Unit 5 ETI Notes
Unit 5 ETI Notes
Uni
t-
5Basi
csofHacki
ng
5.
1Ethical Hacking:History
Hacki ngdev elopedal ongside"PhonePhr eaki
ng"
,atermr ef
err
edt oexpl
orat
ion
oft hephonenet workwi thoutauthor i
zati
on,andtherehasoftenbeenov er
lap
betweenbot ht echnologyandpar t
icipants.
Ethicalhack i
ngi sthesci enceoft estingcomput er
sandnet workforsecuri
ty
vulner abi
li
tiesandpl uggingthehol esfoundbeforetheunaut hori
zedpeople
getachancet oex ploitthem.
Defi
ninghacker,Mal
ici
oususers
Defi
niti
onofHacker:AHackerisapersonwhofindsandexploi
tst
heweaknessin
comput ersyst
emsand/ ornetwor
kstogainaccess.Hackersareusual
l
yskil
led
comput erpr
ogrammerswithknowl
edgeofcomputersecur
it
y.
AnEthicalHacker
,alsoknownasawhi t
ehathacker
,orsimplyawhit
ehat
,isa
secur
it
ypr of
essi
onalwhoappli
estheirhacki
ngskil
lsfordef
ensi
vepur
poseson
behal
foftheownersofinf
ormat
ionsy
stems.
WhatIsaMal i
ciousUser?
Mali
cioususers(orinter
nalatt
ackers)tr
yt ocompromisecomput
ersandsensi
ti
ve
i
nfor
mat i
onfrom theinsi
deasauthor i
zedand“trust
ed”user
s.
Malici
oususersgof orsyst
emst heybelievetheycancompromi
seforfr
audul
ent
gai
nsorrevenge.
Mali
ciousat
tacker
sare,
gener al
l
yknownasbot h,hacker
sandmali
cioususer
s.
Mali
cioususermeansar ogueempl oy
ee,contr
actor,i
nter
n,orot
heruser
whoabuseshi sorhertrustedpri
vi
leges.I
tisacommont er
minsecurit
y
ci
rcl
es.
Userssearchthroughcri
ti
caldatabasesystemstocoll
ectsensi
ti
veinf
ormati
on,e-
mailconf
identi
alcli
enti
nformati
ont othecompetit
ionorel
sewheret
ot hecl
oud,or
del
etesensit
ivefil
esfr
om server
st hatt
heyprobabl
ydonothaveaccess.
Mali
cious user
s are of
ten t
he worstenemies ofIT and i
nfor
mation secur
it
y
prof
essional
sbecausetheyknow exact
lywheretogotogett hegoodsanddon’ t
needtobecomput ersav
vytocompromisesensi
ti
veinf
ormati
on.
Theseuser
shav et
heaccesstheyneedandthemanagementtr
ust
sthem,of
ten
wit
houtquest
ion.I
nshorttheytaketheundueadvantageofthetr
ustofthe
management.
Hacker
sar
ecl
assi
fi
edaccor
dingt
othei
ntentoft
hei
ract
ions.
Vishal Chavre
Tabl
e5.
1Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionsofhacker
saccor
dingt
othei
rint
ent
.
Sy
mbol Descr
ipt
ion
EthicalHacker(Whitehat):Ahackerwho
gainsaccesst osystemswi thaviewto
fi
xt heident
ifi
edweaknesses.
Theymayal soper
for m penetr
ati
on
Test i
ngandv ul
nerabil
it
yassessments.
Cracker( Blackhat )
:Ahackerwhogai ns
unaut horizedaccesstocomput er
systemsf orpersonalgai
n.
Thei ntentisusual l
ytostealcorporate
data,v i
olatepri
v acyri
ght
s, t
ransferfunds
fr
om bankaccount setc.
Greyhat:Ahackerwhoi sinbetween
ethi
calandblackhathackers.He/she
breaksint
ocomput ersystemswithout
authori
tywit
hav i
ewt oidenti
fy
weaknessesandrev eal
them tothesystem
owner.
Scri
ptkiddi
es:A non-
skil
l
ed per
son who
gai
nsaccesst ocomputersy
stemsusing
al
readymadetool
s.
Hackti
vi
st:Ahackerwhousehacki ngto
sendsoci
al,r
eli
gious,andpolit
ical
,etc.
messages.Thisisusuallydoneby
hij
acki
ngwebsitesandl eavi
ngthe
messageont hehij
ackedwebsi te.
Phreaker
:Ahackerwhoident
if
iesand
exploi
tsweaknessesi
ntel
ephonesinst
ead
ofcomputers.
Vishal Chavre
WhyEt
hicalHacki ng?
Informat i
oni soneoft hemostv al
uabl
eassetsofanor ganizat
ion.Keeping
informat i
on secured can prot
ectan organi
zati
on’simage and sav e an
organi zat
ionalotofmoney .
Ha ckingcanl eadtol ossofbusinessf
ororgani
zationsthatdealinfinance
such asPay Pal
.Et hi
calhacki
ng putsthem a step ahead oft he cyber
cri
mi nalswhowoul dother
wiseleadtol
ossofbusiness.
Legali
tyofEthicalHacking
Ethi
calHackingi slegali ft
he hackerabi des bythe rul
es sti
pul
atedas above.
