Table of Contents for
Kali Linux 2 – Assuring Security by Penetration Testing - Third Edition

Version ebook / Retour

Cover image for bash Cookbook, 2nd Edition Kali Linux 2 – Assuring Security by Penetration Testing - Third Edition by Gerard Johansen Published by Packt Publishing, 2016
  1. Cover
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Kali Linux 2 – Assuring Security by Penetration Testing Third Edition
  4. Kali Linux 2 – Assuring Security by Penetration Testing Third Edition
  5. Credits
  6. Disclaimer
  7. About the Authors
  8. About the Reviewer
  9. www.PacktPub.com
  10. Preface
  11. What you need for this book
  12. Who this book is for
  13. Conventions
  14. Reader feedback
  15. Customer support
  16. 1. Beginning with Kali Linux
  17. Kali Linux tool categories
  18. Downloading Kali Linux
  19. Using Kali Linux
  20. Configuring the virtual machine
  21. Updating Kali Linux
  22. Network services in Kali Linux
  23. Installing a vulnerable server
  24. Installing additional weapons
  25. Summary
  26. 2. Penetration Testing Methodology
  27. Vulnerability assessment versus penetration testing
  28. Security testing methodologies
  29. General penetration testing framework
  30. Information gathering
  31. The ethics
  32. Summary
  33. 3. Target Scoping
  34. Preparing the test plan
  35. Profiling test boundaries
  36. Defining business objectives
  37. Project management and scheduling
  38. Summary
  39. 4. Information Gathering
  40. Using public resources
  41. Querying the domain registration information
  42. Analyzing the DNS records
  43. Getting network routing information
  44. Utilizing the search engine
  45. Metagoofil
  46. Accessing leaked information
  47. Summary
  48. 5. Target Discovery
  49. Identifying the target machine
  50. OS fingerprinting
  51. Summary
  52. 6. Enumerating Target
  53. Understanding the TCP/IP protocol
  54. Understanding the TCP and UDP message format
  55. The network scanner
  56. Unicornscan
  57. Zenmap
  58. Amap
  59. SMB enumeration
  60. SNMP enumeration
  61. VPN enumeration
  62. Summary
  63. 7. Vulnerability Mapping
  64. Vulnerability taxonomy
  65. Automated vulnerability scanning
  66. Network vulnerability scanning
  67. Web application analysis
  68. Fuzz analysis
  69. Database assessment tools
  70. Summary
  71. 8. Social Engineering
  72. Attack process
  73. Attack methods
  74. Social Engineering Toolkit
  75. Summary
  76. 9. Target Exploitation
  77. Vulnerability and exploit repositories
  78. Advanced exploitation toolkit
  79. MSFConsole
  80. MSFCLI
  81. Ninja 101 drills
  82. Writing exploit modules
  83. Summary
  84. 10. Privilege Escalation
  85. Password attack tools
  86. Network spoofing tools
  87. Network sniffers
  88. Summary
  89. 11. Maintaining Access
  90. Working with tunneling tools
  91. Creating web backdoors
  92. Summary
  93. 12. Wireless Penetration Testing
  94. Wireless network recon
  95. Wireless testing tools
  96. Post cracking
  97. Sniffing wireless traffic
  98. Summary
  99. 13. Kali Nethunter
  100. Installing Kali Nethunter
  101. Nethunter icons
  102. Nethunter tools
  103. Third-party applications
  104. Wireless attacks
  105. HID attacks
  106. Summary
  107. 14. Documentation and Reporting
  108. Types of reports
  109. The executive report
  110. The management report
  111. The technical report
  112. Network penetration testing report (sample contents)
  113. Preparing your presentation
  114. Post-testing procedures
  115. Summary
  116. A. Supplementary Tools
  117. Web application tools
  118. Network tool
  119. Summary
  120. B. Key Resources
  121. Paid incentive programs
  122. Reverse engineering resources
  123. Penetration testing learning resources
  124. Exploit development learning resources
  125. Penetration testing on a vulnerable environment
  126. Online web application challenges
  127. Virtual machines and ISO images
  128. Network ports
  129. Index

Profiling test boundaries

Understanding the limitations and boundaries of the test environment goes hand in hand with the client requirements, which can be justified as intentional or unintentional interests. These can be in the form of technology, knowledge, or any other formal restrictions imposed by the client on the infrastructure. Each limitation imposed may cause a serious interruption to the testing process and can be resolved using alternative methods. However, note that certain restrictions cannot be modified, as they are administered by the client to control the process of penetration testing. We will discuss each of these generic types of limitations with their relevant examples as follows:

  • Technology limitations: This type of limitation occurs when the scope of a project is properly defined but the presence of a new technology in the network infrastructure does not let the auditor test it. This happens only when the auditor does not have any pen-testing tools that can assist in the assessment of this new technology. For instance, a company XYZ has introduced a robust GZ network firewall device that sits at the perimeter and works to protect the entire internal network. However, its implementation of proprietary methods inside the firewall does not let any firewall assessment tools work. Thus, there is always a need for an up-to-date solution that can handle the assessment of such a new technology.
  • Knowledge limitations: The knowledge limitations of a pentester can have a negative impact if their skill level is narrow and he or she is not capable of testing certain technologies. For example, a dedicated database penetration tester would not be able to assess the physical security of a network infrastructure. Hence, it is good to divide the roles and responsibilities according to the skills and knowledge of the pentester to achieve the required goal.
  • Other infrastructure restrictions: Certain test restrictions can be applied by the client to control the assessment process. This can be done by limiting the view of an IT infrastructure to only specific network devices and technologies that need assessment. Generally, this kind of restriction is introduced during the requirement gathering phase. For instance, test all the devices behind network segment A except the first router. Restrictions that are imposed by the client do not ensure the security of a router in the first place, which can lead to a compromise in the whole network, even if all the other network devices are hardened and security-assured. Thus, proper thinking is always required before putting any such restrictions on the penetration testing.

Profiling all of these limitations and restrictions is important, which can be observed while gathering the client requirements. A good pentester's duty is to dissect each requirement and hold a discussion with the client to pull or change any ambiguous restrictions that may cause an interruption to the testing process or result in a security breach in the near future. These limitations can also be overcome by introducing highly skilled pen-testers and an advanced set of tools and techniques for the assessment, although, by nature, certain technology limitations cannot be eliminated, and you may require extra time to develop their testing solutions.