Linux Hacking 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Ethical Hacking with Linux and Kali Linux

By Vere salazar

Linux is the most popular operating system for hackers and programmers, as it offers a powerful and flexible platform for hacking. Kali Linux is a special Linux distribution that comes with hundreds of tools for penetration testing, security auditing, and ethical hacking. Together, Linux and Kali Linux can help you learn how to hack like a pro and use your skills for good.

In this book, you will discover the basics of Linux and Kali Linux hacking, from installing and configuring them on your computer, to using the Linux terminal and the essential commands for hacking. You will also learn how to perform network scanning, vulnerability assessment, and penetration testing, using the tools and techniques that hackers use in real-world scenarios. You will hack web applications, databases, and wireless networks, crack passwords, encryption, and authentication systems, bypass security mechanisms and evade detection, exploit vulnerabilities and gain access to remote systems, cover your tracks and erase your digital footprint, and much more.

By the end of this book, you will have a solid foundation of Linux hacking and the skills to become a successful hacker. You will also have a clear understanding of the ethical and legal aspects of hacking and how to use your knowledge for good. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced hacker, this book will help you take your hacking skills to the next level. Linux Hacking 101 is your ultimate guide to ethical hacking with Linux and Kali Linux.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vere salazar
• Release date: Feb 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224209958

Book preview

Introduction

In this book, we, shall le,arn how an ope,rating syste,m calle,d linux works and how hacke,rs can use, this tool to he,lp the,m hack. linux is an ope,rating syste,m (os) cre,ate,d by linus torvalds e,arly in the, 1990s and is a popular choice, to work with today. the, main part be,hind this to e,nsure, that it works is the, linux ke,rne,l which is available, for fre,e,. unlike, microsoft windows which is e,asie,r to use,, linux may se,e,m a bit more, difficult to work with. but this is mostly be,cause, we, have, to actually do some, coding and use, the, command line,, rathe,r than the, graphical inte,rface,s, to make, things work and to bring up the, programs we, want.

An ope,rating syste,m he,lps you go about tasks on a compute,r like, writing, browsing the, inte,rne,t or doing many othe,r activitie,s. if the, installation of the, ope,rating syste,m is not on your de,sktop, the,n you will be, unable, to use, your compute,r. e,ve,n for you to be, able, to re,ad this conte,nt you ne,e,d an ope,rating syste,m. the, ke,rne,l is the, he,artbe,at of the, linux syste,m, and the,y can be, of diffe,re,nt type,s such as ubuntu, fe,dora, and de,bian.

He,re,, you will ge,t to unde,rstand the, diffe,re,nt type,s of linux distributions, how e,ach of the, distribution work and which one, can be,st suit your pre,fe,re,nce,s. the, skills ne,e,de,d for you to start the, hacking te,chnique,s to e,nable, a smooth hacking proce,ss. with the, de,taile,d re,vie,w of what you ne,e,d, the,n ge,tting starte,d will be,come, e,asy for you.

Chapte,r 1: pre,vie,w of the, linux ope,rating syste,m

Pre,vie,w of how linux works

Linux ke,rne,l distinguishe,s this os from othe,r oss. the, ke,rne,l is the, coding use,d to de,ve,lop linux, and ove,r the, ye,ars, many de,ve,lope,rs ke,e,p upgrading the, ve,rsion. that is why for you to hack using linux, you must unde,rstand how linux ke,rne,l works. the, ke,rne,l is in the, inne,rmost part of the, ope,rating syste,m whe,re, it doe,s jobs like,:

❖ managing the, hardware,.

❖ do the, e,sse,ntials se,rvice,s of the, os.

❖ allocate,s re,source,s e,ve,nly.

Whe,n you want to e,xe,cute, the, ke,rne,l, the,n you ne,e,d to imple,me,nt it in the, ke,rne,l-mode, as oppose, to the, use,r mode,. so, any applications running in the, syste,m communicate,s with ke,rne,l using what we, call "syste,m call". the, syste,m e,nable,s the, use,r to have, a smooth inte,raction utilizing an inte,rface, to re,ach the, ke,rne,l. did you know that e,ve,ry function that possibly inte,racts with the, syste,m automatically translate,s to a syste,m call? he,re, is an e,xample,

Void main ( ) {

}

Le,t’s say this is one, of the, most obvious things you will se,e,. he,re, it gains acce,ss via the, main e,ntrance, and late,r e,xists. to ge,t the, picture, of what we, are, saying, he,re, is a picture, of the, le,ve,ls of ke,rne,ls.

Use,r proce,sse,s

Graphic use,r inte,rface,

Se,rve,rs

She,ll

Figure, 1.1

Linux ke,rne,l

Syste,m cals

Proce,ss manage,me,nt

Me,mory manage,me,nt

De,vice, drive,rs

Figure, 1.2

Hardware,

Proce,ssor

Main me,mory

Disks

Ne,twork parts

We, shall e,xplain in de,tail how the, ke,rne,l and hacking are, re,late,d as we, go through this guide,book. but be,fore, we, ge,t the,re,, it is fundame,ntal to unde,rstand some, basics; this is just an introduction.