TheI nternat
ionalCounci lofE-Commer ceConsul t
ants(EC-
Counci
l)provi
desa
cert
if
icati
onpr ogram thattest
sindi
vidual’
sskil
ls.Thosewhopasstheexaminati
on
areawar dedwi thcerti
ficat
es.Thecer t
if
icatesaresupposedtober enewedaft
er
somet i
me.
Fi
g.5.
2Penet
rat
ionTest
ingSt
ages
2U
5. nder
standi
ngt
heneedt
ohacky
ourownsy
stems
Tocat
chat
hief
,thi
nkl
i
keat
hief
.That
’st
hebasi
sforet
hical
hacki
ng.
Fir
ewal l
s, encrypt
ion,andv i
rtualpri
vatenetwor ks(VPNs)cancr eateaf alsefeeling
ofsafety.
Thesesecur it
ysy stemsof tenf ocusonhi gh-l
ev elvulnerabi
l
iti
es,suchasv ir
uses
andt r
afficthroughaf i
rewall
,withoutaff
ecti
nghowhacker swork.
Attacki
ngy ourownsy st
emst odi scovervulnerabil
i
tiesisast ept omaki ngt hem
mor esecur e.
Thisist heonl ypr ovenmet hodofgr eatl
yhar deningy oursystemsf rom attack.If
weaknessesar enoti denti
fi
ed,it’
samat t
eroft imebef orethev ulnerabil
it
iesar e
exploit
ed.
Ashacker
sexpandtheirknowl
edge,oneshouldal
sogai
ntherequi
redknowl
edge
ofi
t.Youmustthi
nklikethem t
oprotectyoursy
stemsf
rom t
hem.Ast heet
hical
hacker ,onemustknow activi
ti
eshackerscar
ryoutandhow tostoptheireff
orts.
Oneshoul dknowwhatt ol
ookforandhowt ousethati
nfor
mationt
ospoilhackers’
efforts.
Howev er,themor ecombinati
onsy outry— themorey outestwholesy st
ems
i
nst eadofi ndi
vi
dualuni
ts,t
hebetteryourchancesofdiscov
eri
ngvulnerabi
li
ti
es
thataf f
ectev er
ythi
ngasawhole.
Bui
l
dingt
heFoundat
ionf
orEt
hical
Hacki
ng
3U
5. nder
standi
ngt
hedanger
syoursy
stemsf
ace
Her
ear
esomeexampl esofnetwor k-
infrastructureattacks:
Connect ingintoanetwor kthroughar oguemodem at t
achedt oacomput er
behindaf i
rewall
Exploi
t i
ngweaknessesi nnet wor ktranspor tmechani sms, suchasTCP/ I
P
andNet BIOS.
Floodinganet wor kwit
ht oomanyr equest s,creati
ngaDeni alofServi
ce
(DoS)f orlegit
imaterequests
Instal
l
inganet workanalyzeronanet wor kandcapt ur
ingev erypacketthat
travel
sacr ossit,r
eveali
ngconf i
dentialinformationincleartext
Piggybacki ngontoanet workt hroughani nsecurewi r
elessconfigurat
ion.
Oper at
ing-syst
em attacksHacking
Operati
ng Sy stems (OSs)i s a pref
erred met hod oft he bad guys(hackers)
.
Operati
ngsy stemscompr i
seal argepor ti
onofhackerat t
ackssimpl ybecause
everycomput erhasoneandsomanywel l-
knownexpl oi
tscanbeusedagai nst
them.
Occasional
ly,someoper atingsyst
emst hataremor esecureoutofthebox, suchas
NovellNetWar eandthef lavor’
sofBSDUNI Xar eat t
acked,andv ul
nerabi
lit
iesturn
up.
Buthackerspr eferat
tackingoper at
ingsy st
emsl i
keWi ndowsandLi nuxbecause
theyarewidelyusedandbet t
erknownf ortheirv
ulnerabil
iti
es.
Her
ear esomeexampl esofattacksonoperatingsy
stems:
Exploit
ingspeci
fi
cprotocolimplementat
ions
Attackingbui
lt
-i
nauthenti
cationsyst
ems
Breakingfi
le-
syst
em securi
ty
Crackingpasswordsandencr ypti
onmechanisms
Applicati
onandot herspeci al
izedat t
acks
Applicati
onstakeal otofhi tsbyhacker s.Pr ogramssuchase- mailserver
softwareandWebappl icationsof t
enarebeat endown:
Hy pert
extTr ansf erPr otocol( HTTP)and Si mple MailTr ansf
erPr otocol
(SMTP)appl icationsar ef requentl
yat t
ackedbecausemostf i
rewall
sand
othersecur it
ymechani smsar econf iguredt oallow fullaccesstot hese
programsf rom t heInternet.
Mal ici
oussof t
war e(mal war e)incl
udesv i
ruses,worms,Tr ojanhorses,and
spy ware.Malwar eclogsnet worksandt akesdownsy stems.
Spam ( junke- mai l
)iswr eakinghav oconsy stem avai
labi
lit
yandst orage
space.Andi tcancar r
ymal ware.Ethicalhacki nghelpsrevealsuchat t
acks
againstcomput ersystems.
4.
5. Obey
ingt
heEt
hical
Hacki
ngCommandment
s
Everyet
hical
hackermustabi
debyaf
ewbasi
ccommandment
s.I
fnot
,bad
thi
ngscanhappen.
