Exploitation Techniques

🕵️ Penetration Testing: Exploitation Techniques

Imagine you’re a detective hired by a bank to find all the secret ways a thief could break in—before a real thief does. That’s what penetration testing is!

🏠 The House Security Analogy

Think of a computer network like a big house. The owner wants to know:

• Are the windows locked?
• Can someone climb through the chimney?
• If someone gets in, can they reach the safe?

A penetration tester (pen tester) is like a friendly detective who tries to break in—with permission—to find all the weak spots before bad guys do.

1️⃣ Vulnerability Assessment

What Is It?

Before you can break into the house, you need to look for open windows and weak doors. That’s vulnerability assessment!

Simple Example:

• You walk around the house taking notes
• “Front door lock is old and rusty” ✍️
• “Basement window doesn’t close all the way” ✍️
• “Back door has a weak hinge” ✍️

You’re not breaking in yet—just making a list of problems.

How Pen Testers Do It

graph TD
    A["🔍 Scan the Network"] --> B["📋 Find All Devices"]
    B --> C["🔎 Check Each Device"]
    C --> D["📝 List Weaknesses"]
    D --> E["⚠️ Rate the Danger"]

Real Tools They Use:

• Nmap – Finds all computers on a network
• Nessus – Scans for known weaknesses
• OpenVAS – Free scanner for vulnerabilities

Kid-Friendly Explanation: It’s like using a magnifying glass to look at every lock, window, and door in the house, then writing down which ones look weak.

2️⃣ Exploitation Techniques

What Is It?

Now you actually try to open those weak windows! Exploitation means using the weaknesses you found to get inside.

Simple Example:

• You found the basement window is loose
• You push it gently and… it opens!
• You just “exploited” that weakness

Common Exploitation Methods

The Exploitation Flow

graph TD
    A["🎯 Pick a Weakness"] --> B["🔧 Choose Your Tool"]
    B --> C["🚀 Launch the Attack"]
    C --> D{Did It Work?}
    D -->|Yes| E[🎉 You're In!]
    D -->|No| F["🔄 Try Another Way"]

Real Example: A tester finds a website doesn’t check user input properly. They type special characters that trick the website into showing secret data. This is SQL injection!

3️⃣ Post-Exploitation

What Is It?

You’re inside the house now! But the job isn’t done. Post-exploitation is what you do after getting in.

Simple Example:

• You climbed through the window 🪟
• Now you look around: “What rooms can I access?”
• “Where’s the valuable stuff?”
• “Can I unlock other doors from inside?”

What Pen Testers Do After Getting In

graph TD
    A["🏠 Inside the System"] --> B["🗺️ Map Everything"]
    B --> C["📂 Find Valuable Data"]
    C --> D["🔑 Collect Passwords"]
    D --> E["📸 Take Evidence"]

Key Post-Exploitation Tasks:

1. Gather Information

   • What users are on this computer?
   • What files can you see?
   • What other computers are nearby?

2. Collect Credentials

   • Look for saved passwords
   • Find encryption keys
   • Copy important documents

3. Document Everything

   • Take screenshots
   • Save logs
   • Write down what you found

4️⃣ Privilege Escalation

What Is It?

You got in as a regular guest, but now you want to become the house owner! That’s privilege escalation—going from normal user to super admin.

Simple Example:

• You entered as a visitor 👋
• Visitors can only see the living room
• But you want to access the owner’s bedroom and safe
• You find the owner’s spare key hidden under a plant pot! 🔑
• Now you have owner-level access!

Types of Privilege Escalation

How It Works

graph TD
    A["👤 Normal User"] --> B["🔍 Look for Mistakes"]
    B --> C["🐛 Find a Bug"]
    C --> D["⚡ Use the Bug"]
    D --> E["👑 Become Admin!"]

Common Ways to Escalate:

• Misconfigured permissions – Files that anyone can edit
• Outdated software – Old programs with known bugs
• Weak passwords – Admin uses “password123”
• Kernel exploits – Bugs in the core system

5️⃣ Lateral Movement

What Is It?

You’re in one room, but the house has many rooms! Lateral movement means moving from computer to computer inside the network.

Simple Example:

• You entered through the garage 🚗
• From the garage, you walk to the kitchen
• From the kitchen, you reach the office
• Each room is a different computer!

The Movement Path

graph LR
    A["💻 First Computer"] --> B["🖥️ Second Computer"]
    B --> C["🖥️ Third Computer"]
    C --> D["🏆 Target Server"]

Common Lateral Movement Techniques

Real Example: You hack one employee’s laptop. You find their password saved in a file. That same password works on five other computers! Now you can move everywhere.

6️⃣ Persistence Techniques

What Is It?

You found a way in, but what if they change the locks tomorrow? Persistence means creating secret ways to come back later!

Simple Example:

• You got in through the basement window 🪟
• But the owner might fix that window tomorrow
• So you secretly make a copy of the front door key 🔑
• Now you can come back anytime!

Ways to Stay Hidden

graph TD
    A["🚪 Initial Access"] --> B["🔧 Create Backdoor"]
    B --> C["📅 Set Up Auto-Start"]
    C --> D["🎭 Hide Your Tracks"]
    D --> E["🔄 Return Anytime"]

Common Persistence Methods

Real Example: A tester creates a tiny program that starts every time the computer turns on. Even if they patch the original weakness, the tester can still get back in through this hidden program!

🎯 The Complete Attack Chain

Here’s how all six steps work together:

graph TD
    A["1️⃣ Vulnerability Assessment"] --> B["2️⃣ Exploitation"]
    B --> C["3️⃣ Post-Exploitation"]
    C --> D["4️⃣ Privilege Escalation"]
    D --> E["5️⃣ Lateral Movement"]
    E --> F["6️⃣ Persistence"]
    F --> G["📋 Report to Owner"]

🛡️ Why This Matters

Remember: Pen testers are the good guys! They:

• ✅ Have permission to test
• ✅ Report all weaknesses
• ✅ Help fix the problems
• ✅ Make systems safer for everyone

It’s like hiring a locksmith to test your locks before a burglar tries!

🧠 Key Takeaways

“The best defense is knowing how the offense works!” 🏆

Now you understand how ethical hackers think. They follow these steps to find problems before the bad guys do—keeping everyone’s data safe! 🔐