Social engineering attacks target the weakest link in an organization's security human beings. Everyone knows these attacks are effective, and everyone knows they are on the rise. Now, Social Engineering Penetration Testing gives you the practical methodology and everything you need to plan and execute a social engineering penetration test and assessment. You will gain fascinating insights into how social engineering techniques including email phishing, telephone pretexting, and physical vectors can be used to elicit information or manipulate individuals into performing actions that may aid in an attack. Using the book's easy-to-understand models and examples, you will have a much better understanding of how best to defend against these attacks. The authors of Social Engineering Penetration Testing show you hands-on techniques they have used at RandomStorm to provide clients with valuable results that make a real difference to the security of their businesses. You will learn about the differences between social engineering pen tests lasting anywhere from a few days to several months. The book shows you how to use widely available open-source tools to conduct your pen tests, then walks you through the practical steps to improve defense measures in response to test results. - Understand how to plan and execute an effective social engineering assessment - Learn how to configure and use the open-source tools available for the social engineer - Identify parts of an assessment that will most benefit time-critical engagements - Learn how to design target scenarios, create plausible attack situations, and support various attack vectors with technology - Create an assessment report, then improve defense measures in response to test results

Improve information security by learning Social Engineering. Key Features Learn to implement information security using social engineering Get hands-on experience of using different tools such as Kali Linux, the Social Engineering toolkit and so on Practical approach towards learning social engineering, for IT security Book Description This book will provide you with a holistic understanding of social engineering. It will help you to avoid and combat social engineering attacks by giving you a detailed insight into how a social engineer operates. Learn Social Engineering starts by giving you a grounding in the different types of social engineering attacks,and the damages they cause. It then sets up the lab environment to use different toolS and then perform social engineering steps such as information gathering. The book covers topics from baiting, phishing, and spear phishing, to pretexting and scareware. By the end of the book, you will be in a position to protect yourself and your systems from social engineering threats and attacks. All in all, the book covers social engineering from A to Z , along with excerpts from many world wide known security experts. What you will learn Learn to implement information security using social engineering Learn social engineering for IT security Understand the role of social media in social engineering Get acquainted with Practical Human hacking skills Learn to think like a social engineer Learn to beat a social engineer Who this book is for This book targets security professionals, security analysts, penetration testers, or any stakeholder working with information security who wants to learn how to use social engineering techniques. Prior knowledge of Kali Linux is an added advantage

Pen Testing from Contractto Report Protect your system or web application with this accessible guide Penetration tests, also known as ‘pen tests’, are a means of assessing the security of a computer system by simulating a cyber-attack. These tests can be an essential tool in detecting exploitable vulnerabilities in a computer system or web application, averting potential user data breaches, privacy violations, losses of system function, and more. With system security an increasingly fundamental part of a connected world, it has never been more important that cyber professionals understand the pen test and its potential applications. Pen Testing from Contract to Report offers a step-by-step overview of the subject. Built around a new concept called the Penetration Testing Life Cycle, it breaks the process into phases, guiding the reader through each phase and its potential to expose and address system vulnerabilities. The result is an essential tool in the ongoing fight against harmful system intrusions. In Pen Testing from Contract to Report readers will also find: Content mapped to certification exams such as the CompTIA PenTest+ Detailed techniques for evading intrusion detection systems, firewalls, honeypots, and more Accompanying software designed to enable the reader to practice the concepts outlined, as well as end-of-chapter questions and case studies Pen Testing from Contract to Report is ideal for any cyber security professional or advanced student of cyber security.

