Deploying Headless Kali 2020.1 then changing your mind!

Where did I leave my head?

You have deployed a system with console only mode, but you decide you want a desktop experience with pretty windows and all!

How did we get here? Well during install you get the option to select your desktop environment. By default on 2020.1 Xfce is selected, but if you highlight Xfce and press space (or in the gui if you untick) you will be left with an install that’s headless! Great for SSH access, not so good if you want to run burp suite etc. Read more “Deploying Headless Kali 2020.1 then changing your mind!” →

CTF

Reviewing ‘Try Hack Me’ – Part 1 – A…

I love a hacking adventure!

Off the back of running the BSIDES Leeds CTF, I’m back in the lab trying to work out my arrangements for work and trying to recover from the con and I stumbled across this on twitter: Read more “Reviewing ‘Try Hack Me’ – Part 1 – A New Hacky Adventure by mRr3b00t” →

CTF

Kali 2020.1 Update

Moar Dragon!

2020 has only just started in action and already we have an update to Kali! The new build, 2020.1 brings in another big round of changes which include things like changing the username and password cobo and cool stuff like NOT running as root by default for all those who love a KALI daily driver! 😛

This post is aimed at beginners, if you’re an experienced user you probably have already installed by now, so go secure stuff by sending all the pews. For the rest of you, let’s get the ISO downloaded and get cracking (maybe literally!)

We’ve also made a video to accompany this post (the video is a gui encrypted LVM install): Watch it here!

Downloading Kali

You can get Kali through HTTP or using torrents from the following link:

https://www.kali.org/downloads/ Read more “Kali 2020.1 Update” →

Company News

Get your dark knight on to create a brighter…

Capturing all the flags

For BSIDES Leeds 2020 we’ve pulled out the stops and created a new CTF game which features both offensive and defensive challenges. The arena includes a number of servers, so you will need to get your pivot on if you are going to breach the crown jewels!

We’ve teamed up with Sky Betting Group to create a CTF which includes both old and new technologies for BSIDES. It features traditional CTF puzzles alongside a PwnDefend norm, an arena network featuring Windows targets!

The games start in line with BSIDES Leeds, at 0900 on the 24th January 2020 the following url will light up with flags across the virtual globe on the Facebook ctf platform.

https://ctf.bsidesleedsctf.com

The challenges are designed for a range of skill levels and all are welcome, if you can use a web browser and know what the magic F12 button does you are in with a chance of getting a flag or two!

I’ll also be presenting with my good friend Mathew Haines on the rookie track at 1400 where we are going to talk about CTF’s and how people can get started (they aren’t just for those who prefer a hoodie!)

I want to give a big thanks to everyone who has helped! From the team at BSIDES Leeds (and the man Large Cardinal himself) through to Sky Betting Group’s Glenn Pegden for hosting the games platform and making some awesome games through to community members, Ben Bidmead (pry0c) from Navisec and Daniel Ward (
@ghostinthecable) who made a community vm challenge!

I create PwnDefend games and content to benefit the community and to help people and organisation better defend themselves so it’s great not only to have community support but also to be able to give back, it’s even better to be able to team up with the team from SBG to bring this to the community!

See you on the cyber battlefields!

for more info on the CTF please visit:

https://www.bsidesleedsctf.com/

Defense

Device Standards

In large organisations these are really common, but I’ve found that in alot of medium and small organisations standard documents are sometimes missing artifacs. These help guide and steer procurement and operations. They assist an organisation in efficiency and ensure hardware can meet security requirements.

This document is a quick fire template I put together as an example starting point.

https://www.pwndefend.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PC-Device-Standards.docx

Defense

Ransomware from an RDP Vector

Internet facing exposed RDP services with a weak securiy configuraiton are never a good idea. In our latest video Matthew Haynes and Daniel Card take a look at the RDP threat lanscape and then following up with a lab demo of a simple RDP brute force attack.

You can see the video here on our youtube channel! Remember to like and subscribe! Stay safe!

RDP Threat Intel Video

Defense

Security Awareness Week – AD Audits using Ping Castle

Understanding your current ADDS Security Risks

Active directory sits at the heart of most organisations and would be considered a crown jewel information system. Here we take a whirlwind tour of deploying and running Ping Castle, an active directory auditing and assessment tool.

Defense

CVE-2019-0708 – BlueKeep

‘Wormable’

When a post starts like this:

“On May 14, Microsoft released fixes for a critical Remote Code Execution vulnerability, CVE-2019-0708, in Remote Desktop Services – formerly known as Terminal Services – that affects some older versions of Windows. In our previous blog post on this topic we warned that the vulnerability is ‘wormable’, and that future malware that exploits this vulnerability could propagate from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer in a similar way as the WannaCry malware spread across the globe in 2017.” – https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2019/05/30/a-reminder-to-update-your-systems-to-prevent-a-worm/

“Microsoft is confident that an exploit exists for this vulnerability” Read more “CVE-2019-0708 – BlueKeep” →

Defense

Things to do before you conduct a ‘red team’…

Introduction

‘Red Teaming’ the latest phrase in the cyber security world that brings a shudder down my spine! Now don’t get me wrong, adversary simulation is awesome, it’s a great tool and when wielded correctly brings massive value to enhancing your security posture… but alas, they aren’t always deployed in a business aligned and value driven position.

They sound ‘sexy’ and any pentester is going to jump at the chance to do one, let alone the sales and marketing teams will be grinning as they will come in with higher revenue but also will increase their case study portfolio for delivered red teams! (I’m not knocking this, it’s the reality of doing business).

Having witnessed a number of these take place against organizations who I don’t feel are ready for them, I thought I would write a piece on things I would recommend having in place before conducting a ‘red team’ assessment. Read more “Things to do before you conduct a ‘red team’ assessment” →

Guides

Pentester Academy Attack Defense Labs – Web Application: Broken…

Introduction

Those who know me know that I not only practise offensive security techniques from a business perspective, I also play in a CTF team and build PwnDefend CTF challenges. I came up with the idea of doing a red and blue team CTF sometime in 2018 however this isn’t as easy to build and run as you would think. Anyway, I digress… as part of my research and personal development I like to test out other platforms and pwn a few things so I thought I’d do a quick write up of the Pentester Academy Attack Defense labs Web Application Broken Authentication challenge. Spoiler alert.. I spoil this one (but it’s easy so don’t cry too hard!) Read more “Pentester Academy Attack Defense Labs – Web Application: Broken Authentication” →