Some Black Hats even blackmail organizations using ransomware. They attack the networks of government institutions, organizations, and prominent personalities to further their ideological, political, social, or scientific agendas.
One group known for having such motivations is Anonymous. Entertainment — The majority of Gray Hats tend to exploit networks for fun or pride.
They are seeking a challenge and will violate ethical laws to satisfy their curiosity. However, they are not malicious and will even inform the network administrator about the vulnerabilities they find.
Cyber Security — White Hats generally exploit a system to find weaknesses so that they can make them more secure.
Organizations often employ hackers to work for them, patch vulnerabilities, and create codes of practice for employees to follow to avoid cyber breaches. Chapter 2: Penetration Testing Penetration testing refers to the testing of a cyber system, network, or application to detect weaknesses that may be exploited by a malicious hacker. You are essentially trying to gain access to a system without having any usernames or passwords.
The aim is to see how easy it is to acquire confidential information about an organization, and then increase the security of the system being tested. So what exactly is the difference between a penetration test and an attack? A hacker who conducts a penetration test will be given the authorization by the owner of the system, who will then expect a detailed report at the end of it all.
As the tester, you may be given user-level access to allow you to gain entry into the system. The other option is to go in blind.
In a blind or covert assessment, you are not given any information except the name of the client organization. The rest is up to you, which is exactly how most malicious hackers do it anyway. The only issue with a covert assessment is that it will take more time than an overt one, increasing the chances of you missing some flaw.
You may be hired to find just one weakness, but in most instances, you will be expected to keep searching to find all the potential vulnerabilities in a network. Once identified, you will have to find ways of fixing these holes. This is why you will have to write down detailed notes regarding your test procedure and results. Keeping notes enables the client to determine the effectiveness of your work and check to see if the issues you discovered are indeed fixed. However, it is highly unlikely that you will detect every single security flaw or hole in the system.
Detecting Vulnerabilities The steps taken by a penetration tester and a malicious hacker are usually the same. In most cases, a malicious hacker will move slowly through a system in order to avoid being detected. Once this is done, these loopholes should be sealed.
The first step is usually reconnaissance. You attempt to collect as much information about your target network as you possibly can. This is normally a passive process that involves using resources available to the public. When you have gathered your information, it is then time to verify it. This can be achieved by comparing the network or system information gathered with known vulnerabilities.
Once you test the vulnerabilities, you will know for sure whether the information you had gathered is accurate or not. Reasons for Performing Penetration Testing 1. Identify weaknesses that malicious hackers may exploit Even as you read this book right now, it is possible that there are malicious hackers launching tools and network attacks to try to penetrate your system.
These attacks are never-ending and you cannot predict when a system will be hit. In most cases, these exploits are well known and thus preventable.
The IT department of an organization may be keen on knowing where the weaknesses are within their network and how a malicious hacker may take advantage of them. As a penetration tester, you will be required to attack the system and fix the holes before someone with bad intentions finds their way in. A system may be secure today but tomorrow it may fall victim to a breach. The cyber security team may be aware of vulnerabilities but management is resistant to support changes being made to the existing system.
By outsourcing the testing to an external consultant, management is more likely to respect the results obtained. Confirm that the internal security team is doing its job The penetration test report will show whether the cyber security department is efficient in its work.
It may identify whether there is a gap between knowledge of system vulnerabilities and implementation of security measures. By performing a penetration test, it is possible to discover just how vigilant your security is and whether the staff needs extra training. It also highlights the effectiveness of the countermeasures that have been put in place in case of a cyber attack.
Testing of new technology Before launching a new piece of technology, for example, a new wireless infrastructure, it is critical that the system is tested for vulnerabilities.
This will definitely save more money than performing the test while customers are already using it. The Penetration Testing Report Once you have completed the test, you have to compile all the data in a proper format and submit a report. Keep in mind that the majority of the management staff may not be technically oriented, so the has to be split into appropriate sections for easy reading. You should have an Executive Summary, a Technical Summary containing all the specific IT jargon, and a Management Summary that explains what needs to be done to fix the flaws detected.
They are full of confidence and know for certain that they are going to win. However, when the fighting starts, the soldier discovers that he walked into an ambush.
He may take down most of the enemy troops, but because he was never prepared for the battle, he ends up losing. This is where a hacking methodology comes in handy. A hacking methodology is what a hacker uses to guide them from the first step to the last.
