This tutorial aims to introduce you to the basics of penetration testing, which is a practice of testing a computer system, network, or web application to find security vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit.
By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to understand the purpose of penetration testing, its methodologies, as well as the tools and skills required.
No specific prerequisites are required. However, a basic understanding of computer networks and security principles can be helpful.
Penetration Testing, also known as Pen Testing or Ethical Hacking, is a legal and authorized attempt to locate and successfully exploit computer systems for the purpose of making those systems more secure.
The process involves the following steps:
Planning and reconnaissance: Define the scope and goals of a test, including the systems to be addressed and the testing methods to be used. Gather intelligence (e.g., network and domain names, mail servers) to better understand how the target works and its potential vulnerabilities.
Scanning: Use tools like nmap, Nessus, etc., to understand how the target application will respond to different intrusion attempts.
Gaining Access: This stage uses web application attacks, such as cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and backdoors, to uncover a target's vulnerabilities. Testers then try to exploit these vulnerabilities, typically by escalating privileges, stealing data, intercepting traffic, etc.
Maintaining Access: The goal here is to see if the vulnerability can be used to achieve a persistent presence in the exploited system—long enough for a bad actor to gain in-depth access. The idea is to imitate advanced persistent threats, which often remain in a system for months to steal an organization's most sensitive data.
Analysis: The results of the penetration test are then compiled into a report detailing:
Specific vulnerabilities that were exploited
Unfortunately, due to ethical reasons, we cannot provide explicit code examples of penetration exploits. However, we will demonstrate usage of a popular penetration testing tool called nmap.
# Install nmap
sudo apt-get install nmap
# Using nmap to scan a network
nmap -sS -p 22,80,443 192.168.1.0/24
Here, -sS initiates a SYN scan, -p specifies the ports, and the IP address is the target. The result should be a list of IP addresses on your network with these ports open.
In this tutorial, we've covered the basics of penetration testing, including its purpose, methodologies, and the tools and skills required. We've also looked at the steps involved in a penetration test.
Set up a virtual lab environment for penetration testing. Tools like VirtualBox or VMware can be used to set up a virtual lab.
With explicit permission, conduct a simple penetration test on your own network using nmap.
Analyze the results and document your findings.
Remember, never conduct penetration testing activities without proper authorization. Unauthorized testing is illegal.
To continue learning about penetration testing, consider studying a programming language like Python, which is often used for creating custom penetration testing tools. You may also want to look at more advanced penetration testing tools like Metasploit and Wireshark.
Remember, ethical hacking is an important and complex field. Always use your skills responsibly and legally.