Wor ki
ngethicall
y
Thewor dethi
cali nthi
scont extcanbedef i
nedaswor kingwi t
hhighpr ofessi
onal
moralsandprincipl
es.Whi l
eperformi
ngethicalhacki
ngtestsagainstownsy st
ems
orforsomeonewhohashi r
edf or
,ev
eryt
hingoneneedt odoasanet hicalhacker
mustbeabov eboar dandmustsuppor tthecompany ’
sgoal s.Nohiddenagendas
areal
lowed.Trustwor t
hinessistheul
ti
mat epri
ncipl
e.Themi suseofinformat i
onis
absol
utelyf
orbidden.That’swhatthebadguy sorhackersdo.
Respect i
ngprivacy
Treatt hei nfor
mat i
ongat heredwi t
ht hegreatestr espect.Allinformati
onobt ai
ned
duringt estingfrom Web- appli
cati
onl ogfi
lestocl ear-t
extpasswor dsmustbekept
pri
v at
e.Thi sinformationshal lnotbeusedt owat chi ntoconf ident
ialcorpor
ate
i
nfor mat i
onorpr i
vateliv
es.Ify ousenseorf eelthatsomeoneshoul dknowt here’
s
apr oblem, considersharingthatinformati
onwi ththeappr opriatemanager .
I
nv olveot hersinprocess.Thi sisa“ watchthewat cher”sy st
em t hatcanbuildtr
ust
andsuppor tet
hicalhackingproject
s.
5T
5. heEt
hical
Hacki
ngPr
ocess
Likepract
icall
yanyI Torsecuri
typr
oject
,ethi
calhacki
ngneedst
obepl annedin
advance.
.Planni
ngisimpor t
antforanyamountoftesti
ngfr
om asimpl
epasswor
d-cracki
ng
testtoanall
-outpenetr
ati
ontestonaWebappl i
cat
ion.
For mulati
ngy ourpl
an
Approvalf
orethicalhacki
ngisessential
.Whatisbeingdoneshoul dbeknownand
vi
sibl
eatleasttot hedeci
sionmakers.Obtai
ningsponsor shipoftheprojectist
he
fi
rstst
ep.Thiscoul dbethemanager,anexecutive,acust omer,orevent heboss.
Someonei sneededt obackupandsi gnoffonthepl an.Otherwi
se,test
ingmaybe
call
edoffunexpectedl
yifsomeoneclaimstheyneveraut hori
zedonetoper for
mthe
Vishal Chavre
t
est
s.
Theaut horizati
oncanbeassi mpleasani nt ernalmemof rom thesenior
-mostpersonor
bossi fonei sperf or
mingt hesetest
sonownsy stems.I fthetestingi
sforacust omer,
one shoul d hav e a signed contr
acti n place,st ati
ng t he customer
’s suppor
tand
authorization.Getwr i
tt
enappr ovalont hi
ssponsor shi
passoonaspossi bletoensure
thatnoneoft hetimeoref forti
swast ed.Thi sdocument ationwor ksasapr oofaswhat
oneisdoi ngwhensomeoneasksordemands.
Adet ai
ledpl anisneeded,butt hatdoesn’ tmeant hatitneedsv ol
umesoft esti
ng
procedur es.Onesl ipcancrashyoursy stems.
Awel
l
-def i
nedscopei ncl udest hef ollowinginformat i
on:
Speci ficsystemst obet ested
Ri skst hatareinv olv ed
Whent hetestsar eper formedandy ouroverall t
imeli
ne
Howt hetestsareper f
ormed
Howmuchknowl edgeoft hesy st
emsy ouhav ebef or
ey oustarttest
ing
Whati sdonewhenamaj orv ulnerabil
i
tyisdiscov ered
Thespeci fi
cdel iver ables—t hisincludessecur ity
-assessmentr eportsanda
higher -levelrepor tout li
ningt hegener alv ulnerabi
li
tiestobeaddr essed,
alongwi thcount ermeasur est hatshoul dbeimpl ement ed.
Whensel ect
ingsy stemst ot est,startwitht hemostcr i
ti
calorv ulnerabl
e
syst ems.
Thehacker sar en’ thacki ng t hesy stemswi thinal imi
ted scope.Some
except i
onst ot hisappr oachar eper f
ormingDoS,soci alengineeri
ng,and
phy sical-
securit
yt ests.
Oneshoul dnotstopwithonesecur
it
yhole.Thi
scanleadtoaf al
sesenseof
secur
ity.Oneshouldkeepgoingtoseewhatel sehe/shecandiscover.I
t’
s
notli
ket okeephackingunti
ltheendoftimeoruntilonecrashallhi
s/her
syst
ems.Si mplypursuethepathhe/sheisgoingdownuntilhe//shecan’
t
hackitanylonger
.
Oneoft hegoalsmaybet operf
ormthetestswithoutbeingdet
ected.
Forexample,onemaybeper f
orminghi
s/hertestsonr emotesystemsoron
aremot eoff
ice,andhe/shedoesn’
twanttheuserst obeawareofwhatt hey
aredoing.Otherwise,t
heusersmaybeont ohim/ herandbeont hei
rbest
behavi
our.
Extensi
veknowl
edgeoft hesy
stemsisnotneededfort
est
ing.Justabasi
c
underst
andi
ngisrequi
redtopr
otectt
hetest
edsystems.
Sel
ect
ingt
ool
s
Ifonedon’thavetheri
ghttool
sforethicalhacki
ng,t
oaccompl
i
shthetaski
s
effect
ivel
y dif
fi
cult
.justusi ng the righttool
s doesn’
tmean thatall
vulner
abil
it
ieswil
lbediscover
ed.
