Virtual Labs: Sniffing

Consider what you have learned so far about Sniffing as you review the objectives and scenario below.  Complete the lab that follows on EC-Council's website using the link below.

Objective

Sniffing is performed to collect basic information from the target and its network. It helps to find vulnerabilities and select exploits for an attack. It determines the network, system, and organizational information.

The objective of this lab is to make students learn to sniff a network and analyze packets for any attacks on the network. The primary objectives of this lab are to:

• Sniff the network
• Analyze incoming and outgoing packets
• Troubleshoot the network for performance
• Secure the network from attacks

Scenario

“Sniffing” is the process of monitoring and capturing data packets passing through a given network using software or hardware devices. There are two types of sniffing: passive and active. Passive sniffing refers to sniffing on a hub-based network; active sniffing refers to sniffing on a switch-based network.

Although passive sniffing was predominant in earlier days, proper network-securing architecture has been implemented (switch-based network) to mitigate this kind of attack. However, it contains a few loopholes in switch-based network implementation that can open doors for an attacker to sniff network traffic.

Attackers hack the network using sniffers, where he/she mainly targets the protocols vulnerable to sniffing. Some of the protocols vulnerable to sniffing include HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP, and so on. The sniffed traffic comprises FTP and Telnet passwords, chat sessions, email and web traffic, DNS traffic, and so on. Once attackers obtain such sensitive information, they might attempt to impersonate target user sessions.

Thus, it is essential to assess the security of the network’s infrastructure, find the loopholes in it and patch them up to ensure a secure network environment. So, as an ethical hacker/penetration tester, your duties include:

• Implementing network auditing tools such as Wireshark, and Cain & Abel, etc. in an attempt to find loopholes in the network.
• Using security tools such as PromqryUI to detect attacks on the network, and so on.

The lab this week will provide you with real-time experience in sniffing.

Week 6 Lab Assignment 1: Sniffing Passwords Using Auditing Tools

Lab Task:

The objective of this lab is to demonstrate sniffing to capture traffic from multiple interfaces and collect data from any network topology.

In this lab, you will learn how to:

• Capture Passwords of Local Interface and
• Capture traffic from Remote Interface

Lab Description:

Data traversing an HTTP channel is prone to MITM attacks, as it flows in plain-text format. Network administrators can use sniffers to troubleshoot network problems, examine security problems, and debug protocol implementations. However, an attacker can use tools such as Wireshark and sniffs the traffic flowing between the client and the server. This traffic obtained by the attacker might contain sensitive information such as login credentials, which can be used to perform malicious activities such as user-session impersonation.

As an ethical hacker, you need to perform network security assessments and suggest proper troubleshooting techniques to mitigate attacks. This lab gives you hands-on experience of how to use Wireshark to sniff network traffic and capture it on a remote interface.

Password sniffing uses various techniques to monitor networks to obtain user passwords. Networks use broadcast technology to send data. Data transmits through the broadcast network, which can be read from another computer present on the network. Usually, all the computers except that of the recipient will notice that the message is not meant for them and ignore them.

Many computers are programmed to look at every message on the network. If someone misuses the facility, they can view messages not intended for them.

Access the lab here: EC-Council | iLabs (Links to an external site.)

Submit proof of this assignment completion by uploading and submitting a screenshot of the graded lab from EC-Council Labs. Refer to the Course Projects page for more information on project submissions.