Ethical hacking: Port interrogation tools and techniques By Blackhat Pakistan 2023

In Ethical hacking “Know thy enemy.” This is as true in hacking as it is in war, and harbor interrogation is a key part of it.

Port interrogation is a key skill that bad guys often use when launching attacks. Ethical hackers should familiarize themselves with port querying tools and techniques to help their organization better defend against them.

This article will help you explore the details of port polling. We’ll look at what port polling is and the various tools and techniques that ethical hackers should understand .

What is port interrogation in Ethical hacking?

Port polling, also known as port scanning, is a way to find out which ports are enabled and open. It’s also a way to find out details about the services running on those open ports, including the application name, version number, and other useful information like network traffic information.

This is valuable because different versions of apps have their own vulnerabilities. Real attackers want to know this because the attack techniques they choose will depend on it. They also want to know which unnecessary services are running on open ports, as they are the scouting equivalent of a sitting duck – if you’re not using a service (or monitoring them at some level), it could be a vulnerability. As an ethical hacker, you want to know this so you can address these vulnerabilities long before attackers exploit them.

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Query tool port

A variety of tools are available for port inquiry purposes. The general idea behind these tools is that IP packets are used to gather exploratory information about network ports.

Nmap

Nmap is free, open-source, and the most well-known of all port scanning/polling tools. It works by sending raw IP packets to targeted ports and can gather a wealth of information about its target. Just some of this information includes available ports, available hosts, what services are running on available hosts, application name and version, operating system and target system version, vulnerability scans on hosts, type of packet filters in use, firewall information, and a great variety of other information.

Unicornscan

Unicornscan is a powerful, sophisticated and stateless port scanning and exploration tool that has hundreds of features. What sets it apart from other tools is that it uses its own TCP/IP stack, which means it’s faster than other tools. Some of the unique features it offers include:

• Asynchronous stateless TCP scanning
• Asynchronous banner grab — used in OS and fingerprint application
• Asynchronous UDP scanning (protocol specific)
• Remote detection of OS and applications (active and passive)
• Enable multiple modules from the command line
• PCAP filtering and file logging
• Ability to save scan results to a relational database (output)
• Support for custom modules
• Customizable dataset view
• Angry IP Scanner

This cross-platform, open-source network scanner is designed for speed and simplicity. It works by pinging every IP address on the network and can perform port and IP address scans and find NetBIOS and web server information, among many other useful features. Angry IP Scanner provides all of this for free (yes, free!).

Advanced port scanner

Advanced Port Scanner is a very fast, robust, small and easy to use port scanner. It offers a user-friendly interface with rich functionality, including application names and versions, and getting useful information about network devices. Like many other port polling tools, this one is free.

Interrogation equipment port

Port polling tools have automated these techniques, but they are still important for ethical hackers to understand. Below is a list of the main techniques that power the above port polling tools.

• Vanilla TCP Connect Scan: This is the most basic technique of this group. It uses the operating system’s connect system call to open a connection to each available port
• ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) scan: This technique helps you map the entire network. It works by sending a series of broadcasts and detecting active local network devices by incrementing the address field in the ARP broadcast.
• TCP/IP stack fingerprinting: This technique is used by Nmap to help it detect a large amount of information about the target OS, also known as OS detection. It involves sending a series of TCP and UDP packets to hosts and examining the responses bit by bit. Dozens of tests are performed including TCP ISN sampling, IP ID sampling, and an initial window size check. The results are then compared to known OS fingerprints, letting you know if there is a match. Just some of the information this technique collects includes the underlying OS, OS version, vendor name, and device type

Conclusion of Ethical hacking

Port interrogation is one of the first actions attackers take when they launch an attack. As part of the reconnaissance phase of an attack, port polling can uncover a wealth of information about a target, including traffic coming through their network, how many hosts are on the network, information about services running on available ports, and more.

Ethical hackers need to know how the real bad guys think and where they might be looking when setting up your organization for an attack. A thorough understanding of these port inquiry tools and techniques will help you stay one step ahead.

Sources of Ethical hacking

• Top 5 Best Port Scanners, SecurityTrails
• All About Port Scanning, Avast Business
• OS Detection, Nmap