Knoppix STD

[sb_]

I strongly recommend using Whoppix. It comes with a vast exploit database and lots of handy tools. Knoppix-std is pretty neat one too. I don't have a great opinion of hack9.

Whoppix is gross... Anyway, go with KSTD. As stated though, take your time. You don't have to learn everything at once so you should take the time to learn everything well over a period of time as opposed to cramming it all in. The other thing to remember is that you shouldn't be learning security by starting with "hacking" and all that. Start with programming and protocols, then work your way up. Security and hacking are a coallition of basically all knowledge dealing with computing (most on the software end, but some on the hardware end as well) being put to use. KSTD would be a good place for you to start with learning basic *nix commands because it is live boot (no install required... as I hope/think you know). While it has a UI interface try doing things as much as you can through xterm and that should help improve your knowledge of the basic commands and how *nix responds to certain commands, what is spit out for what errors, etc. Also, scripting is a very useful tool for hackers, and the network admin so put time into that as well.

[PacketThirst]

I don't have the same views as you, sb. Whoppix and Knoppic-STD has just about the same tools and features.You can learn some basic stuffs as well as perform some pentesting.

[pshannon]

I downloaded STD Knoppix and gave it a try today.The fluxbox interface was different than what I am used to, but It was the perfect choice in regards to the purpose.I won't use it too often, but it will become more useful as I develop my abilities.I am certainly pleased that I found it.

In the mean time,I've found a distro of knoppix called slax.It is essentially slackware live on cd.I is the most pleasant distro I have discovered to date,and I am now looking into slackware.Just for the record I have redhat 8.0 and Mandriva installed on my hard drive at the moment,and I now own knoppix,slax and STD knoppix.My main production machine is,however, a mac os 10.4.2 powerbook.

If you haven't tried slax yet,please do, it is efficient,user friendly and highly customizable:

http://slax.linux-live.org/download.php

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions,You've all been very helpful.

[Trevoke]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05...e_cd_paradise/

Read this article, download the various liveCDs, and knock yourself out.

[Ghost_25inf]

What about Kanotixs? I found that it has more support for different hardware. It also has a tool for NTFS. Its great if you need to delete viruses that wouldn't delete in Windows.

[badagentx]

Knoppix STD is cool but anyone ever tried phack

[Striek]

Knoppix STD is a very good choice for beginners for three reasons: it has every linux-based security tool known to exist, requires no commitment, and is impossible to destroy the OS with (just don't touch the hard drives yet...)

It is a good choice for experts for exactly the same reasons. Every tool they need is instantly available at thier fingertips.

Yes, it can be overwhelming if you take in too much at once. Focus on one tool at a time and learn it before moving on to the next one. I use STD to test out new tools before I commit to learning them in more detail.

My only complaint about Knoppix STD is that it seems to be perpetually out of date, usually 6 months or so behind the current Knoppix distribution. Interoperability with newer systems, applications, and protocols can become cumbersome with it at times, and the exploit database is always out of date, which is a problem mainly because you cannot update that database to the operating system directly.

All in all it would be a good distribution to begin learning from. Just be sure the first thing you learn is how not to destroy your hard drive data.

[phishphreek]

Originally posted here by PacketThirst
I strongly recommend using Whoppix. It comes with a vast exploit database and lots of handy tools. Knoppix-std is a pretty neat one too. I don't have a great opinion about hack9.

I second the whoppix. It is one of the most active "security distros" that I know of. They have migrated from knoppix though... they are now using slax... so, the whoppix distro has been renamed to whax. I was VERY impressed with their first stable release and they are already working on another. You can even add/remove the modules that you want for a very customized live cd. Say... they don't have a driver for your wifi card... well, create a module for it and add it to your whax project. There is detailed info on how to do this on their website.

http://www.iwhax.net/modules/news/

Whoppix is gross...

Just curious as to why you say this? It is certainly updated more then knoppix-std.

I also really like auditor... but whax has certainly done what I needed it to do.

Well... I just read it... whax and auditor are merging into one project.
If that isn't GREAT news... then I don't know what is.

Watch this new project... you're gonna like it.

[Sky_Angus]

Well, those LiveCDs distro is just a tool to perform to reaching your objective. So don't bother about which is the best to used & so on.... for me, as long as the tool get the work done, that is the best tool.

Yes, for a newcomer, u may explore more different various of distro(that's what all we done, when 1st touch with linux), but dont waste too much of your time by trying different & differents distro, u will never finish trying on that way(as distro version & features update so frequent).

So my recomment is, test some, choose 1 or 2, play deep on it. For me, i rather master on a particular tool than keep trying & testing on distros~~ that will never get me learn anything but a tester~!

After playing indept or master it, you can dig yourself more deeper by Remaster your own custom make LiveCD, or even build it from Scratch~

Well, that's just my way of learning.... ignore it if you feel disagree. Cheers~

[warriorfan808]

Does anyone have any safe links to download copies of Knoppix and Knoppix STD? Am I better off ordering it? I was given a copy of knoppix from my Unix TCP/IP instructor a couple of years ago, but a friend borrowed it and you all know how that goes some times. We learned so much by simply going over packets from ethereal.