How To Protect Your Webserver From Getting Hacked?

It has been a while since I haven't posted on RHA, that's because I was extremely busy with my university stuff and had absolutely no time for blogging, However today I finally managed to get some time for posting on RHA, In my previous article related to webserver security section I told you some ways which hackers can use to compromise your webserver, However in this article I will tell you how to protect your webserver from getting hacked or being compromised.

Well there are variety of methods you can implement to protect your webserver, but  I will not be covering all of those method because it will take alot of time explaining the concepts.

WebApplication Security

Most of the webservers get compromised due to the vulnerability in their webapplication, some of the most common existing webapplication vulnerabilities are SQL Injection, Cross site scripting, Local file inclusion etc, These vulnerabilities usually due to improper or poor coding of web applications.

How do I find if these types of vulnerabilities really exist in my webapplications?

Well unless you are a penetration tester or have proper information related to these types of vulnerabilities, it is really difficult for you to find these types of vulnerabilities, A better option is to use a vulnerability scanner like Nessus or Acunetix.

Read More About finding a vulnerability in your website - How To Find A Vulnerable Website?

SSL(Secure Socket Layer)

SSL is not really necessary until you are running an ecommerce website or a website where you want the communication to be secure, If you are wondering what is SSL(Secure Socket Layer), Kindly read my article on What is SSL(Secure Socket Layer)

Password Cracking Attacks

As I told you in my previous article that some of the popular password cracking methods include:

1. Brute Force Attacks

2. Dictionary Attacks

3. Rainbow Tables

Here is a simple tip on how you can avoid these types of attacks - Keep Strong passwords, Now what do I mean by a strong password, read my post on How to create a strong password

Use Of Firewalls

Firewalls are usually designed from stopping attackers from evading a website, A firewall is basically a gateway used to allow or deny access, but are firewalls enough to protect your webserver?
The answer is "no", The administrator need to open ports like 80, 21, 25 etc to allow the firewall to give the users access to services like website, email, ftp etc, which leaves these services vulnerable to attackers.

What if some one sends a virus attached with an email through a mail server behind a firewall, The firewall will not be able to block these types of attacks, Hopefully I will explain this stuff related to firewall security in my upcoming articles.


Update Your Webserver Regularly

Vulnerabilities are created and pathed every day, so you need to make sure that you update your webserver and install latest patches and fixes.

Intrusion Detection System

An intrusion detection system (IDS) is used to monitor the entire network, it detects intruders; that is, unexpected, unwanted or unauthorized people or programs on network, If you want to know more about Intrusion detection system kindly read the following post, It will give you a better understanding of IDS

• An Overview Of Intrusion Detection System

Certainly these methods aren't enough too for a total security, however I will continue the series of articles related to webserver security, Moreover I have also finished writing my newset book "An Introduction To Keyloggers, RATS And Malware" which I will be releasing very soon and the best part is that it will be free for all.

What methods do you use to secure your webserver?

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Codegate 2011 Quals - Binary 300

The question is:

Find a malicious ID!!

The binary is a Browser Helper Object (BHO) DLL with a static XOR key "securecodegate", which is used to decrypt few arrays with statically assigned characters to each index. The "sub_1000233E" function is called with the array and a XOR key as input to perform the decryption. This occurs three times within a handler function "sub_1000270A".

The first two calls are irrelevant as they result in decryption of "google_ads_frame" (key "secure") and "client" (key "code"). However, the third call produces the answer string using the "gate" key.

This was identified by looking for various interesting strings in the binary and locating their use references. The XOR decryption routine is fairly simple and can be performed via a IDC script.

We used a lazy/simple option. Register the DLL ("regsvr32 b300.dll"). Launch Internet Explorer, attach a debugger, locate the handler function ("sub_1000270A"). Modify EIP to jump to the buffer initialization sequence, which is right before the decryption function call (e.g. @ 0x10002C96 for the "gate" key).

The answer is:

ca-pub-0123456789012345

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Codegate 2011 Quals - Binary 200

The question is:

Reverse Me!!

The binary is a console based PE file. Running the file produces no output due to a certain routine terminating the process before the "main()" function starts. Looking around the code the "sub_401130" function stands out due to initialization of a local array with various bytes. At the end of this function a decryption routine is called ("sub_401070") with the array as input. The decryption loop performs an XOR operation using the string's length as the key.

To obtain the answer a breakpoint was placed @ 0x00401494, which calls the "ExitProcess()" library function prior to "main()". Next, modify EIP to point to the start of the array initialization routine and execute until the decryption function is called. Let it do its XOR job and look at a local buffer once complete to get the answer string.

The answer is:

http://forensic-proof.com/archives/552

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Codegate 2011 Quals - Forensics 300

The question is:

we are investigating the military secret's leaking. we found traffic with leaking secrets while monitoring the network. Security team was sent to investigate, immediately. But, there was no one present. It was found by forensics team that all the leaked secrets were completely deleted by wiping tool. And the team has found a leaked trace using potable device. Before long, the suspect was detained. But he denies allegations.

Now, the investigation is focused on potable device. The given files are acquired registry files from system. The estimated time of the incident is Mon, 21 February 2011 15:24:28(KST). Find a trace of portable device used for the incident.

The Key : "Vendor name" + "volume name" + "serial number" (please write in capitals)

Enumerate a timeline of USB activity from the backup system hive

...
Disk&Ven_Corsair&Prod_UFD&Rev_0.00,Thu Feb 17 04:41:02 2011,ddf08fb7a86075&0,Thu Feb 17 04:41:03 2011,Corsair UFD USB Device,
Disk&Ven_FM&Prod_Memorette_Swing&Rev_1.00,Thu Feb 17 06:38:21 2011,2008090256000000000000BE&0,Thu Feb 17 06:38:22 2011,FM Memorette Swing USB Device,
...

The enumeration shows all of the USB devices ever connected to the system. The registry last modified times are written the first time the device is connected, but are not updated when a device is subsequently connected.

Running a timeline on the registry (via "regripper"), we see that only one USB device is connected on Feb 21:

Mon Feb 21 06:24:21 2011Z HKLM\ControlSet001\Enum\WpdBusEnumRoot\UMB\2&37c186b&0&STORAGE#VOLUME#_??_USBSTOR#DISK&VEN_CORSAIR&PROD_UFD&REV_0.00#DDF08FB7A86075&0#\Properties\{80d81ea6-7473-4b0c-8216-efc11a2c4c8b}

From there, we know that the suspect device vendor is "CORSAIR" and the serial number of the device is "DDF08FB7A86075". Inspection of this registry path reveals that the default name of the device has been changed. The registry key "FriendlyName" has a value of "PR0N33R", which is the displayed volume name when the device is connected.

The answer is:

CORSAIRPR0N33RDDF08FB7A86075

Thanks to our team member tina for the solution.

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