Penetration Testing Introduction and brief Eplation

 Introduction

    Penetration testing can be defined as a legal and authorized attempt to locate and successfully exploit the computer systems for the purpose of making those systems more secure. the process includes of  vulnerabilities as well as providing proof of concept attacks to demonstrate the vulnerabilities are real

    Propper penetration testing always ends with specific recommendations for addressing and fixing the issues that were discovered during the test. The GENERAL idea is to find security issues by using the same tools and techniques as an attacker. these findings can then be mitigated before a real hacker exploits them.

 penetration testing is also known as 

* Pen testing

* PT

* Hacking 

* Ethical Hacking 

* White hat hacking

* Offensive security 

* Red teaming

Introduction to Kali and Backtrack Linux: Tools Lots of Tools 

    A few years back, the open discussion or teaching of hacking techniques was considered a bit taboo. Fortunately, times have changed and people are beginning to understand the value of offensive security.

Offensive security is now being embraced by organizations regardless of size or industries. Governments are also getting serious about offensive security. Many governments have gone on record stating they are actively building and developing offensive security capabilities. Ultimately, penetration testing should play an important role in the overall security of your organization. Just as policies, risk assessments, business continuity planning, and disaster recovery have become integral components in keeping your organization safe and secure, penetration testing needs to be included in your overall security plan as well. Penetration testing allows you to view your organization through the eyes of the enemy. This process can lead to many surprising discoveries and give you the time needed to patch your systems before a real attacker can strike. One of the great things about learning how to hack today is the plethora and availability of good tools to perform your craft. Not only are the tools readily available, but many of them are stable with several years of development behind them. Maybe even more important to many of you is the fact that most of these tools are available free of charge. For the purpose of this book, every tool covered will be free. It is one thing to know a tool is free. It is another to find, compile, and install each of the tools required to complete even a basic penetration test. Although this process is quite simple on today’s modern Linux operating systems (OSs), it can still be a bit daunting for newcomers. Most people who start are usually more interested in learning how to use the tools than they are in searching the vast corners of the Internet to locate and install tools. To be fair, you really should learn how to manually compile and install software on a Linux machine; or at the very least, you should become familiar with apt-get (or the like). 

More Advanced 

    Advanced Package Tool (APT) is a package management system. APT allows you to quickly and easily install, update, and remove the software from the command line. Aside from its simplicity, one of the best things about APT is the fact that it automatically resolves dependency issues for you. This means that if the package you are installing requires additional software, APT will automatically locate and install the additional software. This is a massive improvement over the old days of “dependency hell”.    

     Installing software with APT is very straightforward. For example, let us assume you want to install a tool called Paros Proxy on your local Linux machine. Paros is a tool that can be used (among other things) to evaluate the security of web applications. We will discuss the use of a proxy in the Web-Based Exploitation chapter but for now, let us focus on the installation of the tool rather than its use. Once you know the name of the package you want to install, from the command line you can run: apt-get install followed by the name of the software you want to install. It is always a good idea to run: apt-get update before installing software. This will ensure that you are getting the latest version available. To install Paros, we would issue the following

 commands: 

                     apt-get update

                     apt-get install paros

      Before the package is installed, you will be shown how much disk space will be used and you will be asked if you want to continue. To install your new software, you can type “Y” and hit the enter key. When the program is done installing you will be returned to the # prompt. At this point you can start Paros by entering the following command into the terminal: Paros   

     For now, you can simply close the Paros program. The purpose of this demo was to cover installing new software, not in running or using Paros.

     If you prefer not to use the command line when installing software, there are several Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) available for interacting with APT. The most popular graphical front end is currently aptitude. Additional package managers are outside the scope of this book. 

    One final note on installing software, APT requires you to know the exact name of the software you want to install before running the install command. If you are unsure of the software name or how to spell it, you can use the apt-cache search command. This the handy function will display any packages or tools which match your search and provide a brief description of the tool. Using an apt-cache search will allow you to quickly narrow down the name of the package you are looking for. For example, if we were unsure of the official name of the Paros package from our previous example, we could have the first run: apt-cache search Paros 

    After reviewing the resulting names and descriptions, we would then proceed with the apt-get install command.

Please note, if you are using Kali Linux, Paros will already be installed for you! Even so, the apt-get install command is still a powerful tool for installing software

    A basic understanding of Linux will be beneficial and will pay you mountains of dividends in the long run. For the purpose of this book, there will be no assumption that you have prior Linux experience, but do yourself a favor and commit yourself to become a Linux guru someday. Take a class, read a book, or just explore on your own. Trust me, you will thank me later. If you are interested in penetration testing or hacking, there is no way of getting around the need to know Linux. 

