Week 7 Final - Assignment
Week 7 Final - Assignment
Installing and setting up Oracle’s VirtualBox v. 5.2 are one of the many steps towards setting up
the virtualized lab environment for this course. The virtualized environment is set up on the
computer to create virtual machines to test in a secure way security threats and analyze these threats
that may occur on an actual production network. Within this environment I can test out malware,
viruses, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), and more, including testing and vetting security
tools for real world practical use. This is also an environment that open source visualization and
vulnerability tools can be set up and tested develop troubleshooting skills in a safe and controlled
environment.
The following was used to set up my virtualized test lab including the two (2) virtual machines
(VM’s) that included Kali Linux and CentOS. The opensource tool used within Kali Linux is
NMAP. This is a network port scanner security tool and is used to identify open ports at the target
machine.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads/downloads-176856.html
https://www.kali.org/downloads/
https://www.centos.org/download/
https://nmap.org/download.html
The first assignment of this course was to set up the virtualized environment with a couple VM’s using
NMAP to scan the Metasploitable VM. The objective is to scan and identify open available ports on the
Metasploitable VM.
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Downloading and Installing the Kali Linux VM in the Oracle VM Virtual Box Manager
The download file size of Kali Linux is 2.8GB of which will take a little time depending on network
bandwidth. With my existing current download speeds of 22Mbps it takes approximately 20 minutes to
Once download on the local machine the ISO image needs to be set up within Oracle’s VirtualBox.
First within we start up the Oracle Virtual Box. Next open the Create Virtual Machine and assign the VM
a name. For this assignment I named it KaliLinux. The Type selected is Linux and Version Other Linux
(64).
Next, the RAM size for the VM is selected. I set the VM Ram to 4000MB = 4G.
Next, is allocating a dynamic area on the hard disk to store the image.
Next, the File Location and Size is set to Kali Linux and 8GB respectively. I purposely misspelled
this.
The VM within Oracle is now configured and all that remains is select and mount to run the ISO.
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There are many options with running Kali Linux including the graphical user interface (GUI)
install. The available boot options include Kali include Live, Live (forensic mode), Live USB
persistence, Live USB Encrypted Persistence, Install, Graphical Install, Install with speech and
Advance options.
Regarding more specific setting during the install, the default options are selected including setting
the DHCP and IPv6 to autoconfigure. The hostname chosen is kaliboots, and this is the name that
Next, the Domain name is named boots.org. Root Administrator password is set to “password”
(not recommended). The default partition was selected and confirmed by clicking YES for this
Installation failed at the step of the installation. Prompted to discontinue or reattempt the
installation. I reattempted the installed getting the same failed to install error. The installation step
of the process is what failed. I continued to go back to this process several times with the same
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results. After some unsuccessful attempts I opted to restart the Kali VM installation from the
previous step Partition Disks. I continued to get the same failed to install error.
I sent the Shut Down signal to shut down the VM machine to restart the installation process from
the beginning. I attempted this several times with the same end result.
Not giving up, I chose to select the Live boot of Kali of which I now have the Kali system running.
Success!
Next, to log in to the Kali Linux requires entering the password created earlier, and the desktop
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Next is to download, install and set up WebGoat from GitHub per the instructions of this
assignment. The current version as of this writing is WebGoat 8.0 with a jar filesize of 74.7MB.
To install Webgoat 8.0 within Kali Linux will require using the command line interface (CLI). The
file to run is Java -jar webgoat-server-8.0.0.M21.jar. Next is to run the Metasploit exploitation tool
In the process of downloading the CentOS ISO from a mirror site the computer crashed on me.
Issues with completely completing this week 1 assignment was caused by a crashed computer and
the for some reason the File Explorer stopped working. I was able to go to the file, but File Explorer
would crash when trying to open any file. Attempted restore point, and some suggested repair steps
The remainder of this assignment required me to download the CentoOS and install that on a
second VM within the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager and run both the Kali and the CentoOS
with the Metasploit application running. Next, I would be running NMAP to scan Metasploitable.
From the Kali VM I should be able to ping the Metasploit to access the web server and see any
Note that for one VM to communicate to another VM within the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manger,
the network adapter must be set to Bridged Adapter. Otherwise the Kali VM will not be able to
run NMAP on the Metasploitable VM. Without setting the Bridged Adapter, VM’s will not be able
to talk to each other. My intention is to rebuild my laptop, and reattempt with redownloading
everything including the Kali Linux ISO and make another attempt with successfully install and
running it. Using the available LIVE option loses all settings after the shutdown of the VM and
Week Two (2) Assignment – Trade Study includes virtualized lab architecture
Step 1. The considered criteria set is to visualize network pattern differences between secure and
non-secure internet web browsing using the Firefox browser within the CentOS 7 operating
system. After many trials and errors, I was not able to get Gephi to properly run within CentOS 7
or KaliLinux.
