Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing – Fourth Edition
Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing – Fourth Edition

Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing – Fourth Edition: Become a cybersecurity ethical hacking expert using Metasploit, Nmap, Wireshark, and Burp Suite , Fourth Edition

eBook
€8.99 €32.99
Paperback
€41.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing – Fourth Edition

Open-Source Intelligence and Passive Reconnaissance

Gathering all possible information on a target is always the most important aspect of a penetration tester’s thinking to achieve the best outcomes. In cybersecurity, gathering information through publicly available sources is often referred to as Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT). Passive reconnaissance through OSINT occurs during the first step of the kill chain when conducting a penetration test or attack against a given organization. An attacker will typically dedicate up to 75% of the overall work effort for a penetration test to reconnaissance, as it is this phase that allows the target to be defined, mapped, and explored for the vulnerabilities that will eventually lead to exploitation.

There are two types of reconnaissance:

  • Passive reconnaissance (direct and indirect)
  • Active reconnaissance

Passive reconnaissance is the art of collecting and analyzing openly available information, usually...

Basic principles of reconnaissance

Reconnaissance, or recon, is the first step of the kill chain when conducting a penetration test or an attack against a data target. It is conducted before the actual test or attack on a target network. The findings will give us an idea of where additional reconnaissance may be required or the vulnerabilities that can be capitalized upon during the exploitation phase. Reconnaissance activities are segmented on a gradient of interactivity with the target network or device.

Passive reconnaissance does not involve any malicious, direct interaction with the target network. The attacker’s source IP address and activities are not logged (for example, a Google search for the target’s email addresses will not leave a trail that the target can detect). It is difficult, if not impossible, for the target to differentiate passive reconnaissance from normal business activities.

Passive reconnaissance is divided further into the categories...

Scraping

A technique that attackers utilize to extract a large number of datasets from websites, whereby the extracted data is stored locally in a filesystem, is called scraping, or web scraping. In the following section, we will utilize some of the most commonly used tools in Kali Linux to perform scraping.

Gathering usernames and email addresses

theHarvester is a Python script that searches through popular search engines and other sites for email addresses, hosts, and sub-domains. Using theHarvester is relatively simple, as there are only a few command switches to set. The options are as follows:

  • -d: This identifies the domain to be searched, usually the domain or target’s website.
  • -b: This identifies the source for extracting the data; it must be one of the following: Bing, BingAPI, Google, Google-Profiles, Jigsaw, LinkedIn, People123, PGP, or All.
  • -l: This limiting option instructs theHarvester to only harvest data from a specified number...

Google Hacking Database

The rise of an infodemic during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the world economy. The public generally utilizes Google to keep themselves updated; “google it” is a common idiom that can refer to a search for any type of information, whether it be a simple search query, or when collating information on a given topic. In this section, we will narrow down how penetration testers can utilize Google through dorks.

A Google dork or Google Hacking query is a search string that uses advanced search techniques and methods to find information that is not readily available about a target website. These dorks can return information that is difficult to locate through simple search queries.

Using dork scripts to query Google

The first step in understanding Google Hacking Database (GHDB) is that the testers must understand all the advanced Google operators, just like how machine-level programming engineers must...

Creating custom wordlists for cracking passwords

There are multiple tools that are readily available in Kali Linux to create custom wordlists for cracking passwords offline. We will now take a look at a couple of them.

Using CeWL to map a website

CeWL is a Ruby app that spiders a given URL to a specified depth, optionally following external links, and returns a list of words that can then be used in password crackers, such as John the Ripper. Figure 2.26 provides the custom list of words generated from the Google index page:

Figure 2.26: Creating custom password list using the CeWL from the web pages

These texts extracted from the web pages sometimes include the HTML comments that are left by the developers, which can be very useful for performing more informed attacks.

Extracting words from Twitter using twofi

While we can profile a user on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, we can also use twofi, which stands...

Summary

This chapter has detailed the first step in an attack process or kill chain: to conduct information harvesting, or passive reconnaissance, to identify the right information on the target with the power of OSINT. Passive reconnaissance provides a real-time view of an attacker’s perspective on a target company. This is a stealthy assessment: the IP address and activities of an attacker are almost indistinguishable from normal business traffic.

The same information is extremely fruitful during social engineering attacks or when facilitating other attacks. We took a deep dive into the use of automated tools to save time and performed passive reconnaissance using both offensive and defensive OSINT.

