With this and upcoming posts, I am going to add notes explaining the material and content on TryHackMe and I will be adding answers to the questions per task. I will be starting with the Pre-Security Pathway before moving on to the Complete Beginner Pathway and so on. I hope readers find this useful!
To view this room: https://tryhackme.com/room/whatisnetworking
To view the Gitbook for this, view it here.
Topics:
- What is the Internet?
- Identifying Devices on a Network
- Ping
- Answers
What is the Internet?
The first iteration of the Internet was within the ARPANET project in the late 1960s. This project was funded by the United States Defence Department and was the first documented network in action. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that the Internet was invented by Tim Berners-Lee by the creation of the WWW. It wasn’t until this point that the Internet started to be used as a repository for storing and sharing information.
Identifying Devices on a Network
There are two types of networks, public and private networks and two means of identification, an IP (Internet Protocol) address and a MAC (Media Access Control) address.
IP Addresses
An IP address (or Internet Protocol) address can be used as a way of identifying a host on a network for a period of time, where that IP address can then be associated with another device without the IP address changing.
An IP address is a set of numbers that are divided into four octets. IP addresses can change from device to device but cannot be active simultaneously more than once within the same network.
IP Addresses follow a set of standards known as protocols. These protocols are the backbone of networking and force many devices to communicate in the same language. Devices can be on both a private and public network. Depending on where they are will determine what type of IP address they have: a public or private IP address.
A public address is used to identify the device on the Internet, whereas a private address is used to identify a device amongst other devices. Public IP addresses are given by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) at a monthly fee
There are two types of IP addresses, IPv4 and IPv6.
MAC Addresses
Devices on a network will all have a physical network interface, which is a microchip board found on the device’s motherboard. This network interface is assigned a unique address at the factory it was built at, called a MAC address.
The MAC address is a twelve-character hexadecimal number. The first six characters represent the company that made the network interface, and the last six digits is a unique number.
MAC addresses can be faked or ‘spoofed’. This spoofing occurs when a networked device pretends to identify as another using its MAC address. When this occurs, it can often break poorly implemented security designs that assume that devices talking on a network are trustworthy.
Example: A firewall is configured to allow any communication going to and from the MAC address of the administrator. If a device were to pretend or “spoof” this MAC address, the firewall would now think that it is receiving communication from the administrator when it isn’t.
Ping
Ping uses ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packets to determine the performance of a connection between devices, for example, if the connection exists or is reliable.
ping -c 4 192.168.1.254Answers
Task 1
What is the key term for devices that are connected together?
Network
Task 2
Who invented the World Wide Web?
Tim Berners-Lee
Task 3
What does the term “IP” stand for?
Internet ProtocolWhat is each section of an IP address called?
OctetHow many sections (in digits) does an IP address have?
4What does the term “MAC” stand for?
Media Access ControlDeploy the interactive lab using the “View Site” button and spoof your MAC address to access the site. What is the flag?
THM{YOU_GOT_ON_TRYHACKME}
Task 4
What protocol does ping use?
ICMPWhat is the syntax to ping 10.10.10.10?
ping 10.10.10.10What flag do you get when you ping 8.8.8.8?
THM{I_PINGED_THE_SERVER}
That’s all for today! If you didn’t understand something, make sure to do some research on it, search for a video on YouTube, etc.
I’ve covered the first section of the Network Fundamentals module for the Pre-Security Pathway. Until the next one…
