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The Ultimate Kali Linux Book
The Ultimate Kali Linux Book

The Ultimate Kali Linux Book: Harness Nmap, Metasploit, Aircrack-ng, and Empire for cutting-edge pentesting , Third Edition

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The Ultimate Kali Linux Book

Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Cybersecurity is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing fields in the world. Each day, security professionals and researchers are discovering new and emerging threats at an increasing rate, and many organizations are discovering that their systems and networks have been compromised by malicious actors, while there are so many other companies without proper cyber defenses to detect threats and determine whether their assets have been compromised or not. Due to the increase in cyber-attacks and threats around the world, more cybersecurity-related jobs are being created within many organizations that seek to acquire industry experts and skilled professionals who can help improve their cyber defenses and safeguard their assets from cyber criminals. This book is designed with the intention of providing you with the skills, knowledge, and wisdom that are needed by aspiring ethical hackers and penetration testers for the cybersecurity industry.

During the course of this book, you will develop new skills and learn techniques for simulating real-world cyber-attacks on systems and networks as a cybersecurity professional with the intent to discover hidden security vulnerabilities within organizations, while understanding the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) used by real attackers to compromise their targets. In addition, you will learn how to leverage one of the most popular Linux distributions within the cybersecurity industry, Kali Linux, to perform ethical hacking and penetration testing assessments on targeted systems and network infrastructure. The Kali Linux operation system has tons of pre-installed Linux packages (applications) and security tools that are commonly used by industry experts, hence it’s an arsenal packed with everything you’ll need as an ethical hacker and penetration tester. Throughout this book, we’ll be using a student-centric and learner-friendly approach, filled with a lot of practical and hands-on exercises to help you gradually progress from beginner-friendly to intermediate and advanced topics.

In this chapter, you will learn about various types of threat actors and the intentions/motives behind their attacks on targets. You will discover how various key factors play an important role for attackers when planning a cyber-attack, and how such factors determine the level of complexity to compromise a targeted system, network, or organization as compared to cybersecurity professionals such as ethical hackers and penetration testers who are hired to discover hidden vulnerabilities within a company. Furthermore, you will learn about the various phases of ethical hacking and penetration testing approaches that are commonly used by industry professionals.

Lastly, you will gain a solid understanding of how the Cyber Kill Chain framework is used to help cybersecurity professionals to better understand cyber-attacks, and how each phase can be aligned with penetration testing techniques.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • Understanding the need for cybersecurity
  • Exploring the importance of penetration testing
  • Identifying threat actors and their intent
  • Understanding what matters to threat actors
  • Exploring the importance of penetration testing
  • Penetration testing methodologies
  • Discovering penetration testing approaches
  • Types of penetration testing
  • Exploring the phases of penetration testing
  • Understanding the Cyber Kill Chain framework

I hope you’re as excited as I am to begin this awesome journey. Let’s dive in!

Understanding the need for cybersecurity

Cybersecurity focuses on protecting systems, networks, and organizations from specialized attacks and threats that are designed by cyber criminals with the intention to cause harm or damage. These cyber criminals are commonly referred to as threat actors. As time continues, more users and organizations are connecting their systems and networks to the largest network in the world, the internet, and cyber criminals are developing new strategies to steal money from potential victims.

For instance, many cyber criminals are developing more sophisticated threats, such as ransomware. Let’s use this example to underscore the importance of cybersecurity. Ransomware is a type of crypto-malware that’s designed to encrypt all data found on a victim’s system, except the host operating system. The intention is to encrypt the victim’s most valuable asset on the compromised system, the data stored on local storage media, and request a ransom payment in the form of cryptocurrencies to obtain the decryption keys to recover the data. The longer the ransomware is on a compromised system, the ransomware agent could establish a Command and Control (C2) communication channel with one or more C2 servers that are owned and managed by cyber criminals to receive updates and additional instructions. The threat actor can push updates to the ransomware agent to frequently update the cryptographic keys that are used to encrypt the victim’s data – therefore, reducing the likelihood that the victim is able to safely recover their data from the ransomware. During this time, the threat actor is also exfiltrating the data found on the victim’s system and selling it on various marketplaces on the Dark Web to the highest bidder. Cyber criminals are intelligent; they are very aware that organizations know the value of data that is stored on their computers and servers, and will do almost anything to recover their data as soon as possible.