Step 2. There are many available network visualization tools that allow to see in real-time and
within collected saved logs of what and where the targeted data is coming from and where it’s
going throughout the organizations network. Having this data to analyze and knowing how it
traverses throughout the network is clearly an asset of which allows to make informed decisions
of current traffic flow information within a time frame to effectively plan to implement a reroute
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Two (2) of many available network visualization tools, I selected the Gephi running on the Linux
platform and Network Workbench. Gephi is an Application Programming Interface (API) used to
visualize the dynamic communications and events between nodes on the network. This is not
limited to communication of which includes email, video, but to anything traversing the network.
The collected information allows to make decisions that can allow us to see what the least cost
path of node communication over another is possible. This allows for a more efficient computer
network. This can be especially useful when analyzing the data among the departments and
managing VoIP communications among other data traveling over the network.
Step 3. As mentioned earlier I identified and selected using Gephi the network security
visualization tool. Among its many features I like that it’s capable of handling large size
Step 4. The Gephi download is available https://gephi.org/ . The current available downloadable
version for this assignment is Gephi 0.9.2. Once downloaded, the file was moved to the Downloads
folder. Java is also required to be installed. I used the known commands in CLI found here to
Updating-Java-on-Kali-Linux . Next remember to set Java as default. Use CLI to start the Gephi
Configuration to set up Gephi will include the installation of the HTTP plugin available through
Tools/ Plugins/ Available Plugins. Next go to File| Generate| HTTP Graph. Because it will be
visualizing HTTP traffic the Proxy listening is on port 8080. Next Manual Proxy has been set up
Step 5. In an attempt to properly run Gephi I downloaded and installed Gephi for Windows version
0.9.2. Regardless of having the required Java to run Gephi, the program would not launch.
Regardless of executing the proper procedures Gephi running within Kalilinux would not record
the data between my two nodes within the virtual lab and while jumping from websites to websites
This assignment requires working cybersecurity tool Wireshark on the network. This tool allows
us to look inside the computer network and what type of network traffic traverse it. Wireshark is
an open source packet analyzer that allows the IT professional to capture, decode to analyze
network traffic between network nodes. Detailed here is the use of the open source packet analyzer
Wireshark.
Step 2: One of the many Sniffing & Spoofing Applications within KaliLinux includes Wireshark
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It seems I have a privilege rights issue with properly running Wireshark as a superuser. The system
This is a known error with running Wireshark as a superuser, yet after I selected the appropriate
interface eth0 I don’t seem to have any issues with capturing packets from a streaming YouTube
video. One of the first sites to capture packets from is from YouTube: The Complete Wireshark
To remedy the Lua: Error during loading the Wireshark application I created an administrator
account. Logging into and running Wireshark under the new administrator account did not
Step 3: The laptop this VM is running from is connected to the internet through the eth0
Step 4: I set the eth0 interface to Promiscuous Mode. Selecting Promiscuous Mode option for eth0
allows Wireshark to capture all packets to later be analyzed. Though it’s important to know from
what point on the network the packets are being captured from - the switch, router or other end
point. Even though the Promiscuous Mode is selected it may not be capturing all data flow packets
Header of Ethernet.
The captured packets are from one internet browser connection. One from an SSL website.
Line 22: the client sent out a Hello and the server ACK. Server responds with the Encrypted
Handshake Message. Client Key Exchange occurs. Line 36: is the encrypted Application Data with
eavesdropping) between the client and server. Using Wireshark allows the security engineer to
visually see a representation of the network packets coming from the Client to the Server. The
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security engineer can see where the client is establishing a TLS/SSL connection with the server
and can see where the encrypted connection occurs during the client/ server handshake. Another
use of Wireshark (packet analyzer) is to view the network during high traffic and see from where
and to what ports the data is flowing during a specific set time frame. This is also an effective tool
to monitor the network at different points and see what sort of traffic is going through a certain
port in time. It also can help the security engineer to track down particular protocols from and to
network interfaces to later analyze and allows the security engineer a rough look of the overall
data flow within the organization’s network (Bullock & Parker, 2017).
