Reconnaissance

Penetration Testing Reconnaissance

We want to begin a pen test by reviewing the target’s website. We may actually use a tool called HTT rack to make a page-by-page copy of the website. HTT rack is a free program that creates an identical, off-line copy of the target website. The copied website will include all the pages, links, pictures, and code from the original website; however, it will reside on your local computer. Using a website copying tool like HTT rack allows us to explore and thoroughly mine the website “off-line” without having to spend additional time traipsing around on the company’s web server.

To install HTTrack open the console and type:
sudo apt-get install httrack

Once it is installed, begin HTTrack by typing httrack in the console:

Next, name your project whatever you want. Select a path where you want to save the off-line copy. I just left it as default (/home/websites). Just hit enter to leave it as such. Then enter the site you want to copy. I am using my own site since I will not get in trouble for copying it. (Please do not copy my site… Thanks!).

Pick an action you want. If you want to copy the site, press 1 then enter. HTTrack has a few options for you to pick from including a proxy to help cover your tracks. I am just using the basics for demonstration. I recommend you use a proxy when doing a real pen test.

After HTTrack finishes, you will have a complete off-line copy of the target site which you can review for information.

The Harvester

The Harvester is a simple Python script written by Christian Martorella at Edge Security. This tool allows us to quickly catalog both e-mail addresses and subdomains that are directly related to the target system.

The Harvester can be used to search Google, and Bing for e-mails,
hosts, and subdomains. It can also search LinkedIn for user names.Often times you will find an email address, which could double as a login or user-name.

To use theHarvester first type in your console:

root@bt:~# cd /pentest/enumeration/theharvester

root@bt:~# ./theHarvester.py -d backtracktutorials.com -l 10 -b google.com

–d is used to specify the target domain.
A lowercase –l (that’s ‘L’ not a ‘1’) is used to limit the number of results returned to us. In this case, the tool was instructed to return only 10 results. The –b is used to specify what public repository we want to search. We can choose among Google, Bing, PGP, or LinkedIn.

I scanned my own domain and didn’t find anything… yet!