NOTE

Ransomware has the capability of also compromising the data stored in various cloud storage services that are linked to the infected system. For instance, imagine a user’s system has a cloud storage agent running to ensure the user’s data is constantly synchronized. If the system is infected with ransomware, the infection will encrypt all data on the local storage drives, including those that are synchronized to the cloud service provider platform. However, various cloud storage providers have built-in protection against these types of threats.

From a cybersecurity perspective, it’s not recommended to pay the ransom as there’s no guarantee or reassurance that the threat actors will release the encrypted data or even provide the right decryption key to recover your data. It is important to note that threat actors are not only demanding ransom payment by encrypting data but also by threatening to expose organizational and customer sensitive data by releasing it or onto pastedump sites such as pastebin.com and to the media. This “doubling-down” on the pressure applied makes it difficult for victims not to cave into the ransomware gangs’ demands.

For instance, there are many organizations around the world with a reactive approach to cybersecurity, such that they will only react when their systems and network are compromised by a cyber-attack rather than implementing mitigation and countermeasures to prevent future threats. However, if an organization does not implement proper cyber defenses with an effective incident response plan, when ransomware compromises a vulnerable system within a network, it has the potential to automatically spread to other vulnerable systems within the organization to expand its foothold. Therefore, the longer it takes to contain/isolate the threat on the network, the more damage can be done.

NOTE

While working on the previous edition of this book, the technical reviewer, Mr. Rishalin Pillay, mentioned that during his time at Microsoft, he had seen how attackers “may” give the decryption key to victims; however, the threat actors mostly implant additional malware to return later for more cash gains. Essentially, the targeted organization becomes a “cash cow” for the threat actors (attacking group).

Therefore, without cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and security solutions, many organizations and users are left unprotected from various types of threats. For instance, many banks provide an online banking system that enables their customers to perform various types of transactions such as making payments, transferring funds, and so on. Imagine if cyber criminals discovered weak security controls on a bank’s customer login portal and found a way to take advantage of the security weakness to gain unauthorized access to multiple customers’ accounts, steal their Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and transfer funds out of their accounts. Therefore, safeguarding customer data is crucial, not only to protect individuals from immediate financial loss but also to prevent their information from being used in future cyber-attacks.

In the next section, you will learn about common security-related terminology in the industry.

Exploring cybersecurity terminology

During your journey in the field of cybersecurity, you’ll discover the jargon and terminology that is commonly used within various research papers, articles, literature, discussions, and learning resources. As an aspiring cybersecurity professional, it’s important to be aware of and gain a solid understanding of common terminology and how it is related to ethical hacking and penetration testing.

The following are the most common terms used within the cybersecurity industry:

