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This repository is a overview of what you need to learn penetration testing and a collection of hacking tools, resources and references to practice ethical hacking. Most of the tools are UNIX compatible, free and open source.

Before you start

• If you're new to information security, forget everything you know about hacking.
• Don't start using tools without reading about pen testing and how it works (see Additional resources section).
• Don't download and use tools that you don't audited the code.
• Don't use these tools to do stupid things like investigating/hacking without consent on your friends, or worst, your recruiter.
• Read books, manuals, articles, be curious and not just a scritpt kiddie.
• I wish you don't use these tools for illegal purposes, but if you do, I sure hope you know what you do.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • What is penetration testing ?
  • Want to become a penetration tester ?
• Some vocabulary
• Difference between hacking and ethical hacking
• Languages
• Content Management Systems
• Basic steps of pen testing
• Tools by category
  • 🕵️‍♂️ Information Gathering
  • 🔒 Password Attacks
    • 📝 Wordlists
  • 🌐 Wireless Testing
  • 🔧 Exploitation Tools
  • 👥 Sniffing & Spoofing
  • 🚀 Web Hacking
  • 🎉 Post Exploitation
  • 📦 Frameworks
• Additional resources
  • Books / Manuals
  • Discussions
  • Security Advisories
  • Challenges
• License

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Introduction

What is penetration testing ?

Penetration testing is a type of security testing that is used to test the insecurity of an application. It is conducted to find the security risk which might be present in the system.

If a system is not secured, then any attacker can disrupt or take authorized access to that system. Security risk is normally an accidental error that occurs while developing and implementing the software. For example, configuration errors, design errors, and software bugs, etc. Learn more

Want to become a penetration tester ?

Know about risks on the internet and how they can be prevented is very useful. Especially as a developer. Web hacking and penetration testing is the v2.0 of self-defense! But does know about tools and how to use them is really all you need to become a pen tester? Surely not. A real penetration tester must be able to proceed rigorously and detect the weaknesses of an application. He must be able to identify the technology behind and test every single door that might be open to hackers.

This repository aim first to establish a reflection method on penetration testing and explain how to proceed to secure an application. And secondly, to regroup all kind of tools or resources pen testers need. Be sure to know basics of programming languages and Internet security before learning pen testing.

Also, this is important to inform yourself about the law and what you are allowed to do or not. According to your country, the computer laws are not the same. First, check laws about privacy and surveillance : Nine eyes countries, Five eyes and Fourteen Eyes. Always check if what you're doing is legal. Even when it's not offensive, information gathering can also be illegal !

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Some vocabulary

Infosec : Information security, which is the practice of preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction of information. The information or data may take any form, e.g. electronic or physical. An infosec can also be a person who practice ethical security. Wikipedia

Opsec : Operations security, which is a process that identifies critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by enemy intelligence, determines if information obtained by adversaries could be interpreted to be useful to them, and then executes selected measures that eliminate or reduce adversary exploitation of friendly critical information. Wikipedia

Black/grey/white hat hacker : Someone who uses bugs or exploits to break into systems or applications. The goal and the method differs depending if he's a black, grey or white hat hacker. A black hat is just someone malicious that does not wait permission to break into a system or application. A white hat is usually a security researcher who practice ethical hacking. A grey hat is just in the middle of these two kind of hackers, he might want to be malicious if it can be benefit (data breach, money, whistleblowing ...).

Red team : According to Wikipedia, a red team or the red team is an independent group that challenges an organization to improve its effectiveness by assuming an adversarial role or point of view. It is particularly effective in organizations with strong cultures and fixed ways of approaching problems. The United States intelligence community (military and civilian) has red teams that explore alternative futures and write articles as if they were foreign world leaders. Little formal doctrine or publications about Red Teaming in the military exist. In infosec exercises, Red teamers are playing the role of attackers. Wikipedia

Blue team : A blue team is a group of individuals who perform an analysis of information systems to ensure security, identify security flaws, verify the effectiveness of each security measure, and to make certain all security measures will continue to be effective after implementation. As a result, blue teams were developed to design defensive measures against red team activities. In infosec exercises, Blue teamers are playing the role of defenders. Wikipedia

Penetration tester : An ethical hacker who practice security, test applications and systems to prevent intrusions or find vulnerabilities.

Security researcher : Someone who practice pen testing and browse the web to find phishing/fake websites, infected servers, bugs or vulnerabilities. He can work for a company as a security consultant, he is most likely a Blue teamer.

