Pen Testing, No Experience.

L.Jenkins

I'm not trying to get into Security, but I want to build my skills in the area for the purposes of Development and Devops. What would everyone recommend to get started? I'm thinking of a VM, but is it possible to simulate a Network on a local machine for testing?

Blowfish

You can simulate a full network with GNS3. Other than that, there's a compiled list of practice sites/VM's/CTF's here.

If you are willing to invest a bit though, you could do the OSCP. They give you a full simulated network, so it's totally hands on, plus it teaches you the underlying vulnerabilities and how to code exploits, rather than some courses where you'd just be using click and point tools.

Keyzer

I'll stick up some stuff tomorrow when I'm at my laptop. I have loads of stuff I can share with you.

Manach

Not directly relevant to Pen Testing but for the OP, might I suggest the following for some Devops tools: Splunk, Puppet & Jenkins.

harney

To help you on the way:

For Web App

https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_WebGoat_Project

For other stuff

https://sourceforge.net/projects/metasploitable/

Keyzer

https://www.kali.org/ - linux based distro with a ton of pentesting tools pre-installed.

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads - Virtualbox used to run multiple VM's (Kali as attack machine)

www.vulnhub.com - countless vulnerable images ranging from beginner to advanced.

http://www.thisislegal.com/challenges
http://captf.com/
http://www.ehacking.net/2015/10/xtreme-vulnerable-web-application-xvwa.html
http://www.dvwa.co.uk/
https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Category:OWASP_WebGoat_Project
http://academy.ehacking.net/courses/cisco-labs-with-advanced-gns3-features/

http://www.amanhardikar.com/mindmaps/PracticeUrls.html - tons of resources listed here...

http://www.securitycurrent.com/en/writers/gary-hayslip/path-to-a-career-in-cyber-and-then-some - Good advice should you decide you want a career in Security.

L.Jenkins

Thanks for all the posts, links and advice lads. Much appreciated.

syklops

Itzy wrote: »

Thanks for all the posts, links and advice lads. Much appreciated.

Have you an area of pen testing you are interested in? Web, Wireless, OS/System, Network?

I read a great book years ago called "InfoSec Career hacking". A sexy title but it gave instructions for building the ideal home-based pen test lab.

It has never, in the history of man, been easier to find resources to be a pen tester. There are vulnerable VDMs you can install to practice on and their a video walkthroughs of individual tools.

L.Jenkins

I'm somewhat interested in the area of Network and Web Security. I'll keep looking for resources online.

veganrun

I'm also interested in this area from a testing point if view but not sure where to start. I'm also a bit paranoid about googling the wrong thing around security/pen testing and getting arrested or something

syklops

veganrun wrote: »

I'm also interested in this area from a testing point if view but not sure where to start. I'm also a bit paranoid about googling the wrong thing around security/pen testing and getting arrested or something

As i said before, it has never before been easier to find information or get experience in this issue. You wont get arrested for googling "how to learn pen testing".

I would say do the following:

#1 If you dont have hardware capable of virtualising other OS, beg, borrow or steal some hardware. Install a few different OS, including Kali and metasploitable. Familiarise yourself with the tools and vulnerabilities. Get it so you can go from none to pwned in a couple of minutes.

#2 Install the Damn Vulnerable Web Applications and learn to use Burp or other tools to exploit them

#3 Review and learn the SQLi and XSS cheat sheets and then...

#4 Join HackerOne or another BugBounty program and start using your knowledge to find bugs. You could earn some $$$ from it.

#5 Rejoice! Your now a pen tester!

veganrun

syklops wrote: »

As i said before, it has never before been easier to find information or get experience in this issue. You wont get arrested for googling "how to learn pen testing".

I would say do the following:

#1 If you dont have hardware capable of virtualising other OS, beg, borrow or steal some hardware. Install a few different OS, including Kali and metasploitable. Familiarise yourself with the tools and vulnerabilities. Get it so you can go from none to pwned in a couple of minutes.

#2 Install the Damn Vulnerable Web Applications and learn to use Burp or other tools to exploit them

#3 Review and learn the SQLi and XSS cheat sheets and then...

#4 Join HackerOne or another BugBounty program and start using your knowledge to find bugs. You could earn some $$$ from it.

#5 Rejoice! Your now a pen tester!

Thanks. I have an old laptop that isn't much use so I could put Kali Linux on that.

Has anyone joined Hack Forums? I read about it on the BBC website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32019260

syklops

veganrun wrote: »

Thanks. I have an old laptop that isn't much use so I could put Kali Linux on that.

Has anyone joined Hack Forums? I read about it on the BBC website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32019260

Dont put kali on the old laptop, put metasploitable, and then try to hack it from your own laptop. Research the vulnerabilities, find exploits, and compromise that laptop.

Too many people think that installing kali means they are a green belt in pen testing. Getting your first remote shell is where the magic is at.

harney

You can always use something like UNetbootin to install Kali on a USB stick. Then just boot off the USB stick into Kali, and you don't have to modify your current PC.

http://unetbootin.github.io

veganrun

Can I hack metasploitable from a Windows machine?

Blowfish

veganrun wrote: »

Can I hack metasploitable from a Windows machine?

Yes.

timmywex

veganrun wrote: »

Can I hack metasploitable from a Windows machine?

It'd be like trying to peel a potato with a knife as opposed to a potato peeler. Possible but just trickier and more hassle

Blowfish

timmywex wrote: »

It'd be like trying to peel a potato with a knife as opposed to a potato peeler. Possible but just trickier and more hassle

I reckon it actually wouldn't be all that much more hassle, in fact I reckon for a few of the vulns you'd actually learn a hell of a lot more as you wouldn't just be able to throw a tool at it. You'd probably need to be at least somewhat capable of scripting/coding though.

timmywex

Blowfish wrote: »

I reckon it actually wouldn't be all that much more hassle, in fact I reckon for a few of the vulns you'd actually learn a hell of a lot more as you wouldn't just be able to throw a tool at it. You'd probably need to be at least somewhat capable of scripting/coding though.

Well yeh this is it. Kali is a one click download, load up the VM and easy to follow online tutorials or whatever from there. Windows is just that bit more awkward IMO, but definitely very doable

BoB_BoT

I've been very interested in this myself, so thanks all for the links. Tis a good start, more hobby than professional, always good to know the basics

syklops

veganrun wrote: »

Can I hack metasploitable from a Windows machine?

Nmap and netcat both available for windows will get you access to metasploitable via a few of the vulns. For example there is a backdoor in the IRC daemon which can be triggered via netcat. Its more important for you to learn what the vulnerabilities mean, how they are exploited and how to prevent them.

Yes it can be done easily.

veganrun

Am I right to think metasploitable is just a VM image and can't be "installed" like a normal Linux OS?

If so, what's the best way to run it on an old laptop?

syklops

veganrun wrote: »

Am I right to think metasploitable is just a VM image and can't be "installed" like a normal Linux OS?

If so, what's the best way to run it on an old laptop?

Read the documentation. It says they recommend VM player which is free.

ishotjr2

Check out this

http://beefproject.com/