Knowt hepersonalandtechni
call
imit
ations.
Vishal Chavre
Manysecur i
ty-assessmentt ools gener at
ef al
se posi ti
ves and negat i
v es
(i
ncor r
ectlyident if
yingv ul
ner abil
iti
es) .Somet oolsmaymi ssv ulnerabil
it
ies.
Manyt oolsfocusonspeci f i
ct ests,butnoonet oolcant estf orev ery
thing.
Thisiswhyasetofspeci f
ict oolsar er equiredt hatcancal lonf orthet askat
hand.Themor ear et het ools, theeasi eret hicalhackingef fort
sar e.
Makesur et her ighttool isbei ngusedf orthet ask:
Tocr ackpasswor ds,oneneedsacr ackingt ool suchasLC4, Johnt heRipper ,
orpwdump.
Agener alportscanner ,suchasSuper Scan, maynotcr ackpasswor ds.
Forani n-dept hanal ysisofaWebappl icat i
on,aWeb- appli
cationassessment
tool(suchasWhi skerorWebI nspect )i smor eappr opriatethananet wor k
analyzer(suchasEt hereal).
Whensel ectingt her ightsecur it
yt oolf orthet ask,askar ound.Getadv ice
from thecol leaguesandf rom ot herpeopl eonl ine.Asi mpl eGr oupssear ch
on Googl e( www. googl e.com)orper usalofsecur i
ty por tal
s,such as
SecurityFocus. com, Sear chSecur ity.com, andI Tsecurit
y.com, oftenpr oduces
greatfeedbackf r
om ot hersecur i
tyexper ts.
Someoft hewi delyusedcommer cial,freewar e,andopen- sour cesecur it
yt ool
s:
Nmap
Et herPeek
Super Scan
Qual ysGuar d
WebI nspect
LC4( for merlycal l
edL0pht cr ack)
LANguar dNet wor kSecur ityScanner
Net wor kStumbl er
ToneLoc
Her
earesomeot herpopul
art
ool
s:
Int
ernetScanner
Ethereal
Nessus
Ni kto
Kismet
THC- Scan
Thecapabili
ti
esofmanysecur i
tyandhackingt ool
sareoft
enmisunder stood.
Thismisunderstandinghasshednegat i
v elightonsomeexcel lentt ools,
suchasSATAN ( Securi
tyAdminist
rat
orToolf orAnal
ysi
ngNetwor ks)and
Nmap( Networkmapper )
.
Someoft heset oolsarecomplex.Whichev ertoolsarebei
ngused,one
shoul
dbef amili
arizedwi
ththem bef
orestart
ingt ouset
hem.
Her
ear
eway st odothat:
Readt hereadmeand/oronli
nehelpfi
lesfort
ools.
Studytheuser’
sguideforcommer ci
altool
s.
Considerformalcl
assr
oom trai
ningfr
om thesecur
ity
-tool
vendoror
Vishal Chavre
anotherthir
d-partytr
ainingprovider,i
fav ail
abl
e.
Oneshoul dLookf orthesechar acteri
sticsintool
sforethi
calhacking:
Adequatedocument ati
on.
Detail
edr eportsont hediscoveredv ulnerabi
li
ti
es,i
ncl
udinghowt hey
maybeexpl oi
tedandf ixed.
Updatesandsuppor twhenneeded.
High-l
evelreportsthatcanbepr esentedt omanagersornon-t
echiet y
pes.
Thesef eaturescansav eti
meandef fortwhenwr i
ti
ngthereport.
Execut ingthepl an
Et hicalhackingcant akepersi
stence.Timeandpat iencearei mpor t
ant.One
shoul d be car efulwhen per forming ethicalhacki ng tests.A hackeri n
networ koraseemi nglygentl
eempl oyeel ookingov erone’sshoul dermay
wat chwhat ’sgoi ngon.Thispersoncoul duset hisinformationagai nsttester
.
It
’snotpr acti
calt omakesur et hatnohacker sar eonone’ ssy st
emsbef ore
starting.Justonehast omakesur etokeepev erythingasqui etandpr i
vate
aspossi bl
e.Thisi sespecial
lycrit
ical
whent r
ansmi ttingandst ori
ngownt est
results.Ifpossi ble,oneshouldencr yptthesee- mai l
sandf i
lesusingPr etty
GoodPr i
vacy(PGP)orsomet hingsimilar.Atami nimum,passwor d-
protect
them.
I
nani nvestigati
onmi ssion, attachasmuchi nformat i
onaspossibleabout
theorgani zati
onandsy stems, whi chiswhatmal ici
oushackersdo.
Startwithabr oadv iewandnar rowdownt hef ocus:
1.Sear chtheI nternetforownor ganizati
on’sname, computerandnet work
system names, andt heI Paddr esses.
Googl eisagr eatplacet ost artforthis.
2.Nar r
owt hescope, t
ar getingt hespeci fi
csy stemst obetestedorbei ng
tested.Whet herphy sical-secur it
ystructuresorWebappl icati
ons, a
casual assessmentcant ur nupmuchi nformat i
onaboutthesy stems.
3.Fur t
hernar rowdownf ocuswi thamor ecriti
caleye.Per
form actual
scansandot herdet ailedt estsont hesy stems.
4.Per
for
mtheat
tacks,
ift
hat
’swhatonechooset
odo.
