Ping Sweep Techniques



The CEH scanning methodology starts with checking for systems that are live on the network, meaning that they respond to probes or connection requests. The simplest, although not necessarily the most accurate, way to determine whether systems are live is to perform a ping sweep of the IP address range. All systems that respond with a ping reply are considered live on the network. A ping sweep is also known as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) scanning, as ICMP is the protocol used by the pingcommand.
ICMP scanning, or a ping sweep, is the process of sending an ICMP request or ping to all hosts on the network to determine which ones are up and responding to pings. ICMP began as a protocol used to send test and error messages between hosts on the Internet. It has evolved as a protocol utilized by every operating system, router, switch or Internet Protocol (IP)-based device. The ability to use the ICMP Echo request and Echo reply as a connectivity test between hosts is built into every IP-enabled device via the pingcommand. It is a quick and dirty test to see if two hosts have connectivity and is used extensively for troubleshooting.
A benefit of ICMP scanning is that it can be run in parallel, meaning all systems are scanned at the same time; thus it can run quickly on an entire network. Most hacking tools include a ping sweep option, which essentially means performing an ICMP request to every host on the network. Systems that respond with a ping response are alive and listening on the network. 
A timeout indicates that the remote system is not responding or turned off or that the ping was blocked. A reply indicates that the system is alive and responding to ICMP requests.

Detecting Ping Sweeps

Almost any IDS or intrusion prevention system (IPS) system will detect and alert the security administrator to a ping sweep occurring on the network. Most firewall and proxy servers block ping responses so a hacker can't accurately determine whether systems are available using a ping sweep alone. More intense port scanning must be used if systems don't respond to a ping sweep. Just because a ping sweep doesn't return any active hosts on the network doesn't mean they aren't available—you need to try an alternate method of identification. Remember, hacking takes time, patience, and persistence.

Scanning Ports and Identifying Services

Checking for open ports is the second step in the CEH scanning methodology. Port scanning is the method used to check for open ports. The process of port scanning involves probing each port on a host to determine which ports are open. Port scanning generally yields more valuable information than a ping sweep about the host and vulnerabilities on the system.
Service identification is the third step in the CEH scanning methodology; it's usually performed using the same tools as port scanning. By identifying open ports, a hacker can usually also identify the services associated with that port number.

Port-Scan Countermeasures

Countermeasures are processes or toolsets used by security administrators to detect and possibly thwart port scanning of hosts on their network. The following list of countermeasures should be implemented to prevent a hacker from acquiring information during a port scan:
  • Proper security architecture, such as implementation of IDS and firewalls, should be followed.
  • Ethical hackers use their toolset to test the scanning countermeasures that have been implemented. Once a firewall is in place, a port-scanning tool should be run against hosts on the network to determine whether the firewall correctly detects and stops the port-scanning activity.
  • The firewall should be able to detect the probes sent by port-scanning tools. The firewall should carry out stateful inspections, which means it examines the data of the packet and not just the TCP header to determine whether the traffic is allowed to pass through the firewall.
  • Network IDS should be used to identify the OS-detection method used by some common hackers tools.
  • Only needed ports should be kept open. The rest should be filtered or blocked.
  • The staff of the organization using the systems should be given appropriate training on security awareness. They should also know the various security policies they're required to follow.
at 7:14 AM 1 comments
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Gathering Network and Host Information—Scanning



After the reconnaissance and information-gathering stages have been completed, scanning is performed. It is important that the information-gathering stage be as complete as possible to identify the best location and targets to scan. During scanning, the hacker continues to gather information regarding the network and its individual host systems. Information such as IP addresses, operating system, services, and installed applications can help the hacker determine which type of exploit to use in hacking a system.
Scanning is the process of locating systems that are alive and responding on the network. Ethical hackers use scanning to identify target systems' IP addresses. Scanning is also used to determine whether a system is on the network and available. Scanning tools are used to gather information about a system such as IP addresses, the operating system, and services running on the target computer.
Table 1 lists the three types of scanning.
Table 1: Types of scanning 
Scanning type
Purpose
Port scanning
Determines open ports and services
Network scanning
Identifies IP addresses on a given network or subnet
Vulnerability scanning
Discovers presence of known weaknesses on target systems
  • Port Scanning Port scanning is the process of identifying open and available TCP/IP ports on a system. Port-scanning tools enable a hacker to learn about the services available on a given system. Each service or application on a machine is associated with a well-known port number. Port Numbers are divided into three ranges:
  • Well-Known Ports: 0-1023
  • Registered Ports: 1024-49151
  • Dynamic Ports: 49152-65535
For example, a port-scanning tool that identifies port 80 as open indicates a web server is running on that system. Hackers need to be familiar with well-known port numbers.

