The Art of Doing: Master Networks and Network Scanning

Scanning a network is as easy as entering “nmap 192.168.1.0/24” into the command line.  Anyone can do it really; the real question becomes why does it work and what is happening when you hit enter? 

When I first started learning Linux, I would find commands online and enter them with AMAZING results…but I never really understood why or how those commands worked. I felt that I didn’t own my knowledge or skills. 

If you want to gain a better understanding of how devices join, work and communicate across a network then this course is for you! 

• We’ll get set up with our own virtual network of Kali Linux machines using Virtual Box.  These machines can run directly inside your windows/mac, so there is no need to install Linux directly!  We’ll look at different networking options in Virtual Box and see how to run these computers isolated, on a real network, or on a virtual network.

   

• We will learn about various networking concepts such as an IP addresses, netmasks, MAC address, address resolution protocol, arp tables, routing tables, port addresses, firewalls, services such as FTP, SSH, and HTTP, and communication protocols such as TCP and UDP.

• We will then look at various Linux commands that utilize the knowledge we gained such as ip, arp, ping, macchanger, systemctl, tcpdump, ss, and iptables.

• We will write our own Bash scripts to use our knowledge of concepts and commands.

  • Our own network scanner which will find all IP/MAC address associations on our network and update our arp table.

  • A script to hide our identity on our network by changing our IP and MAC address while still giving us a network connection.

  • Our own port monitoring script that will alert us to any changes in port status by creating a pop up window and showing us the change. 

  • A script to quickly set up a firewall as a defense to nefarious computers trying to attack us. 

Of course in doing all of this, we are going to gain an understanding of how and why powerful tools like netcat and nmap work! 

By the end of this course you won’t just be mindlessly typing in commands into nmap without understanding what is happening.  Instead you will have mastered networks and network scanning!  With these ideas and skills mastered you are well on your way to learning more about advanced topics like cyber security and ethical hacking!