WildFire and FlowScape are powerful new tools for intrusion detection
Open Source Instead
Open source tools also have advanced capabilities for dealing with APT attacks. For example, say you want to find PDF files from a large packet capture (pcap) dump. To do so, fire up Wireshark and click File | Export Objects | HTTP and go to the file containing a PDF. You can also pick up the PDF by looking in the filter file frame that contains %PDF (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Looking for a file containing a PDF.
To find a music thief, such as someone who has downloaded a music file that you happened to catch in your pcap file, you again open Wireshark and click File | Export Objects | HTTP. Figure 8 shows a window listing eight files; if you click on the file that contains sample02.mp3, you can save it and deal with it later.
Figure 8: Finding an MP3 file with Wireshark.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a RAR file that has been downloaded and is in your pcap file, how are you going to find it in a sea of files? As for the music file, open Wireshark (Figure 9) and click File | Export Objects | HTTP (Figure 10). The RAR file is the first file, botnet.rar, in the list. Click on the file and save it to your local machine. As you can see in Figure 11, the file contains a .exe along with a readme.txt.
Figure 9: Finding files of interest in a pcap file with Wireshark by …
Figure 10: … filtering for the file type (e.g., http contains "RAR" for RAR files).
Figure 11: The suspicious RAR file contains two executable files and a readme.txt.
Conclusion
In this article, I looked at some of the tools I work with on a daily basis. Palo Alto Networks' WildFire and CyberFlow Analytics' FlowScape are two examples of tools in my arsenal that I use to keep the badness at bay. The last tool, Wireshark, is one of the best open source packet analyzers available today.
« Previous 1 2
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Rhino Linux Announces Latest "Quick Update"
If you prefer your Linux distribution to be of the rolling type, Rhino Linux delivers a beautiful and reliable experience.
-
Plasma Desktop Will Soon Ask for Donations
The next iteration of Plasma has reached the soft feature freeze for the 6.2 version and includes a feature that could be divisive.
-
Linux Market Share Hits New High
For the first time, the Linux market share has reached a new high for desktops, and the trend looks like it will continue.
-
LibreOffice 24.8 Delivers New Features
LibreOffice is often considered the de facto standard office suite for the Linux operating system.
-
Deepin 23 Offers Wayland Support and New AI Tool
Deepin has been considered one of the most beautiful desktop operating systems for a long time and the arrival of version 23 has bolstered that reputation.
-
CachyOS Adds Support for System76's COSMIC Desktop
The August 2024 release of CachyOS includes support for the COSMIC desktop as well as some important bits for video.
-
Linux Foundation Adopts OMI to Foster Ethical LLMs
The Open Model Initiative hopes to create community LLMs that rival proprietary models but avoid restrictive licensing that limits usage.
-
Ubuntu 24.10 to Include the Latest Linux Kernel
Ubuntu users have grown accustomed to their favorite distribution shipping with a kernel that's not quite as up-to-date as other distros but that changes with 24.10.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1.4 Release Includes Improvements and Bug Fixes
The latest release from the KDE team improves the KWin window and composite managers and plenty of fixes.
-
Manjaro Team Tests Immutable Version of its Arch-Based Distribution
If you're a fan of immutable operating systems, you'll be thrilled to know that the Manjaro team is working on an immutable spin that is now available for testing.