Reference no: EM133782333

Question: Register at tenable to receive an evaluation key for a trial version of Nessus. Submit a 3- to 5-page report in APA format in which you:

Explain the steps you took to complete the lab. Include screenshots for the key steps. Report the results of at least two scans and include screenshots. Your document should be 3-5 pages long (not including the list of references), but it is the quality of the work that is important, not the number of pages. Cite and reference all sources using APA format and style guidelines and submit in a single document.
Instruction: Penetration Testing

The Lab Assignment for this week covers ethical hacking (also known as white hacking, or penetration testing).

To prepare for this Lab:

Note 1: Use your Walden University Office365 email account to request the license key; it will not accept Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail email addresses.

Note 2: It may take an hour or more to receive an email response containing your evaluation key. You may want to wait until you receive your evaluation key from Nessus before proceeding further.

Step 1: Log in to AWS and create two instances of Ubuntu

Log in to AWS and create/start up two instances of Ubuntu. Label one of the instances Server A and the other one Server B.

Using either GiT or PuTTY, log in to Server A:

Step 2: Install nmap

Install nmap on Server A using the following command:

Step 3: Use nmap to scan Server B

Your first experiment is to use nmap to scan all computers on Server B's network to see which computers are up. This can be done with a ping scan using the nmap "-sP" flags. Nmap sends an ICMP echo and a TCP ACK to each host it scans. Hosts that respond are up and running.

Assume that Server B has the IP address: bb1.bb2.bb3.bb4. For this example, use nmap running on Server A to scan hosts running on the same network segment as Server B. Run this command on Server A:

Note: Using the wildcard character ‘*' to replace the last number in an IPv4 address results in all the servers on that network segment being targeted. In this assignment, we are using IPv4 Class C network addresses which contain 254 servers per network segment.

If you want to check the availability of a system without sending ICMP echo requests, you can issue a TCP "ping" sweep. A TCP "ping" will send an ACK to each server on a target network. Servers that are up should respond with a TCP RST. This is done via the "-PT" flag to target a specific port on the network you are probing. Now you can run this command on Server A:

Nmap provides different types of scans such as TCP connect, TCP SYN, Stealth FIN, Xmas Tree, and Null. These scans can be done using flags: "-sT", "-sS", "-sF", "-sX", "- sN", "-sU" etc., Run these commands from Server A against the Server B network, e.g. using the flag "sT" as follows:

You may also try to check which OS is running on a target server. This scan can take a very long time to complete so it is suggested that you target only Server B, not the Server B network. This command also requires the use of sudo:

Step 4: Install Nessus on Server B

You will use Nessus to scan for server vulnerabilities.

Use either another instance of GiT or PuTTY to log in to Server B.
Make sure you get the version that matches your server - at this time, it is:

Next, save the file on a personal Dropbox (see Option A). Alternatively, you may download the file to your PC or Mac, and move it using Filezilla (see Option B).

Option A: Moving the Package from a Dropbox to Server B

Note: This is the simplest method.

From the prompt on Server B, run the following commands using the correct path for your Dropbox and the version of Nessus you downloaded:

Example:

Option B: Moving the Package from PC or Mac with Filezilla

Use Filezilla to ftp the file from your PC to Server B. (See the Filezilla setup document provided in this week's Learning Resources).

Once the package is on Server B, run the following commands:

Step 5: Configure and Use Nessus

If you have not yet registered, do so now at
to receive an evaluation key for a trial version of Nessus. It may take an hour or more to receive an email response containing your evaluation key.

Note: use your UoL Office365 email account to request the license key; it will not accept Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail email addresses.

You need to configure Server B to open ports to use with Nessus. Select the inbound rules for Server B:

Select Security Groups on the left side:

Scroll down until you find your launch wizard:

Click on Edit:

Click on Add Rule:
Use Custom TCP
Set the port to 8834
Under Source, select MyIP for both 8834 and 22
Description - Test Nessus

Click on Save

From your desktop or laptop, connect to Nessus running on your virtual Linux server (i.e., Server B) in the Amazon Elastic Cloud.

Select Profession and click on Continue
You will be prompted to create a Nessus account. Create an account when asked.
Input the activation code: WEBEVAL-53AE-4E54-F26F-1B35-21C2. (This is the one that I received. Please use the one that you received by email from Tenable.)

Note: This step may require up to 30 minutes to complete. When complete, you should see a screen like the screen shown in Figure 1.

After the Nessus server is set up and running, use your Nessus server to scan your Linux server (i.e., Server B) or your classmates' servers to identify vulnerabilities of these sites. For example, you might choose to run a Basic Network Scan, Advanced Scan, a Malware Scan or one of the other scans available.

Step 6: (Optional) Advanced vulnerability scanning tools (this is not mandatory)

Alternatively, you may use Nexpose instead of Nessus to scan your server. But this is optional and is not required for this class.

Rapid 7 Metasploit is a more advanced scanning tool into which users can insert their own attacking codes. It is not required for this class, but if you are interested, you could follow the steps at to install Rapid 7 Metasploit and scan your server.

Step 7: (Mandatory) Stop Nessus

When you are finished, stop Nessus using:

Once you finish this Lab Assignment, make sure you terminate your AWS servers.

Step 8: Terminate your Instance

You can easily terminate the instance from the EC2 console. In fact, it is a best practice to terminate instances you are no longer using so you don't keep getting charged for them.

Back on the EC2 Console, select the box next to the instance you created. Then click the Actions button, navigate to Instance State, and click Terminate.

You will be asked to confirm your termination - select Yes, Terminate.

Note: This process can take several seconds to complete. Once your instance has been terminated, the Instance State will change to terminated on your EC2 Console.

By Day 7

Write a detailed report on what you have done and what you have obtained.
Screenshots of key steps are required. You should report on the results of at least two scans.