Evaluatingresults
Assesst her esultst oseewhathasbeenuncov er
ed,assumi ngt hatthe
vulnerabil
it
ies hav en’tbeen made obv ious before now.Thi si s where
knowl edge count s.Ev al
uati
ng the result
s and cor rel
ati
ng the specifi
c
vulnerabil
it
iesdi scov eredisaski l
lthatgetsbetterwit
hexper i
ence.Onewi ll
endupknowi nghi s/herownsy stemsaswel lasanyoneelse.Thismakest he
evaluationprocessmuchsi mplermov i
ngforward.
Submi taf ormalr epor tt ouppermanagementort othecustomer ,outl
i
ning
result
s.Keept heseot herpar t
iesintheloopt oshow t hateff
ortsandt hei
r
moneyar ewel lspent .
Movingon
Whenf i
nishedwit
het
hicalhacki
ngt
est
s,onesti
l
lneedtoimpl
ementhis/her
anal
ysi
sandr ecommendati
onstomakesuret
hatthesy
stemsaresecure.
New secur i
tyv ul
ner abi
li
ti
es cont i
nual
ly appear.Inf
ormati
on sy stems
constant
lychangeandbecomemor ecomplex.New hackerexploi
tsand
securi
tyvul
nerabili
tiesar eregul
arlyuncov
ered.Securi
tyt
estsar
easnapshot
ofthesecuri
typost ur eofthesystems.
Atanyt ime,ev erythingcanchange,especi al
lyaftersof
twareupgr ades,
addingcomput ersy stems,orappl yi
ngpatches.Plantotestregul
arl
y( for
example,onceaweekoronceamont h).
6C
5. r
acki
ngt
heHackerMi
ndset
Knowi
ngwhathacker sandmali
cioususer
swanthelpsunderst
andhowtheywor
k.
Under
standinghowt heyworkhel
pstolookatyouri
nformat
ionsy st
emsi
nawhole
newway .Thisunder
standi
ngbett
erprepar
esforet
hical
hacki
ngt est
s.
WhatYou’
reUpAgai
nst
Thi nki
ngl i
ket hebadguy s
Malici
ousat tacker sof tent hinkandwor kj ustl i
ket hieves,kidnapper
s,andot her
organized criminalsy ou hearabouti nt he news ev eryday .The smar tones
constantl
ydev ise way st of l
yundert he r adarand expl oiteven the smal l
est
weaknessest hatl eadt hem t ot heirtarget .Thef ollowingar eexamplesofhow
hackersandmal i
cioususer sthinkandwor k:
Ev adingani nt r
usionpr eventionsy stem bychangi ngthei
rMACaddr ess
orI Paddr essev eryfew mi nut est ogetf urtherintoanet workwi thout
beingcompl et el
ybl ocked
Expl oit
ingaphy sicalsecur i
tyweaknessbybei ngawar eofof f
icest hat
haveal readybeencl eanedbyt hecl eaningcr ewandar eunoccupied( and
thuseasyt oaccesswi thlitt
lechanceofget t
ingcaught )
,whichmi ghtbe
madeobv iousby ,forinstance,t hef actthatt heofficebli
ndsareopened
andt hecur t
ainsar epul l
edshuti ntheear lymor ning
By passingwebaccesscont rolsbychangingamal i
cioussi te’sURLt oits
dotted deci malI P addr ess equi val
ent and t hen conv er
ti
ng i tt o
hexadeci mal forusei nt hewebbr owser
Usi ngunaut hor i
zedsof twar et hatwouldot herwi sebebl ockedatt he
fi
rewal lbychangi ngt hedef aultTCPpor tthatitrunson
Set ti
ngupawi rel
ess“ ev i
lt win”nearal ocalWi -
Fihot spott oent ice
unsuspect ing I nternet sur fers ontoar ogue net wor k wher et heir
i
nfor mat i
oncanbecapt uredandeasi l
ymani pulated
Usi nganov erlytrusti
ngcol league’suserIDandpasswor dtogai naccess
tosensi tiv
ei nf ormationt hatwoul dot herwisebehi ghlyimpr obablet o
obtain
Unpl ugging the powercor d orEt hernetconnect ion to a net worked
secur i
tycamer athatmoni tor saccesst ot hecomput err oom orot her
sensi t
iveareasandsubsequent lygai
ningunmoni t
or edaccess
Performi ngSQLi nj
ectionorpasswor d crackingagai nstawebsi t
ev iaa
neighbor ’
sunpr otectedwi relessnetwor kinor dert ohi det hemal ici
ous
user’sowni dent i
ty
WhoBr eaksi
ntoComput
erSyst
ems
Inawor l
dofbl ackandwhit
e,descr
ibingthetypi
calhackeri
seasy.A general
ster
eot
ypeofahackeri sanant
isoci
al,unpl
easantmind-
setper
sonal
i
ty.Butthe
Vishal Chavre
wor l
dhasmanyshadesofgr ayandmanyt y
pesofhacker s.Hacker sar euni que
i
ndiv i
dual s,soanexactpr ofilei shar dtoout line.Thebestbr oaddescr ipti
onof
hacker si st hatal lhacker sar en’tequal.Eachhackerhashi sorherownuni que
mot ives, met hods, andski ll
s.Hackerski l
llevelsf allintot hreegener al categor i
es:
Scriptki ddies:Thesear ecomput erbegi nner swhot akeadv antageoft hehacker
tools,v ulnerabili
tyscanner s,anddocument ationav ail
abl efreeont heI nternetbut
whodon’ thav eanyr ealknowl edgeofwhat ’sr eallygoi ngonbehi ndt hescenes.
