Ethical Hacking

Toolkit

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
for aspiring ethical hackers
 Privacy
Matters

HELLO THERE!
In the digital age, security has evolved from locked doors and closed
windows to firewalls and encrypted data. As we move our lives
increasingly online, the risk of cyber threats grows in tandem. Across
this vast digital landscape, one figure stands as a guardian against
these threats: the ethical hacker.

Ethical hacking, also known as penetration testing or white-hat hacking,

involves the same tools, tricks, and techniques that hackers use, but
with one significant difference - it's entirely legal and done with the
organization's consent. The purpose? To identify vulnerabilities and
weaknesses in the systems before the malicious hackers do.

In this comprehensive checklist, we will walk you through the process

of ethical hacking. Our goal is to arm you with the knowledge,
strategies, and technical prowess needed to safeguard systems and
networks against potential cyber threats.
 PRIVACY MATTERS

TABLE OF CONTENS

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Pre-Engagement Activities

2.1 Define Scope of Engagement
2.2 Get Legal Permission
2.3 Understand the Rules of Engagement
2.4 Prepare the Tools and Techniques

Chapter 3: Reconnaissance
3.1 Information Gathering
3.2 Technical Reconnaissance
3.3 Network Mapping

Chapter 4: Scanning and Enumeration

4.1 Perform Network Scanning
4.2 System Fingerprinting
4.3 Vulnerability Scanning

Chapter 5: Gaining Access

5.1 Exploit Vulnerabilities
5.2 Escalate Privileges
5.3 Establish Persistence
5.4 Cover Tracks

Chapter 6: Post-Exploitation and Reporting

6.1 Document Findings
6.2 Data Analysis
6.3 Clean Up
6.4 Prepare the Report
6.5 Debrief Stakeholders

Chapter 7: Follow-Up Activities

7.1 Remediation Verification
7.2 Lessons Learned
7.3 Stay Updated

Chapter 8: Tools & Resources

Pre-Engagement Activities

1. DEFINE SCOPE OF ENGAGEMENT

Before you start, it is crucial to understand and clearly outline the specific systems,
networks, or data that you are authorized to test. This scope can include specific IP
addresses, types of data, or certain parts of the network. It sets the boundary of your
activities and ensures that all parties are clear on what will be included in the
engagement.

2. GET LEGAL 3. UNDERSTAND THE

PERMISSION RULES OF
ENGAGEMENT
One of the fundamental differences Every ethical hacking engagement
between an ethical hacker and a comes with its unique set of rules. This
malicious hacker is that the former includes defining potential 'off-limits'
operates with explicit legal permission. areas, setting timeframes within which
Always ensure that you have written, you can perform your ethical hacking
legally binding permission from the attempts, and agreeing on methods of
appropriate authority in the organization communication and escalation protocols.
before you start your activities. This will Make sure you have these rules down
protect you and the organization, pat before starting.
establishing trust and mutual
understanding.
Reconnaissance

1. INFORMATION GATHERING
The first active step in ethical hacking is reconnaissance. This involves gathering as much
publicly available information about the organization as possible, such as details available
on the organization's website, public records, and other open sources. This information
often includes business details, employee information, and sometimes even IT specifics.

2. TECHNICAL 3. NETWORK MAPPING

RECONNAISSANCE

This involves identifying target systems' This is the process of understanding the
specific technical details like IP layout of the network. This could involve
addresses, domain details, mail servers, identifying subnets, mapping out routers
etc. This information can be obtained and switches, and understanding the
using various tools and techniques like network's overall architecture. Tools
DNS interrogation, WHOIS lookups, such as traceroute, Nmap, and others
network enumeration, etc. can be useful here.
Scanning and Enumeration

1. PERFORM NETWORK SCANNING

Network scanning involves probing the network for live systems, open ports, and
services. This helps identify potential points of vulnerability. This usually involves port
scanning, service detection, and sometimes even operating system detection.

2. SYSTEM 3. VULNERABILITY
FINGERPRINTING SCANNING

This step involves identifying the specific This process uses automated tools to
versions of the operating systems and identify known vulnerabilities in systems
services running on the target systems. and applications. It relies on databases
Knowing the exact version can help of known vulnerabilities like CVE
identify known vulnerabilities in those (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures)
specific versions. and others.
Gaining Access

1. EXPLOIT VULNERABILITIES
Once vulnerabilities have been identified, the next step is to exploit them to gain
unauthorized access to systems while staying within the scope of the engagement. This
is often achieved using a combination of custom scripts and established exploit
frameworks like Metasploit.

