Introduction to Ethical
Hacking and Penetration
Testing
By
Mitul Patel
CONCEPTS COVERED
• What is ethical hacking
• Penetration Testing
• Role of ethical hackers
What is Ethical Hacking?
• It refers to the act of locating weaknesses and vulnerabilities of
computer and information systems by replicating the intent and actions
of malicious hackers.
• It is also known as penetration testing, intrusion testing or red teaming.
Introduction to Ethical Hacking
• Ethical Hackers
• Employed by companies to perform penetration test.
• Penetration Test
• Legal attempt to break into the company’s network to find the weak
links.
• Tester only report findings, does not provide solutions.
•Security Test
• Also includes analyzing company’s security policy and procedures.
• Tester offers solutions to secure or protect the network.
Some Terminologies
• Hacking - showing computer expertise.
• Cracking - breaching security on software or systems.
• Spoofing - faking the originating IP address in a datagram.
• Denial of Service (DoS) - flooding a host with sufficient
network traffic so that it cannot respond anymore.
• Port Scanning - searching for vulnerabilities.
Gaining access
Once inside, the hacker can...
• Modify logs
• To cover their tracks.
• Steal files
• Sometimes destroy after stealing.
• An expert hacker would steal and cover their tracks to remain undetected.
• Modify files
• To let you know they were there.
• To cause mischief.
• Install back doors
• So they can get in again.
• Attack other systems
The Role of Security and Penetration Testers
• Script kiddies or packet monkeys
• Young or inexperienced hackers.
• Copy codes and techniques from knowledgeable hackers.
• Experienced penetration testers write programs or scripts
using
• Perl, C, C++, Python, JavaScript, Visual Basic, SQL, and many others.
Penetration-Testing Methodologies
• Tiger box
• Collection of OSs and hacking tools.
• Usually on a laptop.
• Helps penetration testers and security testers conduct
vulnerabilities assessments and attacks.
• White box model
• Tester is told everything about the network topology and technology.
• Tester is authorized to interview IT personnel and company
employees.
• Makes tester’s job a little easier
Penetration-Testing Methodologies
• Black box model
• Tester is not given details about the network.
• Burden is on the tester to find the details.
• Gray box model
• Hybrid of the white and black box models.
• Company gives tester partial information.
What You Can Do Legally
• Laws involving technology change as rapidly as technology
itself.
• Find what is legal for you locally.
• Laws change from place to place.
• Be aware of what is allowed and what is not allowed.
Laws of the Land
• Tools on your computer might be illegal to possess.
• Contact local law enforcement agencies before installing
hacking tools.
• Written words are open to interpretation.
• Governments are getting more serious about punishment for
cybercrimes.
What You Cannot Do Legally
• Accessing a computer without permission is illegal.
• Other illegal actions:
• Installing worms or viruses
• Denial of Service attacks
• Denying users access to network resources
• Be careful your ac1ons do not prevent customers from doing
their jobs.
Ethical Hacking in a Nutshell
• What it takes to be a security tester?
• Knowledge of network and computer technology.
• Ability to communicate with management and IT personnel.
• Understanding of the laws.
• Ability to use necessary tools.
Basics of Networking(OSI vs TCP/IP)
Data Flow in TCP/IP
TCP/IP Family Members(Partial List)
Format of IP Datagram
Viewing IP Packets
• We can use packet sniffers to view IP packets.
• Some popular packet sniffers:
• Wireshark
• Windump
• tcpdump
• Tshark
• SolarWinds
• …. and many more
Wireshark …
