Offline Password Cracking is an attempt to recover one or more passwords from a password storage file that has been recovered from a target system. Typically, this would be the Security Account Manager (SAM) file on Windows, or the /etc/shadow file on Linux. In most cases, Offline Password Cracking will require that an attacker has already attained administrator / root level privileges on the system to get to the storage mechanism.
The most significant difference with the new exam format is that it is proctored. This means that you are being watched over your webcam for the entire period of the session. Proctoring a five-day exam is impractical, so the exam was split into three six-hour sessions. Each six-hour session consists of three individual “challenges”. Each challenge involves recovering the contents of a secret file, but some challenges will require hacking more than one machine. You enter the contents of the file into a web page and submit it when you are done with the session. You must complete at least one challenge per session, and you must complete at least five out of the nine sessions to pass the exam.
The OSCP certification is great for individuals with several years of experience in system administration, networking, or software development, who wish to learn “elite hacking skills.” The LPT (Master) is great for those who want to pursue penetration testing as a career and who are looking for a certification that demonstrates that they can complete a realistic penetration test simulation on their own.
Online password cracking has advantages and disadvantages. It is effective if executed properly. There are numerous defenses to prevent attackers from cracking your passwords.
Black Box Penetration Testing tests a target with little to no prior knowledge about the target environment. Despite the best efforts of vulnerability scanning tools, they often miss critical vulnerabilities and major issues. These missed vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers to gain full control of your environment. A Black Box Penetration Test identifies additional vulnerabilities and security issues. If minimizing cybersecurity risk is a goal, both a vulnerability scan and a Black Box Penetration Test are recommended.
ECSA Certification review by Daniel Sewell, Sr. Penetration Tester for Alpine Security. The EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) certification consists of both a hands-on practical penetration test and a multiple choice exam.
Armitage (Metasploit GUI) makes hacking easy. All you need is a vulnerable target and a working exploit in Metasploit. The “Hail Mary” tries all potential exploits against a target, requiring you to know next to nothing about the vulnerabilities or exploits.