11-09-2014, 04:09 PM
BansilalRamnath Agarwal Charitable Trust’s Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology Project Report
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ABSTRACT
Today more and more softwares are developing and people are getting more and more options in their present softwares. But many are not aware that they are being hacked without their knowledge. One reaction to this state of affairs is a behavior termed Ethical Hacking" which attempts to proactively increase security protection by identifying and patching known security vulnerabilities on systems owned by other parties. A good ethical hacker should know the methodology chosen by the hacker like reconnaissance, host or target scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and clearing tracks. For ethical hacking we should know about the various tools and methods that can be used by a black hat hacker apart from the methodology used by him. From the point of view of the user one should know atleast some of these because some hackers make use of those who are not aware of the various hacking methods to hack into a system. Also when thinking from the point of view of the developer, he also should be aware of these since he should be able to close holes in his software even with the usage of the various tools. With the advent of new tools the hackers may make new tactics. But atleast the software will be resistant to some of the tools.
The explosive growth of the Internet has brought many good things: electronic commerce, easy access to vast stores of reference material, collaborative computing, e-mail, and new avenues for advertising and information distribution, to name a few. As with most technological advances, there is also a dark side: criminal hackers. Governments, companies, and private citizens around the world are anxious to be a part of this revolution, but they are afraid that some hacker will break into their Web server and replace their logo with pornography, read their e-mail, steal their credit card number from an on-line shopping site, or implant software that will secretly transmit their organization’s secrets to the open Internet. With these concerns and others, the ethical hacker can help. This paper describes ethical hackers: their skills, their attitudes, and how they go about helping their customers find and plug up security holes. The ethical hacking process is explained, along with many of the problems that the Global Security Analysis Lab has seen during its early years of ethical hacking for IBM clients.
Kali Linux
is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration testing. It is maintained and funded by Offensive Security Ltd. It was developed by MatiAharoni and Devon Kearns of Offensive Security through the rewriting BackTrack, their previous forensics Linux distribution.[1]
Kali Linux is preinstalled with numerous penetration-testing programs, including nmap (a port scanner), Wireshark (a packet analyzer), John the Ripper (a password cracker), and Aircrack-ng (a software suite for penetration-testing wireless LANs).[2] Users may run Kali Linux from a hard disk, live CD, or live USB. It is a supported platform of the Metasploit Project's Metasploit Framework, a tool for developing and executing security exploits.[2]
Kali Linux is distributed in 32- and 64-bit images for use on hosts based on the x86 instruction set, as well as an image for the ARM architecturefor use on the Raspberry Pi computer and on Samsung's ARM Chromebook.[3]
Ethical hacking ,also known as penetration testing or white-hat hacking, involves the same tools, tricks, and techniques that hackers use, but with one major difference that Ethical hacking is legal. Ethical hacking is performed with the targetâ„¢s permission. The intent of ethical hacking is to discover vulnerabilities from a hackerâ„¢s viewpoint so systems can be better secured. Itâ„¢s part of an overall information risk management
Common Attack Vectors
Email – This is the most primary attack of any intruder trying to attack a computer is through Email , where there is no authenticity about the person contacting you.
Network Attack - When an attacker decides to target a specific corporation, they can either get personal with the employees by making use of email and other similar technology, or go through the gateway.
Adequate Protection
Most modern networks are equipped with various security solutions to prevent against the majority of common Internet attacks. These solutions usually cope quite well with the majority of opportunistic attacks such as worms and so on, but how do they cope with the determined, financially backed up hacker?
Who are Ethical Hackers?
“One of the best ways to evaluate the intruder threat is to have an independent computer security professionals attempt to break their computer systems”
Successful ethical hackers possess a variety of skills. First and foremost, they must be completely trustworthy.
Ethical hackers typically have very strong programming and computer networking skills.
They are also adept at installing and maintaining systems that use the more popular operating systems (e.g., Linux or Windows 2000) used on target systems.
These base skills are detailed knowledge of the hardware and software provided by the more popular computer and networking hardware vendors.
What do Ethical Hackers do?
An ethical hacker’s evaluation of a system’s security seeks answers to these basic questions:
What can an intruder see on the target systems?
