Here is a quick guide to show you how to add two-factor auth login protection to WordPress with YubiCo hardware YubiKeys and or 2FA authenticator app
Advertisement:
SSH
Setting up the Debian Kali Linux distro to perform penetration testing of your systems
This post will show you how to setup the Kali Linux distro to perform penetration testing of your systems
Advertisement:
I have a number of guides on moving hasting away form CPanel, Setting up VM’s on AWS, Vultr or Digital Ocean along with installing and managing WordPress from the command line. Securing your systems is very important (don’t stop) and keep learning (securing ubuntu in the cloud, securing checklist, run a Lynis system audit etc)
snip from: https://www.kali.org/about-us/
“Kali Linux is an open source project that is maintained and funded by Offensive Security, a provider of world-class information security training and penetration testing services. In addition to Kali Linux, Offensive Security also maintains the Exploit Database and the free online course, Metasploit Unleashed.”
Download Kali
I downloaded the torrent version (as the HTTP version kept stopping (even on 50/20 NBN).
After the download finished I checked the SHA sum to verify it’a integrity
1 2 3 | cd /Users/username/Downloads/kali-linux-2018.1-amd64 shasum -a 256 ./kali-linux-2018.1-amd64.iso ed88466834ceeba65f426235ec191fb3580f71d50364ac5131daec1bf976b317 ./kali-linux-2018.1-amd64.iso |
A least it matched the known (or hacked) hash here.
Installing Parallels in a VM on OSX
I use Parallels 11 on OSX to set up a VM os Demina Kali, you can use VirtualBox, VMWare etc.
Hardware: 2x CPU, 2048MB Ram, 32MB Graphics, 64GB Disk.
I selected Graphical Install (English, Australia, American English, host: kali, network: hyrule, New South Wales, Partition: Guided – entire disk, Default, Default, Default, Continue, Yes, Network Mirror: Yes, No Proxy, Installed GRUB bootloader on VM HD.
Post Install
Install Parallel Tools
Official Guide: https://kb.parallels.com/en/123968
I opened the VM then selected the Actions then Install Parallels Tools, this mounted /media/cdrom/, I copied all contents to /temp/
As recommended by the Parallels instal bash script I updated headers.
1 | apt install linux-headers-4.14.0-kali1-amd64 |
Then the following from https://kb.parallels.com/en/123968
1 2 3 4 5 | apt-get clean apt-get update apt-get upgrade -y apt-get dist-upgrade -y apt-get install dkms kpartx printer-driver-postscript-hp |
Parallels will not install, I think I need to upgrade to parallel 12 or 12 as the printer driver detection is not detecting (even though it is installed).
Installing Google Chrome
I used the video below
I have to run chrome with
1 | /usr/bin/gogole-chrome-stable %U --no-sandbox --user-data=dir & |
It works.
Running your first remote vulnerability scan in Kali
I found this video useful in helping me scan and check my systems for exploits
Simple exploit search in Armitage (metasploit)
A quick scan of my server revealed three ports open and (22, 80 and 443). Port 80 redirects to 443 and port 22 is firewalled. I have WordPress and exploits I rued failed to work thanks to patching (always stay ahead of patching and updating of software and the OS.
Without knowing what I was doing I was able to check my WordPress against known exploits. 
If you open the Check Exploits menu at the end of the Attacks menu you can do a bulk exploit check.
WP Scan
Kali also comes with a WordPress scanner
1 | wpscan --url https://fearby.com |
This will try and output everything from your web server and WordPress plugins.
/xmlrpc.php was found and I was advised to deny access to that file in NGINX. xmlrpc.php is ok but can be used in denial of service attacks.
1 2 3 4 5 | location = /xmlrpc.php { deny all; access_log off; log_not_found off; } |
I had a hit for a vulnerability in a Youtube Embed plugin but I had a patched version.
TIP: Check your WordPress often.
More to come (Draft Post).
- OWASP scanner
- WPSCAN
- Ethical Hacker modules
- Cybrary training
- Sent tips to @FearbySoftware
Tips
Don’t have unwanted ports open, securely installed software, Use unattended security updates in Ubuntu, update WordPress frequently and limit plugins and also consider running more verbose audit tools like Lynis.
More Reading
Read my OWASP Zap guide on application testing and Cloudflare guide.
I hope this guide helps someone.
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
v1.2 added More Reading links.
v1.1 Added bulk exploit check.
v1.0 Initial post
Connect to a remote server with ssh keys generated on OSX
Below is the way I connect to a remote server via SSH keys generated on OSX.
Advertisement:
Setting up a server
When you set up an Ubuntu server on Vultr (read my guide on setting up a Vultr server for as low as $2.5 a month) or Digital Ocean (use this link to get two months free when you setup an Ubuntu server on digital ocean) you can specify an SSH key to use for remote connections during the server create stage (old guide here).
How to create an SSH key on OSX to use to connect to a remote server
Run the following command (“sudo ssh-keygen -t rsa“) to generate an ssh key paid in “~/.ssh/” on OSX.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 | cd ~/.ssh/ sudo ssh-keygen -t rsa Generating public/private rsa key pair. Enter file in which to save the key (/var/root/.ssh/id_rsa): test.rsa Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Enter same passphrase again: Your identification has been saved in test.rsa. Your public key has been saved in test.rsa.pub. The key fingerprint is: SHA256:sJtlhWremoved2IUp8 user@192.168.0.1 The key's randomart image is (edited): +---[RSA 2048]----+ | . +o=+. | | . o + =.o.. | | . . + o *o+ . | | . E B +.= | | o S = +. | | O o..+ o | | * . .o * . | | o ..* | | ..+.. | +----[SHA256]-----+ |
TIP: It is a good idea to also generate a passphrase to use with the key (double protection). You will be prompted to enter this password to use the RSA key.
You can now see the generated keys in ~/.ssh/
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | ls test* -al total 224 drwxr-xr-x+ 29 username staff 928 26 Nov 17:07 . drwxr-xr-x@ 89 username staff 2848 25 Nov 19:03 .. ... -rw------- 1 username staff 1766 26 Nov 17:07 test.rsa -rw-r--r-- 1 username staff 412 26 Nov 17:07 test.rsa.pub ... |
You can view the contents of the public file (you can use this when generating Digital Ocean, Vultr, AWS or Azure or other cloud servers).
fyi: Replace 123.123.123.123 with your remote serves ip.
1 2 | sudo cat /~.ssh/test.rsa.pub ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC...removed...1RL5hCG0lUn 123.123.123.123 |
How to connect to a server (the old way).
As long as your host added the desired public ssh key file contents to the server (adding the public ssh key contents to “~/.ssh/authorized_keys” you will be able to connect to the server.
Run the following command on OSX command line to connect to the server via SSH.
1 | sudo ssh -i ~/.ssh/test.rsa remoteuser@123.123.123.123 |
You should see..
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | Enter passphrase for key '/Users/username/.ssh/test.rsa': > PASSPHRASECREATEDEARLIER Welcome to Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.4.0-101-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage Get cloud support with Ubuntu Advantage Cloud Guest: http://www.ubuntu.com/business/services/cloud 0 packages can be updated. 0 updates are security updates. Last login: Sun Nov 26 08:47:20 2017 from 123.123.123.123 remoteuser@yourserver:~# ls -al total 32 drwx------ 5 remoteuser remoteuser 4096 Nov 25 12:07 . drwxr-xr-x 24 remoteuser remoteuser 4096 Nov 25 12:15 .. -rw------- 1 remoteuser remoteuser 1813 Nov 26 08:57 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 remoteuser remoteuser 3106 Oct 22 2015 .bashrc ... |
Congratulations, you should now be able to connect to your server via SSH.
Securing your ubuntu Server
Read my guides here, here and here.
Don’t forget to add a firewall and set up an SSL certificate.
How to connect to a server (faster way).
todo: ~/.ssh/config method
Now we can connect to your remote server with the shorter method.
todo: ~/.ssh/config method
Donate and make this blog better
Ask a question or recommend an article
Revision History
v1.0 Initial Post
etc