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Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish

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Product Author Bios

Andrew Whitaker (M.Sc., CISSP, CEI, LPT, ECSA, CHFI, CEH, CCSP, CCNP, CCVP, CCDP, CCNA, CCDA, CCENT, MCSE, MCTS, CNE, A+, Network+, Convergence+, Security+, CTP, EMCPA) is a recognized expert, trainer, and author in the field of penetration testing and security countermeasures. He works as the Director of Enterprise InfoSec and Networking and as a senior ethical hacking instructor for Training Camp. Over the past several years his courses have trained thousands of security professionals throughout the world. His security courses have also caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, San Francisco Gate, and others.

 

Keatron Evans is a senior penetration tester and principal of Blink Digital Security based in Chicago, Illinois. He has more than 11 years experience doing penetration tests, vulnerability assessments, and forensics. Keatron regularly consults with and sometimes trains several government entities and corporations in the areas of network penetration, SCADA security, and other related national infrastructure security topics. He holds several information security certifications including CISSP, CSSA, CEH, CHFI, LPT, CCSP, MCSE:Security, MCT, Security+, and others.When not doing penetration tests, you can find Keatron teaching ethical hacking and forensics classes for Training Camp and a few other security training organizations.

 

Jack Voth has been working in the information technology field for 24 years. He holds numerous industry certifications including CISSP, MCSE, L|PT, C|EH, C|HFI, E|CSA, CTP, Security+, ACA, MCT, CEI, and CCNA. He specializes in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, perimeter security, and voice/data networking architecture. In addition to being a co-owner and senior engineer of The Client Server, Inc., Jack has been instructing for more than six years on subject matter including Microsoft, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), EC-Council, ISC/2, and CompTIA.

 

The complete guide to today’s hard-to-defend chained attacks: performing them and preventing them

 

Nowadays, it’s rare for malicious hackers to rely on just one exploit or tool; instead, they use “chained” exploits that integrate multiple forms of attack to achieve their goals. Chained exploits are far more complex and far more difficult to defend. Few security or hacking books cover them well and most don’t cover them at all. Now there’s a book that brings together start-to-finish information about today’s most widespread chained exploits–both how to perform them and how to prevent them.

 

Chained Exploits demonstrates this advanced hacking attack technique through detailed examples that reflect real-world attack strategies, use today’s most common attack tools, and focus on actual high-value targets, including credit card and healthcare data. Relentlessly thorough and realistic, this book covers the full spectrum of attack avenues, from wireless networks to physical access and social engineering.

 

Writing for security, network, and other IT professionals, the authors take you through each attack, one step at a time, and then introduce today’s most effective countermeasures— both technical and human. Coverage includes:

  • Constructing convincing new phishing attacks
  • Discovering which sites other Web users are visiting
  • Wreaking havoc on IT security via wireless networks
  • Disrupting competitors’ Web sites
  • Performing–and preventing–corporate espionage
  • Destroying secure files
  • Gaining access to private healthcare records
  • Attacking the viewers of social networking pages
  • Creating entirely new exploits
  • and more

 

Andrew Whitaker, Director of Enterprise InfoSec and Networking for Training Camp, has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek. He coauthored Penetration Testing and Network Defense. Andrew was a winner of EC Council’s Instructor of Excellence Award.

 

Keatron Evans is President and Chief Security Consultant of Blink Digital Security, LLC, a trainer for Training Camp, and winner of EC Council’s Instructor of Excellence Award.

 

Jack B. Voth specializes in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and perimeter security. He co-owns The Client Server, Inc., and teaches for Training Camp throughout the United States and abroad.

 

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Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Exploits, April 12, 2009
By 
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This review is from: Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish (Paperback)
I looked forward to Chained Exploits (CE) by Whitaker, Evans and Voth with much anticipation as the concept is a much needed addition to the lexicon on information security. Often academic fields are severely limited by the vocabulary available to discuss issues and the "chained exploit" is sure to become a mainstay in the discourse of information security. Despite my enthusiasm for the concept, however, I was disappointed by the material presented in CE. The genius of the chained exploit is that it upends the traditional threat matrix, typically presented as:

[value of resource] x [likelihood of exploit] = [risk level]

For example, a high value resource that is unlikely to be exploited should be ranked as a low risk, as should a low value resource that is likely to be exploited. Think of this in terms of a temporary database of publically available information used to populate a user demonstration website that is wiped out every 24 hours. If that... Read more
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Needs another editorial pass, July 12, 2009
By 
Sean Earp (Auburn, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish (Paperback)
The concept of the book is decent, albeit quite similar to the Stealing the Network series of books, wrapping theoretical hacking attacks into readable stories. Unfortunately, the execution suffers from several problems.

