Basic facilities required to establish a pen test lab

[Gubir]

I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a pen test lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware and software to make a good pen test lab

[Jan Heisterkamp]

Gubir schrieb:
> I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a pen test
> lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware and
> software to make a good pen test lab
>
>  
A pent test lab; what could this be?
Definition of laboratory: A laboratory (often abbreviated lab) is a
place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. A lab can
hold space for one to thirty, or more, researchers depending on the size
of the room and state mandated maximum occupancy limit.

In conjunction with pen-test this makes no sense to me, exeptual you are
conducing external tests.
I for myself decided that I don't use laptops, exeptual I go
mobile-wireless, they are mostly not the money worth, you can't
mainteaince them tecnically by yourself -at least not here in Costa Rica.
What I do have here are a few boxes with 2.8 G Intel Pentium, 2GB Ram,
80 - 160 Gb HDD, 2 NICs and one with AMD 64bit Athlon, 2GB Ram, 80GB
HDD, 2NICs. For special purposes I use PowerEdge 1850, 2 Xeon 2.8 G, 4GB
Ram, 2x36 GB HDD, 2 NICs [doesn't run with Unix :'( ]

OS's: Windows XP, Fedora7, freeBSD

Before you step into a new job you have to setup your box new, that
means set your HDD on zero. For this purpose I use PowerMax [Live-On
edition], it takes some hours but its working excellent and with all
brands of HDDs.
Don't use the OS "onboard"-formatting tools.
Never ever perform a test with a "USED" box.

If you use [Vuln]-Scanner [for a first look] make sure that you use only
open-source products.
Double check all results.
Especially, don't believe the results of a Vuln-Scanner until you
haven't proofed it manually.

In your repositioy you should have the common OS's for practizing and
studying, as well as a collection of all Exploits you can grab, wether
you need them or not.
Exploit-Frameworks like Metasploit or ATK are helpful.
You might come into a situation where you have to reverse-engineer
something; IDA Pro is a excellent and comfortable choice and it's money
worth.
Not mentioned the tools of the trade, you should know them all, you are
CEH; isn't it?!

Regards
Jan
 










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[Shenk, Jerry A]

I on the otherhand test exploits in my lab all the time.  I find it very
useful to have a number of machines set up with a variety of operating
systems.  I find that by testing exploits in the lab, prior to
attempting them on-site I know better what results to expect.  One of my
goals in pen-testing is to avoid "blowing up" production boxes.  By
testing exploits in the lab, I can have a pretty good idea what the
results will be.  I also try to avoid getting caught. It mimics an
experienced attacker better to avoid making an insane amount of noise so
if I can find an exploit that will allow me to make a quick clean
attack, I find that going through that in the lab first allows me to do
better on the live test.  ....people never watch their logs anyway so
being stealthy isn't normally that big a deal;)

Lot of people use VMware or similar platforms for this and I do also, to
a degree.  I most often find myself using a number of old servers
(Compaq & "Intel Whitebox servers) with a variety of drives in hot-swap
trays that I swap in for a particular OS version and patch level.  I
don't really use the "hot-swap" feature to swap drives without rebooting
but it is handy to be able to just pull a drive out and stick another
one in.

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce@... [mailto:listbounce@...]
On Behalf Of Jan Heisterkamp
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 10:29 AM
To: Gubir
Cc: pen-test@...
Subject: Re: Basic facilities required to establish a pen test lab

Gubir schrieb:
> I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a
pen test
> lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware
and
> software to make a good pen test lab
>
>  
A pent test lab; what could this be?
Definition of laboratory: A laboratory (often abbreviated lab) is a
place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. A lab can

hold space for one to thirty, or more, researchers depending on the size

of the room and state mandated maximum occupancy limit.


**DISCLAIMER
This e-mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and delete this e-mail message. The contents do not represent the opinion of D&E except to the extent that it relates to their official business.


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[scott ingle]

Surely you can pull a few boxes together,install different OS'es on each
box,install the same version of apps that the servers you're testing are
running,trying to make sure that the processors are the same,or very
closely related.

The one thing that has stung me in the past was Apache on
Windows.I,foolishly, assumed it was a *nix variant!Blind test,of
course.So why were scans leaning to an OS called Microsoft?Bad recon.
Everything you can do before and after the recon("You did do
this,right?") matters for how you make up your lab for that specific
pen-test.That's my personal method.

IMHO.




Shenk, Jerry A wrote:

> I on the otherhand test exploits in my lab all the time.  I find it very
> useful to have a number of machines set up with a variety of operating
> systems.  I find that by testing exploits in the lab, prior to
> attempting them on-site I know better what results to expect.  One of my
> goals in pen-testing is to avoid "blowing up" production boxes.  By
> testing exploits in the lab, I can have a pretty good idea what the
> results will be.  I also try to avoid getting caught. It mimics an
> experienced attacker better to avoid making an insane amount of noise so
> if I can find an exploit that will allow me to make a quick clean
> attack, I find that going through that in the lab first allows me to do
> better on the live test.  ....people never watch their logs anyway so
> being stealthy isn't normally that big a deal;)
>
> Lot of people use VMware or similar platforms for this and I do also, to
> a degree.  I most often find myself using a number of old servers
> (Compaq & "Intel Whitebox servers) with a variety of drives in hot-swap
> trays that I swap in for a particular OS version and patch level.  I
> don't really use the "hot-swap" feature to swap drives without rebooting
> but it is handy to be able to just pull a drive out and stick another
> one in.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: listbounce@... [mailto:listbounce@...]
> On Behalf Of Jan Heisterkamp
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 10:29 AM
> To: Gubir
> Cc: pen-test@...
> Subject: Re: Basic facilities required to establish a pen test lab
>
> Gubir schrieb:
>  
>> I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a
>>    
> pen test
>  
>> lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware
>>    
> and
>  
>> software to make a good pen test lab
>>
>>  
>>    
> A pent test lab; what could this be?
> Definition of laboratory: A laboratory (often abbreviated lab) is a
> place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. A lab can
>
> hold space for one to thirty, or more, researchers depending on the size
>
> of the room and state mandated maximum occupancy limit.
>
>
> **DISCLAIMER
> This e-mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and delete this e-mail message. The contents do not represent the opinion of D&E except to the extent that it relates to their official business.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This list is sponsored by: Cenzic
>
> Need to secure your web apps NOW?
> Cenzic finds more, "real" vulnerabilities fast.
> Click to try it, buy it or download a solution FREE today!
>
> http://www.cenzic.com/downloads
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  