  • Network Scanning Network scanning is a procedure for identifying active hosts on a network, either to attack them or as a network security assessment. Hosts are identified by their individual IP addresses. Network-scanning tools attempt to identify all the live or responding hosts on the network and their corresponding IP addresses.
  • Vulnerability Scanning Vulnerability scanning is the process of proactively identifying the vulnerabilities of computer systems on a network. Generally, a vulnerability scanner first identifies the operating system and version number, including service packs that may be installed. Then, the scanner identifies weaknesses or vulnerabilities in the operating system. During the later attack phase, a hacker can exploit those weaknesses in order to gain access to the system.
    Although scanning can quickly identify which hosts are listening and active on a network, it is also a quick way to be identified by an intrusion detection system (IDS). Scanning tools probe TCP/IP ports looking for open ports and IP addresses, and these probes can be recognized by most security intrusion detection tools. Network and vulnerability scanning can usually be detected as well, because the scanner must interact with the target system over the network.
    Depending on the type of scanning application and the speed of the scan, an IDS will detect the scanning and flag it as an IDS event. Some of the tools for scanning have different modes to attempt to defeat an IDS and are more likely to be able to scan undetected. As a CEH it is your job to gather as much information as possible and try and remain undetected.
at 3:42 AM 1 comments
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Social-Engineering Countermeasures



Knowing how to combat social engineering is critical for any certified ethical hacker. There are a number of ways to do this.
Documented and enforced security policies and security awareness programs are the most critical component in any information security program. Good policies and procedures aren't effective if they aren't taught and reinforced to employees. The policies need to be communicated to employees to emphasize their importance and then enforced by management. After receiving security awareness training, employees will be committed to supporting the security policies of the organization.
The corporate security policy should address how and when accounts are set up and terminated, how often passwords are changed, who can access what information, and how policy violations are to be handled. Also, the policy should spell out help desk procedures for the previous tasks as well as a process for identifying employees—for example, using an employee number or other information to validate a password change. The destruction of paper documents and physical access restrictions are additional areas the security policy should address. Lastly, the policy should address technical areas, such as use of modems and virus control.
One of the advantages of a strong security policy is that it removes the responsibility of employees to make judgment calls regarding a hacker's request. If the requested action is prohibited by the policy, the employee has guidelines for denying it.
The most important countermeasure for social engineering is employee education. All employees should be trained on how to keep confidential data safe. Management teams are involved in the creation and implementation of the security policy so that they fully understand it and support it throughout the organization. The company security awareness policy should require all new employees to go through a security orientation. Annual classes should be required to provide refreshers and updated information for employees.
Another way to increase involvement is through a monthly newsletter with security awareness articles.
at 3:43 AM 1 comments
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Types of Social Engineering-Attacks



Social engineering can be broken into two common types:
  • Human-Based Human-based social engineering refers to person-to-person interaction to retrieve the desired information. An example is calling the help desk and trying to find out a password.
  • Computer-Based Computer-based social engineering refers to having computer software that attempts to retrieve the desired information. An example is sending a user an email and asking them to reenter a password in a web page to confirm it. This social-engineering attack is also known as phishing.
We'll look at each of these more closely in the following sections.

