Here is a PDF version:
The links below are to hardware devices that can be useful for penetration testing:
Personal Firewall is a tidy little set of scripts for implementing a pretty tight firewall on a machine that is connecting to an open (or otherwise untrusted) network. It is a set of scripts for allowing a minimal set of traffic (HTTP, DNS, DHCP, NTP, etc) immediately and then save the configuration to be persistent upon reboot.
Of course, add or delete services you do not need. For example, do you need Skype? If not, delete the Skype configuration from the script.
https://github.com/meetrp/personalfirewall
This link also contains a script to convert URLs to CIDR addresses. For example, the script will identify the IP address ranges of an unwanted website so that you can block it with the Personal Firewall.
The Personal Firewall uses iptables. So, it only works on a Linux machine. However, it could be of use for a home router running a Linux based firmware build such as OpenWRT.
Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows (like apt-get or yum but for Windows). It is a single, unified interface designed to easily work with all aspects of managing Windows software (installers, zip archives, runtime binaries, internal and 3rd party software) using a packaging framework that understands software versions as well as dependencies.
Chocolatey packages encapsulate everything required to manage a particular piece of software into one application by wrapping installers, executables, zips, and scripts into a single package. This makes applications easy to install. It simplifies the process of checking for updates. And it makes installing those updates easy. Installing updates on a regular basis is crucial for maintaining the security of your Windows machine.
Thousands of packages are available through Chocolatey. Most, if not all, of them are free and open source.
Open a command prompt in Windows under administrator privileges:
Copy and paste the following command into the command prompt:
@”%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe” -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command “iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(‘https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1’))” && SET “PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin”
After the installation finishes, type the following into the command prompt:
choco upgrade chocolatey
Finally, type the following into the command prompt if you want to use the GUI interface:
choco install chocolateygui
The installer will ask if you want to run the script. The answer is Yes.
Once the installation has completed, close the command prompt. Chocolatey should now be visible on your Start menu.
A good video supplement to Mike Meyer’s Videos for Security + is the Professor Messer set of videos:
Professor Messer Security+ Videos and Notes
These videos are 100% free. And they are transcribed for those who prefer audio or visual learning. Professor Messer also has detailed notes for a reasonable fee.
An APT is an Advanced Persistent Threat.
An APT is underway when an attacker targets a particular system over a long period of time. The goal is to gain information – not to damage or destroy the system. His attack is perpetrated against well-chosen targets and the attackers have specific objectives. For example, an enemy government may want to target a nuclear weapons facility. Or an attacker might want to target a credit reporting company to get access to credit card numbers.
APTs usually target corporations, banks, government entities, and national defense systems for espionage purposes. The attackers seldom want the target to discover their presence.
The steps to an APT attack are to gain access to a system, create backdoors and tunnels so that attackers can move around unnoticed, crack passwords and use other methods to gain enhanced privileges (like administrator rights), and then transfer targeted data to their own systems.
They often repeat this process until they are detected.
A Remote Access Trojan (RAT) is a program that includes a backdoor for the attacker to access administrative privileges on a target system. These programs may be part of freeware programs from dubious sources. Or they may be sent as an attachment to an email that the attacker entices the recipient to open. One famous RAT is called Back Oriface.
The unfortunate reality is that, despite the best attempts at network security, attack attempts will occur. Sometimes they will be successful. One way to detect an attack in progress is to set up a honeypot.
A honeypot is a system that is set up to attract an attack attempt and direct the attacker to a safe system where his actions can be tracked and assessed without compromising the system that we are really trying to protect. The honeypot could be:
A honeypot is never meant for authorized users to use. So, any access to it is either accidental or hostile.
Here is a list of the US DoD’s major defense acquisition programs (MDAP) and major automated information systems (MAIS) acquisitions that are currently in progress:
PNO = Program Number
Here are some of the common network protocols covered by the Security+ exam, along with their port numbers:
Name | Definition | TCP | UDP | Port Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
FTP | File Transport Protocol | X | 20, 21 | |
SSH | Secure Shell | X | 22 | |
SFTP | Secure File Transport Protocol (uses SSH) | X | 22 | |
SCP | Secure Copy (uses SSH) | X | 22 | |
TFTP | Trivial File Transport Protocol | X | 69 | |
FTPS | File Transport Protocol Secure (uses SSL) | X | 443 |
Name | Definition | TCP | UDP | Port Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
SMTP | File Transport Protocol | X | 20, 21 | |
POP3 | Secure Shell | X | 22 | |
IMAP4 | Secure File Transport Protocol (uses SSH) | X | 22 |
Name | Definition | TCP | UDP | Port Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
Telnet | Telnet | X | 23 | |
TACACS | Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System | X | 49 | |
TACACS+ | Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System+ | X | 49 | |
SSL VPN | SSL VPN – Secure Sockets Layer virtual private network | X | 443 | |
ISAKMP (VPN) | Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (virtual private network) | X | 500 | |
L2TP | Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol | X | 1701 | |
PPTP | Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol | X | X | 1723 |
RDP | Remote Desktop Protocol | X | X | 3389 |
Name | Definition | TCP | UDP | Port Number |
---|---|---|---|---|
DNS | Domain Name System | X | X | 53 |
DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol | X | 67, 68 | |
HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol | X | 80 | |
HTTPS | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure | X | 443 | |
Kerberos | Kerberos | X | X | 88 |
NNTP | Network News Transfer Protocol | X | 119 | |
SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol | X | 161 | |
SNMP Trap | Simple Network Management Protocol Trap | X | X | 162 |
LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol | X | X | 389 |
Syslog | Syslog | X | 514 |
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