Full Report
SensePost Training at Blackhat USA What is SensePost infrastructure training about and what does it give you as a novice pentester? What does it give you as a pentester looking to move into infrastructure hacking? Training at SensePost focuses on learning the Trade and not just the trick, thus our focus is on your testing methodology rather than simply showing you some cool tools. And what is this methodology you may ask, well it is one that aims to emulate real-world scenarios and push you into doing the attacks that are actively happening.
Analysis Summary
This summary extracts and organizes security recommendations based on the *methodology* described in the context of the SensePost infrastructure training, which emphasizes emulating real-world attacker behavior rather than simply running scanners.
# Best Practices: Emulating Real-World Attacker Methodology for Infrastructure Security
## Overview
These practices focus on developing an offensive-minded security testing methodology that mirrors the steps and techniques used by determined, real-world attackers, rather than relying solely on automated vulnerability scans. The goal is to interpret findings based on practical exploitability and the ability to achieve deeper network compromise and data exfiltration.
## Key Recommendations
### Immediate Actions
1. **Prioritize Social Engineering Assessment:** Immediately evaluate the organization's susceptibility to well-documented, brutal, and effective social engineering strategies, as attackers often use this as the initial ingress vector, bypassing technical controls.
2. **Enumerate Name Server Security:** Conduct immediate checks across all organizational name servers to determine if any are susceptible to zone transfer, which provides significant reconnaissance data.
3. **Identify "Low-Hanging Fruit" Access:** Actively hunt for easily exploitable entry points, such as unauthenticated access to internal services like NoSQL databases, X11, and VNC servers.
### Short-term Improvements (1-3 months)
1. **Implement Multi-Vector Infrastructure Enumeration:** Beyond standard scanning, actively query infrastructure components (like name servers) and passively enumerate hosts using tools that mimic initial attacker reconnaissance (e.g., techniques using Responder).
2. **Systematically Test Guessable Credentials:** Immediately begin checking common services (MSSQL, Tomcat, JBOSS) for the use of default or easily guessable administrative credentials to establish an initial foothold.
3. **Develop Credential Harvesting Playbooks:** Create repeatable processes for safely extracting credentials found in memory, configuration files, and registry hives on compromised systems for intelligence gathering.
### Long-term Strategy (3+ months)
1. **Mandate Lateral Movement Training:** Ensure security teams practice and master techniques for legitimate lateral movement using compromised credentials via standard protocols like PsExec (via Impacket or Metasploit) and WMI, rather than stopping at the first compromised host.
2. **Establish Post-Compromise Simulation:** Integrate testing scenarios that simulate gaining Domain Administrator privileges and accessing sensitive endpoints (workstations, servers) for activities like monitoring (webcam/microphone activation) and reconnaissance ahead of exfiltration.
3. **Focus Testing on Goal-Oriented Exploits:** Shift penetration testing metrics away from the sheer number of reported vulnerabilities to the demonstrable capability to achieve specific attacker goals (e.g., accessing specific sensitive user mailboxes or mapping administrative hierarchies).
## Implementation Guidance
### For Small Organizations
- **Focus on Fundamentals:** Concentrate resources on primary ingress vectors: mandatory multi-factor authentication for remote access and strong credential policies enforced across all accessible services (NoSQL, MSSQL, etc.).
- **Adopt Simplicity:** Prioritize ensuring perimeter defenses are not bypassed by simple social engineering leading to credential exposure.
### For Medium Organizations
- **Layered Reconnaissance Defense:** Implement controls to monitor outbound DNS traffic for unauthorized zone transfers.
- **Internal Segmentation:** Ensure that credentials harvested from one segment cannot easily facilitate unauthenticated access to other critical services (e.g., isolating administrative interfaces).
### For Large Enterprises
- **Advanced Credential Monitoring:** Deploy advanced EDR/XDR solutions capable of detecting memory scraping attempts or the unusual invocation of legitimate tools like PsExec or WMI by non-standard processes.
- **Continuous Infrastructure Mapping:** Maintain an up-to-date map of infrastructure components (including legacy/development assets like Tomcat/JBOSS instances) to ensure comprehensive scanning for unauthenticated access points during security assessments.
## Configuration Examples
*(Note: The article focuses on methodology, not specific configuration commands. The following is based on the attack methods mentioned for proactive defense):*
| Attacker Technique | Defensive Configuration Best Practice |
| :--- | :--- |
| Passive Host Enumeration (Responder) | Implement Network Access Control (NAC) to quarantine devices exhibiting suspicious low-level network broadcast activity. |
| Zone Transfer | Configure authoritative DNS servers explicitly to deny zone transfers unless requested by known secondary servers. |
| Unauthenticated NoSQL Access | Configure NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Couchbase) to require authentication by default, ideally protected behind layered network access controls. |
| PsExec/WMI Use | Restrict outbound SMB/RPC traffic between low-privilege workstations and high-value assets; use centralized management tools instead of direct admin connections. |
## Compliance Alignment
This methodology aligns strongly with standards emphasizing **real-world risk demonstration** and **operational security:**
* **NIST SP 800-115 (Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment):** Emphasizes testing methodology that emulates adversaries.
* **ISO/IEC 27001 (A.12.6.1 Identification of Information Security Vulnerabilities):** Requires regular testing that goes beyond automated scanning to assess the practical impact of vulnerabilities.
* **CIS Critical Security Controls (Control 18: Application Software Security):** Addresses securing application components and services (like X11, Tomcat) often left exposed.
## Common Pitfalls to Avoid
1. **Over-reliance on Scanner Scores:** Do not accept vulnerability reports solely based on high scanner scores; focus efforts on vulnerabilities that enable deeper compromise (e.g., credential harvesting or lateral movement).
2. **Ignoring Non-Technical Vectors:** Failing to adequately test and train against social engineering, as this remains a highly effective and "rewarding" initial attack vector.
3. **Stopping at Initial Foothold:** Treating compromise of a single host as the end of the assessment; successful assessments must demonstrate the ability to move laterally and escalate privileges to administrative levels.
4. **Focusing Only on Infrastructure Versioning:** Spending too much time noting firewall versions when attackers may find it easier to target human elements (secretaries) for initial entry.
## Resources
* **Defanged Tool Mentions for Defensive Review:** Responder, Impacket toolkit, Metasploit framework.
* **Methodology Framework:** Adopt a methodology rooted in recreating published, real-world compromises (e.g., drawing parallels to detailed breach disclosures).