Pass the ECCouncil CEH v13 312-50v13 Questions and answers with CertsForce

In CEH v13 Module 01: Introduction to Ethical Hacking, Gray Hat hackers are described as those who operate between ethical and unethical lines:

Gray Hat Characteristics:

Discover vulnerabilities without permission.

May explore or exploit them without malicious intent, but also without authorization.

May or may not disclose them after exploration.

Not fully black hat (malicious), nor white hat (authorized and ethical).

In this case, John explored sensitive employee data without authorization, even though he worked for the organization. That behavior places him in the gray hat category.

Option Clarification:

A. Cybercriminal: Generally linked to criminal activities for gain.

B. Black hat: Unauthorized access with malicious or financial intent.

C. White hat: Authorized ethical hackers.

D. Gray hat: Correct – Unauthorized, curious access without immediate harm.

https://support.riverbed.com/content/support/software/steelcentral-npm/airpcap.html

Since this question refers specifically to analyzing a wireless network, it is obvious that we need an option with AirPcap (Riverbed AirPcap USB-based adapters capture 802.11 wireless traffic for analysis). Since it works with two traffic analyzers SteelCentral Packet Analyzer (Cascade Pilot) or Wireshark, the correct option would be "Wireshark with Airpcap."

NOTE: AirPcap adapters no longer available for sale effective January 1, 2018, but a question on this topic may occur on your exam.

===========

This is a classic example of Web Parameter Tampering. This occurs when attackers manipulate parameters exchanged between client and server to exploit vulnerabilities in the application logic. In this case:

Damount and Camount are passed via URL parameters.

The web application is not validating or sanitizing the values.

Altering the values affects the transaction outcome.

This is not an SQL Injection (no SQL code shown), nor is it XSS (no script injection), and it is unrelated to Cookie Tampering (which involves browser-stored cookies).

The most effective evasion technique to bypass the IDS signature detection while performing a SQL Injection attack is to leverage string concatenation to break identifiable keywords. This technique involves splitting SQL keywords or operators into smaller parts and joining them with string concatenation operators, such as ‘+’ or ‘||’. This way, the SQL query can still be executed by the database engine, but the IDS cannot recognize the keywords or operators as malicious, as they are hidden within strings. For example, the hacker could replace the keyword ‘OR’ with ‘O’||‘R’ or ‘O’+‘R’ in the SQL query, and the IDS would not be able to match the signature of a typical SQL injection pattern12.

The other options are not as effective as option D for the following reasons:

A. Implement case variation by altering the case of SQL statements: This option is not effective because most SQL engines and IDS systems are case-insensitive, meaning that they treat SQL keywords and operators the same regardless of their case. Therefore, altering the case of SQL statements would not help evade the IDS signature detection, as the IDS would still be able to match the signature of a typical SQL injection pattern3.

B. Employ IP fragmentation to obscure the attack payload: This option is not applicable because IP fragmentation is a network-level technique that splits IP packets into smaller fragments to fit the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of the network. IP fragmentation does not affect the content or structure of the SQL query, and it does not help evade the IDS signature detection, as the IDS would still be able to reassemble the fragments and match the signature of a typical SQL injection pattern4.

C. Use Hex encoding to represent the SQL query string: This option is not feasible because Hex encoding is a method of representing binary data in hexadecimal format, such as ‘0x41’ for ‘A’. Hex encoding does not work for SQL queries, as the SQL engine would not be able to interpret the hexadecimal values as valid SQL syntax. Moreover, Hex encoding would not help evade the IDS signature detection, as the IDS would still be able to decode the hexadecimal values and match the signature of a typical SQL injection pattern.

In CEH v13 Module 06: Malware Threats, the Cyber Kill Chain is broken down into its seven stages:

Reconnaissance

Weaponization

Delivery

Exploitation

Installation

Command & Control

Actions on Objectives

Step 3 – Delivery:

Refers to the transmission of the malicious payload to the victim.

Can occur through email, web downloads, USB drives, etc.

Correct Example:

A. “An intruder sends a malicious attachment via email to a target” — This is delivery.

Other Options:

B. Weaponization

C. Exploitation

D. Installation

WS-Security (Web Services Security) is a protocol specification that provides a means for securing SOAP-based messages. It defines how to add authentication, encryption, and digital signatures to SOAP headers, helping ensure message integrity and confidentiality.

According to CEH v13 Official Courseware:

WS-Security is an extension of SOAP.

It supports features such as:

Authentication via tokens (e.g., username, X.509)

Message integrity via digital signatures

Message confidentiality via XML encryption

Incorrect Options:

A. WSDL (Web Services Description Language) describes the web service interface but does not provide security.

B. WS Work Processes is not a defined web service security standard.

C. WS-Policy allows expressing security requirements, but enforcement is handled by WS-Security.

Reference – CEH v13 Official Courseware:

Module 14: Hacking Web Applications

Section: "Web Services Security"

Subsection: "WS-* Standards"

===========

The phrase "testing the network using the same methodologies and tools employed by attackers" precisely describes Penetration Testing.

Penetration testing involves:

Simulating real-world attacks.

Using tools and techniques similar to those used by malicious hackers.

Actively exploiting vulnerabilities to assess the security posture of systems.