Re,lationship be,twe,e,n the, applications, hardware,, and ke,rne,ls

From the, diagram, we, can se,e, that the, use,r proce,ss runs in the, use,r mode, whe,re,as, the, ke,rne,l runs in the, ke,rne,l- mode,. that is if a code, is running in the, ke,rne,l mode, can acce,ss proce,ssor (cpu) and the, main me,mory without any re,strictions. although this might make, you happy, this fe,ature, of the, ke,rne,l can e,asily crash a whole, syste,m down.

The, use,r mode,, the,re,fore,, re,stricts acce,ss dire,ctly to the, proce,ssor. that is why whe,n any use,rs mistake,nly go to the, proce,ssor and alte,r the, functioning of the, cpu; it crashe,s the, whole, syste,m. whe,re, case,s of a crash are, not mild, the,n the, ke,rne,l trie,s to cle,an up the, me,sse,s done,. although if you had running programs, the,n the,y will not work as usual. whe,n you alte,r the, use,r-face,, it may not cause, se,ve,re, damage,s compare,d to the, ke,rne,l .

Hardware, is the, physical part of the, compute,r holding the, me,mory of the, machine, that is the, random-acce,ss me,mory. it store,s information that has be,e,n save,d in file,s and also assisting the, ce,ntral proce,ssing unit in loading file,s faste,r and e,fficie,ntly. all inputs and outputs of the, compute,r run through the, main me,mory. the,re, are, some, me,morie,s found in the, inte,rnal me,mory that you ne,e,d to unde,rstand.

Primary me,mory – he,re, we, have, the, random-acce,ss me,mory (ram) and re,ad-only me,mory (rom).

Ram – data store,d in this form can be, e,asily acce,sse,d anytime, whe,n a use,r doe,s a prompt. this type, of me,mory is e,xce,ptionally volatile,, whe,re, you can write, or re,ad. suppose, powe,r goe,s off, the,n this me,mory cannot be, trace,d. we, have, diffe,re,nt type,s of random-acce,ss me,mory.

❖ sram – this is static random-acce,ss me,mory. it is one, of the, most e,xpe,nsive, me,morie,s you can e,ve,r ge,t. the,re, are, se,ve,ral ve,rsions of this me,mory such as ddr2, ddr3, and dd4, all giving the, use,r a be,tte,r pe,rformance, than ddr. it consists of six capacitors in e,ach ce,ll.

❖ dram – dynamic random-acce,ss me,mory is the, most commonly use,d type, of me,mory in compute,rs. compare,d to sram, this kind of me,mory is slowe,r with a capacitor and transistor in e,ach ce,ll.

Rom – as the, name, sugge,sts this type, of data can only be, re,ad but unable, to write,. it is a fast kind of data for the, use,rs. unlike, random-acce,ss me,mory, whe,n the, powe,r goe,s off, one, can acce,ss this data late,r on. we, can say, e,ve,n whe,n powe,r is off the, compute,r doe,s not ne,e,d software, to he,lp the, cpu communicate,.

This me,mory has millions of transistors and capacitors. now, whe,n the,se, two parts are, combine,d, the,y form what we, call a me,mory ce,ll de,note,d by a single, bit. a capacitor bucke,t store,s e,le,ctrons though at time,s the, bucke,t may le,ak. the, dynamic random-acce,ss me,mory he,lps re,charge, the, e,mptie,d bucke,ts be,fore, doing the, disbarme,nt. the, proce,ss is re,pe,ate,d re,pe,ate,dly in ve,ry many cycle,s to e,nable, the, proce,ssor to re,ad and write, me,mory back.

This is a ke,y point to unde,rstand since,, at time,s during hacking our data can be, trace,d if you do not unde,rstand which me,mory to work with. whe,n you can to hack the, me,mory of a compute,r, you can do stuff like, vacuums, game, e,xploits, good mode,s and much more,. in any case,, if me,mory manipulation is impossible,, the,n it will be, challe,nging to do the, manipulation.

The, ke,rne,l is the, he,artbe,at of linux. figure, 1.1 give,s an ove,rvie,w of what the, linux ke,rne,l doe,s. in the, proce,ss part of it, the, ke,rne,l se,le,cts which proce,ss is to be, allowe,d first be,fore, the, othe,r. in the, me,mory, ke,rne,l he,lps ke,e,p a re,cord of me,mory like, the, amount of me,mory to allocate, to a particular proce,ss or the, amount of me,mory that can be, share,d. in the, de,vice,, drive,rs act as an inte,rface, be,twe,e,n the, hardware, and proce,sse,s, for proce,sse,s to have, a communication to the, ke,rne,l the,y use, syste,m calls.

Be,ne,fits of using linux

He,re, the, be,ne,fits of using linux:

Se,curity – compare,d to othe,r ope,rating syste,ms, linux is the, most se,cure, os to use,. you will find that othe,r ope,rating syste,ms are, ve,ry vulne,rable, whe,n malware, attacks it. what make,s it more, inte,re,sting is that be,fore, any virus attacks or authorize,d logins, one, has to inse,rt the, password.

Re,liable, – it has e,xce,lle,nt stability that e,nable,s the, use,rs to use, it e,fficie,ntly - no ne,e,d of ke,e,ping re,booting your compute,r be,cause, of some, e,rrors.

Fre,e, to use, – it is possible, to go to your browse,r and download the, ope,rating syste,m without aske,d to inse,rt the, activation