Book Image

Kali Linux Cookbook

Book Image

Kali Linux Cookbook

Overview of this book

In this age, where online information is at its most vulnerable, knowing how to execute the same attacks that hackers use to break into your system or network helps you plug the loopholes before it's too late and can save you countless hours and money. Kali Linux is a Linux distribution designed for penetration testing and security auditing. It is the successor to BackTrack, the world's most popular penetration testing distribution. Discover a variety of popular tools of penetration testing, such as information gathering, vulnerability identification, exploitation, privilege escalation, and covering your tracks. Packed with practical recipes, this useful guide begins by covering the installation of Kali Linux and setting up a virtual environment to perform your tests. You will then learn how to eavesdrop and intercept traffic on wireless networks, bypass intrusion detection systems, and attack web applications, as well as checking for open ports, performing data forensics, and much more. The book follows the logical approach of a penetration test from start to finish with many screenshots and illustrations that help to explain each tool in detail. The Kali Linux Cookbook will serve as an excellent source of information for the security professional and novice alike!
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
Kali Linux Cookbook
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Installing, configuring, and starting Nessus


In this recipe, we will install, configure, and start Nessus. Nessus depends on vulnerability checks in the form of feeds in order to locate vulnerabilities on our chosen target. Nessus comes in two flavors of feeds: Home and Professional.

  • Home Feed: The Home Feed is for noncommercial/personal usage. Using Nessus in a professional environment for any reason requires the use of the Professional Feed.

  • Professional Feed: The Professional Feed is for commercial usage. It includes support and additional features such as unlimited concurrent connections and so on. If you are a consultant and are performing tests for a client, the Professional Feed is the one for you.

For our recipe, we will assume you are utilizing the Home Feed.

Getting ready

The following requirements need to be fulfilled:

  • A connection to the Internet is required to complete this recipe

  • A valid license for the Nessus Home Feed

How to do it...

Let's begin the installation, configuring, and...