Overview

The goal of this lab was to familiarize me with nmap and the Windows environment. In addition to the setup and basic configuration of the Windows box, I worked with nmap to scan various elements of the new box. There will be a separate page specific to nmap, its helpful commands and switches, and some examples of usage in context.

Useful Commands and Instructions

The first element of this lab was to go through and power on the Windows 10 VM, change the password of the default user account, create a new administrative user account, and I added a Chrome Remote Desktop access in order to more easily work in my environment outside of the lab. This process was straightforward and the detailed breakdown is reflected many times in previous academic journals of mine. Ping tests going both directions and Wireshark setup was the next early step in this process. In this case, I used a capture filter when starting the Wireshark session--in order to focus on the new host, I used the following filter input before clicking the desired network adapter:

host [IPADDRESS]

This filters the output of Wireshark during the scan so that extra "noise" on the wire doesn't clutter the work environment.

From this point, I researched enabling Windows services such as remote desktop and file and printer sharing services. I also installed remmina (essentially a Linux RDP client) on the Kali box so that I can remote into the Windows box directly from Kali. These services should appear in new nmap scans (once again, see the nmap page for examples).

Troubleshooting/Reflection

This lab was the first one so far that came across as relatively straightforward to me--the commands, implementation of settings and configurations on the Windows box, and working with nmap felt more natural than with the scripting. I didn't experience any serious troubleshooting issues during this lab, but I will note that in order to determine proper nmap syntax, I did end up looking up external resources and examples to clarify or confirm my thoughts.

Questions & Misc.

Here's a link to my nmap Utilization