DotNet First Side

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Mythbusters: Is An Open (Unencrypted) WiFi More Dangerous Than A WPA2-PSK? Actually, It Is Not.

Introduction

Whenever security professionals recommend the 5 most important IT security practices to average users, one of the items is usually something like: "Avoid using open Wifi" or "Always use VPN while using open WiFi" or "Avoid sensitive websites (e.g. online banking) while using open WiFI", etc.

What I think about this? It is bullshit. But let's not jump to the conclusions. Let's analyze all risks and factors here.

During the following analysis, I made two assumptions. The first one is that we are comparing public WiFi hotspots with no encryption at all (referred to as Open), and we compare this to public WiFi hotspots with WPA2-PSK (and just hope WEP died years before). The other assumption is there are people who are security-aware, and those who just don't care. They just want to browse the web, access Facebook, write e-mails, etc.

The risks

Let's discuss the different threats people face using public hotspots, compared to home/work internet usage:

1. Where the website session data is not protected with SSL/TLS (and the cookie is not protected with secure flag), attackers on the same hotspot can obtain the session data and use it in session/login credentials stealing. Typical protocols affected:

HTTP sites
HTTPS sites but unsecured cookie
FTP without encryption
IMAP/SMTP/POP3 without SSL/TLS or STARTTLS

2. Attackers can inject extra data into the HTTP traffic, which can be used for exploits, or social engineer attacks (e.g. update Flash player with our malware) – see the Dark Hotel campaign

3. Attackers can use tools like SSLStrip to keep the user's traffic on clear text HTTP and steal password/session data/personal information

4. Attackers can monitor and track user activity

5. Attackers can directly attack the user's machine (e.g. SMB service)

WPA2-PSK security

So, why is a public WPA2-PSK WiFi safer than an open WiFi? Spoiler alert: it is not!

In a generic public WPA2-PSK scenario, all users share the same password. And guess what, the whole traffic can be decrypted with the following information: SSID + shared password + information from the 4-way handshake. https://wiki.wireshark.org/HowToDecrypt802.11

If you want to see it in action, here is a nice tutorial for you

http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2010/05/wireshark-and-tshark-decrypt-sample-capture-file-by-joke-snelders.html

Decrypted WPA2-PSK traffic

Any user having access to the same WPA2-PSK network knows this information. So they can instantly decrypt your traffic. Or the attackers can just set up an access point with the same SSID, same password, and stronger signal. And now, the attacker can instantly launch active man-in-the-middle attacks. It is a common belief (even among ITSEC experts) that WPA2-PSK is not vulnerable to this attack. I am not sure why this vulnerability was left in the protocol, if you have the answer, let me know. Edit (2015-08-03): I think the key message here is that without server authentication (e.g. via PKI), it is not possible to solve this.

Let me link here one of my previous posts here with a great skiddie tool:

http://jumpespjump.blogspot.nl/2014/04/dsploit.html

To sum up, attackers on a WPA2-PSK network can:

Decrypt all HTTP/FTP/IMAP/SMTP/POP3 passwords or other sensitive information
Can launch active attacks like SSLStrip, or modify HTTP traffic to include exploit/social engineer attacks
Can monitor/track user activity

The only difference between open and WPA2-PSK networks is that an open network can be hacked with an attacker of the skill level of 1 from 10, while the WPA2-PSK network needs and an attacker with a skill level of 1.5. That is the difference.

The real solutions

1. Website owners, service providers should deploy proper (trusted) SSL/TLS infrastructure, protect session cookies, etc. Whenever a user (or security professional) notices a problem with the quality of the service (e.g. missing SSL/TLS), the service provider has to be notified. If no change is made, it is recommended to drop the service provider and choose a more secure one. Users have to use HTTPS Everywhere plugin.

2. Protect the device against exploits by patching the software on it, use a secure browser (Chrome, IE11 + enhanced protection), disable unnecessary plugins (Java, Flash, Silverlight), or at least use it via click-to-play. Also, the use of exploit mitigations tools (EMET, HitmanPro Alert, Malwarebytes AntiExploit) and a good internet security suite is a good idea.

3. Website owners have to deploy HSTS, and optionally include their site in an HSTS preload list

4. Don't click blindly on fake downloads (like fake Flash Player updates)

5. The benefits of a VPN is usually overestimated. A VPN provider is just another provider, like the hotspot provider, or the ISP. They can do the same malicious stuff (traffic injecting, traffic monitoring, user tracking). Especially when people use free VPNs. And "Average Joe" will choose a free VPN. Also, VPN connections tend to be disconnected, and almost none of the VPN providers provide fail secure VPNs. Also, for the price of a good VPN service you can buy a good data plan and use 4G/3G instead of low-quality public hotspots. But besides this, on mobile OSes (Android, iOS, etc.) I strongly recommend the use of VPN, because it is not practically feasible to know for users which app is using SSL/TLS and which is not.

6. Use a location-aware firewall, and whenever the network is not trusted, set it to a Public.

7. In a small-business/home environment, buy a WiFi router with guest WiFi access possibility, where the different passwords can be set to guest networks than used for the other.

Asking the question "Are you using open WiFi?", or "Do you do online banking on open WiFi?" are the wrong questions. The good questions are:

Do you trust the operator(s) of the network you are using?
Are the clients separated?
If clients are not separated, is it possible that there are people with malicious intent on the network?
Are you security-aware, and are you following the rules previously mentioned? If you do follow these rules, those will protect you on whatever network you are.

