Book Image

Hands-On Penetration Testing on Windows

By : Phil Bramwell
Book Image

Hands-On Penetration Testing on Windows

By: Phil Bramwell

Overview of this book

Windows has always been the go-to platform for users around the globe to perform administration and ad hoc tasks, in settings that range from small offices to global enterprises, and this massive footprint makes securing Windows a unique challenge. This book will enable you to distinguish yourself to your clients. In this book, you'll learn advanced techniques to attack Windows environments from the indispensable toolkit that is Kali Linux. We'll work through core network hacking concepts and advanced Windows exploitation techniques, such as stack and heap overflows, precision heap spraying, and kernel exploitation, using coding principles that allow you to leverage powerful Python scripts and shellcode. We'll wrap up with post-exploitation strategies that enable you to go deeper and keep your access. Finally, we'll introduce kernel hacking fundamentals and fuzzing testing, so you can discover vulnerabilities and write custom exploits. By the end of this book, you'll be well-versed in identifying vulnerabilities within the Windows OS and developing the desired solutions for them.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
Title Page
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

Getting familiar with VMware Workstation


If you talk to anyone today about running virtual machines (VMs) on a personal Windows computer, you're going to hear about two primary players: VMware and VirtualBox. There are many differences, but the big difference that can sway a decision in which to adopt is the fact that VirtualBox is open source and VMware is proprietary. This is true for the most part, however, it's possible to use VMware for free and it's possible to pay for VirtualBox. So let's do a quick comparison before we dive in with VMware Workstation in particular.

Note

This discussion assumes personal use. All of these products require proper licensing for commercial use.

 

 

VMware versus Oracle for desktop virtualization

Perhaps you only need to run a single VM at a time. If this is the case, then VMware Workstation Player is a great solution; it's free to use and made by the industry leader. On the other hand, if free to use is a must and you need to run multiple VMs at once, then...