Improving the Security of Your Site by Breaking Into It
IntroductionIn order to utilize the most effective tools for breaking into their own site, IT administrators must fully review and evaluate the sites issues of vulnerability. This requires gathering as much information as possible about the site as if you where an intruder. For this to be successful, an IT administrator must now consider his or her site to be the target host. Here the administrators have at their disposal such services as finger, showmount and rpcinfo to initially aid in this effort. In addition, using some of the many other available security tools such as the remote probing SATAN (Security Analysis Tool for Auditing Networks) will give the administrator factual details on the sites various bugs and inherent weaknesses.
The article "Improving the Security of Your Site by Breaking Into it" allows IT administrators to look at their own network security through the eyes of an intruder. By utilizing the same tools as potential intruders, not only can administrators identify potential security holes in their existing network, but they can also raise the level of awareness and preparedness when it comes to intrusions. Quite often, IT administrators approach to network or host security is reactive instead of proactive. The article discusses techniques that can provide access to a remote intruder to a target host on your network.
Finger is a UNIX command that serves as a user information lookup. Performing a finger of a remote host provides information such as usernames, their associated real names, idle time, and IP addresses of users logged onto the target host at the time (whatis.com, 2007).
ShowmountThe UNIX command showmount is designed to query a remote host to display NFS shares that are present on the host. If no parameters are supplied with the command, showmount will display a list of clients who are mounting from that host.
mountThe mount command in a UNIX environment serves to attach directories or discs logically. By using the mount
The article "Improving the Security of Your Site by Breaking Into it" allows IT administrators to look at their own network security through the eyes of an intruder. By utilizing the same tools as potential intruders, not only can administrators identify potential security holes in their existing network, but they can also raise the level of awareness and preparedness when it comes to intrusions. Quite often, IT administrators approach to network or host security is reactive instead of proactive. The article discusses techniques that can provide access to a remote intruder to a target host on your network.
Finger is a UNIX command that serves as a user information lookup. Performing a finger of a remote host provides information such as usernames, their associated real names, idle time, and IP addresses of users logged onto the target host at the time (whatis.com, 2007).
ShowmountThe UNIX command showmount is designed to query a remote host to display NFS shares that are present on the host. If no parameters are supplied with the command, showmount will display a list of clients who are mounting from that host.
mountThe mount command in a UNIX environment serves to attach directories or discs logically. By using the mount
References: hatis.com (2007). Retrieved on June 27, 2007 from http://www.whatis.comUNIX MAN pages (July 2001). Retrieved on June 27, 2007 from www.lehman.cuny.edu/cgi-bin/man-cgi?