Everything Else
How To: Dump a MacOS User's Chrome Passwords with EvilOSX
Barrow's article on Pupy made me wish for a RAT that could target an OS frequently used by gatekeepers at startups, tech companies, and creative firms: macOS. Once run, a RAT can do severe damage by dumping a user's stored credentials for many accounts. The best loot lives in the Chrome Password cache, and EvilOSX, an OS X RAT, infiltrates macOS and dumps these credentials.
How To: Create a Wireless Spy Camera Using a Raspberry Pi
Surveillance is always a useful tool in a hacker's arsenal, whether deployed offensively or defensively. Watching targets yourself isn't always practical, and traditional surveillance camera systems can be costly, lacking in capabilities, or both. Today, we will use motionEyeOS running on a Raspberry Pi Zero to create a small, concealable Wi-Fi connected spy camera that is both affordable and easily concealed.
How To: Use Pupy, a Linux Remote Access Tool
In one of my previous articles, I discussed ShinoBot, a remote administration tool that makes itself obvious. The goal is to see if the user could detect a remote administration tool or RAT on their system. In this article, I'll be demonstrating the use of Pupy, an actual RAT, on a target Ubuntu 16.04 server.
How To: Use Private Encrypted Messaging Over Tor
Tor is an excellent obfuscation network for web traffic, and while instant messaging over the network is very useful, it can be relatively difficult to configure. In this guide, we'll look at two synchronous communications platforms (instant messengers) which can be routed over the Tor network, Ricochet and XMPP.
How To: Turn Your Raspberry Pi into a Wireless Hotspot
When hacking into a network during a penetration test, it can sometimes be useful to create your own wireless AP simply by plugging a Pi into an available Ethernet port. With this setup, you have your own backdoor wireless connection to the network in a matter of seconds. Creating an AP is also helpful while traveling, or needing to share a connection with a group of people.
How To: Detect Bluetooth Low Energy Devices in Realtime with Blue Hydra
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is the de facto wireless protocol choice by many wearables developers, and much of the emerging internet of things (IoT) market. Thanks to it's near ubiquity in modern smartphones, tablets, and computers, BLE represents a large and frequently insecure attack surface. This surface can now be mapped with the use of Blue Hydra.
How To: Fully Anonymize Kali with Tor, Whonix & PIA VPN
Hacking from a host machine without any form of proxying is reckless for a hacker, and in a penetration test, could lead to an important IP address becoming quickly blacklisted by the target. By routing all traffic over Tor and reducing the threat of malicious entrance and exit nodes with a VPN, we can configure Kali to become thoroughly private and anonymous.
How To: Null Byte & Null Space Labs Present: Wi-Fi Hacking, MITM Attacks & the USB Rubber Ducky
Null Byte users have often requested video content, but the question has always been what format would best serve our community. This week, we partnered with Null Space Labs, a hackerspace in Los Angeles, to test the waters by hosting a series of talks on ethical hacking for students in Pasadena Computer Science Club. We invited students and Null Byte writers to deliver talks on Wi-Fi hacking, MITM attacks, and rogue devices like the USB Rubber Ducky.
How To: VPN Your IoT & Media Devices with a Raspberry Pi PIA Routertraffic
Virtual private networks, or VPNs, are popular for helping you stay anonymous online by changing your IP address, encrypting traffic, and hiding your location. However, common IoT devices, media players, and smart TVs are hard to connect to a VPN, but we have a solution: Turn a Raspberry Pi into a router running through PIA VPN, which will ensure every connected device gets the VPN treatment.
How To: Exploring Kali Linux Alternatives: How to Get Started with Parrot Security OS, a Modern Pentesting Distro
Kali Linux is the obvious first choice of an operating system for most new hackers, coming bundled with a curated collection of tools organized into easy-to-navigate menus and a live boot option that is very newbie-friendly. But Kali isn't the only distribution targeted at pentesters, and many exciting alternatives may better fit your use-case. We've already covered BlackArch Linux, now it's time to talk about Parrot Security OS.
How To: Use SpiderFoot for OSINT Gathering
During a penetration test, one of the most important aspects of engaging a target is information gathering. The more information you have coming into an attack, the more likely the attack is to succeed. In this article, I'll be looking at SpiderFoot, a modular cross-platform OSINT (open-source intelligence) gathering tool.
How To: Exploring Kali Linux Alternatives: How to Get Started with BlackArch, a More Up-to-Date Pentesting Distro
In 2013, Offensive Security released Kali Linux, a rebuild of BackTrack Linux derived from Debian. Since then, Kali has gone on to become somewhat of a standard for penetration testing. It comes preconfigured with a collection of tools accessible by a menu system, tied together with the Gnome desktop environment. However, Kali Linux isn't the only penetration-testing distribution available.
