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

Chapter 4. Information Gathering

In this chapter, we will discuss the information gathering phase of penetration testing. We will describe the definition and purpose of information gathering. We will also describe several tools in Kali Linux that can be used for information gathering. After reading this chapter, we hope that the reader will have a better understanding of the information gathering phase and will be able to do information gathering during penetration testing.

Information gathering is the second phase in our penetration testing process (Kali Linux testing process) as explained in the Kali Linux testing methodology section in Chapter 2, Penetration Testing Methodology. In this phase, we try to collect as much information as we can about the target, for example, information about the Domain Name System (DNS) hostnames, IP addresses, technologies and configuration used, username organization, documents, application code, password reset information, contact information, and so on. During information gathering, every piece of information gathered is considered important.

Information gathering can be categorized in two ways based on the method used: active information gathering and passive information gathering. In the active information gathering method, we collect information by introducing network traffic to the target network, while in the passive information gathering method, we gather information about a target network by utilizing a third party's services, such as the Google search engine. We will cover this later on.

Note

Remember that no method is better in comparison another; each has its own advantages. In passive scanning, you gather less information, but your action will be stealthy, while in active scanning, you get more information, but some devices may catch your action. During a penetration testing project, this phase may be done several times for the completeness of information collected. You may also discuss with your penetration testing customer which method they want.

For this chapter, we will utilize the passive and active methods of information gathering to get a better picture of the target.

We will be discussing the following topics in this chapter:

  • Public websites that can be used to collect information about the target domain
  • Domain registration information
  • DNS analysis
  • Route information
  • Search engine utilization

Open Source Intelligence

One of the key terms often associated with Information Gathering is Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). Military and intelligence organizations divide their intelligence sources into a variety of types. True espionage, involving interaction between spies, is often referred to as Human Intelligence (HUMINT). The capturing of radio signals with the intent of cracking the encryption is called Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). While the penetration tester is not likely to interface with either of these, the information gathering stage is OSINT. OSINT is information derived from sources that have no security controls preventing their disclosure. They are often public records or information that target organizations share as part of their daily operations.

For this information to be of use to the penetration tester, they need specific knowledge and tools to find this information. The Information Gathering stage relies heavily on this information. In addition, simply showing an organization what OSINT they are leaking may give them an idea of areas in which to increase security. As we will see in this chapter, there is a great deal of information that is visible to those who know where to look.