Getting Started with Burp Suite

This chapter provides the setup instructions necessary to proceed through the material in this book. Starting with downloading Burp, the details include the two main Burp editions available and their distinguishing characteristics.

To use Burp Suite, a penetration tester requires a target application. This chapter includes instructions on downloading and installing OWASP applications contained within a Virtual Machine (VM). Such applications will be used throughout this book as targeted vulnerable web applications.

This chapter includes instructions to configure the Burp Suite Proxy listener. This listener is required to capture all HTTP traffic flowing between your local browser and the target website. Default settings for the listener include an Internet Protocol (IP) address, 127.0.0.1, and a port number, 8080.

Finally, this chapter will conclude with the options for starting Burp Suite. This includes how to start Burp Suite at the command line, with an optional headless mode, and using the executable.

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

• Downloading Burp Suite (Community and Professional editions)
• Setting up a web app pentesting lab
• Creating a PortSwigger account to access Web Security Academy
• Starting Burp Suite at a command line or as an executable
• Listening for HTTP traffic using Burp