Theyknow j ustenought ocauseheadachesbutt ypicallyar ev erysl oppyi nthei
r
actions, l
eav ingal lsortsofdi gitalfi
ngerprintsbehi nd.
Criminalhacker s:Thesear eski l
ledcr i
mi nalexper tsandnat ionst ateswhowr i
te
someoft hehacki ngt ools, includingt hescr iptsandot herpr ogramst hatt hescr i
pt
kiddiesandet hicalhacker suse.Thesepeopl eal sowr i
tesuchmal war easv i
ruses
andwor ms.Theycanbr eaki nt osy stemsandcov ertheirt r
acks.
Adv ancedhacker sar eof tenmember sofcol lectivest hatpr efertor emai nnamel ess.
Thesehacker sar ev er ysecr etiveandshar ei nformat ionwi tht heirsubor di
nates
onlywhen t heyar edeemed wor thy.Ty pically,f orlower -
ranked hacker st o be
consi dered wor t
hy ,t hey mustpossess some uni que i nformat i
on or pr ove
themsel vesthr oughahi gh-pr of i
lehack.
Thesehackersar epossi bl
ysomeoft heworstenemi esini
nformati
onsecur i
ty.
Secur it
yr esearchers:Theseuber-hackersarehighl
ytechnicalandpublicl
y
knownI Tpr of essi
onalswhonotonl ymoni t
orandt r
ackcomput er
,network,
andappl i
cationv ul
nerabil
i
tiesbutal sowrit
et hetoolsandot hercodet o
exploitthem.I ftheseguysdi dn’
texist,
ethi
calhackerswouldn’thavemuch
inthewayofopensour ceandev encer t
aincommer cialsecuri
ty-
test
ing
tools.
Therearegood-
guy(whi
tehat
)andbad-guy(bl
ackhat )hacker
s.Gr
ayhat
hacker
sareal i
tt
lebi
tofboth.Ther
earealsoblue-hathackerswhoare
i
nvit
edbysoftwar
evendor
stofi
ndsecur
ityf
lawsintheirsyst
ems.
Ar ecentst udyatt heBl ackHatsecur it
yconf erencef oundt hatev erydayI T
prof essionalsev enengagei nmal ici
ousandcr iminal acti
vi
tyagai nstother s.
Andpeopl ewonderwhyI Tdoesn’ tgett her especti tdeserves?Per haps
thisgr oupwi l
lev olvei ntoaf our t
hgener alcat egoryofhacker sint he
comi ngy ears.
Per hapsmor ei mpor t
antt hanahacker ’sskil
llevelishisorhermot i
vati
on.
Hackt i
v i
ststryt odi st
ributepol it
icalorsoci almessagest hrought heirwor k.
A hackt i
vistwant st or aise publ ic awar eness ofan i ssue.I n many
situat i
ons,cr i
mi nalhacker swi l
lt r
yt ot aket heper sondowni fhe/ she
ex pressesav iewt hat’scont raryt otheirs.Exampl esofhackt i
vism include
messagesaboutl egal i
zingdrugs, protestsagainstt hewari nIraq, pr
otest s
cent eredar oundweal thenv yandbi gcor porati
ons,andj ustaboutany
othersoci alandpol it
ical i
ssues.
Cy ber -
terrori
st s( both or gani zed and unor ganized)at t
ack gov er
nment
comput ersorpubl i
cut ili
tyinf r
ast r
uctures,suchaspowergr i
dsandai r-
traffic cont rolt ower s.Theycr ash cr it
icalsy stems orst ealcl assified
gov ernmenti nformat i
on.Count riest aket hethreatst hesecy ber-ter
rorist s
poseso ser i
ousl ythatmanymandat einformationsecur itycont r
olsi n
crucialindustries,suchast hepoweri ndustry,t
opr otectessentialsystems
againstt heseat tacks.
Hacker sf orhirear epartoforganizedcr i
meont heI nternet
.Manyoft hese
hacker shi r
eoutt hemsel v
esort heirbot netsformoneyandl otsofit.
Thesecriminalhacker sar einthemi nori
ty.Li
ket hespam ki ngsoft hewor l
d, many
ofthewickedact sfrom member sofcol l
ectivest hatprefertoremai nnamel essar e
carr
iedoutbyasmal lnumberofcr iminal
s.Manyot herhacker sjustlovet otinker
andonl yseekknowl edgeofhow comput ersy st
emswor k.Oneoft hegr eatest
thr
eatswor ksinsi depremi sesandhasanaccessbadget othebui l
dingandav al
id
networkaccount ,sodon’ tdiscounttheinsidert hreat.
WhyTheyDoI t?
Reasons:
Hackingi sacasualhobbyf orsomehacker s.Theyhackj usttoseewhat
theycanandcan’ tbr eakinto,usuall
ytesti
ngonl ytheirownsy stems.
Manyhacker sgetaki ckoutofout smarti
ngcor porateandgov ernmentIT
andsecur it
yadmi nistr
ators.Theyt hri
veonmaki ngheadl i
nesandbei ng
notori
ouscy berout laws.
Hacker sof ten pr omot ei ndivi
duali
sm oratl eastt hedecent r
alizat
ion of
i
nformat ionbecausemanybel i
evethatalli
nfor mat i
onshoul dbef ree.