How To: Hack Forum Accounts with Password-Stealing Pictures
The pictures we upload online are something we tend to think of as self-expression, but these very images can carry code to steal our passwords and data. Profile pictures, avatars, and image galleries are used all over the internet. While all images carry digital picture data — and many also carry metadata regarding camera or photo edits — it's far less expected that an image might actually be hiding malicious code.
How To: Use a Virtual Burner Phone to Protect Your Identity & Security
Every time you make a call or send a text, you're giving the recipient your phone number. This can be quite the security vulnerability, opening yourself up to scammers, spammers, and the feds. In this how-to, we'll look at what a burner phone is, why you might want one, and how to get started using a free second phone number on your regular smartphone.
How To: Protect Your Identity After the Equifax Cyberattack
Equifax reported on Sept. 7 that it discovered a breach on July 29 which affects roughly half of Americans, many of whom don't realize they have dealings with the company. Hackers got away with social security numbers, addresses, and driver's license numbers, foreshadowing a "nuclear explosion of identity theft." Let's explore what really happened and what you and those around you can do to protect yourselves.
How To: Track Government Aircraft 200 Miles Away with a Raspberry Pi
Aircraft equipped with ADS-B are constantly shouting their location into the radio void, along with other useful unauthenticated and unencrypted data. In this guide, we will make an ADS-B receiver using a Raspberry Pi with a software-defined radio (SDR) dongle, which we can use to track aircraft anywhere in real time.
How To: Track ADS-B Equipped Aircraft on Your Smartphone
Flight disruptions can cost billions of dollars, but most modern commercial flights rely on air traffic control systems that harbor serious vulnerabilities. The Federal Aviation Administration uses an infrastructure called NextGen, which relies on Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast, or ADS-B for short.
How To: Attack a Vulnerable Practice Computer: A Guide from Scan to Shell
In my previous article, we learned how to generate a vulnerable virtual machine using SecGen to safely and legally practice hacking. In this tutorial, we will put it all together, and learn how to actually hack our practice VM. This will provide some insight into the methodology behind an actual attack and demonstrate the proper way to practice on a VM.
How To: Use SecGen to Generate a Random Vulnerable Machine
Recently, I ran across SecGen, a project which allows a user to create random vulnerable machines. I absolutely love vulnerable machines, since a vulnerable VM is a safe and legal way to practice hacking tactics, test out new tools, and exercise your puzzle-solving skills.
How To: Use MinGW to Compile Windows Exploits on Kali Linux
Cross-compilation allows you to develop for one platform (like Kali) and compile to run on a different platform (such as Windows). For developers, it means that they can work on their platform of choice and compile their code for their target platform. For hackers, it means we can compile exploit code for Windows from Kali.
How to Use PowerShell Empire: Getting Started with Post-Exploitation of Windows Hosts
PowerShell Empire is a post-exploitation framework for computers and servers running Microsoft Windows, Windows Server operating systems, or both. In these tutorials, we will be exploring everything from how to install Powershell Empire to how to snoop around a target's computer without the antivirus software knowing about it. If we are lucky, we might even be able to obtain domain administrator credentials and own the whole network.
How To: Simulate a RAT on Your Network with ShinoBOT
A remote administration tool, or RAT, is a piece of software used for remotely controlling machines. They are commonly used by tech support to gain remote access for troubleshooting purposes, but RATs are also an important part of a hacker's advanced persistent threat (APT) toolkit. Unlike standard administration RATs, these tools are designed to be delivered stealthily and operate undetected.
How To: Set Up SoftEther VPN on Windows to Keep Your Data Secure
Imagine for a moment that a VPN is like putting on a disguise for your computer. This disguise works to change your IP address, secure your traffic with encryption, and mask your location to bypass regional restrictions. This makes it a helpful tool for both whistleblowers and journalists. VPNs are also built into the well-known Tor Browser.
How To: Perform a Large-Scale Network Security Audit with OpenVAS's GSA
In my previous article, I discussed installing and configuring OpenVAS on Kali Linux. Now it's time to start using OpenVAS with the Greenbone Security Assistant to audit networks for security issues. This can be extremely helpful when you are looking for vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in a large number of hosts.
How To: Install OpenVAS for Broad Vulnerability Assessment
OpenVAS is a powerful vulnerability assessment tool. Forked from Nessus after Nessus became a proprietary product, OpenVAS stepped in to fill the niche. OpenVAS really shines for information gathering in large networks where manual scanning to establish a foothold can be time-consuming. OpenVAS is also helpful for administrators who need to identify potential security issues on a network.
How To: Exploit Routers on an Unrooted Android Phone
RouterSploit is a powerful exploit framework similar to Metasploit, working to quickly identify and exploit common vulnerabilities in routers. And guess what. It can be run on most Android devices.
