Blogs by Ashwin

  Introduction Viewing, editing, or modifying system files are common privileges. Privilege escalation happens when a user receives privileges they are not entitled to. Hence, they can easily delete files, view private information, or install viruses through these privileges. It is an act of exploiting a bug, design flaw, or configuration oversight in an operating system or software application to gain elevated access to resources that an application of user normally protects. Linux Privilege Escalation The penetration tester often acquires initial footing on a system as a non-privileged user and then obtain further access permissions. It is a necessary skill because "direct-to-root" compromises are very rare in modern environments. There are several common escalation techniques that can exploit misconfigured services, direct kernel vulnerabilities, sensitive data stored in local files, and whatnot. Manual Enumeration After successfully compromising a target and establishing

  Introduction An internal penetration test is generally done after the completion of an external pen test. It imitates an insider threat and identifies the ways an attacker can compromise or damage the network, sensitive data, or systems. Initially, the tester may start with the most obvious or common scenarios like: An unhappy rogue employee (malicious insider) who can compromise or damage the system network. An external malicious attacker who accesses the system through social engineering, phishing scam, or stolen credentials.  Mostly, organizations on external threats but, it has been proved that a majority of data breaches happens dur to internal threats and they can come from- Weak or shared passwords Weak access controls Insecure file sharing or unencrypted data Network misconfigurations Lack of awareness about social engineering and phishing Ransomware attacks Insecure remote devices and networks It is very important to address these issues on priority and internal penetration

  What is External Penetration Testing ? External Penetration Testing is also known as external network penetration testing. It is a type of  security assessment of an organization's perimeter systems. A perimeter comprises of all those systems that are directly reachable from the internet. Because they are out in the open and are the most exposed systems, they are most easily and regularly attacked.  Hence, the main aim of an external pentest is to determine ways to compromise the accessible (external) systems and services, gain access to sensitive information, and discover methods an attacker can use the users or clients. They will also test the extent of any weaknesses discovered to see how far a malicious attacker could burrow into a network and what the business impact of a successful attack would be.  Asset Discovery Assets can be a website or a web application or an API that are intended to be found or discovered with the help of asset discovery tools. After the identificati

  What is Penetration Testing? Penetration testing, also known as Pentest, is an authorized simulated cyber attack used to ascertain a computer system's security state. However, it should not be confused with vulnerability assessment. This process not only identify the weaknesses, but also the strengths of a system, thus providing a full risk management. A pen tester evaluates the cybersecurity of an organization utilizing various techniques. It allows the businesses identify their weaknesses and determine if a malicious actor would be able to take advantage and exploit them to get unauthorized access. Any type of study involving deliberate simulation of attack on a computer system falls under the broad definition of penetration testing, as there are several approaches to ethical hacking. Types of Penetration Tests All pen tests falls under either of the three following categories: White Box- If a penetration test target is a White Box then, the tester will be provided a complete b

  Introduction Nowadays, cyberattack on various organizations, enterprises, or government sectors via hacktivists, criminals, national enemies, etc. have become a common practice. They always look for a loophole to penetrate a computer network's defense system of their victims. Hence, there are many effective ways to defend against cyber attacks. Some of them are- training the employees, keeping the system and software up-to-date, multiple backup solutions, monitoring network traffic, etc. However, one of the major defense mechanism is PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard).  What is PTES? PTES is basically a comprehensive guide that outlies a standard methodology for conducting penetration tests. The method was developed by a team of information security practitioners to cater to the need of a complete and updated standard for penetration testing.  Penetration testing is a process in which organizations can test their own network security by simulating the real-world cybera

  About  Advanced Persistent Threat BlackTech is China linked cyber espionage group. They have targeted many organizations working with the U.S, and Japan militaries to steal sensitive information. They are also capable of modifying router firmware, deploying backdoors in victims' networks, and moving laterally between the networks while evading detection. First appeared in 2010, BlackTech make use of various malwares to affect Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD and updates them regularly. With the help of stolen code signing certificates, adversaries sign the malware to make them appear legitimate and avoid their victims' defense mechanisms. The threat actor can also blend in benign operating systems and network activities via Living-off-the-Land tools as well as techniques.  However, their most dangerous technique is modifying router firmware without detection. This sophisticated technique helps in establishing persistence, disable logging, move laterally, and hide their C2 communic