m11-lab1
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Schoolcraft College *
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Information Systems
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by DrRamMaster341
M11 Lab 1 Worksheet
Preparation
Access and Log into NDG Online using the account you created in Module 0 and
open the NDG Security+ V4 labs. As you complete the labs, refer to this assignment
to provide the required information and answer questions. Locate and click on the
link for
No Lab: Launch Cyber Range
Activities
These activities will be slightly different than the prior labs in that the instructions
for how to complete the activities will be documented here rather than in the
area in the NDG Lab environment
Part 1: Creating Users and Passwords
1.
Click the
Kali
tab to access the Kali VM
2.
Log in to the
Kali
VM as username
kali
, password
kali
3.
Click on the
terminal
icon located in the top menu bar
4.
In the Terminal window, type the command
cat /etc/group
and take note of
the existing groups on the system.
5.
We will be creating the following new user accounts and groups to be used in
the next portion of the activity
Group:
accounting
Username
Password
gsmith
123456
tjones
chicago
6.
In the terminal window, type
sudo groupadd accounting
to create the
accounting group.
When prompted for the password, enter
kali
7.
In the terminal window, type
sudo
useradd gsmith -g accounting
8.
In the terminal window, type
sudo
useradd tjones -g accounting
9.
Use the
cat /etc/passwd
command to view the
/etc/passwd
file and ensure
the users were created successfully
The new users will be shown at the bottom of the command output.
10.
Use the
sudo
cat /etc/shadow
command to view the
/etc/shadow
file
and observe the values next to the users you created at the bottom of the
command output:
These values indicate that there is currently no password information stored
in this file for the users we created because no passwords were assigned to
them yet.
11.
Use the following commands to set passwords for the users we created
to the values in the table listed previously in the lab.
sudo passwd gsmith
sudo passwd tjones
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12.
Use the
sudo
cat /etc/shadow
command to view the
/etc/shadow
file
and note that there are now hashed password values associated with the
accounts we created.
Take a screenshot of the entire terminal showing the
results and insert it below
(2 points)
Part 2: Cracking User Passwords
1.
Type
sudo
gzip -d /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt.gz
to prepare a file
containing millions of common passwords.
This file will be used to crack the
passwords set in Part 1.
2.
Type
ls /usr/share/wordlists
to verify the rockyou.txt file is shown in this
directory (note: the “l” in the ls is a lowercase “L”)
3.
We will be using
John the Ripper
along with this wordlist to crack the
passwords for the users we created in Part 1.
At the terminal, type
john
-help
to view the available options that can be used with John the Ripper.
4.
Type the following command to combine the
/etc/passwd
and
/etc/shadow
files into one text file.
John the Ripper
will use this file when attempting to
crack the user passwords.
sudo unshadow /etc/passwd /etc/shadow > usersandpasswords.txt
5.
Run
John the Ripper
against the
usersandpasswords.txt
file using the
wordlist we prepared in the prior steps.
john --format=crypt --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt usersandpasswords.txt
This tells
John the Ripper
to calculate hashed values of each entry in
the specified wordlist against the hashed passwords contained in
usersandpasswords.txt
file we created by combining the
/etc/passwd
and
/etc/shadow
files.
For the current scenario, this process can take a few minutes for the
cracked passwords to display in the command output.
6.
When the cracked passwords both of the users we created earlier are
displayed on your screen, take a screenshot of the entire terminal showing
the results and insert it below
(2 points)
If
John the Ripper
is still running after displaying the passwords for our users,
press
Ctrl+c
by holding the
Ctrl
button and then pressing C on your keyboard
to cancel the current process.
7.
John the Ripper
also stores passwords that have been previously cracked so
you can view them at a later time.
Type the following command to view the
passwords we cracked in the previous step:
john –-show usersandpasswords.txt
Take a screenshot of the entire terminal showing the results and insert it
below
(2 points)
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Reflection
Note: It may be helpful to refer back to the lab instructions or your screenshots to
answer the following questions.
1.
In many Linux distributions, file system permissions to
/etc/shadow
are
limited to the root user only.
a.
How does this relate to recommendations for hardening systems?
(2
points)
Click or tap here to enter text.
b.
List one other system hardening recommendation that would be
potentially effective against the password attacks used in this lab.
(2
points)
Click or tap here to enter text.
2.
The tools used to crack passwords in this lab all utilized word list files that
included a mix of potential passwords and dictionary words.
a.
This can be a slow process in the case an attacker is using a large word
list with thousands or millions of entries. What can an attacker use
instead to speed this process up?
(2 points)
Click or tap here to enter text.
b.
Indicate three different requirements for passwords you could
recommend to better protect against the attacks utilized in this lab,
and how they could help.
(3 points)
i.
Click or tap here to enter text.
ii.
Click or tap here to enter text.
iii.
Click or tap here to enter text.
3.
In this lab you used security tools to crack password hashes. Whether a
target system is running Windows or Linux, this process typically requires
access to the target system and the ability to run software designed to obtain
the hashed password values. Read
I can get and crack your password hashes
from email
from CSO Online and answer the following questions.
a.
How did the attacker obtain the password hash from the author’s
Windows system?
(2 points)
Click or tap here to enter text.
b.
Did the attack described in the article require access to the targeted
system?
(2 points)
Click or tap here to enter text.
c.
Provide at least one example of both a system and email protection
from the module that could be effective at stopping an attack like this –
and why.
(4 points)
i.
Click or tap here to enter text.
ii.
Click or tap here to enter text.