Premise

In this tutorial, I explained how to create automated listeners for your Metasploit payloads created with Msfvenom. I laid down how to automate the exploitation for Android, iPhone, macOS, Windows, and Linux as well. You can use the proposed approach if you are testing multiple machines with multiple payloads and exploits.

Skills Learned

• Penetration Testing with Metasploit

What is the Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET)?

First off, what is SET? It’s a fantastic open-source framework designed specifically for social engineering attacks. I use it to simulate various attacks, like phishing, to test an organization’s security awareness.

To get started, I just open up my terminal in Kali Linux and type setoolkit. This launches the main menu, which is packed with different attack options.

Setting Up the Phishing Attack

For this demonstration, I’m going to simulate a phishing attack. My goal is to create a fake login page that looks exactly like the real thing, trick a user into entering their credentials, and capture them.

Here’s how I set it up:

1. Select the Attack: From the main menu, I choose “Social-Engineering Attacks” and then “Website Attack Vectors.”
2. Choose the Method: Next, I select the “Credential Harvester Attack” method. This is the one that will clone a website and capture any login attempts.
3. Clone the Website: I then choose the “Site Cloner” option. SET asks me for the IP address where it should send the captured credentials (which is my own Kali machine’s IP) and the URL of the website I want to clone. For this demo, I’m using Facebook.

And just like that, SET does its magic! It clones the Facebook login page and starts a web server on my machine to host the fake page.

Executing the Attack

Now that my fake login page is up and running, I need to get a victim to visit it. In a real-world scenario, I would use various social engineering tricks to make my link look legitimate, like sending a convincing email or using a URL shortener.

For this demo, I’m just going to open the link on a separate Windows machine to simulate the victim. When the “victim” visits my IP address, they see a perfect replica of the Facebook login page. They enter their username and password, and as soon as they hit “Login,” two things happen:

1. They are immediately redirected to the real Facebook page, so they probably won’t even realize anything is wrong.
2. Back on my Kali machine, I can see that SET has captured their username and password in plain text!

The Aftermath and Defense

Once I have the credentials, the possibilities are endless. I could use them to access the victim’s account, gather more information for further attacks, or even try to use the same password on other services.

So, how do you protect yourself from these kinds of attacks? Here are my top tips:

• Be Skeptical: Always be wary of unsolicited emails or messages, especially if they ask you to click on a link or provide personal information.
• Check the URL: Before you enter your credentials on any website, always double-check the URL in the address bar. Make sure it’s the real deal and not a cleverly disguised fake.
• Use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): 2FA is your best friend! Even if a hacker manages to steal your password, they won’t be able to get into your account without the second factor (like a code from your phone).
• Keep Your Systems Updated: Make sure your browser and operating system are always up to date with the latest security patches.

Social engineering is a powerful threat, but by staying vigilant and following these simple steps, you can significantly reduce your risk of becoming a victim. Stay safe out there!

Video Walk-through