  • Asset – Within the field of cybersecurity, we usually define an asset to be anything that has value to an organization or person. For instance, assets are systems within a network that can be interacted with and potentially expose an organization’s network infrastructure to security weaknesses that could be compromised and enable unauthorized access to a cyber criminal, while providing a way to escalate their privileges on the compromised system from standard user to administrator-/root-level privileges. However, it’s important to mention that assets are not and should not be limited to technical systems. In addition, other forms of assets include people (humans), physical security controls, and even the data that resides within the network and systems we aim to protect. Assets are commonly categorized as follows:
    • Tangible – Tangible assets are simply described as any physical object with value, such as computers, servers, networking devices (routers, switches, etc.), and security appliances (firewalls). Computers and other end devices help typical users and employees access the resources on a network and perform their daily duties within an organization. Servers are typically used to store and host applications and provide services that are needed within typical network infrastructures. Networking devices contain configurations that are used to forward network traffic between systems, and security appliances are implemented to filter unwanted traffic and prevent threats between networks and systems. If these systems and devices are compromised, cyber criminals will be able to redirect network traffic to malicious websites that are owned by malicious actors and expand their operations.
    • Intangible – Intangible assets are things without a physical form that have value, such as applications, software license keys, intellectual property, business plans and models, and data.
    • People – This type of asset is the customers and employees of an organization. Protecting customers’ data from being stolen and leaked on the Dark Web, and safeguarding employees from various types of threats are of paramount importance. It is important to identify all the assets of an organization and potential threats that can cause harm and damage to them.
  • Threat – In the context of cybersecurity, a threat is anything that has the potential to cause harm or damage to a system, network, or person. Whether you’re focusing on the offensive or defensive path in cybersecurity, it’s important to identify various types of threats. Many organizations around the world encounter different types of threats each day, and cybersecurity teams work around the clock to ensure their company’s assets are safeguarded from cyber criminals.

    One of the most exciting but also overwhelming aspects of cybersecurity is industry professionals always need to stay one step ahead of threat actors to quickly find security weaknesses in systems, networks, and applications and implement countermeasures to mitigate any potential threats those assets.

  • Vulnerability – A vulnerability is a security weakness or flaw that exists within a system that enables hackers to exploit it in order to gain unauthorized access or control over systems within a network. Common vulnerabilities that exist within organizations include human error (the greatest of vulnerabilities on a global scale), misconfiguration of devices, weak user credentials, poor programming practices, unpatched operating systems, outdated applications on host systems, default against configurations on systems, and so on.

    A threat actor usually looks for the lowest-hanging fruits such as the vulnerabilities that are the easiest to exploit on a targeted system. The same concept applies to penetration testing. During a security assessment, the penetration tester will use various techniques and tools to discover vulnerabilities and will attempt to exploit the easy ones before moving on to more complex security flaws on a targeted system.

  • Exploit – An exploit is anything such as a tool or code that is used to take advantage of security vulnerabilities on a system. For instance, take a hammer, a piece of wood, and a nail. The vulnerability is the soft, permeable nature of the wood, the exploit is the act of hammering the nail into the piece of the wood, while the hammer is the threat. Once a security vulnerability is found on a targeted system, the threat actor or penetration tester will either acquire an exploit from various online sources or develop one on their own that has the capability of taking advantage of the security weakness.

    If you’ve acquired or developed an exploit, it’s important that you test the exploit on a system to ensure it has the capabilities to compromise the targeted system and works as expected. Sometimes, an exploit may work on one system and not on another. Hence, it’s a common practice that seasoned penetration testers will test and ensure their exploits are working as expected and graded on their rate of success for a vulnerability.

  • Attack – An attack is simply a method or technique that is used by a threat actor to take advantage of (exploit) a security vulnerability (weakness) within a system. There are various types of attacks that are commonly used by cyber criminals to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and/or availability of a targeted system. For instance, the LockBit 3.0 ransomware focuses on exploiting the security vulnerabilities that are found on internet-facing systems that do not have their language settings configured to match a specific exclusion list. The attack launches ransomware on the internet; it will automatically seek and compromise vulnerable systems.

    NOTE

    To learn more about the LockBit 3.0 ransomware, please see the official Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advisory at https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa23-075a.

  • Attack vector – An attack vector is simply an area or pathway through which a targeted system, network, or organization can be compromised by a threat actor.

    The following are common attack vectors:

    • Direct access – Physical access to the targeted computer or network
    • Wireless – Exploiting security vulnerabilities found within the target’s wireless network infrastructure
    • Email – Sending malicious email messages containing links to malware-infected services, fake websites, and malicious attachments
    • Supply chain – Compromising the security of a vendor or supplier to gain access to a target
    • Social media – Using deceptive messages or malicious advertising (malvertising) to trick the target into revealing sensitive information or downloading a malicious file
    • Removable media – Connecting malware-infected media to the targeted system
    • Cloud – Exploiting security vulnerabilities within cloud services and its infrastructure

    These are the infrastructures in which an attacker can deliver a malicious payload to a target.

