I'm about to show you may or may not be a bug, but it will allow you to handle it safely.

Step 1: Do actually get that army of Shells set up. If you've completed the game as I said, you should have admin on plenty of systems. I'd say about 10 or so is a fair amount, but you can use however many you want.

Step 2: Go to the Gibson, and turn on all the shells into overload mode, exactly as you normally would...

Step 3: About halfway through the proxy disabling process, click on another computer. The tracing will stop, and you'll be disconnected from the system - however (and this is the odd part) those proxy-destroyers are still working in the background. A bit more slowly than normal, so you'll have to wait a while.

The more proxies you conjured up in Part 1, the faster it will be, but it's best to grab a drink of water and twiddle your thumbs for 30-60 seconds anyways - if you go back early, you'll have to start all over again. You'll know you came back too early if the tracer starts up again, even if you haven't even probed the system yet.

Don't head back to the Gibson until you're fully mentally prepared for Pass 3...

Pass Three

Now that you're back on the Gibson, probe the system. If Pass Two worked right, then the proxy should already be in a bypassed state - without you having to do anything or set off a tracer! If not, then you haven't done Pass Two right - go back and try again.

With that done, go ahead and press up until you find your "solve" command from pass 1. Entering this also will not start a tracer, assuming it's correct, so the previous two passes have served their purpose and allowed you to take out both the proxy and the firewall.

Now, make sure your RAM is clear of any remaining shells or notes... take a deep breath... and start running programs.

You have NINE ports to break. And all of them need to be open. If you've managed to complete hacknet, then you should be a master at running all your programs with the utmost swiftness and efficiency, so use those skills against this final challenge! Make sure to mix up "big"(high MB) and "small"(low MB) programs, so you're always running 2 things at a time. Do it well, and you might even have a little extra time on the trace left over!

Once you can get PortHack running, put SignalScramble in your terminal, and JAB that enter key the minute PortHack completes! You did it! You cracked the Gibson!

You won.

Conclusion

With the Gibson broken, don't worry about EVER having to do that again. You'll always have admin rights to the system once you've cracked it once, and you can come visit it whenever you want.

Really, now that it's over and you've defeated it... it really isn't such a bad little server!

There are some rewards in it for you for getting this far, but I won't spoil what they are.

...Well, okay, I'll give you a hint. You can find the TRUE last .exe of the game - the real final, ultimate tick-tocking power, free for as much use as you want!

Have a happy session!

[DaBurgerBandit]

So with the dynamic IP for this terminal, how do we find it? I've never seen The Gibson before.

[HashTek]

Unless you're like me, you'd be too young for the reference.

[PandorasMask]

I didn't know KBT_PortTest is able to run while Proxy, Firewall are up and even without triggering tracers! Thanks Dornan It would have saved me a lot of time if I knew that earlier xD

[wss://127.0.0.1:8350]

UPDATE: This guide is somehow outdated now as Matt has changed The Gibson's IP to be dynamic.

[wss://127.0.0.1:8350]

Oh, and on Phase Two you could actually use ComShell to make it easier.

[A_pet_tick]

Theres alrealdy a guide on this but i prefer this one becuz of the humor ^-^

[A_pet_tick]

clock v2

I wasted my time