Theyt hinkcy ber-
at tacksar edif
ferentfr
om at tacksi ntherealwor l
d.Hacker s
mayeasi l
yi gnoreormi sunderstandtheirvictimsandt heconsequencesof
hacking.
Theydon’ tthinkl ong- t
erm aboutt hechoi cest hey’r
emaki ngt oday .Many
hackerssayt heydon’ tintendt ohar m orpr ofitthrought hei
rbaddeeds,a
beli
eft hathelpst hem j usti
fytheirwork.
Some common mot ives ar er ev enge,basi c br agging r ights,cur iosity,
bor edom,chal l
enge,v andal i
sm,t hef tforf inancialgai n,sabot age,bl ackmai l,
ext orti
on,corpor atei ntelli
gence, andj ustgener allyspeaki ngoutagai nst“ the
man. ”Hacker sr egul ar l
yci tet hesemot i
v est oexpl aint heirbehav i
or,but
thesemot ivati
onst endt obeci tedmor ecommonl ydur i
ngdi ffi
culteconomi c
condi ti
ons.
Manybusi nessowner sandmanager s— ev ensomenet wor kandsecur it
y
admi ni
str
at or
sbel i
ev et hatt heydon’ thav eany thingt hatahackerwant sor
thathacker scan’ tdomuchdamagei ft heybr eaki n.Thisi ndiff
erentki ndof
thinkinghel pssuppor tthebadguy sandpr omot ethei robjectives.
Hacker scancompr omi seaseemi nglyuni mpor t
antsy st
em t oaccesst he
net workandusei tasal aunchi ngpadf orat tacksonot hersy st
ems,and
manypeopl ewoul dbenonet hewi serbecauset heydon’ thav et hepr oper
cont rolstoprev entanddet ectmal icioususe.
Hacker softenhackj ustbecauset heycan.Somehacker sgof orhigh- profil
e
sy stems, buthacki ngi ntoany one’ ssy stem hel pst hem f itintohackerci r
cles.
Hacker sexploitmanypeopl e’sf alsesenseofsecur it
yandgof oral mostany
sy stem theyt hinkt heycancompr omi se.El ectroni cinformat ioncanbei n
mor ethanonepl aceatt hesamet ime, soi fhacker smer el
ycopyi nformat ion
from t hesy stemst he ybr eaki nt
Vishal Chavre
o,it’stought opr ovet hathacker spossess
t
hati
nfor
mat
ion.
Hacki nginthenameofl i
berty?
Manyhacker sexhibitbehav ioursthatcont radictthei
rst at
edpur poses.Theyf ight
forcivill
iber
tiesandwantt obel eftalone,whi l
eatt hesamet i
me, theylov eprying
i
nt othebusinessofot hersandcont roll
ingt hem inanywaypossi ble.
Manyhacker scallthemsel vescivill
ibert
ariansandcl aimt osuppor tthepr i
nciples
ofper sonalpr i
vacy and f reedom.Howev er,they cont r
adictt hei
rwor ds by
i
nt r
udi ngont heprivacyandpr opert
yofot hers.Theyof t
enst ealthepr opertyand
violat
et herightsofot hers,butar ewill
ingt ogot ogr eatlengthst ogett heirown
ri
ght sbackf rom anyonewhot hreatenst hem.
This appl i
es to ext ernalhacks,i nternalbr eaches,and ev en somet hing as
seemi nglygentleasal ostmobi l
edev i
ceorbackupt apes.
Pl
anningandPer for
mi ngAtt
acks
At
tackstylesvarywidely:
Somehacker spreparefari
nadvanceofanat
tack.Theygathersmal
l
bi
tsofi nfor
mat i
onandmet hodi
cal
lycar
ryouttheirhacks.These
hacker
sar ethemostdiffi
cul
ttotr
ack.
Vishal Chavre
Ot herhacker s—usual lythei nexper i
encedscr iptkiddies—actbef ore
theyt hinkt hrought heconsequences.Suchhacker smayt ry,for
exampl e, totelnetdi r
ect l
yi ntoanor gani zati
on’srout erwi thouthi ding
theirident iti
es.Ot herhacker smayt ryt olaunchaDoSat tackagai nst
aMi crosof tExchangeser verwi t
houtf ir
stdet erminingt hev ersionof
Exchangeort hepat chest hatar ei nst al
led.Thesehacker susual l
yar e
caught .
Mal ici
oususer sar eal lov erthemap.Somecanbequi tesav vybased
ont hei rknowl edgeoft henet wor kandofhowI Toper atesi nsi det he
organi zat i
on.
Many oft he hacker s,especi ally adv anced hacker s don’ tshar e
informat i
onwi tht hecr owd.Mosthacker sdomuchoft heirwor k
independent l
yi nordert or emai nanony mous.
Hackers who net wor k with one anot heruse pr ivate message boar ds,
anonymouse-mai laddr esses,hackerwebsi tes,andI nternetRel ayChat
(I
RC).Onecanl ogi nt omanyoft hesesi t
est oseewhathacker sar edoi ng.
Foll
owingar et heaspect sofr eal-wor ldsecur it
y:
Themaj orityofcomput ersy stemsar en’tmanagedpr oper l
y .The
comput ersy stemsar en’tpr operlypat ched,har dened,ormoni tored.