  • Risk – Risk is the potential impact that a vulnerability, threat, or attack presents to the assets of an organization and the likelihood an attack or threat has to cause harm systems. Evaluating risk helps to determine the likelihood of a specific issue causing a data breach that will cause harm to an organization’s finances, reputation, or regulatory compliance. Reducing risk is critical for many organizations. There are many certifications, regulatory standards, and frameworks that are designed to help companies understand, identify, and reduce risks.

    While it may seem like ethical hackers and penetration testers are hired to simulate real-world cyber-attacks on a target organization, the goal of such engagements is much deeper than it seems. At the end of the penetration test, the cybersecurity professional will present all the vulnerabilities and possible solutions to help the organization mitigate and reduce the risk of a potential cyber-attack while reducing the attack surface of the company.

  • Attack surface – This is all the vulnerable points of entry into a system, network, or organization that can be exploited by a threat actor to gain unauthorized access and expand their foothold on the network. Ethical hackers and penetration testers focus on identifying these vulnerability points of entry to determine the attack surface of an organization and how a cyber criminal would potentially exploit those weaknesses to compromise their target.
  • Zero-day – A zero-day is when a threat actor discovers a security vulnerability within a product or application and is able to exploit it before the vendor is either aware of the vulnerability or has time to develop a security patch to resolve the issue. These attacks are commonly used in nation-state attacks, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups, and large criminal organizations. The discovery of a zero-day vulnerability can be very valuable to ethical hackers and penetration testers and can earn them a bug bounty. These bounties are fees paid by vendors to security researchers who discover unknown vulnerabilities in their applications.

    There are many bug bounty programs that allow security researchers, professionals, and anyone with the right skill set to discover security vulnerabilities within an application or system owned by a vendor and report them for a reward. The person who reports the security vulnerability, usually a zero-day flaw, is often given a financial reward. However, there are threat actors who intentionally attempt to exploit the targeted system for personal gain, which is commonly referred to as the hack value of the target.

So far, you have learned about the importance and need for cybersecurity within various industries around the world. Next, let’s learn about various types of threat actors and the motives behind their cyber-attacks.

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Key benefits

  • Execute sophisticated real-world penetration tests, exposing hidden vulnerabilities in enterprise networks
  • Explore Kali Linux’s capabilities with practical steps and in-depth labs
  • Discover penetration testing best practices, including how to replicate a hacker’s toolkit
  • Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Description

Journey into the world of Kali Linux – the central hub for advanced penetration testing, with this ultimate guide to exposing security vulnerabilities in websites and both wired and wireless enterprise networks. With real-world scenarios, practical steps and coverage of popular tools, this third edition of the bestselling Ultimate Kali Linux Book is your fast track to learning penetration testing with Kali Linux 2024.x. As you work through the book, from preliminary penetration testing activities through performing network and website penetration testing, to exploring Active Directory and social engineering attacks, you’ll discover the range of vulnerability assessment tools in Kali Linux, building your confidence and proficiency as a penetration tester or ethical hacker. This new edition of the book features a brand new chapter on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), as well as new labs on web applications and social engineering. Procedures for building virtual labs have also been improved, making these easier to understand and follow. Think of this book as your stepping stone into the modern world of penetration testing and ethical hacking – with the practical guidance and industry best practices the book provides, you’ll be ready to tackle real-world cybersecurity challenges head-on.

Who is this book for?

This ultimate guide to Kali Linux is for students, trainers, cybersecurity professionals, cyber enthusiasts, network security professionals, ethical hackers, penetration testers, and security engineers. No prior knowledge of Kali Linux is required, this book will take you from first steps to advanced penetration testing techniques.