Human-Based Social Engineering

Human-based social engineering techniques can be broadly categorized as follows:
  • Impersonating an Employee or Valid User In this type of social-engineering attack, the hacker pretends to be an employee or valid user on the system. A hacker can gain physical access by pretending to be a janitor, employee, or contractor. Once inside the facility, the hacker gathers information from trashcans, desktops, or computer systems.
  • Posing as an Important User In this type of attack, the hacker pretends to be an important user such as an executive or high-level manager who needs immediate assistance to gain access to a computer system or files. The hacker uses intimidation so that a lower-level employee such as a help desk worker will assist them in gaining access to the system. Most low-level employees won't question someone who appears to be in a position of authority.
  • Using a Third Person Using the third-person approach, a hacker pretends to have permission from an authorized source to use a system. This attack is especially effective if the supposed authorized source is on vacation or can't be contacted for verification.
  • Calling Technical Support Calling tech support for assistance is a classic social-engineering technique. Help desk and technical support personnel are trained to help users, which makes them good prey for social-engineering attacks.
  • Shoulder Surfing Shoulder surfing is a technique of gathering passwords by watching over a person's shoulder while they log in to the system. A hacker can watch a valid user log in and then use that password to gain access to the system.
  • Dumpster Diving Dumpster diving involves looking in the trash for information written on pieces of paper or computer printouts. The hacker can often find passwords, filenames, or other pieces of confidential information.
A more advanced method of gaining illicit information is known as reverse social engineering. Using this technique, a hacker creates a persona that appears to be in a position of authority so that employees ask the hacker for information, rather than the other way around. For example, a hacker can impersonate a help desk employee and get the user to give them information such as a password.


Computer-Based Social Engineering

Computer-based social-engineering attacks can include the following:
  • Email attachments
  • Fake websites
  • Pop-up windows

Insider Attacks

If a hacker can't find any other way to hack an organization, the next best option is to infiltrate the organization by getting hired as an employee or finding a disgruntled employee to assist in the attack. Insider attacks can be powerful because employees have physical access and are able to move freely about the organization. An example might be someone posing as a delivery person by wearing a uniform and gaining access to a delivery room or loading dock. Another possibility is someone posing as a member of the cleaning crew who has access to the inside of the building and is usually able to move about the offices. As a last resort, a hacker might bribe or otherwise coerce an employee to participate in the attack by providing information such as passwords.

Identity Theft

A hacker can pose as an employee or steal the employee's identity to perpetrate an attack. Information gathered in dumpster diving or shoulder surfing in combination with creating fake ID badges can gain the hacker entry into an organization. Creating a persona that can enter the building unchallenged is the goal of identity theft.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing involves sending an email, usually posing as a bank, credit card company, or other financial organization. The email requests that the recipient confirm banking information or reset passwords or PINs. The user clicks the link in the email and is redirected to a fake website. The hacker is then able to capture this information and use it for financial gain or to perpetrate other attacks. Emails that claim the senders have a great amount of money but need your help getting it out of the country are examples of phishing attacks. These attacks prey on the common person and are aimed at getting them to provide bank account access codes or other confidential information to the hacker.

Online Scams

Some websites that make free offers or other special deals can lure a victim to enter a username and password that may be the same as those they use to access their work system. The hacker can use this valid username and password once the user enters the information in the website form.
Mail attachments can be used to send malicious code to a victim's system, which could automatically execute something like a software keylogger to capture passwords. Viruses, Trojans, and worms can be included in cleverly crafted emails to entice a victim to open the attachment. Mail attachments are considered a computer-based social-engineering attack.
Here is an example of an email that which tries to convince the receiver to open an unsafe attachment:
Mail server report.
    Our firewall determined the e-mails containing worm copies are being sent from your computer.
    Nowadays it happens from many computers, because this is a new virus type (Network Worms).
    Using the new bug in the Windows, these viruses infect the computer unnoticeably.
    After the penetrating into the computer the virus harvests all the e-mail addresses and sends the
    copies of itself to these e-mail addresses
    Please install updates for worm elimination and your computer restoring.
    Best regards,
    Customer support service
Pop-up windows can also be used in computer-based engineering attacks, in a similar manner to email attachments. Pop-up windows with special offers or free stuff can encourage a user to unintentionally install malicious software.