The narratives are all over the place and rarely bear any resemblance to each other. The stories follow the work of "Phoenix", a hacker who alternates from being someone that dresses poorly enough to be mistaken for a homeless person, performing attacks under duress as a shadowy employer threatens his girlfriend, to someone who has quit his job to live in a 3500 square foot house from the income he gets renting out large botnets.

The book suffers from too-many-authoritis, and each author has a very different writing style that makes each story different from the last. One author is very good at working different tools into his story, while one author feels compelled to list every tool that could possibly be used to pick a lock or sniff... Read more
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A good book with fairly solid cases, May 6, 2009
By 
Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish (Paperback)
I agree with some of the commentary by previous reviewers, but I think some of it is unduly harsh. I don't think it's strictly necessary for a book to contain brand new security techniques in order to qualify for publication. Book publishing is not the same as releasing a white paper or briefing at Black Hat. However, books should strive to *not* cover ground published in other books, or even in well-written white papers. In that respect I think Chained Exploits strikes a good balance. The book's novelty relies on presenting complete, technical examples of a variety of "intrusion missions." While not necessarily groundbreaking for experienced offensive security people, Chained Exploits will be informative for broader technical audiences.

On the positive side, I thought the cases were well written. The authors did a good job explaining the entire case, with an introduction, body, and summary. This was helpful when the cases later in the book got more complex. The... Read more
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Online Sample Chapter

Chained Exploits: Discover What Your Boss Is Looking At

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                                                                             xvii

Chapter 1          Get Your Free Credit Cards Here                                                         1

    Setting the Stage                                                                           1

    The Approach                                                                                1

    The Chained Exploit                                                                       2

        Enumerating the PDXO Web Site                                         3

        Enumerating the Credit Card Database                                 5

        Stealing Credit Card Information from the Web Site              11

        Selling the Credit Card Information on the Underground Market 13

        Defacing the PDXO Web Site                                             15

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                 16

    Countermeasures                                                                         17

        Change the Default HTTP Response Header                        17

        Do Not Have Public Access to Developer Sites                    17

        Do Not Install SQL Server on the Same Machine as IIS        17

        Sanitize Input on Web Forms                                             18

        Do Not Install IIS in the Default Location                              18

        Make Your Web Site Read-Only                                         18

        Remove Unnecessary Stored Procedures from Your SQL Database        18

        Do Not Use the Default Username and Password for Your Database       18

        Countermeasures for Customers                                        19

    Conclusion                                                                                  20

Chapter 2          Discover What Your Boss Is Looking At                                             21

    Setting the Stage                                                                         21

    The Approach                                                                              22

    For More Information                                                                     25

    The Chained Exploit                                                                     28

        Phishing Scam                                                                 29

        Installing Executables                                                       32

        Setting Up the Phishing Site                                              38

        Sending Mr. Minutia an E-mail                                           38

        Finding the Boss’s Computer                                             42

        Connecting to the Boss’s Computer                                    43

        WinPcap                                                                          45

        Analyzing the Packet Capture                                            46

        Reassembling the Graphics                                               48

        Other Possibilities                                                             51

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                 52

    Countermeasures                                                                         52

        Countermeasures for Phishing Scams                                53

        Countermeasures for Trojan Horse Applications                   53

        Countermeasures for Packet-Capturing Software                  54

    Conclusion                                                                                  54

Chapter 3          Take Down Your Competitor’s Web Site                                             55

    Setting the Stage                                                                         55

    The Approach                                                                              57

    For More Information                                                                     59

    The Chained Exploit                                                                     59

        Attack #1: The Test                                                           60

        Attack #2: The One That Worked                                       66

        Getting Access to the Pawn Web site                                68

        Lab-Testing the Hack                                                        70

        Modifying the Pawn Web Site                                            80

        Other Possibilities                                                             83

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                 84

    Countermeasures                                                                         85

        Countermeasures for Hackers Passively Finding Information about Your Company           85