Reverse engineering : Reverse engineering, also called back engineering, is the process by which a man-made object is deconstructed to reveal its designs, architecture, or to extract knowledge from the object. Similar to scientific research, the only difference being that scientific research is about a natural phenomenon. Wikipedia

Social engineering : In the context of information security, it refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme. The term "social engineering" as an act of psychological manipulation of a human, is also associated with the social sciences, but its usage has caught on among computer and information security professionals. Wikipedia

Threat analyst : A threat hunter, also called a cybersecurity threat analyst, is a security professional or managed service provider (MSP) that proactively uses manual or machine-assisted techniques to detect security incidents that may elude the grasp of automated systems. Threat hunters aim to uncover incidents that an enterprise would otherwise not find out about, providing chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief information officers (CIOs) with an additional line of defense against advanced persistent threats (APTs). SearchCIO

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Difference between hacking and ethical hacking

A black hat is practicing penetration testing, but unlike a white hat, this is not ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is about find vulnerabilities and improve the security of a system. An ethical hacker is the ultimate security professional. Ethical hackers know how to find and exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in various systems, just like a malicious hacker (a black hat hacker). In fact, they both use the same skills; however, an ethical hacker uses those skills in a legitimate, lawful manner to try to find vulnerabilities and fix them before the bad guys can get there and try to break in. An ethical hacker is basically a white hat hacker.

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Languages

• Python
• Ruby
• C / C++ / C#
• Perl
• PHP
• Go
• Java
• Bash

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Content Management Systems

• Wordpress
• Joomla
• Drupal
• SPIP

These are the most used Content Management Systems (CMS). See a complete list here.

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Basic steps of pen testing

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Tools by category

🕵️‍♂️ Information Gathering

Information Gathering tools allows you to collect host metadata about services and users. Check informations about a domain, IP address, phone number or an email address.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
Th3inspector	Perl	Linux/Windows/macOS	All in one tool for Information Gathering written in Perl.
Crips	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	IP Tools To quickly get information about IP Address's, Web Pages and DNS records.
theHarvester	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	E-mails, subdomains and names Harvester.
Scanless	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Online port scan scraper.
CTFR	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Abusing Certificate Transparency logs for getting HTTPS websites subdomains.
Sn1per	bash	Linux/macOS	Automated Pentest Recon Scanner.
ReconDog	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Recon Dog is an all in one tool for all your basic information gathering needs.
RED Hawk	PHP	Linux/Windows/macOS	All in one tool for Information Gathering, Vulnerability Scanning and Crawling. A must have tool for all penetration testers.
Infoga	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Email Information Gathering.
KnockMail	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Check if email address exists.
Photon	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Crawler which is incredibly fast and extracts urls, emails, files, website accounts and much more.
Rapidscan	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	The Multi-Tool Web Vulnerability Scanner.
a2sv	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Auto Scanning to SSL Vulnerability.
Wfuzz	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Web application fuzzer.
Nmap	C/C++	Linux/Windows/macOS	Scanner ports vulnerability.
Dracnmap	Shell	Linux/Windows/macOS	open source program which is using to exploit the network and gathering information with nmap

🔒 Password Attacks

Crack passwords and create wordlists.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
John the Ripper	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	John the Ripper is a fast password cracker.
hashcat	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	World's fastest and most advanced password recovery utility.
Hydra	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	Parallelized login cracker which supports numerous protocols to attack.
ophcrack	C++	Linux/Windows/macOS	Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables.
Ncrack	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	High-speed network authentication cracking tool.
WGen	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Create awesome wordlists with Python.
SSH Auditor	Go	Linux/macOS	The best way to scan for weak ssh passwords on your network.

📝 Wordlists

Tool	Description
Probable Worlist	Wordlists sorted by probability originally created for password generation and testing.

🌐 Wireless Testing

Used for intrusion detection and wifi attacks.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
Aircrack	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	WiFi security auditing tools suite.
bettercap	Go	Linux/Windows/macOS/Android	bettercap is the Swiss army knife for network attacks and monitoring.
WiFi Pumpkin	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS/Android	Framework for Rogue Wi-Fi Access Point Attack.
Airgeddon	Shell	Linux/Windows/macOS	This is a multi-use bash script for Linux systems to audit wireless networks.
Airbash	C	Linux/Windows/macOS	A POSIX-compliant, fully automated WPA PSK handshake capture script aimed at penetration testing.