In the next chapter, we will learn the difference between the types of reconnaissance in an active sense and make use of the data that was harvested using OSINT. Although active reconnaissance techniques will provide more information, there is always an increase in the...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Explore red teaming and play the hackers game to proactively defend your infrastructure
  • Use OSINT, Google dorks, Nmap, recon-nag, and other tools for passive and active reconnaissance
  • Learn about the latest email, Wi-Fi, and mobile-based phishing techniques

Description

Remote working has given hackers plenty of opportunities as more confidential information is shared over the internet than ever before. In this new edition of Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing, you’ll learn an offensive approach to enhance your penetration testing skills by testing the sophisticated tactics employed by real hackers. You’ll go through laboratory integration to cloud services so that you learn another dimension of exploitation that is typically forgotten during a penetration test. You'll explore different ways of installing and running Kali Linux in a VM and containerized environment and deploying vulnerable cloud services on AWS using containers, exploiting misconfigured S3 buckets to gain access to EC2 instances. This book delves into passive and active reconnaissance, from obtaining user information to large-scale port scanning. Building on this, different vulnerability assessments are explored, including threat modeling. See how hackers use lateral movement, privilege escalation, and command and control (C2) on compromised systems. By the end of this book, you’ll have explored many advanced pentesting approaches and hacking techniques employed on networks, IoT, embedded peripheral devices, and radio frequencies.

Who is this book for?

This fourth edition is for security analysts, pentesters, ethical hackers, red team operators, and security consultants wanting to learn and optimize infrastructure/application/cloud security using advanced Kali Linux features. Prior penetration testing experience and basic knowledge of ethical hacking will help you make the most of this book.

What you will learn

  • Exploit networks using wired/wireless networks, cloud infrastructure, and web services
  • Learn embedded peripheral device, Bluetooth, RFID, and IoT hacking techniques
  • Master the art of bypassing traditional antivirus and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools
  • Test for data system exploits using Metasploit, PowerShell Empire, and CrackMapExec
  • Perform cloud security vulnerability assessment and exploitation of security misconfigurations
  • Use bettercap and Wireshark for network sniffing
  • Implement complex attacks with Metasploit, Burp Suite, and OWASP ZAP
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Bulgaria

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Feb 28, 2022
Length: 572 pages
Edition : 4th
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781801819770
Category :
Languages :
Concepts :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Bulgaria

Premium delivery 7 - 10 business days

€25.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : Feb 28, 2022
Length: 572 pages
Edition : 4th
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781801819770
Category :
Languages :
Concepts :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
€18.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
€189.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
€264.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just €5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total 119.97
Windows and Linux Penetration Testing from Scratch
€35.99
Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing – Fourth Edition
€41.99
The Ultimate Kali Linux Book
€41.99
Total 119.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

16 Chapters
Goal-Based Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Open-Source Intelligence and Passive Reconnaissance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Active Reconnaissance of External and Internal Networks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Vulnerability Assessment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Advanced Social Engineering and Physical Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Wireless and Bluetooth Attacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Exploiting Web-Based Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Cloud Security Exploitation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Bypassing Security Controls Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Exploitation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Action on the Objective and Lateral Movement Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Privilege Escalations Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Command and Control Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Embedded Devices and RFID Hacking Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.7
(27 Ratings)
5 star 77.8%
4 star 18.5%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 3.7%
Filter icon Filter
Top Reviews

Filter reviews by




K Shamugavelu Nov 13, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The book's extensive coverage, from network reconnaissance to post-exploitation strategies, resonated with the challenges I face in my day-to-day work. I found the inclusion of real-world scenarios invaluable. It's this blend of theory and practice has directly impacted my performance in the field.While the book assumes a foundational knowledge of networking and cybersecurity, you will run into issues whilst setting up the infrastructure, it will increase your ability to understand the basics clearly. This book is a mentor in the world of ethical hacking, which transforms knowledge into actionable expertise.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Manjunath Velu Mar 02, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Great book for my pent testing collection! Absolutely recommended for those who know how to set up and a good computer in hand.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Michael Mar 06, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
As someone that has just recently done the Offensive Security OSCP course, I have been relying on many different resources, primarily as each does not quite consolidate the information required to gain knowledge in this area.This book is well written and captures many areas that now are consolidated into one title.It will satisfy the beginner, to the more knowledgeable, and I am sure even experts would learn one or two things from this book. Certainly its up to date and covers new areas that many other resources do not, many of which start to seem a little dated.Whether learning from zero point or you need a fresher or reference manual, this is a decent worthwhile book to have in your weaponry.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Adrian Santangelo May 06, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I've been a security professional since the late 90's and read my fair share of books. I found "Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing" to be easy to follow, choked FULL of useful info, and a flow you could follow. It's rare to find a technical book that can talk about so much, yet hold interest. And the linked files are well done and match up correctly.If I had to give it any criticism, it would only be that for an "advanced book" it dabbles in some beginner terms and areas that one may be already expected to know. But in some cases, that is also a feature, not a bug! For beginners, it gives enough background for them to follow along. Many areas are captured, resources are current, and the in-deppt concepts are well organized and explained.Highly recommend grabbing your own copy, again, regardless of skill level.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Katherine Linville-Meece May 28, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
First off, I would like to say, Vijay Kumar is a brilliant author. In this book he talks about advance pentesting approaches, different hacking techniques and much more. For someone who has been in the IT/Cyber industry for the past 10 years I can say this book is very well written and easy to understand even for a beginner to read. If you are wanting to become a Cybersecurity ethical hacking expert I would highly recommend this book!! - CyberTechDave
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela