Nessus update for Ubuntu

Decided to incorporate Nessus update as part of my Ubuntu update script.

#!/bin/sh
#Update Ubuntu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get autoremove
#Update Nessus
sudo /etc/init.d/nessusd stop
sudo /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update --all
sudo /etc/init.d/nessusd start

Script to dump contents of "Robots.txt"

Recently picked up "Python" and decided to try my hand at a "n00b" script to dump the contents of "Robots.txt" file residing on a webserver.

# Ask for Protocol and store it in protocol
protocol = input('Enter HTTP or HTTPS: ')

# Ask for URL or IP and store it in domain
domain = input('Enter URL or IP: ')

robots = "/robots.txt"

from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
print('Checking "Robots.txt" for:')
print(domain)
print()
from urllib.error import URLError, HTTPError
req = Request(protocol+"://"+domain+robots)
try:
    response = urlopen(req)
except HTTPError as e:
    print('The server couldn\'t fulfill the request.')
    print('Error code: ', e.code)
except URLError as e:
    print('We failed to reach the server.')
    print('Reason: ', e.reason)
else:
    print('Contents of "Robots.txt" is as follows.')
    print()
with urlopen((protocol+"://"+domain+robots)) as stream:
    print(stream.read().decode("utf-8"))

#Written by commandrine.
#Last updated on 22 Jun 2017.

Windows Nessus batch job

Wrote a simple Nessus batch job to get the updates.

cd \
cd "Program Files"/Tenable/Nessus/
net stop "Tenable Nessus"
nessuscli update --all
net start "Tenable Nessus"

#Written by commandrine.
#Last updated on 15 Feb 2017.

sslyze batch

I have always been about efficiency and decided to script my "sslyze" scans. Simple batch file below.

@echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

set today=!date:/=-!
set now=!time::=-!

@echo SSLYZE scanning in progress... please be patient...
@echo off
cd \sslyze1-0-0
sslyze.exe --regular --targets_in=targets.txt > sslyze-!today!_!now!.txt

start "" "sslyze-!today!_!now!.txt"

#Please edit "targets.txt" in SSLYZE folder.
#Results will be stored in SSLYZE folder.
#Written by commandrine.
#Last updated on 15 Feb 2017.

Remember to create a file "targets.txt" in your sslyze folder and populate it with the hostnames/IPs you want to test.

sslyze

There are automated ways of checking webservers that support HTTPS if they are configured securely.
sslyze is a personal favourite of mine. They initially only supported Unix/Linux systems but have now ported it over to Windows as well.

Below is a sample of the command to run to start testing.

./sslyze.py --regular www.xyz.com:443

Bluetooth

For some strange reason, Bluetooth is always persistently enabled on Ubuntu when you boot up even if you had turned it off in a previous session.

Easy solution is to add the highlighted line to the /etc/rc.local file.

Browser security updated

It has been awhile since I have updated this "Blog" and decided to start by refreshing my list of recommended "Firefox" security addons.

v5.0

I updated the "ubuntuprivacy" script to kill "Firefox" before proceeding to clear your browser history.

#!/bin/sh
echo "\033[0;34mProceeding to clean your system to ensure your privacy.\033[0m"
echo
echo "\033[0;31mWiping Firefox history and cache.\033[0m"
sudo killall firefox
#sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/*.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/addons.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/chromeappsstore.sqlite
#sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/content-prefs.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/cookies.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/downloads.sqlite
#sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/extensions.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/formhistory.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/permissions.sqlite
#sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/places.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/search.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/urlclassifier3.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/webappsstore.sqlite
sudo srm -rllv .mozilla/firefox/*.default/Cache/*
echo "\033[0;32mFirefox history and cache wiped.\033[0m"
echo "\033[0;31mWiping Trash.\033[0m"
sudo srm -rllv .local/share/Trash/
echo "\033[0;32mTrash wiped.\033[0m"
echo "\033[0;31mWiping Applications history and cache.\033[0m"
sudo srm -rllv .recently-used
sudo srm -rllv .recently-used.xbel
sudo srm -rllv .thumbnails
sudo srm -rllv .macromedia/Flash_Player/#SharedObjects/*
#sudo srm -rllv .openoffice.org/*/user/temp
#sudo srm -rllv .openoffice.org/*/user/backup
sudo srm -rllv .libreoffice/*/user/temp/*
sudo srm -rllv .libreoffice/*/user/backup/*
sudo srm -rllv .purple/logs/*/*
sudo srm -rllv .xsession-errors
sudo srm -rllv .gimp-*/tmp
echo "\033[0;32mApplications history wiped.\033[0m"

#"ubuntuprivacy" written by commandrine.
#Please send comments and queries to commandrine[at]gmail[dot]com.
#Version 5.0 dated 31st March 2013.
#Pre-requisite is having "secure-delete" installed. Install it using "sudo apt-get install secure-delete".
#Save this script to your home folder. Run "sudo chmod +x ubuntuprivacy.sh" to make it executable.

Browser security

I was asked by a friend to recommend a list of tools to protect his browser and secure his surfing experience.
A picture speaks a thousand words.

Insecure passwords

Was in the middle of a "Penetration Testing" exercise and came across an application that sends the users' credentials in cleartext. I was surprised as I rarely encounter this scenario.
This got me thinking if popular apps such as "Facebook" and "Gmail" send our credentials in cleartext too? Fired up "Paros" and the rest they say is history.

"SecureBrowsing"

My latest column explores the "Firefox" addon called "SecureBrowsing". Here is the excerpt.
"The Internet is a dangerous place to venture because it is rife with websites hosting malware and malicious code deployed o compromise your systems. How do you thwart hackers from fulfilling their insidious objectives?"