What can an intruder do with that information?
Does anyone at the target notice the intruder’s at tempts or successes?
What are you trying to protect?
What are you trying to protect against?
How much time, effort, and money are you willing to expend to obtain adequate protection?
Literature Survey On Hackers And Ethical Hackers.
Cyber security is one of the most critical aspects of security that any organization in the modern world must be concerned with. Why? Mostly because of Black-hat Hackers. The following review is a general discussion about hackers and its best countermeasure, Ethical Hacking. The reason I chose this topic is because it is of great interest to me, as I someday want to be an Ethical hacker as well.
Review
The word hacker in the past was defined as a person who loves playing a around with software or electronic systems. They wanted to discover new things on how computers operate. Today the term hacker has a different meaning altogether. It states that a hacker is "someone who maliciously breaks into systems for personal gain. Technically, these criminals are crackers (criminal hackers). Crackers break into (crack) systems with malicious intent. They are out for personal gain: fame, profit, and even revenge. They modify, delete, and steal critical information, often making other people miserable". (Kevin Beaver, Stuart McClure 2004, p10) Most of the literature I read give the definition of the word hacker as previously stated or to mean mostly the same thing.
The history of hacking dates back to the 1960s when a group of people in MIT “hack the control systems of model trains to make them run faster, more effectively or differently than they were designed to". (Peter T. Leeson, Christopher J. Coyne, 2006). Because of such activity by these individuals computer owners and supervisors took away their access to computers. As a result the hacking community came up with their own code known as the hacker ethic:
"1. Access to computers –and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works – should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
2. All information should be free.
3. Mistrust Authority – Promote Decentralization.
4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race or position.
5. You can create art and beauty in a computer.
6. Computers can change your life for the better. " (Paul A Taylor, 2005)
The above code is still followed today and not only by hackers but by others as well.
Non Technical Attacks
No matter how secured an organization is in terms of software and hardware, it will always be vulnerable to security threats because security's weakest link are people or its employees. Social engineering is a type of non technical attack where hackers "exploit the trusting nature of human beings to gain information for malicious purposes". Other attacks can be of physical nature such as stealing hardware equipment or dumpster diving.
Internet Protocol (IP) spoofing:
"It is a way of disguising the hacker's real identity. This method allows a hacker to gain unauthorized access to computers by sending a message to a computer with an IP address showing that the message is from a trusted host. To accomplish this, a hacker must use different tools to find an IP address of a trusted host, and then alter the packet headers so it appears that the packets are coming from the host." (Tanase 2003).
The process of ethical hacking contains many different steps. The first thing that is done is to formulate a plan. At this stage getting approval and authorization from the organization to perform the penetration test is extremely important. (Kevin Beaver, Stuart McClure, 2004, p15). Next the ethical hacker uses scanning tools to perform port scans to check for open ports on the system. "Once a cracker scans all computers on a network and creates a network map showing what computers are running what operating systems and what services are available, almost any kind of attack is possible" (Bryan Smith, William Yurcik, David Doss, 2002).
A grey hat hacker is a type of hacker that has the skills and intent of a ethical hacker in most situations but uses his knowledge for less than noble purposes on occasion. Grey hat hackers typically subscribe to another form of the hacker ethic, which says it is acceptable to break into systems as long as the hacker does not commit theft or breach confidentiality. Some would argue, however that the act of breaking into a system is in itself unethical.(Red Hat, Inc, 2002) Grey hats are also a form of good hackers that usually hack into organizations systems without their permission, but then at a later stage send them information on the loop holes in their system. They also sometimes threaten to release the holes they find unless action has been taken to fix it. (Peter T. Leeson, Christopher J. Coyne, 2006)
Principles of Hacking
SYNOPSIS OF MODULE
The aim of the module is to provide students with the opportunity to develop theory and practice in ethical hacking through the examination of the principles, theories, technical skills and research issues associated with the disciplines of ethical hacking and computer security.
The module develops the technical aspects of the subject with particular reference to enhancing computer and network security. Students will have the opportunity to practice techniques and tools associated with penetration testing and evaluate a range of threats, including the use of various hacking tools and techniques over a variety of operating systems and platforms. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their research skills in designing and evaluating security vulnerabilities and countermeasures.