2. ESCALATE 3. ESTABLISH
PRIVILEGES PERSISTENCE

If initial access provides limited Once you have gained access, you may
privileges, you'll need to exploit other want to establish a way to maintain this
vulnerabilities to escalate your privileges access, often referred to as creating a
on the system. This is typically necessary "backdoor". This must be done carefully
to access more sensitive data or perform and ethically, ensuring that it does not
more significant changes on the target provide an opportunity for malicious
system. hackers.

4. COVER TRACKS

As you move through the systems, be sure to cover your tracks. This is not for malicious
intent but to understand and demonstrate how an actual attacker might behave. This may
involve cleaning up log files, hiding files, or other steps to minimize your footprint.
Post-Exploitation and
Reporting
1. DOCUMENT FINDINGS:
It is absolutely critical to keep a clear and thorough record of all your activities, findings,
and any issues you encountered along the way. This documentation will be invaluable
when it's time to compile your final report and can also serve as a reference for future
engagements.

2. DATA ANALYSIS & 3. PREPARE THE

CLEAN UP REPORT

Analyze all the data you've gathered Write a comprehensive report detailing
during your ethical hack. Look for the methods you used, the vulnerabilities
potential patterns, unexpected findings, you found, the potential impacts, and
and indications of potential risks. Your your recommendations for remediation.
goal is to understand the potential impact This report should be understandable to
of the vulnerabilities you've found. both technical and non-technical readers.

Any changes made to the systems – Once the report is ready, present your
such as created accounts, installed findings to the key stakeholders. Be
software, or modified files – should be prepared to explain your process, justify
carefully reverted to their original state. your findings, and discuss your
This is part of respecting the client's recommendations for improving security.
environment and ensuring that your
activities do not disrupt their normal
operations.
Follow-Up Activities

1. REMEDIATION VERIFICATION
If within your scope, once the vulnerabilities you found have been patched, verify that the
remediations are working as expected and that they do not introduce new vulnerabilities.

2. LESSONS LEARNED 3. STAY UPDATED

After each engagement, take the time to Cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field.
review what worked well and what could Regularly update your skills and
be improved. This could involve knowledge about the latest hacking
feedback from the client, self-reflection tools, techniques, threat landscape, and
on your own methodologies, and any industry best practices. This not only
new trends or techniques you keeps you at the top of your game but
encountered during your hack. also ensures that you can provide the
best possible service to your clients.
Tools & Resources

SOME USEFUL TOOLS:

Nmap (Network Mapper): This is an open-source tool used for network discovery and
security auditing. It's useful for network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules,
and monitoring host or service uptime.

Wireshark: This is a network protocol analyzer used for network troubleshooting,

analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education. It captures
data flowing over a network and interprets it for detailed inspection.

Metasploit Framework: This is one of the most widely used penetration testing
frameworks. It's a collection of tools used for developing and executing exploit code
against a remote target machine.

Burp Suite: This tool is used for testing web application security. The suite of tools works
together to support the entire testing process, from initial mapping to analysis of an
application's attack surface.

Aircrack-ng: This is a set of tools for auditing wireless networks. The tools allow you to
monitor, attack, test and crack WEP and WPA-PSK keys.

John the Ripper: This is a popular password cracking tool used to test the strength of
passwords and detect weak ones that could be vulnerable to hacking.

Nessus: This is a highly functional vulnerability scanner used to detect vulnerabilities in

the tested systems, such as missing patches, weak passwords, open ports, etc.

Sqlmap: This tool automates the process of detecting and exploiting SQL injection flaws,
which can help in hacking a database server.

OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy): This is a free, open-source web application security
scanner. It helps find security vulnerabilities in a web application during its development
and testing stages.

Kali Linux: While not exactly a tool but rather an operating system, Kali Linux is a Debian-
based Linux distribution aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. It
comes with several hundred pre-installed tools which are geared towards various
information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer
Forensics, and Reverse Engineering.
 PRIVACY MATTERS

Want more tutorials on hacking and how to use these tools?

Check out my
Youtube channel
Privacy // Security // Hacking // Tech

PRIVACY MATTERS