Newbe Needs Help.

Hi AntiOnline Group.
I am a 46 yr old guy learning new tricks to stay alive.
I was at H.P. in 1983 to 1989 and got my first taste of computers there but left to follow the family tradition of law enforcement. So 10 years later and many injuries later I am back to the only thing I can physically do, Computers.
I got my MCSE by cramming after work and hitting a great Boot Camp hidden in Northern Idaho called Nexus World Wide.
Great People.
I am back in Calif, Auburn its just east of Sacramento.
I also made the mistake of enrolling at ITT-Tech in Rancho Cordova.
All the negative news you hear about ITT is true. The place is a money machine for the corporate dogs and once you sign on the dotted line, your just another part of the machine.

And this is were I am now.
Mixed in with all the losers and has been instructors, they have a few (very few) brilliant instructors. And I am in my second quarter learning about computer viruses. And the tools used to break into other computers.

I am trying to get together a small list of the most common tools used today to Crack the windows O.S.

I have found many tools searching google but I know NOTHING about the subject yet… So I am cautious about downloading anything.

I am looking for help in locating 3 common tools that a newbe like me can understand and write a blurb on.

Please E-Mail me if you can help.

Also, anyone in my area feel free to say Hi…

Might want to clarify whether you are looking for tools regarding gaining remote or local access?

eitherway, when it comes to windows, just a little knowledge goes the farthest. the other day i gained local access to a windows computer that the owner thought was secure in about 5 minutes. even had the drive using ntfs and their accounts encrypted. no tools required.

its a little different remotely, but again. most insecure windows installations can be hacked/exploited with little more than what is shipped with Windows. file shares etc. you only get into the need for 3rd party tools when you encounter encryptions, wanna install a rootkit, etc. or wish to exploit a running service that doesnt normally accompany windows (eg ssh).

Even many footprinting techniques require little more than what windows ships with if you have the knowledge. everything from banner grabbing to icmp echo request responses can be used to fingerprint. of course nmap is great because i believe it studies the tcp/ip stack itself. i ran a few tests with nmap and a few other fingerprinting software, like LANGuard, and found that nmap is a lot harder to fool. i managed to make LANGuard for example think i was running Linux and my webserver was IIS 6.0 when in reality i was running Windows with Apache.

but ya, just a tad of knowledge is generally far more useful then tools.

i dont use many tools, but if ya still want a list im sure i could compile a short list of some i use more often.

Thank you for the quick reply.
Yes, I think I just need about 3 of the most used tools and were to find them.
I am putting together a little Power Point blurb about what tools are most common and how they are used. Two other guys are doing the rest of the story and we will group our data and make the presentation. Tyical school stuff.

Thank you for the help.

Dan

then i guess the top 3 i use off the top of my head are nmap, ethereal and lopht or jtr

Thank You.
I will research those and go from there.
In a few years, I should have a good grasp on this.

Greeting's

2 very helpfull senior member's told me following GOLDEN rules for making a mark in security industry :

LEARN TCP/IP
LEARN HOW THE OS WORKS
LEARN HOW *FEATURES* CAN BE EXPLOITED.


oh and you wanted 3 tools (i couldnt find any 3) but here is a list of 75 :

The list is old but is a great place to start off :

http://www.insecure.org/tools.html

Thats Great.
Thank You