From: Dan Rogers (pentestguy@gmail.com)
Date: Sat Mar 05 2005 - 11:05:23 EST
Hi list,
In the last few months I have been asked to assess a number of fairly
large networks, which have been addressed very inefficiently. So,
usually this consists of one or two main networks with about 1000
devices, and ten or so remote sites connected by WAN links or VPN's.
It's not uncommon for the HQ to have a class B (or worse) as their
internal subnet, even though there are nowhere near that many hosts.
The problem I have is that a lot of the owners of these networks don't
really know what they want in terms of testing, and ask very generic
questions - things like "we want to know where we are weakest" or even
"we want to know whats on our network".
A lot of the motivation for this testing is usually passed down from
senor management who just want to feel are secure, so they tell their
IT managers to get a pen test without knowing what it means. This
means IT managers can't often tell me what they actually want to be
tested. I'm effectively given a blank sheet, and free reign to
approach the testing from any angle I choose.
It is also not uncommon for there to be little or no useful
documentation - so I rarely have a complete set of network diagrams
from which to work.
These engagements mostly range from seven to twenty working days.
Usually the approach goes something like this.
1. Ask IT manager to identify critical network infrastructure
(servers, routers, wireless access points, Domain Controllers) - chose
a representative sample for review
2. Attempt to establish general network architecture using a
network-mapping tool
3. Perform internal scanning of network using NMAP/Nessus or GFI LANguard
4. look for really obvious problems. E.g. public/private SNMP or
default passwords, missing patches, well known open trojan ports
Create report giving fairly high-level areas of concern, and
remediation (e.g. patch management solution/strategy, segregate
servers from workstations with firewalls, update default passwords/use
strong password strategy)
When I conduct the tests, time is usually very tight, and therefore
scanning of internal networks is quite costly time wise (especially if
there is a class A/B to scan). Following a methodology which
recommends scanning in several different ways and checking TCP
responses just isn't practical. Using something like nessus can yield
hundreds and hundreds of pages of results, and wading through them
looking for false-positives is also not practical.
So how do you lot approach testing a lage network? Also, how do you
decide what to report to the client on?
Cheers
Dan
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