URL Obfuscation

The URL (uniform resource locator) is commonly used in the address bar of a web browser to access a particular website. In lay terms, it is the website address. URL obfuscation consists of hiding a fake URL in what appear to be a legitimate website address. For example, a website of 204.13.144.2/Citibank may appear to be a legitimate web address for Citibank but in fact is not. URL obfuscation is used in phishing attacks and some online scams to make the scam seem more legitimate. A website address may be seen as an actual financial institution name or logo, but the link leads to a fake website or IP address. When users click the link, they're redirected to the hacker's site.
Addresses can be obfuscated in malicious links by the use of hexadecimal or decimal notations. For example, the address 192.168.10.5 looks like 3232238085 as a decimal. The same address looks like C0A80A05 in IP hex. This conversion requires that you divide 3232238085 by 16 multiple times. Each time the remainder reveals the address, starting from the least significant value.
Here's the explanation:
  • 3232238085/16 = 202014880.3125 (.3125 × 16 = 5)
  • 202014880/16 = 12625930.0 (.0 × 16 = 0)
  • 12625930/16 = 789120.625 (.625 × 16 = 10 = A)
  • 789120/16 = 49320.0 (.0 × 16 = 0)
  • 49320.0/16 = 3082.5 (.5 × 16 = 8)
  • 3082/16 = 192.625 (.625 × 16 = 10 = A)
  • 192/16 = 12 = C
at 7:07 AM 1 comments
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Social Engineering



Social engineering is a nontechnical method of breaking into a system or network. It's the process of deceiving users of a system and convincing them to perform acts useful to the hacker, such as giving out information that can be used to defeat or bypass security mechanisms. Social engineering is important to understand because hackers can use it to attack the human element of a system and circumvent technical security measures. This method can be used to gather information before or during an attack.
A social engineer commonly uses the telephone or Internet to trick people into revealing sensitive information or to get them to do something that is against the security policies of the organization. By this method, social engineers exploit the natural tendency of a person to trust their word, rather than exploiting computer security holes. It's generally agreed that users are the weak link in security; this principle is what makes social engineering possible.
The following is an example of social engineering recounted by Kapil Raina, currently a security expert at VeriSign, based on an actual workplace experience with a previous employer:
One morning a few years back, a group of strangers walked into a large shipping firm and walked out with access to the firm's entire corporate network. How did they do it? By obtaining small amounts of access, bit by bit, from a number of different employees in that firm. First, they did research about the company for two days before even attempting to set foot on the premises. For example, they learned key employees' names by calling HR. Next, they pretended to lose their key to the front door, and a man let them in. Then they "lost" their identity badges when entering the third floor secured area, smiled, and a friendly employee opened the door for them.
The strangers knew the CFO was out of town, so they were able to enter his office and obtain financial data off his unlocked computer. They dug through the corporate trash, finding all kinds of useful documents. They asked a janitor for a garbage pail in which to place their contents and carried all of this data out of the building in their hands. The strangers had studied the CFO's voice, so they were able to phone, pretending to be the CFO, in a rush, desperately in need of his network password. From there, they used regular technical hacking tools to gain super-user access into the system.
In this case, the strangers were network consultants performing a security audit for the CFO without any other employees' knowledge. They were never given any privileged information from the CFO but were able to obtain all the access they wanted through social engineering.
The most dangerous part of social engineering is that companies with authentication processes, firewalls, virtual private networks, and network-monitoring software are still wide open to attacks, because social engineering doesn't assault the security measures directly. Instead, a social-engineering attack bypasses the security measures and goes after the human element in an organization.

The Art of Manipulation

Social engineering includes the acquisition of sensitive information or inappropriate access privileges by an outsider, based on the building of inappropriate trust relationships. The goal of a social engineer is to trick someone into providing valuable information or access to that information. Social engineering preys on qualities of human nature, such as the desire to be helpful, the tendency to trust people, and the fear of getting in trouble. Hackers who are able to blend in and appear to be a part of the organization are the most successful at social-engineering attacks. This ability to blend in is commonly referred to as the art of manipulation.
People are usually the weakest link in the security chain. A successful defense depends on having good policies in place and teaching employees to follow the policies. Social engineering is the hardest form of attack to defend against because a company can't protect itself with hardware or software alone.
at 12:11 AM 1 comments
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Understanding Email Tracking & Web Spiders


Understanding Email Tracking

Email-tracking programs allow the sender of an email to know whether the recipient reads, forwards, modifies, or deletes an email. Most email-tracking programs work by appending a domain name to the email address, such as readnotify.com. A single-pixel graphic file that isn't noticeable to the recipient is attached to the email. Then, when an action is performed on the email, this graphic file connects back to the server and notifies the sender of the action.