Week Four (4) Assignment – Trade Study includes virtualized lab architecture
The following five (5) steps walk through a trade study that requires using a number of
vulnerability scanning tools of which I have personally selected Nmap and the requested tool
NESSUS.
Step 1. My criteria with Nmap is to scan the first 1000 out of 65,535 ports on my target VM. I will
be looking for open ports. Once I know what the open ports are and what protocol is associated to
it, I can close those respective ports considered to be potential access vulnerabilities. In regard to
monetary cost it comes included within the KaliLinux OS. Cost considerations will include a
strong workstation with a connection to the internal computer network. Other costs could
potentially come from legal in regard of running this port scanner without permission from the
organization, because it can be considered Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of America Section
1030(a)(5)(B).
Scanning is very simple especially through the GUI. The other option is using CLI. Using the GUI,
simply selected the targets IP or domain address or network and then select the appropriate profile
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scan of which are: intense scan, intense scan plus UDP, intense scan, all TCP ports, ping scan,
quick scan, quick scan plus, quick traceroute, regular scan or slow comprehensive scan. Next, click
Scan. Once the scan is complete the results will displayed in a separate window. Documentation
is easily found doing a search or visiting Nmap’s website https://nmap.org. In regard to update
frequency, they are always working and making available new versions with better services. The
most current is Nmap 7.70 announced March of 2018. With regard to compatibility with CVE,
Nmap is very compatible. Scripts can be created to generate CVE information for services of which
will include SSH, RDP, SMB, etc. Here is an image running such a script
The set criteria for Nessus is the same as for Nmap. It is also to scan the first 1000 ports then within
any found open ports, attach those respective open ports for vulnerabilities. There is monetary cost
per year of $2,190.00. I believe security companies in the business of providing cybersecurity to
organizations can justify this reoccurring yearly cost. Regarding its complexity, there are many
options to choose from of which include Advanced Scan, basic network scans, credential patch
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Documentation availability is found directly from Tenable.com
real-time. Compatibility with CVE is utilized through the Security Center Continuous View. This
is a dashboard that provides extensive CVE analysis information that includes Outstanding CVE
breakdowns, Top 25 CVE issues, CVE mitigated within the last 30 days, Outstanding CVE totals
Step 2. The two vulnerability scanning tools I have selected are NMAP and the recommended
Nessus. Nmap doesn’t require to have special privileges to use and has speed on its side, yet from
the targets perspective can be easily detected and filtered. Nessus uses real attacks to detect
vulnerabilities on the target machine such as RDP, misconfigurations, default passwords, etc.
Nessus will first scan for open ports and then detect for vulnerabilities.
Step 3. The most effective of these two vulnerability scanners are both Nmap and Nessus.
Step 4. Nessus installation procedures: Nessus will not be found within Kali-Linux. The trial
version has been downloaded from the Tenable website for evaluation
Registration is required to obtain the Nessus Professional Evaluation activation code. Note that
this evaluational product is limited in funcationality and the evaluation expires in 7 days.
Relocate the file to the Downloads folder. To install Nessus run the following command
Week 7 Assignment Ricardo Nevarez
Nmap installation is not required since it’s included within the KaliLinux OS and can be found
come up. This is basically telling you this is using an invalid security certificate. For this
assignment ADD the exception to go to the Create an Account to use Nessus. Create and enter a
username and password. My suggestion for this assignment is to keep the credentials simple. Next
copy the activation code that was previously emailed. If you successfully got this far the plugins
are downloaded to scan assets. This process may take awhile. Nessus is web based.
NMAP configuration can be set up within the CLI. For example, to scan the first 1000 out of
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Week Five (5) Assignment includes virtualized lab architecture
Studying the various open source cybersecurity tools includes the use of the Metasploitable VM
platform. This VM is purposely designed to be insecure in every regard to further pursue the study
of applicable cybersecurity tools and analyzing vulnerabilities. The use Nmap and Metasploitable
Step 1The steps for this assignment are found on the following URL
https://metasploit.help.rapid7.com/docs/metasploitable-2-exploitability-guide
Step 2 The assignment calls to have the lab include a source and a target. I named each VM
accordingly. The NIC’s on each machine have been set to NAT Network.
Running ifconfig from the CLI on both the Source and Target
I pinged the other’s IP to confirm connectivity between the two (2) computers.
