Scanning and connecting to AWS

Now we are going to be scanning systems inside of AWS. This plays an important part in pentesting because, as we mentioned, scanning and enumeration comprise the first technical portion of pentesting AWS and general pentesting engagements. It's important to know where to start when beginning to pentest AWS environments. Assuming that all prerequisites have been met, and all things are in order, moving forward with scanning and connecting to instances should be the next logical component of testing AWS.

Before we begin, ensure that your Windows host is up and running. Log into the AWS management console and look back at Chapter 1, Building Your AWS Environment, if you need a refresher – then return back here.

Once you're ready to go, we are going to move forward and start using Nmap to scan our AWS environment.

Scanning with Nmap

Now let's put Nmap into action and use it to check out the Windows 2008 server and poke...