And call me an idiot, but I do online banking, e-shopping, and all the other sensitive stuff while I'm using open WiFi. And whenever I order pizza from an HTTP website, attackers can learn my address. Which is already in the phone book, on Facebook, and in every photo metadata I took with my smartphone about my cat and uploaded to the Internet (http://iknowwhereyourcatlives.com/).

Most articles and research publications are full of FUD about what people can learn from others. Maybe they are just outdated, maybe they are not. But it is totally safe to use Gmail on an open WiFi, no one will be able to read my e-mails.

PS: I know "Average Joe" won't find my blog post, won't start to read it, won't understand half I wrote. But even if they do, they won't patch their browser plugins, pay for a VPN, or check the session cookie. So they are doomed to fail. That's life. Deal with it.

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Friday, August 21, 2020

BurpSuite Introduction & Installation

What is BurpSuite?
Burp Suite is a Java based Web Penetration Testing framework. It has become an industry standard suite of tools used by information security professionals. Burp Suite helps you identify vulnerabilities and verify attack vectors that are affecting web applications. Because of its popularity and breadth as well as depth of features, we have created this useful page as a collection of Burp Suite knowledge and information.

In its simplest form, Burp Suite can be classified as an Interception Proxy. While browsing their target application, a penetration tester can configure their internet browser to route traffic through the Burp Suite proxy server. Burp Suite then acts as a (sort of) Man In The Middle by capturing and analyzing each request to and from the target web application so that they can be analyzed.

Everyone has their favorite security tools, but when it comes to mobile and web applications I've always found myself looking BurpSuite . It always seems to have everything I need and for folks just getting started with web application testing it can be a challenge putting all of the pieces together. I'm just going to go through the installation to paint a good picture of how to get it up quickly.

BurpSuite is freely available with everything you need to get started and when you're ready to cut the leash, the professional version has some handy tools that can make the whole process a little bit easier. I'll also go through how to install FoxyProxy which makes it much easier to change your proxy setup, but we'll get into that a little later.

Requirements and assumptions:

Mozilla Firefox 3.1 or Later Knowledge of Firefox Add-ons and installation The Java Runtime Environment installed

Download BurpSuite from http://portswigger.net/burp/download.htmland make a note of where you save it.

on for Firefox from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxyproxy-standard/

If this is your first time running the JAR file, it may take a minute or two to load, so be patient and wait.

Video for setup and installation.

You need to install compatible version of java , So that you can run BurpSuite.

JoomlaScan - Tool To Find The Components Installed In Joomla CMS, Built Out Of The Ashes Of Joomscan

A free and open source software to find the components installed in Joomla CMS, built out of the ashes of Joomscan.

Features

Scanning the Joomla CMS sites in search of components/extensions (database of more than 600 components);
Locate the browsable folders of component (Index of ...);
Locate the components disabled or protected
Locate each file useful to identify the version of a components (Readme, Manifest, License, Changelog)
Locate the robots.txt file or error_log file
Supports HTTP or HTTPS connections
Connection timeout

Next Features

Locate the version of Joomla CMS
Find Module
Customized User Agent and Random Agent
The user can change the connection timeout
A database of vulnerable components

Usage
usage: python joomlascan.py [-h] [-u URL] [-t THREADS] [-v]
optional arguments:

-h, --help              show this help message and exit

-u URL, --url URL       The Joomla URL/domain to scan.
-t THREADS, --threads   THREADS
                        The number of threads to use when multi-threading
                        requests (default: 10).
-v, --version           show program's version number and exit

Requirements

Python
beautifulsoup4 (To install this library from terminal type: $ sudo easy_install beautifulsoup4 or $ sudo pip install beautifulsoup4)

Changelog

2016.12.12 0.5beta > Implementation of the Multi Thread, Updated database from 656 to 686 components, Fix Cosmetics and Minor Fix.
2016.05.20 0.4beta > Find README.md, Find Manifes.xml, Find Index file of Components (Only if descriptive), User Agent and TimeOut on Python Request, Updated database from 587 to 656 components, Fix Cosmetics and Minor Fix.
2016.03.18 0.3beta > Find index file on components directory
2016.03.14 0.2beta > Find administrator components and file Readme, Changelog, License.
2016.02.12 0.1beta > Initial release

Download JoomlaScan

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How To Connect Database With PHP | Cool Interface Software | Tutorial 2

Welcome to my 2nd tutorial of PHP and MYSQL. In the previous video I've discussed How to download and install a server PHP and also How to create databases and How to create tables in the databases in the form of rows and columns.

In this video I've discussed multiple ways to connect database with PHP such as by using variables etc. First of all you have need to install a cool interface software for coding. I suggested you to download any one of them such as Dreamweaver, Notepad++, Sublime Text Editor and Atom etc. I'm using sublime text editor in this series of tutorial.

Syntax of PHP

<?php

//type here the code

How to save the PHP file

You should save your PHP file in the root directory of the server. In XAMPP the "htdocs" is the root directory of the server. In WAMPP "www" is the root directory. Now how to save the file?

Step 1:

Press CTRL + S button to safe the file.

Step 2:

Go to the server location where it has been installed. By default it is installed in Local Disk C. Got C drive.

Step 3:

Go to XAMPP directory.

Step 4:

Go to htdocs diretory.

Step 5:

Save a file there with extension ".php". You can create a different folders for different projects in htdocs directory. So first create the folder in htdocs and then save your files in the folder.

How to Run PHP Script

Step 1:

Open a XAMPP control panel and start Apache and Mysql services.

Step 2:

Open your web browser.

Step 3:

Type localhost/yourFolderName/yourFileName.php and hit enter. For example: localhost/myFolder/index.php.