Mastering™ Network Security, Second Edition

14.3. Launching the Attack

Once Woolly Attacker knows your weak spots, he is ready to launch an attack. The type of attack he launches will depend greatly on his final objectives. Is he after one specific resource, or does he want to go after all systems on the network? Does he want to penetrate a system or will a denial of service suffice? The answers to these questions will decide his next course of action.

In this section, we will look at a number of exploits. The intent is not to give a listing of all known exploits—any such list would be out of date before this book even went to print. Rather, the goal is to show you a selective sampling of the exploits found in the wild so that you can better understand what can and cannot be done when ...