A simple file attribute modification tool. It allows users to manipulate various attributes and properties associated with files, such as modifying timestamps, setting attributes like read-only, hidden, compressed, encrypted, and system. The purpose of this program is to better understand the Windows API and the .NET Framework, specifically with file manipulation and bitmasks.
This program does not require any setup. Simply navegate to the Release
folder, then download File-Attribute-Changer.exe, and then run it. Once open, click Browse to select a file of your choice. From there,
you can modify timestamps, encrypt/decrypt the file, compress/decompress the file, set the file to read-only, or set it as a system file. When finished just click
Apply or OK for the application to save and exit. In order to modify files located in system directories, you will have to give this application elevated privileges.
In the context of cybersecurity and hacking, timestomping is a technique used to manipulate or forge timestamps associated with system files or logs on a computer system or network. It is typically used by black hat hackers to cover their tracks and evade detection from cybersecurity professionals and investigators. By altering timestamps, attackers can make it appear as though their activities occurred at different times. Timestomping is part of a broader set of techniques used in cybercrime to undermine the integrity of digital evidence. Ethical hackers may also use timestomping to simulate scenarios where hackers use manipulated timestamps to cover their tracks.
The Windows file attributes enum has 16 different fields. This program reads and manipulates 7 of those. A file can only either be compressed or encrypted, and a read-only file cannot be modified. All of these fields can be parsed using bitwise operators. For example, you can find out whether or not a file is read-only by using:
FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(filePath);
bool isReadOnly = (attributes & FileAttributes.ReadOnly) == FileAttributes.ReadOnly;
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal | The file has no attributes |
| Compressed | The file is compressed |
| Hidden | The file is hidden |
| Encrypted | The file's data is encrypted |
| ReadOnly | The file is read-only |
| System | The file is a system file |
| NotContentIndexed | The file won't be indexed |
| Offline | The file is offline/unavailable |
This tool uses System.IO for encryption and decryption. For compression and decompression, it uses Windows native methods. It first checks to ensure that the
file system is NTFS before proceeding with compression. If a compression operation is performed on an encrypted file, the tool
decrypts the file first. Note that for encryption and compression operations, it is not enough to just modify the bitmask; the encryption
and compression operations themselves must be done in addition to the bitmask modifications.