Notes intro

1. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE), this term is given to a publicly

disclosed vulnerability

2. Secure Shell (SSH) refers to a cryptographic network protocol used in secure

communication between devices. SSH encrypts data using cryptographic algorithms,
such as Advanced Encryption System (AES) and is often used when logging in remotely
to a computer or server.

3. CLI - Command Line Interface

4. Linux is a command line operating system based on unix. There are multiple
operating systems that are based on Linux.

5. GUI - The graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that
allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio
indicators such as primary notation, instead of text-based UIs, typed command
labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep
learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs),which require commands to be typed
on a computer keyboard.

6. "Cat" is short for concatenating & is a fantastic way for us to output the
contents of files (not just text files!).

Command Full Name Purpose

touch touch Create file
mkdir make directory Create a folder
cp copy Copy a file or folder
mv move Move a file or folder
rm remove Remove a file or folder
file file Determine the type of a file
7. su - "switch user"

8. -l - "--login"

9. /etc

This root directory is one of the most important root directories on your system.
The etc folder (short for etcetera) is a commonplace location to store system files
that are used by your operating system.

10. /var

The "/var" directory, with "var" being short for variable data, is one of the main
root folders found on a Linux install. This folder stores data that is frequently
accessed or written by services or applications running on the system. For example,
log files from running services and applications are written here (/var/log), or
other data that is not necessarily associated with a specific user (i.e., databases
and the like).
11. /root

Unlike the /home directory, the /root folder is actually the home for the "root"
system user. There isn't anything more to this folder other than just understanding
that this is the home directory for the "root" user. But, it is worth a mention as
the logical presumption is that this user would have their data in a directory such
as "/home/root" by default.

12. /tmp

This is a unique root directory found on a Linux install. Short for "temporary",
the /tmp directory is volatile and is used to store data that is only needed to be
accessed once or twice. Similar to the memory on your computer, once the computer
is restarted, the contents of this folder are cleared out.

What's useful for us in pentesting is that any user can write to this folder by
default. Meaning once we have access to a machine, it serves as a good place to
store things like our enumeration scripts.

13. Random-access memory (RAM; /ræm/) is a form of electronic computer memory that
can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working data and
machine code.

14. Nano

It is easy to get started with Nano! To create or edit a file using nano, we simply
use nano filename -- replacing "filename" with the name of the file you wish to
edit.

15. In the context of operating systems, PID stands for Process ID. It is a unique
identifier assigned to each running process in a system. PIDs are usually assigned
in sequential order as processes are created, but can be recycled once a process
has completed and terminated.

16. SIGTERM - Kill the process, but allow it to do some cleanup tasks beforehand
SIGKILL - Kill the process - doesn't do any cleanup after the fact
SIGSTOP - Stop/suspend a process

17. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection-oriented protocol

requiring a TCP three-way-handshake to establish a connection. TCP provides
reliable data transfer, flow control and congestion control. Higher-level protocols
such as HTTP, POP3, IMAP and SMTP use TCP

18. In networking, MAC usually stands for Media Access Control. A MAC address is a
hardware address set by the manufacturer in network interface cards (NIC). In
identity management and access control, MAC stands for Mandatory Access Control. An
operating system using MAC would prioritise security, even if this means limiting
users’ abilities.
19. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a connectionless protocol; UDP does not require
a connection to be established. UDP is suitable for protocols that rely on fast
queries, such as DNS, and for protocols that prioritise real-time communications,
such as audio/video conferencing and broadcast.

20. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol designed to help the efficient
transfer of files between different and even non-compatible systems. It supports
two modes for file transfer: binary and ASCII (text).

21. Domain Name System (DNS) is the protocol responsible for resolving hostnames,
such as tryhackme.com, to their respective IP addresses.

22. Time to live (TTL) refers to the amount of time or “hops” that a packet is set
to exist inside a network before being discarded by a router. TTL is also used in
other contexts including CDN caching and DNS caching.

23. Top-Level Domain (TLD) servers are split up into extensions. So, for example,
if you were searching for tryhackme.com your request would be redirected to a TLD
server that handled .com domains. If you were searching for bbc.co.uk your request
would be redirected to a TLD server that handles .co.uk domains. As with root name
servers, TLD servers keep track of the next level down: Authoritative name servers.
When a TLD server receives your request for information, the server passes it down
to an appropriate Authoritative name server.