    Fortunately, the security community is a very active and very giving group. There are several organizations that have worked tirelessly to create various security-specific Linux distributions. A distribution, or “distro” for short, is basically a flavor, type, or brand of Linux. 

    Among the most well known of these penetration testing distributions is one called “Backtrack”. Backtrack Linux is your one-stop-shop for learning to hack and performing penetration testing. Backtrack Linux reminds me of a scene from the first Matrix movie where Tank asks Neo “What do you need besides a miracle?” Neo responds with “Guns. Lots of Guns”. At this point in the movie, rows, and rows of guns slide into view. Every gun imaginable is available for Neo and Trinity: handguns, rifles, shotguns, semiautomatic, automatic, big and small from pistols to explosives, an endless supply of different weapons from which to choose. That is a similar experience most newcomers have when they first boot up Backtrack or Kali Linux. “Tools. Lots of Tools”. 

    Backtrack Linux and Kali Linux are a security tester’s dream come true. These distributions are built from the ground up for penetration testers. They come preloaded with hundreds of security tools that are installed, configured, and ready to be used. Best of all, Kali and Backtrack are free! You can get your copy of the Backtrack at http://www.Backtrack-linux.org/downloads/.

Additional Information 

 In the spring of 2013, the Offensive Security crew released a redefined, re-envisioned version of Backtrack called “Kali Linux”. Like Backtrack, Kali Linux is freely available and comes preconfigured with loads of security auditing tools. Kali can be downloaded from www.kali.org. If you are new to the penetration testing and hacking world, the differences between Backtrack and Kali may seem a bit confusing. However, for understanding the basics and working through the examples in this book, either

 

the distribution will work. in many cases, Kali Linux may be easier to utilize(than Backtrack ) Because each of the tools is "building into the path" meaning they can be run from anywhere. simply, open a terminal and enter the tool name along with the desired switches. If you are using Backtrack, you often need to navigate to the specific folder running a particular tool. If all this talk about navigating, paths, switches, and terminals sounds confusing, For now, you simply need to decide which version you would like to learn with. Kali or Backtrack. Remember, there is no wrong choice 

Navigating to the Backtrack (or Kali) link will allow you to choose from either a .iso or a VMware image. If you choose to download the .iso, you will need to burn the .iso to a DVD. If you are unsure of how to complete this process, please Google “burning an iso”. Once you have completed the burning process, you will have a bootable DVD. In most cases, starting Linux from a bootable DVD is as simple as putting the DVD into the drive and restarting the machine. In some instances, you may have to change the boot order in the BIOS so that the optical drive has the highest boot priority.

If you choose to download the VMware image, you will also need software capable of opening and deploying or running the image. Luckily enough, there are several good tools for accomplishing this task. Depending on your preference, you can use VMware’s VMware Player, Sun Microsystem’s VirtualBox, or Microsoft’s Virtual PC. In reality, if you do not like any of those options, there are many other software options capable of running a virtual machine (VM) image. You simply need to choose one that you are comfortable with.

 

with. Each of the three virtualization options listed above is available free of charge and will provide you with the ability to run VM images. You will need to decide which version is best for you. This book will rely heavily on the use of a Backtrack VMware image and VMware Player. At the time of writing, VMware The Player was available at http://www.vmware.com/products/player/. You may need to register for an account to download the software, but the registration process is simple and free. 

If you are unsure if you should use a live DVD or VM, it is suggested that you go the VM route. Not only is this another good technology to learn, but using VMs will allow you to set up an entire penetration testing lab on a single machine. If that machine is a laptop, you essentially have a “traveling” PT lab so you can practice your skills anytime, anywhere. If you choose to run Backtrack using the bootable DVD, shortly after the system starts, you will be presented with a menu list. You will need to review the list carefully as it contains several different options. The first couple of options are used to set some basic information about your system’s screen resolution. If you are having trouble getting Backtrack to boot, be sure to choose the “Start Backtrack in Safe Graphical Mode”

  Kali Linux works in much the same way. You need to choose between downloading an ISO and burning it to DVD or downloading a preconfigured VMware image. Regardless of which version you selected, you can simply accept the default option (by hitting the Enter key) when presented with the Kali Linux GRUB bootloader boot menu.

     The use of Kali or Backtrack is not required to work through this book or to learn the basics of hacking. Any version of Linux will do fine. The major advantage of using Kali or Backtrack is that all the tools are preloaded for you. If you choose to use a different version of Linux, you will need to install the tools before reading the chapter. It is also important to remember that because this book focuses on the basics, it does not matter which version of Kali or Backtrack you are using. All the tools we will explore and use in this book are available in every version.