        Countermeasures for DDoS Attacks via ICMP                      85

        Countermeasures for DDoS Attacks via HTTP and Other Protocols         86

        Countermeasures for Unauthorized Web Site Modification    86

        Countermeasures for Compromise of Internal Employees      87

    Conclusion                                                                                  88

Chapter 4          Corporate Espionage                                                                        89

    Setting the Stage                                                                         89

    The Approach                                                                              91

    The Chained Exploit                                                                     92

        Reconnaissance                                                               92

        Getting Physical Access                                                   96

        Executing the Hacks                                                       101

        Bringing Down the Hospital                                              107

        Other Possibilities                                                           119

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                120

    Countermeasures                                                                       121

        Countermeasures for Physical Security Breaches and Access Systems
Compromise                                                                      121

        Countermeasures for Scanning Attacks                             121

        Countermeasures for Social Engineering                           122

        Countermeasures for Operating System Attacks                122

        Countermeasures for Data Theft                                        123

    Conclusion                                                                                 124

Chapter 5          Chained Corporations                                                                      125

    Setting the Stage                                                                       125

    The Approach                                                                             126

    The Chained Exploit                                                                    127

        Reconnaissance                                                             127

        Social Engineering Attack                                                135

        More and Yet More Recon                                               137

        Aggressive Active Recon                                                  140

        Building the Exploit Infrastructure                                      149

        Testing the Exploit                                                          156

        Executing the Hack                                                         166

        Constructing the Rootkit                                                  167

        Game Over–The End Result                                            172

        Other Possibilities                                                           173

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                173

    Countermeasures                                                                       174

        Countermeasures for Hackers Passively Finding Information about Your Company           174

        Countermeasures for Social Engineering Attack on Visual IQ 175

        Countermeasures for Recon on the Visual IQ Software       175

        Countermeasures for Wi-Fi Attack on Quizzi Home Network 175

        Countermeasures for the Keylogger Attack                        176

    Conclusion                                                                                 176

Chapter 6          Gain Physical Access to Healthcare Records                                   177

    Setting the Stage                                                                       177

    The Approach                                                                             179

    For More Information                                                                   179

    The Chained Exploit                                                                    181

        Social Engineering and Piggybacking                                181

        Gaining Physical Access                                                 195

        Booting into Windows with Knoppix                                  201

        Modifying Personally Identifiable Information or Protected Medical
Information                                                                         204

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                205

    Countermeasures                                                                       205

        Social Engineering and Piggybacking                                206

        Lock Picking                                                                   208

        Defeating Biometrics                                                       208

        Compromising a PC                                                        208

    Conclusion                                                                                 209

Chapter 7          Attacking Social Networking Sites                                                   211

    Setting the Stage                                                                       211

    The Approach                                                                             212

    The Chained Exploit                                                                    213

        Creating a Fake MySpace Web Site                                 213

        Creating the Redirection Web Site                                    217

        Creating a MySpace Page                                               218

        Sending a Comment                                                        221

        Compromising the Account                                              224

        Logging In to the Hacked Account                                    224

        The Results                                                                    227

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                228

    Countermeasures                                                                       228

        Avoid Using Social Networking Sites                                 229

        Use a Private Profile                                                        229

        Be Careful about Clicking on Links                                    229

        Require Last Name / E-mail Address to Be a Friend           230

        Do Not Post Too Much Information                                    230

        Be Careful When Entering Your Username/Password         230

        Use a Strong Password                                                   230

        Change Your Password Frequently                                   231

        Use Anti-Phishing Tools                                                   231

    Conclusion                                                                                 231

Chapter 8          Wreaking Havoc from the Parking Lot                                               233

    Setting the Stage                                                                       233

    The Approach                                                                             236

    For More Information                                                                   237

        Accessing Networks Through Access Points                     238

    The Chained Exploit                                                                    239

        Connecting to an Access Point                                        239

        Performing the Microsoft Kerberos Preauthentication Attack 248

        Cracking Passwords with RainbowCrack                           254

        Pilfering the Country Club Data                                         256

        Chained Exploit Summary                                                257

    Countermeasures                                                                       258

        Secure Access Points                                                     258

        Configure Active Directory Properly                                   259

        Use an Intrusion Prevention System or Intrusion Detection System         260

        Update Anti-Virus Software Regularly                                261

        Computer Network Security Checklist                               261

    Conclusion                                                                                 266

TOC, 2/9/09, 9780321498816

 

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