To effectively exploit any vulnerability in a system, you need to identify some key things that will help you achieve your objectives. Without a proper methodology, you are likely to end up wasting time and energy fighting a losing battle.
Target Mapping Finding the perfect target for your attack is not as simple as it sounds. You have to be strategic in the way you conduct your research and search out the target with the most potential.
You have to analyze their habits and then use the information collected to come up with the most appropriate strategy. The objective of mapping your target is to determine what and who you are attacking before penetrating the system.
Hackers usually go after one or several targets at once. Depending on the kind of information that you are looking for, you can decide to attack web servers storing personal information.
You could also decide to go big and hack into a financial institution. Your target could be a specific website that you want to take down using DoS attacks, or you could deface its web page. You may be interested in a specific individual in an organization.
When you are searching for potential targets to attack, you have to consider the level of security that you will be trying to overcome. Most hackers only go after targets that they know are easy to beat, so the level of vulnerability is often a key factor in mapping your target.
Another factor to consider is whether the information gained from the attack is worth it. This will help determine how long you are willing to take trying to access the system. So how do you go about gathering information about your intended target? This may bring up their contact information. If your target is an organization, then you can search for job openings that the company has advertised for, specifically in the IT department.
You may be surprised to learn just how much useful information is given out in a job advert, for example, the software that potential recruits need to be familiar with. As a hacker, you need to know which keywords will bring up the most information.
Whois is a great way to perform a social engineering attack or scan a network. You can find the DNS servers of the target domain as well as the names and addresses of the people who registered the target domain. Google Groups tends to store a lot of sensitive data about its users, for example, usernames, domain names, and IP addresses. Once you have done this, every file within the site that is publicly accessible will be downloaded onto your local hard drive.
This will allow you to scan the mirror copy and find names and email addresses of employees, files, directories, the source code for its web pages, and much more information.
Websites By now you should be aware that there are certain websites that are a treasure trove of key information about individuals and organizations. Good examples include www. Scanning the Target Network So far you have been collecting information that will allow you to see the entire target network as a whole. The hostnames, open ports, IP addresses and running applications should now be visible to you.
Remember that if you are to perform an effective exploit, you must learn to think like a malicious hacker. You can begin to use scanning software to find and record any hosts that are accessible online. Your own operating system should have its own standard ping tool. However, there are third party tools like SuperScan and NetScan Tools Pro that are able to ping the hostname of the domain or multiple IP addresses simultaneously.
Analyzing Open Ports As a beginner, there are tools that you can use to check for the presence of open ports to penetrate the target network. You can either go the manual route or use an automatic evaluation tool.
The manual method will require you to link to any of the open ports you uncovered earlier. Test these ports until you find a way in. The automated method involves the use of tools such as QualysGuard, which is a cloud-based tool that is designed to scan open ports. Another tool that is available is Nexpose, which can scan a total of 32 hosts simultaneously.
Chapter 4: Gaining Physical Access Picture this: A multi-million dollar corporation invests millions of dollars on technology-oriented cyber security countermeasures to protect its data. They have totally locked down their networks and system, and have conducted multiple penetration tests using elite hackers to keep out any malicious hackers who may have been hired by their competitors.
Now imagine that this company goes on to hire a security company that has lazy security guards. They never do any physical checks around the facility and even leave some doors open. Visitors are rarely scanned or asked to sign in. Even the computer rooms are normally left open. Would you say this is a smart company that cares about protecting its data from hackers? Yes, they have plugged the electronic holes, but they have literally left the door wide open for hackers to physically breach their security!
You do not have to hack into a network remotely to gain access to data. You can gain physical access to a facility and perform your exploit from within. Over the last couple of decades, most companies have found it extremely difficult to maintain physical security. Thanks to advancements in technology, there are now more physical vulnerabilities that a hacker can take advantage of. It is not that hard to get your hands on such devices, especially considering the fact that most employees take data with them when they leave work at the end of the day.
Once you identify your target, you may not even have to enter the building; they will bring the data to you. In this chapter, you are going to learn about how to take advantage of some of the physical security vulnerabilities in buildings that you have targeted.
Once you have breached the on-site security and gained physical access, be prepared to penetrate the system from the inside. Types of Physical Vulnerabilities Failure to establish a front desk to monitor visitors who enter and exit the building.
