Part II: Vulnerability Study
Understanding and exploiting network security weaknesses
Welcome to Part II, where we shift from understanding networks to understanding how they fail. This section covers the vulnerabilities inherent in network protocols and how attackers exploit them.
The techniques in this section are for educational purposes only. Always obtain proper authorization before testing any network or system. Unauthorized access is illegal and unethical.
What You'll Learn
This part covers offensive security techniques organized by protocol layer:
- Layer 2 Attacks: ARP spoofing, MAC flooding, VLAN hopping
- Layer 3 Attacks: IP spoofing, ICMP exploits, routing manipulation
- Layer 4 Attacks: TCP session hijacking, SYN floods, port scanning
- Application Attacks: DNS poisoning, HTTP exploits, TLS weaknesses
- MITM Techniques: Intercepting and modifying traffic in transit
- DoS/DDoS: Overwhelming systems with malicious traffic
- Modern Threats: Cloud, API, IoT, and APT-style attacks
- Defense: How to detect and mitigate these attacks
Chapter Overview
Introduction to Network Security
CIA triad, threat modeling, ethics
Chapter 2Physical & Data Link Layer Attacks
ARP spoofing, MAC attacks, VLAN hopping
Chapter 3Network Layer Vulnerabilities
IP spoofing, ICMP attacks, routing exploits
Chapter 4Transport Layer Exploits
TCP attacks, session hijacking, port scanning
Chapter 5Application Layer Attacks
DNS poisoning, HTTP attacks, protocol exploits
Chapter 6Man-in-the-Middle Attack Patterns
Interception, modification, relay attacks
Chapter 7Denial of Service Attacks
DoS/DDoS, amplification, botnets
Chapter 8Wireless Network Exploitation
WPA attacks, evil twin, deauthentication
Chapter 9Network Reconnaissance Techniques
Scanning, enumeration, OSINT
Chapter 10Cloud Security and Attack Vectors
Cloud misconfig, IAM, metadata attacks
Chapter 11API and Modern Application Security
REST, GraphQL, OAuth, JWT attacks
Chapter 12IoT and Embedded Systems Security
IoT protocols, firmware, hardware hacking
Chapter 13APT and Modern Malware
MITRE ATT&CK, C2, threat hunting
Chapter 14Defense and Mitigation Strategies
Zero Trust, NDR, defense in depth
Prerequisites
Before diving into this part, you should be comfortable with the material in Part I, especially chapters on TCP/IP, DNS, and the OSI model. You'll also benefit from setting up the lab environment described in Part III.
Security Note: Understanding attacks is essential for defense. The best security professionals think like attackers to protect their networks.