Understanding Web Spiders

Spammers and anyone else interested in collecting email addresses from the Internet can use web spiders. A web spider combs websites collecting certain information such as email addresses. The web spider uses syntax such as the @ symbol to locate email addresses and then copies them into a list. These addresses are then added to a database and may be used later to send unsolicited emails.
Web spiders can be used to locate all kinds of information on the Internet. A hacker can use a web spider to automate the information-gathering process. A method to prevent web spidering of your website is to put the robots.txt file in the root of your website with a listing of directories that you want to protect from crawling.
at 3:34 AM 43 comments
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Using Traceroute in Footprinting



Traceroute is a packet-tracking tool that is available for most operating systems. It operates by sending an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo to each hop (router or gateway) along the path, until the destination address is reached. When ICMP messages are sent back from the router, the time to live (TTL) is decremented by one for each router along the path. This allows a hacker to determine how many hops a router is from the sender.
One problem with using the traceroute tool is that it times out (indicated by an asterisk) when it encounters a firewall or a packet-filtering router. Although a firewall stops the traceroute tool from discovering internal hosts on the network, it can alert an ethical hacker to the presence of a firewall; then, techniques for bypassing the firewall can be used.
Sam Spade and many other hacking tools include a version of traceroute. The Windows operating systems use the syntax tracert hostname to perform a traceroute. Figure 1 is an example of traceroute output for a trace of www.yahoo.com.
 
Figure 1: Traceroute output for www.yahoo.com
Notice in Figure 1 that the message first encounters the outbound ISP to reach the Yahoo! web server, and that the server's IP address is revealed as 68.142.226.42. Knowing this IP address enables the ethical hacker to perform additional scanning on that host during the scanning phase of the attack.
The tracert command identifies routers located en route to the destination's network. Because routers are generally named according to their physical location, tracertresults help you locate these devices.
at 7:00 AM 3 comments
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Identifying Types of DNS Records



The following list describes the common DNS record types and their use:
  • A (Address) Maps a hostname to an IP address
  • SOA (Start of Authority) Identifies the DNS server responsible for the domain information
  • CNAME (Canonical Name) Provides additional names or aliases for the address record
  • MX (Mail Exchange) Identifies the mail server for the domain
  • SRV (Service) Identifies services such as directory services
  • PTR (Pointer) Maps IP addresses to hostnames
  • NS (Name Server) Identifies other name servers for the domain
at 8:58 AM 1 comments
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Understanding DNS Enumeration



DNS enumeration is the process of locating all the DNS servers and their corresponding records for an organization. A company may have both internal and external DNS servers that can yield information such as usernames, computer names, and IP addresses of potential target systems.
NSlookup, DNSstuff, the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), and Whois can all be used to gain information that can then be used to perform DNS enumeration.

NSlookup and DNSstuff

One powerful tool you should be familiar with is NSlookup (see Figure 1). This tool queries DNS servers for record information. It's included in Unix, Linux, and Windows operating systems. Hacking tools such as Sam Spade also include NSlookup tools.

Figure 1: NSlookup
Building on the information gathered from Whois, you can use NSlookup to find additional IP addresses for servers and other hosts. Using the authoritative name server information from Whois (AUTH1.NS.NYI.NET), you can discover the IP address of the mail server.
The explosion of easy-to-use tools has made hacking easy, if you know which tools to use. DNSstuff is another of those tools. Instead of using the command-line NSlookup tool with its cumbersome switches to gather DNS record information, just access the website www.dnsstuff.com, and you can do a DNS record search online. Figure 2 shows a sample DNS record search on www.eccouncil.org using DNSstuff.com.

Figure 2. DNS record search of www.eccouncil.org
This search reveals all the alias records for www.eccouncil.org and the IP address of the web server. You can even discover all the name servers and associated IP addresses.
at 3:01 AM 1 comments
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