🔧 Exploitation Tools

Acesss systems and data with service-oriented exploits.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
SQLmap	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Automatic SQL injection and database takeover tool.
XSStrike	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Advanced XSS detection and exploitation suite.
Commix	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Automated All-in-One OS command injection and exploitation tool.

👥 Sniffing & Spoofing

Listen to network traffic or fake a network entity.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
Wireshark	C/C++	Linux/Windows/macOS	Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer.
WiFi Pumpkin	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS/Android	Framework for Rogue Wi-Fi Access Point Attack.
Zarp	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	A free network attack framework.

🚀 Web Hacking

Exploit popular CMSs that are hosted online.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
WPScan	Ruby	Linux/Windows/macOS	WPScan is a black box WordPress vulnerability scanner.
Droopescan	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	A plugin-based scanner to identify issues with several CMSs, mainly Drupal & Silverstripe.
Joomscan	Perl	Linux/Windows/macOS	Joomla Vulnerability Scanner.
Drupwn	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Drupal Security Scanner to perform enumerations on Drupal-based web applications.
Webpwn3r	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Web Applications Security Scanner.
CMSeek	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	CMS Detection and Exploitation suite - Scan WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and 130 other CMSs.

🎉 Post Exploitation

Exploits for after you have already gained access.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
TheFatRat	Java	Linux/Windows/macOS	Easy tool to generate backdoor and easy tool to post exploitation attack like browser attack, dll.
Microsploit	Shell	Linux/Windows/macOS	Fast and easy create backdoor office exploitation using module metasploit packet , Microsoft Office , Open Office , Macro attack , Buffer Overflow.

📦 Frameworks

Frameworks are packs of pen testing tools with custom shell navigation and documentation.

Tool	Language	Support	Description
Operative Framework	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	Framework based on fingerprint action, this tool is used for get information on a website or a enterprise target with multiple modules.
Metasploit	Ruby	Linux/Windows/macOS	A penetration testing framework for ethical hackers.
fsociety	Python	Linux/Windows/macOS	fsociety Hacking Tools Pack – A Penetration Testing Framework.
cSploit	Java	Android	The most complete and advanced IT security professional toolkit on Android.
radare2	C	Linux/Windows/macOS/Android	Unix-like reverse engineering framework and commandline tools.
Social Engineer Toolkit	Python	Linux/macOS	Penetration testing framework designed for social engineering.
hate_crack	Python	Linux/macOS	A tool for automating cracking methodologies through Hashcat.
Wifiphisher	Python	Linux	The Rogue Access Point Framework.
Kickthemout	Python	Linux/macOS	Kick devices off your network by performing an ARP Spoof attack.
Beef	Javascript	Linux/Windows/macOS	The Browser Exploitation Framework. It is a penetration testing tool that focuses on the web browser.

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Additional resources

• Devbreak on Twitter
• The Life of a Security Researcher
• Find an awesome hacking spots in your country
• Awesome-Hacking Lists
• Crack Station
• Exploit Database
• Hackavision
• Hackmethod
• Packet Storm Security
• SecLists
• SecTools
• Smash the Stack
• Don't use VPN services
• How to Avoid Becoming a Script Kiddie
• 2017 Top 10 Application Security Risks
• Starting in cybersecurity ?

Books / Manuals

Warning : I haven't read them all so do not consider I am recommanding as I liked them. They just seems to provide useful resources.

• Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking (2014)
• Kali Linux Revealed - PDF (2017)
• Blue Team Field Manual (BTFM) (2017)
• Cybersecurity - Attack and Defense Strategies (2018)
• NMAP Network Scanning : Official Discovery (2009)
• Social Engineering : The Art of Human Hacking (2010)
• Incognito Toolkit: Tools, Apps, and Creative Methods for Remaining Anonymous (2013)

Discussions

• Reddit/HowToHack Learn and ask about hacking, security and pen testing.
• Reddit/hacking Discuss about hacking and web security.
• ax0nes Hacking, security, and software development forum.
• 0Day.rocks on discord Discord server about the 0day.rocks blog for technical and general InfoSec/Cyber discussions & latest news.

Security Advisories

• CVE
• CWE
• NVD

Challenges

• Vulnhub - Has a lot of VMs to play with. some are beginner friendly, some aren't.
• Itsecgames - buggy web app
• Dvwa - Damn Vulnerable Web Application
• Hackthissite
• Hackthis
• Root-me
• HackTheBox
• Overthewire
• Ctftime

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License

This repository is under MIT license.

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