Become a master at penetration testing using machine learning with Python Key Features Identify ambiguities and breach intelligent security systems Perform unique cyber attacks to breach robust systems Learn to leverage machine learning algorithms Book Description Cyber security is crucial for both businesses and individuals. As systems are getting smarter, we now see machine learning interrupting computer security. With the adoption of machine learning in upcoming security products, it’s important for pentesters and security researchers to understand how these systems work, and to breach them for testing purposes. This book begins with the basics of machine learning and the algorithms used to build robust systems. Once you’ve gained a fair understanding of how security products leverage machine learning, you'll dive into the core concepts of breaching such systems. Through practical use cases, you’ll see how to find loopholes and surpass a self-learning security system. As you make your way through the chapters, you’ll focus on topics such as network intrusion detection and AV and IDS evasion. We’ll also cover the best practices when identifying ambiguities, and extensive techniques to breach an intelligent system. By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with identifying loopholes in a self-learning security system and will be able to efficiently breach a machine learning system. What you will learn Take an in-depth look at machine learning Get to know natural language processing (NLP) Understand malware feature engineering Build generative adversarial networks using Python libraries Work on threat hunting with machine learning and the ELK stack Explore the best practices for machine learning Who this book is for This book is for pen testers and security professionals who are interested in learning techniques to break an intelligent security system. Basic knowledge of Python is needed, but no prior knowledge of machine learning is necessary.

Manipulative communication—from early twentieth-century propaganda to today’s online con artistry—examined through the lens of social engineering. The United States is awash in manipulated information about everything from election results to the effectiveness of medical treatments. Corporate social media is an especially good channel for manipulative communication, with Facebook a particularly willing vehicle for it. In Social Engineering, Robert Gehl and Sean Lawson show that online misinformation has its roots in earlier techniques: mass social engineering of the early twentieth century and interpersonal hacker social engineering of the 1970s, converging today into what they call “masspersonal social engineering.” As Gehl and Lawson trace contemporary manipulative communication back to earlier forms of social engineering, possibilities for amelioration become clearer. The authors show how specific manipulative communication practices are a mixture of information gathering, deception, and truth-indifferent statements, all with the instrumental goal of getting people to take actions the social engineer wants them to. Yet the term “fake news,” they claim, reduces everything to a true/false binary that fails to encompass the complexity of manipulative communication or to map onto many of its practices. They pay special attention to concepts and terms used by hacker social engineers, including the hacker concept of “bullshitting,” which the authors describe as a truth-indifferent mix of deception, accuracy, and sociability. They conclude with recommendations for how society can undermine masspersonal social engineering and move toward healthier democratic deliberation.

A guide to hacking the human element. Even the most advanced security teams can do little to defend against an employee clicking a malicious link, opening an email attachment, or revealing sensitive information in a phone call. Practical Social Engineering will help you better understand the techniques behind these social engineering attacks and how to thwart cyber criminals and malicious actors who use them to take advantage of human nature. Joe Gray, an award-winning expert on social engineering, shares case studies, best practices, open source intelligence (OSINT) tools, and templates for orchestrating and reporting attacks so companies can better protect themselves. He outlines creative techniques to trick users out of their credentials, such as leveraging Python scripts and editing HTML files to clone a legitimate website. Once you’ve succeeded in harvesting information about your targets with advanced OSINT methods, you’ll discover how to defend your own organization from similar threats. You’ll learn how to: Apply phishing techniques like spoofing, squatting, and standing up your own web server to avoid detection Use OSINT tools like Recon-ng, theHarvester, and Hunter Capture a target’s information from social media Collect and report metrics about the success of your attack Implement technical controls and awareness programs to help defend against social engineering Fast-paced, hands-on, and ethically focused, Practical Social Engineering is a book every pentester can put to use immediately.

The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing serves as an introduction to the steps required to complete a penetration test or perform an ethical hack from beginning to end. This book makes ethical hacking and penetration testing easy – no prior hacking experience is required. It shows how to properly utilize and interpret the results of the modern-day hacking tools required to complete a penetration test. With a simple and clean explanation of how to effectively utilize these tools – as well as the introduction to a four-step methodology for conducting a penetration test or hack – the book provides students with the know-how required to jump start their careers and gain a better understanding of offensive security. The book is organized into 7 chapters that cover hacking tools such as Backtrack Linux, Google reconnaissance, MetaGooFil, dig, Nmap, Nessus, Metasploit, Fast Track Autopwn, Netcat, and Hacker Defender rootkit. Each chapter contains hands-on examples and exercises that are designed to teach learners how to interpret results and utilize those results in later phases. PowerPoint slides are available for use in class. This book is an ideal reference for security consultants, beginning InfoSec professionals, and students. - Named a 2011 Best Hacking and Pen Testing Book by InfoSec Reviews - Each chapter contains hands-on examples and exercises that are designed to teach you how to interpret the results and utilize those results in later phases. - Writen by an author who works in the field as a Penetration Tester and who teaches Offensive Security, Penetration Testing, and Ethical Hacking, and Exploitation classes at Dakota State University. - Utilizes the Backtrack Linus distribution and focuses on the seminal tools required to complete a penetration test.

