Conducting a Security Assessment

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Cloud
Security

Conducting a Security Assessment

In this lab, we will use security utilities provided with Kali Linux to conduct a risk assessment. The lab provides a subnetwork of Linux and Windows servers to provide a complete VPC for exercising the Kali Linux utilities.

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Sep 24, 2025

Duration

1h 45m

Challenge

Access the Kali Linux System
1. Establish a session to the Kali Linux system:
  
  ssh cloud_user@<KALI_LINUX_PUBLIC_IP>
2. Change to superuser:
  
  su -
Challenge

Identify the Address Assigned to the Ethernet Controller
1. Query the ethernet configuration on the Kali Linux server:
  
  ifconfig
  
  Make note of the IP address assigned to the primary ethernet controller.
Challenge

Use the `nmap` Command to Explore the Subnet
Use the nmap utility to explore the ports open on the subnetwork.

For help with nmap commands:
```
nmap -h
```
To scan a series or range of subnet private IP addresses:
```
nmap -sn 10.0.1.1-255
```
To try other flags to speed the port scanning process:
```
nmap -T4 -Pn -n -p- --min-parallelism 50 to 100 -vv 10.0.1.1-255 --max-retries 0 or 1
```
Challenge

Use the hping3 Utility to Analyze a Single Host
Use the hping3 to scan a certain host on the subnet:
```
hping3 -1 <INTERNAL_IP_ADDRESS_OF_HOST>
```
Note: You may obtain the internal IP address of the host from the lab interface, the output from an nmap command, or the AWS dashboard.
Challenge

Use `nslookup` to Explore the Nameserver Configuration of Various Hosts
Use nslookup to explore the A record on google.com:
```
nslookup

> google.com
```
Use nslookup to look at MX records on google.com
```
nslookup

> set q=MX

> google.com
```
Use nslookup to interrogate other address types:
```
nslookup

> set type=any

> google.com
```
Challenge

Use the dig Tool to Attempt a Domain Zone Transfer
The syntax for the dig command is:
```
dig axfr [domain host] [IP Address To Transfer To]
```
Challenge

Use `finger` to Determine Which Users Are Logged into Any Given Host
Use the finger command to see who is logged in on a host:
```
finger
```
Or:
```
finger -s root
```

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