Book Image

Windows and Linux Penetration Testing from Scratch - Second Edition

By : Phil Bramwell
Book Image

Windows and Linux Penetration Testing from Scratch - Second Edition

By: Phil Bramwell

Overview of this book

Let’s be honest—security testing can get repetitive. If you’re ready to break out of the routine and embrace the art of penetration testing, this book will help you to distinguish yourself to your clients. This pen testing book is your guide to learning advanced techniques to attack Windows and Linux environments from the indispensable platform, Kali Linux. You'll work through core network hacking concepts and advanced exploitation techniques that leverage both technical and human factors to maximize success. You’ll also explore how to leverage public resources to learn more about your target, discover potential targets, analyze them, and gain a foothold using a variety of exploitation techniques while dodging defenses like antivirus and firewalls. The book focuses on leveraging target resources, such as PowerShell, to execute powerful and difficult-to-detect attacks. Along the way, you’ll enjoy reading about how these methods work so that you walk away with the necessary knowledge to explain your findings to clients from all backgrounds. Wrapping up with post-exploitation strategies, you’ll be able to go deeper and keep your access. By the end of this book, you'll be well-versed in identifying vulnerabilities within your clients’ environments and providing the necessary insight for proper remediation.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
1
Part 1: Recon and Exploitation
9
Part 2: Vulnerability Fundamentals
17
Part 3: Post-Exploitation

Bypassing media access control filtering – considerations for the physical assessor

An attacker needs to be aware of methods for remote compromise: attacking the VPN, wireless infiltration from a distance using high-gain antennas, and so on. However, the pen tester can never forget the big picture. This is a field where it is very easy to get caught up in the highly specific technical details and miss the human element of security design.

There is a design flaw concept that pen testers like to call the candy bar model. This simply refers to a network that is tough and crunchy on the outside but gooey on the inside. In other words, it is a model that emphasizes the threats of the outside world when designing the security architecture, while assuming that someone who is physically inside company facilities has been vetted and is therefore trusted. The mindset here dates back many years; in the earliest days of what became the internet, the physical access points to the network...