Services
Identify open TCP ports within all 65535 available ports on PC2 using the command
Nmap -p0-65535 192.168.0.5. Seems to take some time. Notice it’s at 60% complete. I ran it on
all hosts. I should have simply run it on one host – the local host. I ended up stopping after 20mins.
Week 7 Assignment Ricardo Nevarez
I installed rsh-client because I was getting this, then reran ssh-keygen with the same results.
Next: Exploiting through port 6667. My results of this attempt from the Source to the Target
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Next: Telnet through port 1524. My results of this attempt from the Source to the Target
During this next step I got a .NET Framework Exception error. I clicked on Continue.
Next: Accessing a web application on IP 192.168.56.101. This resulted with a timed out page.
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Next: Required to access the web applications not possible from not gaining access to the IP
192.168.56.101. I was able to find what seems like the download application on Sourceforge.
Next: Continue to explore the other readily available web applications on 192.168.56.101. I was
Lessons learned from this assignment. I ran in to many difficulties that required many hours of
trial and error to get with completing one scan with open ports. Initially I was not able to get both
the Source and the Target to communicate. Took different approaches to resolve the issue with no
real permanent solution. I manually updated the IP address, changed the NIC options and still was
not able to update the IP addresses. Many readily suggestions are available on the internet, but
these options did not work. To resolve this issue, I wiped out all VM’s and started from scratch
with carefully keeping in mind with the NIC settings. I set it to 192.168.0.0/24 on both the Source
and Target VM’s. After powering up each VM, each pulled its own unique IP address of
192.168.0.4 and 192.168.0.5. I was easily able to ping each machine at this time. Running Nmap
on 192.168.0.0 seem to take longer than 20mins to complete. I was able to use Nmap to identify
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I believe the issue during this assignment is that
My sixth and final assignment includes researching the open source wireless Kismet network
analyzer that runs on the Linux, and Mac OS X platform and of which allows the security
professional to use the packet sniffer, network detector, and intrusion detection system on wireless
networks.
My research shows there are more than a few platforms to run Kismet including Windows,
smartphones with android devices (requires specific android versions), and raspberry pi. Before
kismet can properly run within KaliLinux it requires the setting up of guest additions within the
Oracle’s VirtualBox. My attempt to run Kismet generated the error response. As shown here. From
Next, within the KaliLinux terminal box I ran the apt-get update
Next, I restarted the KaliLinux vm. The reboot step took approximately 2 minutes.
Next, to download and install Kismet with a graphical interface, I ran as root the following within
With having an external wireless card, I would direct the wireless card NIC interface to the
I was able to open up the text editor to the kismet.conf. From here I can amend the configuration
file to my wireless NIC. From within this file is where I can change the source to my computer
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with the external Wi-Fi NIC (Kershaw, 2014). Because an external NIC is not connected, the
kismiet_drone.conf cannot be activated. Another error generated in this attempt is Kismit not
I would then put the wireless card in monitor mode using sudo airmon-ng. Reopening Kismet
along with the name of the wireless card. Once I have the kismet server running, it can start picking
up wireless networks. Some of the features included within kismet is finding those networks that
hide their ssid’s. Kismet will use channel hopping in this instance. The results can include the AP,
mac and ssid’s, channels used, encryption type, the number of packets being transmitted within
the network, including MACs connected to specific AP’s (thecybersecurityman, 2018). The
information screen of kismet can provide information to the elapsed time kismet has been running,
the number of networks it can see, the number of packets captured, the number of packets
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Regarding the color scheme, is as follows:
Additional features available is a graphical representation of gps coordinates of the networks seen.
In conclusion to this assignment six (6), the kalinux tool is great for penetration testing a networks
security. It has the capability of running in passive and active reconnaissance regarding the
additional applications such as Wireshark and airsnort. In conclusion, the Kismet application is a
Security Toolkit
Open source and free security scanning that runs on Linux based systems
Detects remote hosts installed application names, version number, OS, including
Metasploitable
NESSUS
Create custom reports by vulnerability or host to xml, pdf, html, or csv file format
Scans multiple platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, BSD, Cisco iOS
Detect viruses, malware, backdoors including hosts that communicate with botnet
infected hosts.
WireShark
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Decryption support for IPsec, isakmp, Kerberos, snmpv3, ssl/ tls, wep, wpa/ wpa2
Live captured data can be read from ethernet, 802.11, ppp/ hdlc, atm, Bluetooth, usb,
Token ring, frame relay, fddi, and more (really depends on the platform)
analyze packets. Captures network traffic, decodes packet protocols using dissectors.