Attacker scanof tenf lybel ow t her adaroft heav eragef irewal l
,an
Intrusionpr eventionsy stem ( IPS) ,oranaccesscont rolsy stem.Thi s
isespeci allyt ruef ormal i
cioususer swhoseact ionsar eof t
ennot
moni t
or edatal lwhi l
e,att hesamet i
me,t heyhav ef ullaccesst ot he
varyenv ironmentt heycanex pl
oit.
Vishal Chavre
Tool
sf orEt
hicalhacki
ngofwebappl
i
cat
ions,ser
ver
sand
net
works:
Net spar keri s an easy t o use web appl ication secur ity
scannert hatcanaut omat ical l
yf i
ndSQLI nj ection,XSSand
otherv ulner abili
ties i ny ourweb appl icat ions and web
serv i
ces.I ti sav ailabl eason- premi sesandSAASsol ut ion.
Acunet ixisaf ull
yaut omat edet hi calhacki ngsol ut iont hat
mi mi cs a hackert o keep one st ep ahead ofmal i
ci ous
i
nt r
uder s.Thewebappl i
cat i
onsecur ityscanneraccur at ely
scansHTML5,Jav aScr iptandSi ngl e-pageappl icat ions.I t
can audi tcompl ex,aut hent icat ed webapps and i ssues
compl ianceandmanagementr epor tsonawi der angeof
webandnet wor kv ulnerabi l
ities.
Probel ycont inuousl yscansf orv ul ner abilitiesi ny ourWeb
Appl icat i
ons.I tal lowsi tscust omer st o managet hel if
e
cycle of v ulnerabi liti
es and pr ov ides t hem wi th some
guidanceonhowt of i
xt hem.Pr obel yi sasecur i
tyt oolbui lt
hav i
ngDev el oper si nmi nd.
Insight VMi sat op- r anked v ul ner abi li
tyr i
sk management
solut i
onf ocusedondet ect ing,pr ioritizing,andr emedi ating
vulner abilit
ies. Wi th I nsi ght VM,y ou can aut omat ically
assess and under st and secur i
tyr isk acr oss y ourent ir
e
i
nf r
ast r
uct ur e.
Safer VPNi s an i ndi spensabl et ooli n an Et hicalhacker ’
s
arsenal .You may need i tt o check t ar geti n di fferent
geogr aphies,si mul at enon- per sonal izedbr owsi ngbehav i
or,
undi scov er edf il
et ransf er s, etc.
Bur p Sui tei s a usef ulpl at for m f orper for mi ng Secur ity
Test ing of web appl icat ions. I ts v arious t ool s wor k
seaml essl yt oget hert o suppor tt he ent i
re pen t est i
ng
process.I tspansf rom i ni tialmappi ngt oanal y sisofan
appl i
cat ion'sat t
acksur face.
Ettercapi sanet hicalhacki ngt ool .I tsuppor t
sact iv eand
passi v edi ssect ioni ncludesf eat ur esf ornet wor kandhost
anal ysis.
Aircrack i sat rust able et hicalhacki ng t ool .I tcr acks
vulner ablewi r
elessconnect ions.I ti spower edbyWEPWPA
andWPA2encr ypt ionKey s.
Angr yI PScanneri sopen- sour ceandcr oss- platfor m et hi cal
hackingt ool.ItscansI Paddr essesandpor ts.
GFILanGuar di sanet hicalt oolt hatscansnet wor ksf or
vulnerabi li
ti
es. I t can act s as y our ' v i
r t
ual secur i
ty
consul tant '
ondemand.I tall
owscr eatinganasseti nvent ory
ofev erydev i
ce.
Sav vi
us:I ti
sanet hicalhacki ngt ool .Itper f
or mancei ssues
andr educessecur i
tyr iskwi tht hedeepv isi
bi l
itypr ovidedby
Omni peek.I tcandi agnosenet wor ki ssuesf asterandbet ter
wi t
hSav viuspacketi ntell
igence.
Qual ysguar dhel psbusi nessesst reaml i
net hei rsecur i
tyand
compl iancesol utions.I tal sobui l
dssecur it
yi ntot heirdigital
transformat i
on i niti
at ives.Thi st oolcan al so check t he
performancev ulner abi l
ityoftheonl inecl oudsy st ems.
WebI nspecti s aut omat ed dy nami c appl icat ion secur i
ty
testi
ngt hatallowsper f
or minget hicalhacki ngt echni ques.I t
providescompr ehensi vedy nami canal ysisofcompl exweb
applicationsandser vices.
Hashcati sar obustpasswor dcr acki nget hicalhacki ngt ool.
Itcanhel puser st or ecov erlostpasswor ds, audi tpasswor d
secur i
ty, orjustf i
ndoutwhatdat ai sst oredi nahash.
Vishal Chavre
Net Stumbleri susedtodetectwi r
elessnet worksontheWi ndowspl
atf
orm.
SQL Mapaut omat estheprocessofdet ecti
ngandexpl oi
ti
ng
SQL I njecti
on weaknesses.I tisopen sour ce and cr
oss
platform.Itsuppor t
sthefollowingdat abaseengines.
Recov erMSAccesspasswor ds
Uncov erpasswordfield
Snif
fingnetworks
Crackingencrypt
edpasswor dsusi ngdict
ionar
y
attacks, br
ute-for
ce,andcryptanalysisattacks.
Ne ssuscanbeusedt operform:
Remot evulner
abili
tyscanner
Passworddi ct
ionaryat t
acks
Denialofservi
ceatt acks.
I
tisclosedsour ce,crossplat
for
m andf
reef
orper
sonal
use.