Shannon goes over HTTP file transfer serves. Raise your hand if you've ever needed to send a file to someone that was too big for email. I have! It's an age old problem and there are a million and one ways to solve it. But today we're looking specifically at hassle free options. No web services, no accounts and the easiest way for the person on the other end. But, before we get flooded with email let's quickly roundup some obvious choices.

Dropbox is simple and elegant, and synchronizes folders between your Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile devices. It'll even do web storage with some nifty new API's. We actually use this one to share Hak5 videos in preproduction. Sugarsync is like Dropbox with a bit more functionality. Filezilla Server is for you FTP guys. FTP has been around since 1971 and if you really must use this inherently insecure protocol at least grab a decent open source server. Yousendit, RapidShare, MegaUpload, etc, etc are the ones everyone has probably heard of. You upload it. They download it. We all try to ignore the up-sells.

But why double your efforts uploading then downloading when you can share the file straight from your computer? Or, better yet, have them upload it directly to your hard drive. HFS File Server is a lightweight Windows file server for HTTP, so you access it right in your web browser, and it works right out of the box. It has highly customizable HTML templates if you want to spend the time to make it pretty. It features bandwidth control so it doesn't slow down your capture-the-flag instagib matches and it'll even update your Dynamic DNS service in case your public IP changes. Of course it's free and open source so we love it.

I've connected to the Hak5 cloud lab via GoToAssist Express and transferred over hfs.exe. It's a single executable; no installation required just double click! I love portable apps, did you know that?

Right-click and add a folder. For this example, I chose a real folder. Our server is running on the default HTTP port 80 but our ISP is evil and blocks it so let's change that to 8000 by clicking on the current port. In the address bar you can see your Local Area Network IP address. If you copy this into a browser you'll see the files are ready to download, but that's not going to work so well for our friends online. So to find your public IP address click Menu, IP Address and Find External Address. Now that your address has updated you just need to port forward from your router and share the URL. If you want to make the folder writable so your friends can upload directly to your disk: Right-click the folder, choose upload and upload for accounts and choose anyone or create an account. One of my favorite features of HFS is that as a client you can use download tools like w-get or browser extensions like down-them-all to quickly grab files. HFS will even TAR a folder for you.

Unfortunately HFS File Server is Windows only. It'll work in Linux under Wine, but if you're looking for something a little more cross-platform and don't mind popping open an terminal, I can't wrap this up without mentioning Droopy. Droopy is a Python script that'll run in Windows Mac or Linux and offers similar upload functionality to HFS. No, it won't share out a directory of files, but it is good for offering up a quickie website where your friend can upload to you. It's also dead simple to use. Create a directory and run droopy. You can specify a message with -m (tack m) and a picture with -p (tack p). Once it's running head over to http://localhost:8000 and from there you can discover your public address to share it with a friend.

What do you think? Make sure to email me at feedback@hak5.org.

--Shannon Morse

GoToAssist Express

Have you ever tried to help someone through a technical issue over the phone ñ without access to their computer ñitís a NIGHTMARE! And the last thing you want to do is waste time driving to fix the problem in person. GoToAssist Express is the EASIEST way to remotely view and control another computer ñ PC or a Mac. With GoToAssist Express, you can instantly connect to a customerís computer and fix technical issues right on the spot. Service more clientsÖ. more efficientlyÖmore affordably. And Citrix is allowing you to try GoToAssist Express FREE for 30 days! For this special offer, you must visit GoToAssist.com/Hak5 for a FREE trial.