Displays in great detail captured network traffic packets from many protocols.
All output can be exported to xml, postscript, csv or simple plain text.
Kismet
Live export of packets to other tools via tun/ tap virtual interface
Gephi
Open source interactive exploration software for graph and network analysis
networks in real-time.
Week 7 Assignment Ricardo Nevarez
Ability to create custom cartography in the pdf, svg, and png file type format.
Ability to read most graph file formats, including csv and relational database imports.
Role of KaliLinux – is Debian based operating system that is used for cybersecurity assessments
of computer networks. It is used for many things including and not limited to penetration testing
and security auditing of computer networks. The tasks Kali Linux includes are information
gathering, sniffing and spoofing, vulnerability analysis, post exploitation, web application
analysis, forensics, database assessment, reporting tools, password attacks, social engineering
tools, wireless attacks, reverse engineering, exploitation tools and system services.
Role of WebGoat – webbased application security assessment testing platform that provides hands
on lesson plans within a blackbox in the following areas: http basics, http splitting and cache
poisoning. Including exploiting threads, hidden fields, unchecked email, forgot password pages
Role of Metasploit – used within a testing environment includes exploiting ports by first scanning
Metasploit from a source computer using Nmap, or Nessus. It allows me to test and exploit known
Role of Nmap – used within a test lab it allows to analyze networks, including port analysis onto
Role of Wireshark- in this controlled lab environment it allows the practice of analyzing network
traffic. Allows to uses filters on packet types. Including the ability to capture packet types that
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include and not limited to tcp/ ip, ppp, ethernet, hdlc, arp requests and much more. All in a
controlled test lab. This is not something that is advisable to do on a live network.
Role of NESSUS – as a vulnerability is used within a lab to analyze attack methods on systems
such as Metasploit. Nessus will also use the CVE (Common Vulnerability and Exposures)
vulnerability identifier. From this we can see if there is an exploit that can be taken advantage of.
Thoughtful Reflection
For a systems administrator responsible for maintaining, managing and securing a computer
network system that also allows secure wireless these security tools allowed me to explore and
analyze security tools within a safe secure environment. Also within these respective labs, gave
me practical examples with identifying, capturing and analyzing real world applications. It has
allowed me hands on examples on a secure platform of how to install, configure and set up these
tools in ways that I can personally use on a real network within an organizations real-world
computer network. Within a controlled lab environment platform such as within Oracle’s VM and
the use of KaliLinux it has allowed me to use these very important security tools without the danger
of breaking something on a real network environment. I have learned that these tools should be
used in a professional ethical manner and never be used without permission on a real-world
network environment or for nefarious personal reasons. Another important lesson learned are the
benefits of using trade studies to vet security tools that are applicable to particular networks.
explore new vulnerabilities, develop new techniques regarding the use of existing and new
cybersecurity tools, and analyzing existing software security vulnerabilities found in malware,
Week 7 Assignment Ricardo Nevarez
viruses, port scanning and more. Being able to see firsthand how these vulnerabilities work and in
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References
Bullock, J., & Parker, J. T. (2017). Wireshark for Security Professionals: Using Wireshark and
the Metasploit Framework. Indianapolis, Indiana: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Retrieved
July 29, 2018
CentOS. (2018). Download CentOS. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from Centos.org:
https://www.centos.org/download/
Kershaw, M. (2014, February 18). Kismet. Retrieved August 22, 2018, from Kali.tools.org:
https://tools.kali.org/wireless-attacks/kismet
Linux, K. (2018). Kali Linux Downloads. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from Kali.org:
https://www.kali.org/downloads/
NMAP. (2018). Download Nmap. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from nmap.org:
https://nmap.org/download.html
Oracle. (2018). Oracle VM VirtualBox. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from Oracle:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/virtualbox/downloads/downloads-
176856.html
Team, G. (2018). The Open Graph Viz Platform. Retrieved August 2018, from Gephi.org:
https://gephi.org/
Team, P. (2008, August 25). Network Workbench Download. Retrieved August 2018, from
Network Workbench: http://nwb.cns.iu.edu/download.html
Team, P. (2017). Installing Gephi. Retrieved August 2018, from Gephi.org:
https://gephi.org/users/install/
thecybersecurityman. (2018, March 22). PenTest Edition: Kismet Wireless. Retrieved August 20,
2018, from thecybersecurityman.com:
https://thecybersecurityman.com/2018/03/22/pentest-edition-kismet-wireless/