From CEH v13 Courseware:

Module 1: Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Module 5: Vulnerability Assessment vs. Penetration Testing

CEH v13 Study Guide states:

“Penetration testing is a simulated cyberattack against your system to check for exploitable vulnerabilities. It uses the same tools, techniques, and processes as attackers to find and validate security weaknesses.”

Incorrect Options:

A. Vulnerability Scanning: Only identifies potential issues; it doesn’t attempt to exploit them.

C. Security Policy Implementation: Refers to governance and documentation, not testing.

D. Designing Network Security: Refers to planning a secure architecture.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

A Suicide Hacker is someone who launches a cyberattack without regard for the consequences, such as being caught or imprisoned. Yancey's actions fit this profile because:

He is knowingly committing illegal acts.

He is fully aware of and indifferent to the consequences.

His motive is revenge, not ideology or personal gain.

From CEH v13 Courseware:

Module 1: Introduction to Ethical Hacking → Types of Hackers

https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/enip-info.html

Example Usage enip-info:

- nmap --script enip-info -sU -p 44818

This NSE script is used to send a EtherNet/IP packet to a remote device that has TCP 44818 open. The script will send a Request Identity Packet and once a response is received, it validates that it was a proper response to the command that was sent, and then will parse out the data. Information that is parsed includes Device Type, Vendor ID, Product name, Serial Number, Product code, Revision Number, status, state, as well as the Device IP.

This script was written based of information collected by using the the Wireshark dissector for CIP, and EtherNet/IP, The original information was collected by running a modified version of the ethernetip.py script (https://github.com/paperwork/pyenip)

The main purpose of a rootkit is to hide malicious activity by modifying or replacing legitimate system binaries (e.g., ls, ps, netstat) so they no longer show the presence of malicious files, users, or processes. This enables attackers to maintain persistent and stealthy access.

From CEH v13 Official Courseware:

Module 6: Malware Threats → Rootkits

CEH v13 Study Guide states:

“Rootkits are stealthy programs designed to conceal the existence of other malicious processes or programs by replacing legitimate operating system utilities and binaries. This makes detection and removal extremely difficult.”

Incorrect Options:

A: This is a backdoor’s behavior.

B: A buffer overflow is a method of exploitation, not the rootkit’s purpose.

D: Refers to a backdoor or vulnerability, not a rootkit’s core function.

Snort is an open-source Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (NIDS/NIPS) capable of real-time traffic analysis and packet logging. It functions as a sniffer and can detect various forms of attacks using signature-based rules.

CEH v13 Reference:

Module 10: Evading IDS, Firewalls, and Honeypots

"Snort can operate as a sniffer, logger, or full NIDS capable of real-time traffic analysis."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

The correct nslookup syntax to perform a zone transfer is:

ls -d domain_name

So, from the nslookup prompt:

server 192.168.10.2

ls -d abccorp.local

This will attempt to list all DNS records for the abccorp.local domain from the specified server, if zone transfers are permitted.

From CEH v13 Courseware:

Module 4: Enumeration → DNS Zone Transfers

Digital signatures are designed to provide two key guarantees:

Authenticity – confirming the identity of the sender.

Unforgeability – ensuring that no one else can produce the same signature without the sender’s private key.

These properties are achieved using a combination of hash functions and asymmetric encryption (digital certificates/private keys).

Reference – CEH v13 Official Study Guide:

Module 20: Cryptography

Quote:

“A valid digital signature ensures that the message comes from a legitimate sender (authenticity) and has not been altered or forged (unforgeability).”

Incorrect Options:

A, C, D: Refer to human/visual signatures, not cryptographic properties

===========

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a real-time communication protocol. When a client connects to an IRC server, it must first identify itself using two mandatory commands:

NICK – Specifies the nickname the user wants to use.

USER – Provides user information such as username, hostname, and real name.

These are the very first commands required to establish presence on the IRC network.

From CEH v13 Official Courseware:

Module 7: Social Engineering

Module 19: IoT and Other Emerging Threats (includes botnets and IRC)

CEH v13 Study Guide states:

“When connecting to an IRC server, the client must first send the NICK and USER commands to register the session. Without these, the server will not establish a full connection.”

Incorrect Options:

B, C, D: LOGIN and PASS are not valid IRC protocol commands in this context.

An evil twin may be a fraudulent Wi-Fi access point that appears to be legitimate but is about up to pay attention to wireless communications.[1] The evil twin is that the wireless LAN equivalent of the phishing scam.

This type of attack could also be wont to steal the passwords of unsuspecting users, either by monitoring their connections or by phishing, which involves fixing a fraudulent internet site and luring people there.

The attacker snoops on Internet traffic employing a bogus wireless access point. Unwitting web users could also be invited to log into the attacker’s server, prompting them to enter sensitive information like usernames and passwords. Often, users are unaware they need been duped until well after the incident has occurred.

When users log into unsecured (non-HTTPS) bank or e-mail accounts, the attacker intercepts the transaction, since it’s sent through their equipment. The attacker is additionally ready to hook up with other networks related to the users’ credentials.

Fake access points are found out by configuring a wireless card to act as an access point (known as HostAP). they’re hard to trace since they will be shut off instantly. The counterfeit access point could also be given an equivalent SSID and BSSID as a close-by Wi-Fi network. The evil twin are often configured to pass Internet traffic through to the legitimate access point while monitoring the victim’s connection, or it can simply say the system is temporarily unavailable after obtaining a username and password.