Book Image

Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux

Book Image

Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux

Overview of this book

Kali Linux is built for professional penetration testing and security auditing. It is the next-generation of BackTrack, the most popular open-source penetration toolkit in the world. Readers will learn how to think like real attackers, exploit systems, and expose vulnerabilities. Even though web applications are developed in a very secure environment and have an intrusion detection system and firewall in place to detect and prevent any malicious activity, open ports are a pre-requisite for conducting online business. These ports serve as an open door for attackers to attack these applications. As a result, penetration testing becomes essential to test the integrity of web-applications. Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux is a hands-on guide that will give you step-by-step methods on finding vulnerabilities and exploiting web applications. "Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux" looks at the aspects of web penetration testing from the mind of an attacker. It provides real-world, practical step-by-step instructions on how to perform web penetration testing exercises. You will learn how to use network reconnaissance to pick your targets and gather information. Then, you will use server-side attacks to expose vulnerabilities in web servers and their applications. Client attacks will exploit the way end users use web applications and their workstations. You will also learn how to use open source tools to write reports and get tips on how to sell penetration tests and look out for common pitfalls. On the completion of this book, you will have the skills needed to use Kali Linux for web penetration tests and expose vulnerabilities on web applications and clients that access them.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Host scanning


A common method to accessing host systems is by identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in the operating system, installed applications, and other programs. Tools such as Nessus are automated methods to evaluate systems for known vulnerabilities. This section will cover how to install and run Nessus against a target system. Exploitation tools covered in Chapter 3, Server-side Attacks, can be used to take advantage of vulnerabilities identified by Nessus.

Host scanning with Nessus

Nessus does not come pre-installed with Kali. You will need to obtain a registration code from Tenable to use Nessus. Tenable gives a home feed option, but is limited to scanning 16 IP addresses. If you would like to scan more IPs, you must purchase a professional feed from Tenable.

Installing Nessus on Kali

Nessus HomeFeed is available for non-commercial, personal use only. If you will use Nessus at your place of business, you must purchase Nessus ProfessionalFeed. To get an activation code for Nessus...