Ethical Hacking (Part 2)

 What do Ethical Hackers do?

~ “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” – – Sun Tzu, Art of War 

~ Ethical hackers tries to answer: 

• What can the intruder see on the target system? (Reconnaissance and Scanning phase of hacking) 

• What can an intruder do with that information? (Gaining Access and Maintaining Access phases) 

• Does anyone at the target notice the intruders attempts or success? (Reconnaissance and Covering Tracks phases) 

~ If hired by any organization, an ethical hacker asks the organization what it is trying to protect, against whom and what resources it is willing to expend in order to gain protection.

Skill Profile of an Ethical Hacker :

~ Computer expert adept at technical domains. 

~ In-depth knowledge about target platforms (such as windows, Unix, Linux). 

~ Exemplary knowledge in networking and related hardware / software. 

~ Knowledgeable about security areas and related issues – though not necessarily a security professional. 

How do they go about it?

~ Any security evaluation involves three components: 

~ Preparation – In this phase, a formal contract is signed that contains a non-disclosure clause as well as a legal clause to protect the ethical hacker against any prosecution that he may attract during the conduct phase. The contract also outlines infrastructure perimeter, evaluation activities, time schedules and resources available to him. 

~ Conduct – In this phase, the evaluation technical report is prepared based on testing potential vulnerabilities. 

~ Conclusion – In this phase, the results of the evaluation is communicated to the organization / sponsors and corrective advise / action is taken if needed. 

Modes of Ethical Hacking :

~ Remote network – This mode attempts to simulate an intruder launch an attack over the Internet. 

~ Remote dial-up network - This mode attempts to simulate an intruder launching an attack against the client’s modem pools. 

~ Local network – This mode simulates an employee with legal access gaining unauthorized access over the local network. 

~ Stolen equipment – This mode simulates theft of a critical information resource such as a laptop owned by a strategist, (taken by the client unaware of its owner and given to the ethical hacker). 

~ Social engineering – This aspect attempts to check the integrity of the organization’s employees. 

~ Physical entry – This mode attempts to physically compromise the organization’s ICT infrastructure. 

Security Testing :

~ There are many different forms of security testing. Examples include vulnerability scanning, ethical hacking and penetration testing. Security testing can be conducted using one of two approaches: 

~ Black-box (with no prior knowledge of the infrastructure to be tested) 

~ White-box (with a complete knowledge of the network infrastructure). 

~ Internal Testing is also known as Gray-box testing and this examines the extent of access by insiders within the network. 

Deliverables :

(Part 3)

(Part 1)