What you will learn

  • Install and configure Kali Linux 2024.1
  • Think like an adversary to strengthen your cyber defences
  • Create a lab environment using virtualization technologies to reduce costs
  • Learn how common security vulnerabilities can be exploited
  • Use Nmap to discover security weakness on a target system on a network
  • Explore post-exploitation techniques and Command and Control tactics
  • Understand how attackers abuse the trust of Active Directory
  • Implement advanced wireless penetration testing techniques

Product Details

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Publication date : Apr 30, 2024
Length: 828 pages
Edition : 3rd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781835085806
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Length: 828 pages
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Tools :

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Table of Contents

19 Chapters
Introduction to Ethical Hacking Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Building a Penetration Testing Lab Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Setting Up for Advanced Penetration Testing Techniques Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Passive Reconnaissance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Exploring Open-Source Intelligence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Active Reconnaissance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Performing Vulnerability Assessments Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Understanding Network Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Performing Network Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Post-Exploitation Techniques Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Delving into Command and Control Tactics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Active Directory Attacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Advanced Active Directory Attacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Advanced Wireless Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Social Engineering Attacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Understanding Website Application Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Advanced Website Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Best Practices for the Real World Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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4 star 6.7%
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1 star 3.3%
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Dwayne Natwick May 03, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a comprehensive guide to setting up ethical hacking environments leveraging the Kali Linux build. The Kali Linux build provides a variety of tools that can be used by the “Red Teamers” to identify vulnerabilities within an infrastructure, whether on-premises, cloud, or hybrid. This book guides the reader through setting up lab environments that can be used to test and identify potential threats before they are leveraged by attackers. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced cybersecurity professional, you will benefit from having a copy of this book.
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David Meece "Cybertech Dave" Jul 25, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is written well and very beginner friendly. The way the author explains the technical concepts is perfect for newcomers with less experience. I would highly recommend this book to students or more seasoned cybersecurity professionals in the field.
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blkhedrulz Sep 22, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Just be aware that all examples in the book are based on using a Windows virtual machine to run Kali and set up a virtual testing network. So if you are like me and avoid Windows like the plague be prepared to buy a cheap mini PC running Windows to be able to work through the examples verbatim, or to spend some time figuring out how to adapt what he is doing to another system. Overall and awesome book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Raymond Jul 20, 2024
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The Ultimate Kali Linux Book - Third Edition: Harness Nmap, Metasploit, Aircrack-ng, and Empire for cutting-edge pentesting 3rd ed. Edition by Glen D Singh is a comprehensive guide to ethical hacking and penetration testing with Kali Linux. I originally purchased the Audible edition to study for thne Comptia Pentest + exam as adjunct material to Comptia study guides. The audio helped to reinforce topics for study. This prompted me to order a kindle copy and I read through for further reinforcement of command and concepts. The book is excellent for those new to advanced in Kali Linux. The author uses real-world scenarios to explain and explore penetration testing concepts. This is done by a step by step of setting up a pentest lab using virtual machines.Exercises focus on reconnaissance, Open-source intelligence gathering, asset and network discovery techniques and how to use/commands for tools in Kali Linux which can target systems, perform vulnerability assessments, perform social engineering attacks, identify security flaws on devices, exploit security weaknesses to gain access, persistence, command and control and data extraction. Compromise of Active Directory and enterprise network exploitation and red teaming is covered on wired and wireless networks as well as explanation of how to exploit vulnerable web applications.Tools covered include Nmap, Metasploit, Aircrack-ng, the Harvester, SET Toolkit and many other Kali Tools and Applications. I highly recommend this for learning, reinforcing for Pentest exams and as a shelf reference guide.The authors' concise, well elaborated and easy to follow explanations make this a comfortable read. After reading this and using it as study , I would happily purchase the authors' future books as he is clearly accomplished as an instructor and author.
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zs Oct 26, 2024
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Super!
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