Question

Find the usage and the required counter measures to avoid effects of the below tool.

A). Metasploit

answer in approx 5 pages.

Answer 1

Now a days, Technology is become the most important part of our life. The whole world is already developed in context with the technologies. But,  At the very beginning of the Internet, It was not developed as if now. The world had a lot to do for itself in terms of security. As long as we thought about that as the fact that not many people had access to the internet, therefore there were less attackers to deal with. That time Security wasn’t very important, but as the years passed on, security also start to become very important. With new technology being made every year, we constantly have to come up with new ways to stop Attackers activity within internet systems. We need a secure world not only for businesses, but home professionals as well, especially when dealing with servers. Security is so very important in our everyday lives. Then there were lot of discoveries happened. And Metasploit is among one of them.

Metasploit is recognized as a popular penetration testing framework as well as a toolkit. It is an important tool being used to exploit security vulnerabilities in programs and taking advantage of such vulnerabilities to put control over an information system. It provides personals with the facility to create their own exploits for security vulnerabilities and use them to attack machines.

It has become an indispensable tool for both red team and blue team. Where red team refer to as attackers and blue team refer to as hackers

We can say that it is having two faces, one as blue and other as red. So the blue face is particularly talking about the automated assessment of security vulnerabilities, it has come as the most popular tool to perform hacking operations. Alongside this, it has been a critical tool used to protect an organization’s network. And the other face that is red can be referring as its effects. So, on the other side, it is an effective tool used to identify and exploit an organization’s security holes that most of the attackers use Metasploit as a tool to attack a vulnerable system.

To know how it is being used by attackers as well as Hackers, we have to understand how this system works:-

How it works

Metasploit is a suite of several applications being used to automate several stages of penetration testing. It can extend its use to its framework in the case to identify security vulnerability and exploit it using the controlling interface along with the post-exploitation and reporting tools. Its framework extracts data from a vulnerability scanner using the information related to the vulnerable hosts to detect vulnerabilities to exploit them and performing an attack with the help of a payload and exploits the system.

Attackers exploit results extracted from the vulnerability scanner and import them into Arbitrage, (Arbitrage is a graphical cyber attack management tool for the Metasploit Project to recognize vulnerabilities with its modules). After identifying the vulnerabilities attackers utilize a usable exploit to affect the system and get a shell and launch Meterpreter, (Meterpreter is a dynamically extensible payload, to control the system).

Now what is payload here?

Payloads refer to the commands being used to execute on the local system after gaining access through an exploit. It might include documentation and a database of techniques utilized to develop a functioning exploit after the identification of vulnerability. These payloads typically comprise components to extract passwords from the local system, install other software or to restrain the hardware alike recently available tools like BO2K.

Now we will able to understand its Usage in security system.

Usage of Metasploit:-

The most important use of it is to secure our enterprise.

One of the most common uses for Metasploit in the enterprise is to prioritize patch or vulnerability management decisions. Once a Metasploit module has been released for vulnerability, enterprises can place a higher priority on patches, especially due to the fact that the current generation of script kiddies can now easily compromise systems using it. In addition, any vulnerability identified with a Metasploit module already available should be at the top of an enterprise's list of vulnerabilities to patch or mitigate.

Another uses of Metasploit is that it helps demonstrate the seriousness of vulnerability by showing someone how easy it is to exploit it and completely compromise a system. For example, a remotely exploitable vulnerability could be identified on a target system, and then a payload could be configured within Metasploit to open a remote shell on the target system so that an attacker can steal data or install a keylogger. Using Metasploit for pen-testing to automate many of the manual checks will allow pen-testers to bypass certain areas and focus only on the areas that require in-depth analysis.

Using Metasploit as part of a general vulnerability management program can verify that vulnerability has been closed by patching, changing a configuration or implementing a compensating control. For example, if a patch isn't available yet but disabling a specific system feature will prevent a network being exploited, we can use Metasploit to verify that the proposed tactic (the disabling of the system) works as expected. Metasploit also verifies that the exploit attempt is detected by security monitoring tools.

As with any information security tool, Metasploit can be used to do both good and harm. Black hats and other malicious hackers can use Metasploit against enterprises to identify exploits that will grant them unauthorized access to networks, applications and data.

Metasploit attacks can be best defended against using standard security controls such as patching, running applications or processes with least privileges, limiting network access to only trusted hosts, and other common controls that are covered in the SANS Top 20 Critical Security Controls or the OWASP Top Ten. A Metasploit attack can be detected across a network unless its "encode" option is used to prevent network traffic from being detected by an intrusion detection system. Barring that, Metasploit activity can also be detected by monitoring for anomalies on the network or by using a host-based detection tool that detects Metasploit executables running on the local system.

Just as a hammer can be used for good or harm, Metasploit can be used to keep a corporate network together or tear it apart. Despite the fact that Metasploit detects vulnerabilities and provides the front-line defense and enterprise network needs, it is critical to remember that attackers have access to the very same tool that will identify the very same vulnerabilities.

Having Metasploit in an enterprise's security toolkit is beneficial, but organizations must also leverage other tools and technologies to defend against the attackers using Metasploit against them.

The required counter measures to avoid effects of the Metasploit:-

Being an information security tool, Metasploit finds its applications in both security defense and attacks.

Malicious hackers utilize it against organizations to exploit security vulnerabilities and allowing them unauthenticated access to the networks, applications, and information systems.

Metasploit attacks can be best defended against using standard security controls such as patching, running applications or processes with least privileges, limiting network access to only trust hosts.

A Metasploit-oriented attack can be identified across a network unless its “encode” option is utilized to restrain network traffic from being monitored by an intrusion detection system. Alongside this, Metasploit activity can also be monitored utilizing a host-based detection tool that monitors its executables executing on the local systems.

We can use it to both develop some great security stuff and also tear it in parts. Since attackers too prefer it to identify the same vulnerabilities can be a concern for organizations anticipating sustained security and utilizing Metasploit as a front-line defense tool. Using Metasploit as part of an organization’s vulnerability management program can engage a compensating security attack control with the help of patching and updating configuration. In the absence of patching, disabling a system can prevent a network from being exploited. Hacker should learn everything on hacking, so that they can prevent our valuable information system.

Most particularly, Metasploit can be used to sort patch or vulnerability management plans and strategies within an organization. Once a Metasploit module is released, organizations become capable of placing patches on a high priority basis, particularly considering the comprised system usage by script kiddies of this age.

Hacking with Metasploit has become the most popular way to use such a tool, and has become a critical tool in defending an enterprise's network. Unfortunately, it is so good at identifying and exploiting an organization's weak spots that most attackers now know Metasploit is a simple way to find and exploit a vulnerable system.