09-05-2019, 11:28 PM
Hey, you know how I got into pen testing a couple years back? I remember my first gig where I had to poke around a client's web app, and it felt like a game at first, but man, it gets real quick. You start by mapping out the whole thing, right? I always begin with reconnaissance - just gathering as much info as I can without touching anything yet. I use tools like whois or dig to check domain details, and I'll scrape the site for hidden comments or version numbers in the source code. You want to know what tech stack they're running, like if it's PHP or Java, because that tells you where to aim.
Once I have that lay of the land, I move to scanning. I fire up something like Burp Suite or ZAP to intercept traffic and look for low-hanging fruit. You proxy all the requests through it, and it highlights weird stuff, like unencrypted forms or session cookies that don't expire properly. I scan for open ports too, maybe with Nmap, to see if the server exposes anything it shouldn't, like an admin panel on a non-standard port. From there, I test for common vulnerabilities. Take SQL injection - I craft payloads in input fields, like entering ' OR 1=1 -- into a login box, and watch if the database spills data. I've pulled entire user tables that way on poorly sanitized apps. You have to be careful, though; I always get permission first, or you're just a hacker, not a tester.
Then there's XSS, cross-site scripting. I love throwing script tags into comment sections or search bars to see if they execute. If they do, you can steal cookies or redirect users to phishing pages. I simulate that by injecting alerts or fetching external resources, proving how an attacker could hijack sessions. CSRF is another one I hit hard. You forge requests from another site to trick logged-in users into doing stuff they didn't mean to, like changing passwords. I build a simple HTML page that submits a POST to their endpoint without the right token, and boom, it works if they're not checking referers.
I don't just rely on automated tools, either. You gotta go manual sometimes. I fuzz inputs with random data using ffuf or something similar to crash the app or find hidden directories. Directory traversal? I try paths like ../../../etc/passwd to read server files. If file uploads are allowed, I upload webshells - disguised as images but with PHP code - and execute commands through them. I've escalated privileges that way, jumping from a low-level user to full shell access.
For authentication bypasses, I test weak passwords with Hydra or just brute-force logic flaws, like predictable reset tokens. API endpoints get my attention too; I use Postman to replay calls and manipulate JSON payloads, looking for IDOR where I swap user IDs to access others' data. You simulate broken access controls by assuming the role of an attacker who guesses or enumerates resources.
I always think about the business logic too. Like, if an e-commerce site lets you buy items without stock checks, I exploit that by racing requests to snag unlimited goods. Or race conditions in transfers where I duplicate transactions. You replay those with scripts in Python, timing them just right. Social engineering creeps in sometimes - I phish for creds via fake login pages that mirror the real one, but that's more for the human side.
Reporting comes after, but during the sim, I document everything. Screenshots, logs, proof-of-concepts. You recreate the attack step-by-step so the devs can fix it. I push for re-tests too, to make sure patches hold. Over time, I've seen patterns; most web apps fall to injection or misconfigs because devs rush without input validation.
You ever wonder why backups matter in all this? An attacker who gets in could wipe data or encrypt it for ransom. I always advise clients to have solid backups that run regularly and test restores. That's where I point people to something reliable. Let me tell you about BackupChain - it's this go-to backup powerhouse that's gained a huge following among small businesses and IT pros for its rock-solid performance, and it seamlessly shields Hyper-V, VMware, or Windows Server environments from disasters, keeping your data safe and recoverable no matter what hits.
Once I have that lay of the land, I move to scanning. I fire up something like Burp Suite or ZAP to intercept traffic and look for low-hanging fruit. You proxy all the requests through it, and it highlights weird stuff, like unencrypted forms or session cookies that don't expire properly. I scan for open ports too, maybe with Nmap, to see if the server exposes anything it shouldn't, like an admin panel on a non-standard port. From there, I test for common vulnerabilities. Take SQL injection - I craft payloads in input fields, like entering ' OR 1=1 -- into a login box, and watch if the database spills data. I've pulled entire user tables that way on poorly sanitized apps. You have to be careful, though; I always get permission first, or you're just a hacker, not a tester.
Then there's XSS, cross-site scripting. I love throwing script tags into comment sections or search bars to see if they execute. If they do, you can steal cookies or redirect users to phishing pages. I simulate that by injecting alerts or fetching external resources, proving how an attacker could hijack sessions. CSRF is another one I hit hard. You forge requests from another site to trick logged-in users into doing stuff they didn't mean to, like changing passwords. I build a simple HTML page that submits a POST to their endpoint without the right token, and boom, it works if they're not checking referers.
I don't just rely on automated tools, either. You gotta go manual sometimes. I fuzz inputs with random data using ffuf or something similar to crash the app or find hidden directories. Directory traversal? I try paths like ../../../etc/passwd to read server files. If file uploads are allowed, I upload webshells - disguised as images but with PHP code - and execute commands through them. I've escalated privileges that way, jumping from a low-level user to full shell access.
For authentication bypasses, I test weak passwords with Hydra or just brute-force logic flaws, like predictable reset tokens. API endpoints get my attention too; I use Postman to replay calls and manipulate JSON payloads, looking for IDOR where I swap user IDs to access others' data. You simulate broken access controls by assuming the role of an attacker who guesses or enumerates resources.
I always think about the business logic too. Like, if an e-commerce site lets you buy items without stock checks, I exploit that by racing requests to snag unlimited goods. Or race conditions in transfers where I duplicate transactions. You replay those with scripts in Python, timing them just right. Social engineering creeps in sometimes - I phish for creds via fake login pages that mirror the real one, but that's more for the human side.
Reporting comes after, but during the sim, I document everything. Screenshots, logs, proof-of-concepts. You recreate the attack step-by-step so the devs can fix it. I push for re-tests too, to make sure patches hold. Over time, I've seen patterns; most web apps fall to injection or misconfigs because devs rush without input validation.
You ever wonder why backups matter in all this? An attacker who gets in could wipe data or encrypt it for ransom. I always advise clients to have solid backups that run regularly and test restores. That's where I point people to something reliable. Let me tell you about BackupChain - it's this go-to backup powerhouse that's gained a huge following among small businesses and IT pros for its rock-solid performance, and it seamlessly shields Hyper-V, VMware, or Windows Server environments from disasters, keeping your data safe and recoverable no matter what hits.