Failure to enforce mandatory signing-in of all employees and visitors. Tossing sensitive corporate and personal documents into the trash instead of shredding them. Failure to lock doors leading to computer rooms. Leaving digital devices lying around the offices. Creating your Plan One of the first things you will have to do is to come up with a way of breaching physical security.
This will require some extensive reconnaissance work on your part. You must identify the kind of security measures that the facility has put in place, the weaknesses and vulnerabilities present, and how to take advantage of them. This may seem simple on paper but it is not that easy once you get on the ground.
The assumption here is that you are working without an inside man to feed you the vital security information. It may be a couple of weeks before you are able to collect all the information you need to launch your attack.
A physical security breach means you must have the right skills and knowledge to not only enter the building, but also to maneuver your way inside, and then exit without being detected. If you lack the patience, physical fitness, and mental agility necessary for such a task, then do not attempt a physical breach. Stick to performing your attacks from a remote location. There are a number of physical security factors you will have to consider when planning how to gain access to your target.
These are categorized into two distinct classes: Physical Controls and Technical Controls. Physical controls You will have to consider how the security team controls, monitors, and manages access into and out of the facility. In some cases, the building may be divided into public, private, and restricted sections. You will have to determine the best technique to enter the section that contains the target.
Perimeter Security How do you plan on circumventing the perimeter security? You will need to know whether the facility has a wall, fence, dogs, surveillance cameras, turnstiles, mantraps, and other types of perimeter security. These are just the deterrents that you may have to deal with on the outside. At this point, you should know where the weaknesses are in the design of the facility.
If there is a high wall that has big trees all around it, you can climb up the branches and jump into the compound. Of course, you will have to be physically agile and fit enough to do this. Learn the location of the security lights and where the dark spots or shadows fall. These can provide great hiding spots if you plan on gaining access at night.
You should also consider dumpster diving as a way to gain access to sensitive data. Check the location of the dumpsters and whether they are easily accessible. It would be a good idea to know when the garbage is collected so that you can fake being part of the garbage crew. They are also used to track the files and directories that an employee creates or modifies.
Getting your hands on an ID badge may require you to steal one from a legitimate employee, or making your own fake badge. Befriend an employee in the smoking area and follow them in as you continue your conversation. Get a fake uniform and impersonate a contractor, salesperson, or repairman.
If you want to go all-in, then consider acquiring a service truck and equipment to make you appear more legit. Intrusion Detection Systems These generally include motion detectors and intrusion alarms. You will have to know the types of motion detectors you are dealing with.
Are they infrared, heat-based, wave pattern, capacitance, photoelectric, or passive audio motion detectors? Each of these works differently and understanding its strengths and weaknesses will help you in your mission. You will also need to know the type of alarms inside the building. The facility may have sensors on the doors and windows, glass break detectors, water sensors, and so on. So only the people you want them to see can open the file. There are actually more features, and why to try and find out!
Buy PDFelement right now! Margarete Cotty. Part 1. You're allowed to add up to file a time. Even though the program still shows consistency in play and never crashed. It means you can save the PDF on the folder where the source file are. You can also specify an output folder for the exported PDF files.
After you imported the PDF files and specify the output folder, just click the Start button to begin the breaking process. If there is a lock icon appearing on the PDF item bar, it means the imported PDF file is protected by open user,then you will be asked to type the Open password in the pop up window. If you don't know the password of the PDF file, Method 1 will not work.
Thankfully, there are several online tools that let you crack the password of various types of PDF files. Some of these tools also allow you to select multiple files at a time. This saves you effort and time. But, there are some serious drawbacks of using the free online tools. First of all, most such free tools restrict password crack to PDF files of certain size. For instance, you may not be able to crack the password if the file size exceeds MB. You also need high speed internet connection to process multiple files.
One of the biggest challenges is that you cannot always trust these tools. There are some sites that end up sneaking in the malicious programs to your computer.
That's certainly not what you want. This trick works to recover a Wi-Fi network password AKA network security key only if you've previously attached to the Wi Cracking any wireless network Now you have handshake and you need to download largest wordlist in the world to have change to hack password. There are many other methods to hack WiFi using Android. Stay tuned for more tricks. Related Interests. How to hack wifi password using command prompt pdf
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