Top 10 network recon tools by Blackhat Pakistan 2023
Today in This article we will learn about Top 10 network recon tools .
Intelligence is an important first step in any ethical hacking attempt. Vulnerabilities must be discovered before they can be exploited on the target system. By performing reconnaissance on a target, ethical hackers can learn details of the target network and identify potential attack vectors.
Intelligence tasks can be divided into two types: passive tasks and active tasks. Both versions can be effective, but passive intelligence favors subtlety (ensuring the hacker goes undetected), while active intelligence is used when information gathering is more important than undetected.
Best passive intelligence tool
With passive intelligence, hackers do not interact directly with the target’s network. Tools used for passive reconnaissance give hackers the ability to peer inside an organization’s network by taking advantage of an organization’s inadvertent data exfiltration.
Top 10 network recon tools :
1. Wireshark
Wireshark is best known as a network traffic analysis tool, but it can also be indispensable for manual network intelligence. If an attacker can access your organization’s Wi-Fi network or eavesdrop on your employees’ network traffic, for example:
For example, eavesdropping on traffic from a coffee shop. Analyzing it in Wireshark can reveal a lot of useful information about the target network.
Also Read:The Rise of MBR Ransomware-by Blackhat Pakistan 2023
By passively sniffing traffic, hackers can match IP addresses of computers on an organization’s network and determine targets based on incoming and outgoing traffic. Captured traffic also includes server version information, allowing hackers to identify potentially vulnerable software that can be exploited.
2.Google
Google can provide a wealth of information on a variety of topics. One possible use for Google is passive target intelligence.
The information organizations publish on the Internet can contain a wealth of information about their networks. You can find detailed information about the types of systems used in your network on your organization’s website, especially on their careers page. You can also search for files that are intentionally not exposed on the Internet, but are publicly available using a special Google search term (Google Dorking).
3. FindSubDomains.com
FindSubDomains.com is one of many websites designed to identify websites owned by organizations. Many of these sites are intentionally publicly available, others may be protected with login pages, but some sites are inadvertently made available on the Internet.
Access to error pages or inadvertently exposed pages (which must be on the company intranet) can provide valuable insight into the systems the company uses.
4. VirusTotal
VirusTotal is a website designed to help you analyze potentially harmful files. Anyone with an account on the service can upload a file or URL for analysis and receive results describing whether a file or website is malicious, behavioral analysis, and other indicators of potential damage.
The problem with VirusTotal is that it and other similar sites provide the same information to all free subscribers (and more data to paid users).
As attacks become more sophisticated and targeted, malware or malicious websites targeting organizations may contain sensitive internal data. As a result, companies upload terabytes of sensitive data to their services to determine if they are victims of an attack. Hackers looking at data submitted to VirusTotal for company-related keywords can potentially find a lot of valuable information.
5. Shodan
Shodan is a search engine for devices connected to the Internet.
As the Internet of Things grows, individuals and organizations increasingly are connecting insecure devices to the internet.
Using Shodan, a hacker may be able to find devices within the IP address range belonging to a company, indicating that they have the device deployed on their network. Since many IoT devices are vulnerable by default, identifying one or more on the network may give a hacker a good starting point for a future attack.
Top active recon tools
Tools for active reconnaissance are designed to interact directly with machines on the target network in order to collect data that may not be available by other means. Active reconnaissance can provide a hacker with much more detailed information about the target but also runs the risk of detection.
1. Nmap
Nmap is probably the best-known tool for active network intelligence. Nmap is a network scanner designed to determine information about running systems and programs. This is achieved using a series of different scan types that utilize details about how a system or service is operating. By running scans on systems or IP address ranges controlled by the target, an attacker can obtain a significant amount of information about the target network.
(See How to use Nmap and other network scanners.)
2. Nessus
Nessus is a commercial vulnerability scanner. Its purpose is to identify vulnerable applications running on the system and provide various details about potentially dangerous vulnerabilities. Nessus is a paid product, but the comprehensive information it provides can be a worthwhile investment for hackers.
3. OpenVAS
OpenVAS is a vulnerability scanner developed in response to the commercialization of Nessus. Nessus Vulnerability Scanner was previously open source and when it was closed, OpenVAS was built on top of the latest open source version to continue providing free alternatives. As a result, it offers the same features as Nessus, but may lack some of the features developed since Nessus went commercial.
4.Nikto
Nikto is a web server vulnerability scanner that can be used for reconnaissance similar to Nessus and OpenVAS. It can detect various vulnerabilities, but it is not a stealth scanner. Searching with Nikto can be effective, but it’s easy to spot with an intrusion detection or prevention system (like most active intelligence tools).
5. Metasploit
Metasploit is primarily designed as an exploit toolset.
It contains various modules with ready-made exploits for several vulnerabilities. Metasploit allows even novice hackers to hack many vulnerable systems.
Metasploit is designed as an exploit toolkit, but can also be used effectively for reconnaissance. At least in Metasploit, the autopwn option allows an attacker to attempt to exploit the target by any means necessary. More targeted analysis allows hackers to reconnoitre metasploit in a more subtle way.
Conclusion: Doing Network Intelligence
Network intelligence is an essential part of any hacking operation. Any information a hacker can obtain about the target environment can help identify potential attack vectors and identify exploits for potential vulnerabilities. Using a combination of passive and active reconnaissance tools and techniques, hackers can maximize the information they gather while minimizing their chances of being discovered.
Sources
How Top Companies Accidentally Leaking Terabytes of Sensitive Data Online, The Hacker News