By the end of the module students should be able to:
• Evaluate the principles of ethical hacking and appreciate where and in what situations these principles should be applied.
• Appreciate the legal and ethical issues associated with ethical hacking and be aware of the documentary and evidentiary standards expected in presenting the results of ethical hacking activities.
• Analyse and evaluate the professional requirements of an ethical hacker and critically discuss the challenges facing the ethical hacker
• Assess computer systems, information systems and networks to identify their vulnerabilities and weaknesses so as to be able to penetrate those systems or networks
• Evaluate the means by which systems or networks are penetrated and design and test countermeasures to address those weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
• Appreciate how the core concepts, knowledge and practice of computer security have developed through research.
Learning and teaching will take place through a variety of mechanisms, including lectures, seminars, practical sessions, research into current
INDICATIVE READING LIST OR OTHER LEARNING RESOURCES
McClure, S., Scambray, J and Kurtz, G., (2005) Hacking Exposed, Network Security Secrets and Solutions, 5th Edition, McGraw Hill
Harris, S., Harper, A., Eagle, C, Ness, J., and Lester, M., (2005) Gray Hat Hacking – the Ethical Hacker’s Handbook, McGraw Hill / Osborne
Additional recommended texts
Long, J., (2005) Google Hacking for Penetration Testers, Syngress
Khare, R., (2006) Network Security and Ethical Hacking, Luniver Press
Simpson, M. T., (2005) Hands-on Ethical Hacking and Network Defense, Course Technology
Casey, E., (2004) Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, 2nd edition Elsevier Academic Press
Bainbridge, D., (2004) Introduction to Computer Law, 5th edition, Longman
OUTLINE SYLLABUS
Principles of ethical hacking
The section of the syllabus will focus on the underpinning principles of ethical hacking – in particular professional responsibility and proper ethical disclosure. The principles and concepts of penetration testing, red teaming, cryptography and steganography will be discussed within the context of ethical hacking. The hacking stages of reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and covering tracks will be examined with recourse to ethical hacking.
The ways in which ethical hacking principles can be used in assessing the vulnerability of systems and networks will be explored in order to identify potential security problems and how those principles, tools and techniques can be used to address the issues.
Professional and ethical considerations
The section will take further the principle of professional responsibility and liability and set it in the context of ethical behaviour through the application and discussion of ethical theory.
The material covered in this section will develop the ethical principles introduced in the L4 module, Introduction to Ethical Hacking, and propose a framework for professional responsibility within Ethical Hacking.
Professional and ethical issues will also be explored in relation to high profile hacking attacks.
Development of Ethical Hacking approaches
In this topic various approaches of attack will be the covered, including examination of the anatomy of typical attacks, discussion of the weaknesses that hackers look for, techniques used by hackers (including how information and data is gathered) and concepts of social engineering
Various approaches will be covered in this module, including;
• finding holes in networks and systems – including discussion of techniques used in attacking and seizing control of networks;
• ways in which to exploit simple security flaws (including active and passive sniffing, SQL attacks, Internet attacks, Google hacking, privilege escalation);
• ways in which to scan networks and discover available services;
• using root kits (including methods of exploitation using root kits, methods of planting a root kit);
• using keystroke loggers;
LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY
Learning and teaching will take place through a variety of mechanisms, including lectures, seminars, practical sessions, research into current developments and issues, case studies and guest / expert input. The subject of ethical hacking is continuously developing, evolving and changing and as a result students will be expected to keep up to date with developments through independent research. The input from guest speakers (practitioners and industry experts will contribute to the currency of the subject material).
Topics will be introduced in lectures and discussed through seminar activities and guided learning activities. The theoretical material on ethical hacking will be re-enforced through the critical analysis and discussion of case studies in seminar sessions.
Students will be encouraged to adopt an independent learning style, acquiring and applying knowledge through their own research and enquiry, supported by a series of guided activities and exercises. Students will be encouraged to share the findings of their research through seminar presentations and participation in on-line discussions with the rest of the student cohort.