This book contains high-quality refereed research papers presented at the 6th International Conference on Computer Science, Engineering, and Education Applications (ICCSEEA2023), which took place in Warsaw, Poland, on March 17–19, 2023, and was organized by the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, the National Aviation University, Lviv Polytechnic National University, the Polish Operational and Systems Society, Warsaw University of Technology, and the International Research Association of Modern Education and Computer Science. The book covers a variety of topics, including cutting-edge research in computer science, artificial intelligence, engineering techniques, smart logistics, and knowledge representation with educational applications. The book is an invaluable resource for academics, graduate students, engineers, management professionals, and undergraduate students who are interested in computer science and its applications in engineering and education.

Cybersecurity has emerged to address the need for connectivity and seamless integration with other devices and vulnerability assessment to find loopholes. However, there are potential challenges ahead in meeting the growing need for cybersecurity. This includes design and implementation challenges, application connectivity, data gathering, cyber-attacks, and cyberspace analysis. Perspectives on Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing familiarizes readers with in-depth and professional hacking and vulnerability scanning subjects. The book discusses each of the processes and tools systematically and logically so that the reader can see how the data from each tool may be fully exploited in the penetration test’s succeeding stages. This procedure enables readers to observe how the research instruments and phases interact. This book provides a high level of understanding of the emerging technologies in penetration testing, cyber-attacks, and ethical hacking and offers the potential of acquiring and processing a tremendous amount of data from the physical world. Covering topics such as cybercrimes, digital forensics, and wireless hacking, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for cybersecurity professionals, IT managers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Get up to speed with various penetration testing techniques and resolve security threats of varying complexity Key FeaturesEnhance your penetration testing skills to tackle security threatsLearn to gather information, find vulnerabilities, and exploit enterprise defensesNavigate secured systems with the most up-to-date version of Kali Linux (2019.1) and Metasploit (5.0.0)Book Description Sending information via the internet is not entirely private, as evidenced by the rise in hacking, malware attacks, and security threats. With the help of this book, you'll learn crucial penetration testing techniques to help you evaluate enterprise defenses. You'll start by understanding each stage of pentesting and deploying target virtual machines, including Linux and Windows. Next, the book will guide you through performing intermediate penetration testing in a controlled environment. With the help of practical use cases, you'll also be able to implement your learning in real-world scenarios. By studying everything from setting up your lab, information gathering and password attacks, through to social engineering and post exploitation, you'll be able to successfully overcome security threats. The book will even help you leverage the best tools, such as Kali Linux, Metasploit, Burp Suite, and other open source pentesting tools to perform these techniques. Toward the later chapters, you'll focus on best practices to quickly resolve security threats. By the end of this book, you'll be well versed with various penetration testing techniques so as to be able to tackle security threats effectively What you will learnPerform entry-level penetration tests by learning various concepts and techniquesUnderstand both common and not-so-common vulnerabilities from an attacker's perspectiveGet familiar with intermediate attack methods that can be used in real-world scenariosUnderstand how vulnerabilities are created by developers and how to fix some of them at source code levelBecome well versed with basic tools for ethical hacking purposesExploit known vulnerable services with tools such as MetasploitWho this book is for If you’re just getting started with penetration testing and want to explore various security domains, this book is for you. Security professionals, network engineers, and amateur ethical hackers will also find this book useful. Prior knowledge of penetration testing and ethical hacking is not necessary.