Penetration testing
Amateur Penetration Testing
Submitted by james on Sun, 07/11/2004 - 01:56. penetration testing...At first I was just trying to find interesting bugs, but more recently I've become interested in penetration testing. I'm an amateur at it, but I seem to be getting better with practice. Wherever possible, I send the details of any exploits to the companies that run those systems. Even though my behavior is probably illegal (when I actually do a take over), I like being on the sunny side of mor
Hacker Highschool... A novice's guide to getting started in penetration testing
Submitted by Antony Marcano on Sat, 23/10/2004 - 09:21. ethical hacking | penetration testing[textile]If you havn't got a clue about security testing and want to get a basic understanding of what it is about, check out:
* "HackerHighschool.org":http://www.hackerhighschool.org/
Although it is targetted, principally at teens in highschool, it can be used by anyone in any age group for free (for personal use/schools). It was created by "ISECOM":http://www.isecom.org/ , also the creators of the "Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM)":http://www.testingreflections.com/node/view/29.
* "HackerHighschool.org":http://www.hackerhighschool.org/
Although it is targetted, principally at teens in highschool, it can be used by anyone in any age group for free (for personal use/schools). It was created by "ISECOM":http://www.isecom.org/ , also the creators of the "Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM)":http://www.testingreflections.com/node/view/29.
The learning experience...
Submitted by Si on Mon, 20/09/2004 - 13:15. penetration testingWow ! Doesn't time fly ! You take a breath and several weeks fly by all at once. So again appologies for having been remiss in my writing ...
Recently in some of the mailing lists, there has been some discussion of the use of VMWare for practicing ones skills. I think that VMWare is one of the greatest inventions ever, and, as soon as I can afford a copy I'll probably get one ! There are the Open alternatives, but in terms of simple use, you can't fault VMWare, there is a space in the world for well written, reasonably (!) priced commercial software, and VMWare is by far the best that there is. I fear for it's future with the Microsoft offerings comming out, but we can hold on to hope there.
Recently in some of the mailing lists, there has been some discussion of the use of VMWare for practicing ones skills. I think that VMWare is one of the greatest inventions ever, and, as soon as I can afford a copy I'll probably get one ! There are the Open alternatives, but in terms of simple use, you can't fault VMWare, there is a space in the world for well written, reasonably (!) priced commercial software, and VMWare is by far the best that there is. I fear for it's future with the Microsoft offerings comming out, but we can hold on to hope there.
Am I certifiable ?
Submitted by Si on Thu, 26/08/2004 - 15:42. penetration testingI must firstly apologise, everything seems to have gotten on top of me, and I have failed to blog for a few days. I'm aiming for this not to become like every diary that I have tried to keep in my life, filled for the frist three days, and then empty !
However, time is at a bit of a premium ( except the amount I seem to spend in transit - the British rail and underground system seem to want to keep my soul for as long as posible each day ... ), so this will likely be a short blog.
However, time is at a bit of a premium ( except the amount I seem to spend in transit - the British rail and underground system seem to want to keep my soul for as long as posible each day ... ), so this will likely be a short blog.
There is method in the madness...
Submitted by Si on Mon, 23/08/2004 - 12:33. penetration testingTime, it seems, is an ever decreasing commodity in my day ! So I'm afraid that this is going to be short, and I'm going to try for it to be to the point ...
Being able to find a vulnerability in a system is only half (if even that much) of being a good tester in a commercial environment. If you can do only this, you are a hacker, not a PenTester. To be commercially viable, not to mention professional - you should follow a defined methodology. This does a number of things for you:
Being able to find a vulnerability in a system is only half (if even that much) of being a good tester in a commercial environment. If you can do only this, you are a hacker, not a PenTester. To be commercially viable, not to mention professional - you should follow a defined methodology. This does a number of things for you:
Please pass the sources ...
Submitted by Si on Fri, 20/08/2004 - 11:06. penetration testingComputing has to be the fastest moving industry there is. Every day there is at least one new software product. This is hard enough to keep up with if you are looking after one Operating System, let alone more - and as a PenTester you are interested in them all !
How on earth do you keep up to date ? ( And I'm perfectly open to suggestion here ... My e-mail inbox is bursting at the seams. )
How on earth do you keep up to date ? ( And I'm perfectly open to suggestion here ... My e-mail inbox is bursting at the seams. )
A two topic blog ...
Submitted by Si on Thu, 19/08/2004 - 13:36. penetration testingThis is a two topic blog - ethics and port scanning. Having promised not to go off on a tangent again I thought that I had better fill in something more relevant to actual testing !
So lets start with Port Scanning. This is something that you should understand the theory of, and then use someone elses tool to do it. I ( shameless self plug comming up ) wrote a little wrapper for nmap that takes its output and runs it up against the OPRP ( Open Protocol Resource Project ) database - this is a project at ISECOM - which is where you can also download the wrapper. Anyhoo back to the point ... Some of the feedback that came in said that I "shouldn't rely on the output of another program" and that I should "do it all". Sorry but this is complete garbage ! Choose your tools wisely - but please don't waste time reinventing the wheel - it is good to know that you can make a wheel if you need to, but mostly I leave that to Mr.Goodyear, why should my other tools be any different ?
So lets start with Port Scanning. This is something that you should understand the theory of, and then use someone elses tool to do it. I ( shameless self plug comming up ) wrote a little wrapper for nmap that takes its output and runs it up against the OPRP ( Open Protocol Resource Project ) database - this is a project at ISECOM - which is where you can also download the wrapper. Anyhoo back to the point ... Some of the feedback that came in said that I "shouldn't rely on the output of another program" and that I should "do it all". Sorry but this is complete garbage ! Choose your tools wisely - but please don't waste time reinventing the wheel - it is good to know that you can make a wheel if you need to, but mostly I leave that to Mr.Goodyear, why should my other tools be any different ?
OS Wars ...
Submitted by Si on Wed, 18/08/2004 - 10:23. penetration testingAs I was comming into work this morning, I had a think about my advice in my last entry : "Learn Linux".
I said this as a matter of course, Linux knowledge is - in my opinion - essential, as is knowledge of as many other OS's as you can get your hands on.
My current personal platform of preference is MacOS X, I can run all of the Linux utilities that I want and then I can write reports up in Word - cutting and pasting painlessly between the two. I have, in the past, done testing from Solaris, Linux and Windows as well. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and in the right hands, all of them will be as powerful as the others.
I said this as a matter of course, Linux knowledge is - in my opinion - essential, as is knowledge of as many other OS's as you can get your hands on.
My current personal platform of preference is MacOS X, I can run all of the Linux utilities that I want and then I can write reports up in Word - cutting and pasting painlessly between the two. I have, in the past, done testing from Solaris, Linux and Windows as well. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and in the right hands, all of them will be as powerful as the others.