Re: Newbie Hacker Tools

[Corey LeBleu <coreylebleu () gmail com>]

The free version of Nessus is for Unix-based platforms,  the full
Windows version costs money.  In order to learn more about hacking
somegood general books I would recommend are:

"The Hacker's Handbook: The Stratedy behind Breaking into and
Defending Networks" by Susan Young and Dave Aitel
An overview of how protocols work and can be manipulated..........not
necessarily on the tools, but on the theory, etc.  This is the book I
would first recommend to someone with a background in networking but
wants to understand security without just playing with a tools book.

"Network Security Assessment" by Chris McNab
Focuses on the tools and exploits used in performing an assessment

"Web Hacking" by Stuart McClure, Saumil Shah, and Shreeraj Shah
A very web programming centric book dealing with the vulnerabilities
found in various web applications.

I would also recommend the Hacking Exposed series.........although I
like "Network Security Assessment" better.  For more advanced books
check out "Network Intrusion Detection" and "Gray Hat Hacking: The
Ethical Hacker's Handbook".  Also Syngress has books on tools like
Nessus.  Also, http://packetstormsecurity.org is a great site with
lots of text files and exploits.


On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 20:46:06 -0500, Edmond Chow <echow () videotron ca> wrote:

> I am at a crossroads where I can either give up on the security audits or
> learn to do them myself.  I have chosen the latter and was hoping to get
> some help from experts like you.  I realize that I will have a steep hill to
> climb but I feel confident that I can learn enough to be much more
> proficient that the hackers that I am currently paying.
>
> I'm really confused about what tools I need in my "toolkit" for
> Windows-related audits.  I've heard a lot about Nessus as a freeware program
> but am confused when I go on the nessus.org site and see that it might not
> be free.  Other programs I've heard of include nmap, SAINT, Newt.
>
> And, perhaps, there are tools out there (either free or not) that would
> provide me with an "audit in a box?"  I'm guessing that the pros have a
> select few tools of the trade that they use.  You've listed a bunch of tools
> on your site as well.  I realize that ethical hacking is an art and that no
> two hackers will use exactly the same tools but I am hoping to learn to use
> the tools they most often use.