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[Ivan .]

did someone mention VMare?

On 7/30/07, scott <redhowlingwolves@...> wrote:

>
>
> Surely you can pull a few boxes together,install different OS'es on each
> box,install the same version of apps that the servers you're testing are
> running,trying to make sure that the processors are the same,or very
> closely related.
>
> The one thing that has stung me in the past was Apache on
> Windows.I,foolishly, assumed it was a *nix variant!Blind test,of
> course.So why were scans leaning to an OS called Microsoft?Bad recon.
> Everything you can do before and after the recon("You did do
> this,right?") matters for how you make up your lab for that specific
> pen-test.That's my personal method.
>
> IMHO.
>
>
>
>
> Shenk, Jerry A wrote:
> > I on the otherhand test exploits in my lab all the time.  I find it very
> > useful to have a number of machines set up with a variety of operating
> > systems.  I find that by testing exploits in the lab, prior to
> > attempting them on-site I know better what results to expect.  One of my
> > goals in pen-testing is to avoid "blowing up" production boxes.  By
> > testing exploits in the lab, I can have a pretty good idea what the
> > results will be.  I also try to avoid getting caught. It mimics an
> > experienced attacker better to avoid making an insane amount of noise so
> > if I can find an exploit that will allow me to make a quick clean
> > attack, I find that going through that in the lab first allows me to do
> > better on the live test.  ....people never watch their logs anyway so
> > being stealthy isn't normally that big a deal;)
> >
> > Lot of people use VMware or similar platforms for this and I do also, to
> > a degree.  I most often find myself using a number of old servers
> > (Compaq & "Intel Whitebox servers) with a variety of drives in hot-swap
> > trays that I swap in for a particular OS version and patch level.  I
> > don't really use the "hot-swap" feature to swap drives without rebooting
> > but it is handy to be able to just pull a drive out and stick another
> > one in.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: listbounce@... [mailto:listbounce@...]
> > On Behalf Of Jan Heisterkamp
> > Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 10:29 AM
> > To: Gubir
> > Cc: pen-test@...
> > Subject: Re: Basic facilities required to establish a pen test lab
> >
> > Gubir schrieb:
> >
> >> I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a
> >>
> > pen test
> >
> >> lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware
> >>
> > and
> >
> >> software to make a good pen test lab
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > A pent test lab; what could this be?
> > Definition of laboratory: A laboratory (often abbreviated lab) is a
> > place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. A lab can
> >
> > hold space for one to thirty, or more, researchers depending on the size
> >
> > of the room and state mandated maximum occupancy limit.
> >
> >
> > **DISCLAIMER
> > This e-mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender and delete this e-mail message. The contents do not represent the opinion of D&E except to the extent that it relates to their official business.
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > This list is sponsored by: Cenzic
> >
> > Need to secure your web apps NOW?
> > Cenzic finds more, "real" vulnerabilities fast.
> > Click to try it, buy it or download a solution FREE today!
> >
> > http://www.cenzic.com/downloads
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This list is sponsored by: Cenzic
>
> Need to secure your web apps NOW?
> Cenzic finds more, "real" vulnerabilities fast.
> Click to try it, buy it or download a solution FREE today!
>
> http://www.cenzic.com/downloads
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>

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[Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC)]

Hi Jan,

Jan Heisterkamp wrote:
> Gubir schrieb:
>> I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a
>> pen test
>> lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware and
>> software to make a good pen test lab

<snip>

> setup your box new, that
> means set your HDD on zero. For this purpose I use PowerMax [Live-On
> edition],...

You got a link for PowerMax software as I couldn't easily pick it out on
Google?

<snip>

Tnx
Hylton

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[Uber Wannabe]

Here's a link to a quick article about setting up an inexpensive lab:

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/building-an-infosec-lab-on-the-c
heap

As far as software, you'll want a variety of OS's on the boxes / virtual
boxes that you end up using.  You could set up dual and tri-boot drives if
you're using physical boxes; in the case of virtual boxes, just keep a
varied stock of images.  LiveCDs, where available, are handy as well.

Concerning the actual tools you will be using, that is a question that you
have to figure out on your own.  This list mentions a great number of good
tools, and you can also find other tools on sites like insecure.org.  Also,
having gotten the CEH, you should be reasonably aware of a number of tools
that you would want to use.

Hope that helps.


-- N/A

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce@... [mailto:listbounce@...] On
Behalf Of Gubir
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 4:49 AM
To: pen-test@...
Subject: Basic facilities required to establish a pen test lab


I am CEH. But still I need some suggestion from you guys to setup a pen test
lab. Please give me some guidance about the basic essential hardware and
software to make a good pen test lab

--
View this message in context:
http://www.nabble.com/Basic-facilities-required-to-establish-a-pen-test-lab-
tf4156527.html#a11825963
Sent from the Penetration Testing mailing list archive at Nabble.com.


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