Book Image

The Ultimate Kali Linux Book - Second Edition

By : Glen D. Singh
5 (1)
Book Image

The Ultimate Kali Linux Book - Second Edition

5 (1)
By: Glen D. Singh

Overview of this book

Kali Linux is the most popular and advanced penetration testing Linux distribution within the cybersecurity industry. Using Kali Linux, a cybersecurity professional will be able to discover and exploit various vulnerabilities and perform advanced penetration testing on both enterprise wired and wireless networks. This book is a comprehensive guide for those who are new to Kali Linux and penetration testing that will have you up to speed in no time. Using real-world scenarios, you’ll understand how to set up a lab and explore core penetration testing concepts. Throughout this book, you’ll focus on information gathering and even discover different vulnerability assessment tools bundled in Kali Linux. You’ll learn to discover target systems on a network, identify security flaws on devices, exploit security weaknesses and gain access to networks, set up Command and Control (C2) operations, and perform web application penetration testing. In this updated second edition, you’ll be able to compromise Active Directory and exploit enterprise networks. Finally, this book covers best practices for performing complex web penetration testing techniques in a highly secured environment. By the end of this Kali Linux book, you’ll have gained the skills to perform advanced penetration testing on enterprise networks using Kali Linux.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
1
Section 1: Getting Started with Penetration Testing
5
Section 2: Reconnaissance and Network Penetration Testing
11
Section 3: Red Teaming Techniques
17
Section 4: Social Engineering and Web Application Attacks

Understanding MITM and packet sniffing attacks

When connected on a network, whether it's wired or wireless, there are a lot of packets being sent back and forth between hosts. Some of these packets may contain sensitive and confidential information, such as usernames, passwords, password hashes, and documents, which are valuable to a penetration tester. While there are many secure network protocols that provide data encryption, there are many unsecure network protocols that transmit data in plaintext.

While networking technologies have evolved over time, this is not the case for many network protocols with the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite. There are many applications and services that operate on a client-server model that sends sensitive data in plaintext, allowing a penetration tester to both intercept and capture such data. Capturing user credentials and password hashes will allow you to easily gain access to clients and servers...