Google Hacking for Penetration Testers [Paperback]

While Google is a researcher's friend, it is a hacker's dream. The subtitle of Google Hacking for Penetration Testers is "Explore the Dark Side of Googling". The dark side of Google is that far too many networks are insecure with inadequate security and enable unauthorized information to leak into Google. This leakage creates the situation where significant amounts of password files, confidential information, and configuration data and much more are easily available.

After reading Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Smarter Searching, the real power and potential danger of Google is easily understood. Author Johnny Long details how penetration testers can harvest information that has been crawled by Google. The need for Google to be an integral part of any penetration test is now easily understood.

In a similar manner, when Dan Farmer wrote SATAN in 1995, it was met with significant consternation in that many felt he was wrong to release such a powerful program into the wild. Silicon Graphics, his employer at the time, considered his conduct unprofessional and summarily fired him. Ironically, in 2005, a security administrator can be fired if they don't run a vulnerability scanner akin to SATAN. Running scanning tools is now part of security due diligence and any administrator not running such a tool is careless.

With that, some may think author Johnny Long gives far too much ammunition to those seeking to peruse corporate data, but those were the same mistaken objections to SATAN. The book is not meant to be a crutch for script kiddies, its aim is rather to show how Google can be used to uncover data that most companies would rather remain secured. It is simply a matter of time until such Google searches will be considered due diligence for any basic security endeavor.

The book's 12 chapters show how one can plunder and pillage corporate data via Google. Chapters 1 and 2 provide a basic introduction to Google searching, including building Google queries, URL and operator syntax, search reduction, and more.

Chapters 3 through 10 detail the internals of Google hacking. The avenues of attack are nearly endless and various methods are detailed from traversal techniques, site crawling, tracking down Web server logins, and much more. With the sheer amount of data produced on corporate Web sites, it is hard not to have information leakage. The problem is that Google is the perfect glue to bond those disparate pieces of data together to form a dangerous set of connected data. Google is now gluing isolated data, which is dangerous data when in the wrong hands.

Chapter 11 details what can be done to protect an organization from Google hackers. While author Johnny Long may be a hacker, he is quite mainstream when he writes that the best hardware and software configuration money can buy can't protect computing resources if an effective security policy is not in place. Long observes that a good security policy, when properly enforced, outlines the assets the organization is trying to protect, how the protection mechanisms are installed, the acceptable level of operational risk, and what do to in the event of a compromise or disaster.

Chapter 11 details the use of the robots.txt file, which can be used to block Web crawlers such as Google. The chapter also recommends the use of various tools to secure an internal Web site. Tools from Foundstone are detailed, in addition to Gooscan, a tool created by Long that enables bulk Google searches to determine how much information has leaked.

A decade ago, Google was the type of powerful search tool that was rumored to be used within the NSA. Today, petabytes of data are only a few clicks away on Google, and with the Google API, all of that information can be seamlessly integrated into a few scripts. The challenge companies face is to take security seriously and stop making it easy for their password files, payroll data, and other confidential information to be entered into Google's server farm.

An excellent book dedicated to a seemingly narrow topic. Googling is mainstream, I can't think of one person that has traveled the internet that hasn't stopped by Google.com at least once in their surfing career. Unfortunately, there are hackers that spend a lot of time on Google!

If you are responsible for securing your employer's network you can not be without this indispensable reference. For less than $50 you could save your company from exposing information that can be readily used by hackers to obtain your most prized data.

Chapters 1-2 provide you with the basics of Googling. There isn't much more information than you can get from Google's website, but Johnny does a great job of explaining the basics of Google.

Chapters 3-10 are the meat of the book. While I've used Google extensively in performing penetration tests before reading this book I've learned many new techniques to dig deeper in less amount of time.

Chapter 11 explains how you can secure your systems from hackers using Google to gather information about your company. The chapter also introduces tools such as Gooscan. It also details methods Google has in place to remove information you'd rather not have the public see.

Chapter 12 discusses automating your Google searches with the Google API. A basic understanding of computer programming is required.

The book concludes with two appendices which will help you in developing a good strategy for security testing and securing your website.

The author's writing style is straightforward and easy to read. Reading and absorbing this book is like taking a master's level course in the art of information enumeration. Highly recommended for anyone administering networks connected to the Internet.

I am involved in penetration testing on an occasional basis (my principal role is audit management, my principal interest is systems auditing), per other reviews this is an excellent resource for anyone planning or executing tests.

I have used google with simplistic searches and obtained good results (e.g. pictures of site being tested, too much detail in job postings ...). This book is an excelent source of ideas and techniques, for both social engineering, and more technical tests.

It has also made me consider what the google desktop search tool could be used for, when run on key servers in internal nets.

Authors writing style is very easy to read yet packed with valuable information.

This book is likely to be of significant value to forensic investigators and for those with an interest in competitive intelligence.