The stock Kali Linux distribution contains a number of password and word lists.  The most notable password list, RockYou, is from a breach that occurred in 2009.  The biggest revelation to come from this breach was the frequency of the most basic passwords.  The top five most used passwords in RockYou are:

123456
12345
123456789
password
iloveyou

In total, there were 32 million passwords in the RockYou breach but in the Kali version of this list, there are only 14 million passwords.

I've been doing this job for far too long and something like a power outage creates a certain level of panic at first discovery.  While we take numerous steps to protect from disasters the one true test is pulling the plug to see what happens.  That is essentially what a power outage does -- it brings a certain sense of randomness with it. 

When disaster strikes, we reach for the documentation which includes pictures of the entire server to guide those on site through the rack.  "Two down from the Cisco switch, that's the firewall.  Check to see if it's on."  Etc.

Once we were able to see the network, back to the documentation to retrieve the IP addresses for the hypervisors. 

The first time I popped MS08-067 with Metasploit, I thought that was hacking.  And then I modified some exploit code I found on Exploit-db, popped a box, and I thought that was hacking.  In my current frame of reference, when I perform a buffer overflow, I get that feeling like I'm really hacking.  

So what is a buffer overflow?  Imagine you have a machine that dispenses soda into a can.  The can moves under the nozzle, the machine dispenses the right amount of soda to fit into the can, and the next can moves underneath the nozzle.  Now imagine that someone comes along with a hose and fills the can prior to it arriving underneath the nozzle.  When the machine dispenses the soda, the can overflows.  We have a design flaw.  The maker of the machine didn't anticipate that someone would come along and add liquid to the can prior to it arriving underneath the nozzle.