Here’s a structured summary of notes for the **Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)**
certification, organized by major exam topics:
---
## **1. Introduction to Ethical Hacking**
- **Definition**: Ethical hacking involves legally breaking into computers and
devices to test an organization's defenses.
- **Key Concepts**:
- **Hacker Types**:
- Black Hat: Malicious hackers.
- White Hat: Ethical hackers working to improve security.
- Gray Hat: Operate between ethical and unethical.
- **Five Phases of Hacking**:
1. **Reconnaissance**: Gathering information about the target.
2. **Scanning**: Identify live hosts, open ports, and vulnerabilities.
3. **Gaining Access**: Exploit vulnerabilities to enter systems.
4. **Maintaining Access**: Establish persistence in the system for long-term
access.
5. **Covering Tracks**: Remove evidence of the hack.
- **CEH Domains**: Includes network security, web application hacking, malware
analysis, and more.
---
## **2. Reconnaissance Techniques**
- **Types**:
- **Active Reconnaissance**: Direct interaction with the target (e.g., ping, port
scanning).
- **Passive Reconnaissance**: Indirect methods like social media or public
records.
- **Tools**:
- **WHOIS**: Domain information lookup.
- **nslookup/dig**: DNS queries.
- **Shodan**: Search engine for internet-connected devices.
- **Maltego**: Graphical link analysis tool for open-source intelligence (OSINT).
---
## **3. Scanning Networks**
- **Objectives**:
- Detect live systems.
- Identify open ports and services.
- Detect operating systems and system architecture.
- **Key Techniques**:
- **Ping Sweep**: Identify live hosts.
- **Port Scanning**: Detect open ports using tools like Nmap.
- **Vulnerability Scanning**: Use tools like Nessus or OpenVAS.
- **Nmap Commands**:
- `nmap -sS`: Stealth scan.
- `nmap -O`: Detect operating system.
- `nmap -A`: Enable OS detection, version detection, and traceroute.
---
## **4. Gaining Access**
- **Exploitation Techniques**:
- **Social Engineering**: Phishing, baiting, pretexting.
- **Password Attacks**: Brute force, dictionary attacks, and password spraying.
- **Exploiting Vulnerabilities**: Using tools like Metasploit or custom scripts.
- **Privilege Escalation**:
- Vertical: Gaining higher-level privileges (e.g., user to admin).
- Horizontal: Gaining access to other users at the same privilege level.
- **Tools**:
- Metasploit, Hydra, John the Ripper, SQLmap.
---
## **5. Malware Threats**
- **Types of Malware**:
- Virus, Worm, Trojan Horse, Ransomware, Keylogger, Spyware, Rootkits.
- **Techniques**:
- Polymorphic Malware: Changes code to evade detection.
- Steganography: Hiding data within other files (e.g., images).
- **Detection Tools**:
- Antivirus, sandboxing tools, reverse engineering tools (e.g., IDA Pro, Ghidra).
---
## **6. Sniffing**
- **Definition**: Capturing and analyzing network traffic.
- **Types of Sniffing**:
- Passive: Monitoring traffic without injecting packets.
- Active: Intercepting or modifying traffic (e.g., MITM attacks).
- **Tools**:
- Wireshark: Network protocol analyzer.
- Tcpdump: Command-line packet analyzer.
- **Countermeasures**:
- Encrypt traffic (e.g., HTTPS, VPNs).
- Use secure protocols (e.g., SSH over Telnet).
---
## **7. Web Application Hacking**
- **Common Attacks**:
- **SQL Injection**: Exploiting SQL queries to manipulate databases.
- **Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)**: Injecting malicious scripts into web pages.
- **Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)**: Forcing users to execute unwanted
actions.
- **Broken Authentication**: Exploiting weak session management.
- **Tools**:
- Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, SQLmap.
- **Prevention**:
- Input validation, secure coding practices, and web firewalls.
---
## **8. Wireless Network Hacking**
- **Key Concepts**:
- Wireless encryption protocols: WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3.
- Attacks: Evil twin, rogue access points, deauthentication.
- **Tools**:
- Aircrack-ng, Kismet, WiFite.
- **Countermeasures**:
- Strong encryption, disabling SSID broadcasting, MAC filtering.
---
## **9. Cryptography**
- **Key Concepts**:
- Symmetric Encryption: Uses one key (e.g., AES, DES).
- Asymmetric Encryption: Public and private keys (e.g., RSA, ECC).
- Hashing: One-way encryption (e.g., MD5, SHA-256).
- **Applications**:
- SSL/TLS for secure communication.
- Digital signatures for authentication.
- Blockchain for decentralized records.
- **Tools**:
- OpenSSL, Hashcat.
---
## **10. Social Engineering**
- **Types**:
- Phishing: Tricking users via fake emails or websites.
- Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else.
- Baiting: Offering something to gain access (e.g., USB drives).
- **Countermeasures**:
- User training and awareness.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA).
---
## **11. Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)**
- **Definition**: Overload a system or network to make it unavailable.
- **Tools**:
- LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon), HOIC (High Orbit Ion Cannon), HULK.
- **Countermeasures**:
- Load balancers, rate-limiting, anti-DDoS services (e.g., Cloudflare).
---
## **12. Reporting and Documentation**
- **Purpose**:
- Communicate findings to stakeholders.
- Provide actionable recommendations for remediation.
- **Components**:
- Executive Summary: High-level overview.
- Technical Report: Detailed findings and evidence.
- Risk Assessment: Severity and likelihood of vulnerabilities.
- **Best Practices**:
- Be clear and concise.
- Include screenshots and logs as evidence.
---
### **Essential Tools for CEH**
- **Reconnaissance**: Maltego, Shodan.
- **Scanning**: Nmap, Nessus.
- **Exploitation**: Metasploit, Burp Suite.
- **Sniffing**: Wireshark.
- **Password Cracking**: Hydra, John the Ripper.
- **Web Testing**: SQLmap, OWASP ZAP.
- **Wireless Hacking**: Aircrack-ng, WiFite.
---
This summary provides a high-level overview of key CEH concepts and tools. Let me
know if you need detailed explanations for specific topics!
