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Activity 8 - What's different?

Workshop Resources

Difficulty: Intermediate

Let's look at the secret message to make sure this weird `malware.sh` file hasn't done anything to it!

Differences

Do we know a command that can help us find the location of the secret-message.txt file?

find command

Let’s move into that directory and let’s check for the quote “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” from earlier. Do you remember what command can help us check?

grep command

This file usually has good and fun quotes, but there seems to be lots of changes. Should we compare it to a known good version?

Let’s see if there might be any backups of the secret message within its directory. Go to the Document directory and try:

ls -la

The -a flag gives all entries including hidden files.

Did you find any new files? Take notes of the changes!

Compare the secret-message.txt file to the backup file

diff is a command used to compare two files to get what has been added, changed, and deleted to the file.
The format is: diff [filename] [Filename of Comparison File]

Fun Fact: Running diff --help will output information on how to use the diff tool, including what options can be used with the tool.

Check the difference between the two files. How many differences did you find? Put it in the file you made!

A better way to see the differences

vimdiff is a command that opens a window with the files in separate tabs highlighting the differences.

Try vimdiff to better visualize the differences between the files.