How To: Steal macOS Files with the USB Rubber Ducky
If you need a tiny, flexible attack platform for raining down human-interface-device (HID) attacks on unattended computers, the USB Rubber Ducky is the most popular tool for the job. By loading the Ducky with custom firmware, you can design new attacks to be effective against even air-gapped computers without internet access. Today, you'll learn to write a payload to make "involuntary backups" through copying a targeted folder to the Ducky's USB mass storage.
How To: Modify the USB Rubber Ducky with Custom Firmware
The USB Rubber Ducky comes with two software components, the payload script to be deployed and the firmware which controls how the Ducky behaves and what kind of device it pretends to be. This firmware can be reflashed to allow for custom Ducky behaviors, such as mounting USB mass storage to copy files from any system the Duck is plugged into.
How To: Seize Control of a Router with RouterSploit
A router is the core of anyone's internet experience, but most people don't spend much time setting up this critical piece of hardware. Old firmware, default passwords, and other configuration issues continue to haunt many organizations. Exploiting the poor, neglected computer inside these routers has become so popular and easy that automated tools have been created to make the process a breeze.
How To: Log Wi-Fi Probe Requests from Smartphones & Laptops with Probemon
It's no secret that devices leak data, but sometimes they do so in ways you may not expect. Your phone, laptop, printer, and IOT devices leak Wi-Fi information that can (and is) used to track you.
How to Hack Radio Frequencies: Hijacking FM Radio with a Raspberry Pi & Wire
In our first part on software-defined radio and signals intelligence, we learned how to set up a radio listening station to find and decode hidden radio signals — just like the hackers who triggered the emergency siren system in Dallas, Texas, probably did. Now that we can hear in the radio spectrum, it's time to explore the possibilities of broadcasting in a radio-connected world.
How to Hack Radio Frequencies: Building a Radio Listening Station to Decode Digital Audio & Police Dispatches
On April 7, 2017, residents in Dallas, Texas, woke to the sound of emergency sirens blaring all over the city. No one could shut them off, and after repeated efforts to contain the situation, the city had to shut down the entire system. While the media reported a sophisticated computer hack was responsible, the truth was much less high-tech.
How To: Load & Use Keystroke Injection Payloads on the USB Rubber Ducky
Keystroke injection attacks are popular because they exploit the trust computers have in human interface devices (HIDs). One of the most popular and easily accessible keystroke injection tools is the USB Rubber Ducky from Hack5, which has a huge range of uses beyond simple HID attacks. The USB Rubber Ducky can be used to attack any unlocked computer in seconds or to automate processes and save time.
How To: Find XSS Vulnerable Sites with the Big List of Naughty Strings
Dirty, malformed, and outright mischievous text strings have long been the enemy of interactive website developers. Strings contain any combination of letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation, and are entered into text boxes on websites by users. These strings in particular can do everything from highlighting XSS vulnerabilities to soliciting 404 error pages.
How To: Punchabunch Just Made SSH Local Forwarding Stupid Easy
SSH local forwarding is a must for covering your tracks and getting out there to do your work. Also called SSH tunneling, this process will put one or more steps between your machine and the machine you're working on, for security and other purposes. It can be a bit daunting for newbies to get down, and that's where Punchabunch comes in.
How To: Use Acccheck to Extract Windows Passwords Over Networks
Sometimes you need a password to gain access to an older running Windows system. Maybe it's a machine in your basement you forgot about or a locked machine that belonged to a disgruntled employee. Maybe you just want to try out your pentesting skills.
How To: Create a Reusable Burner OS with Docker, Part 2: Customizing Our Hacking Container
In the first part of my containers series, we learned how to install Docker on our local machine, pull down "hello-world" and Ubuntu containers, SSH into containers, and install software when in a container. Now, we're going to work on building, customizing, and storing our refined hacking Ubuntu container. Before we dive right in, though, let's make sure we still have a functional Docker installation.
How To: Create a Reusable Burner OS with Docker, Part 3: Storing Our Hacking Container Remotely
At this point in our series on creating a customized hacking container, you should be able to use Docker to save and retrieve customized instances of Ubuntu from your own machine. Make sure to revisit part one and part two if you need a refresher.
How To: Create a Reusable Burner OS with Docker, Part 1: Making an Ubuntu Hacking Container
Containers are isolated software instances representing applications, servers, and even operating systems—complete with all of their dependencies, libraries configuration files, etc.—and they're taking over the corporate world. The ephemeral, portable nature of containers help them stay current and speedy, and they can work on pretty much any computer, virtual machine, and cloud.
How To: Slip a Backdoor into PHP Websites with Weevely
Backdoors are convenient to leave behind once you've already found a way into a server, and they can come in handy for a variety of reasons. They're good for developers who want a quick way into machines they're working on, or for systems administrators who want similar access. Of course, backdoors are also a hacker's best friend, and can be added in a variety of ways. One good tool for doing this is Weevely, which uses a snippet of PHP code.