ECCouncil Updated 312-50v13 Exam Questions and Answers by noel

The location: operator is the least useful in providing the attacker with sensitive VPN-related information, because it does not directly relate to VPN configuration, credentials, or vulnerabilities. The location: operator finds information for a specific location, such as a city, country, or region. For example, location:paris would return results related to Paris, France. However, this operator does not help the attacker to identify or access VPN servers or clients, unless they are specifically named or indexed by their location, which is unlikely.

The other operators are more useful in providing the attacker with sensitive VPN-related information, because they can help the attacker to find pages or files that contain VPN configuration, credentials, or vulnerabilities. The intitle: operator restricts results to only the pages containing the specified term in the title. For example, intitle:vpn would return pages with VPN in their title, which may include VPN guides, manuals, or tutorials. The inurl: operator restricts the results to only the pages containing the specified word in the URL. For example, inurl:vpn would return pages with VPN in their URL, which may include VPN login portals, configuration files, or directories. The link: operator searches websites or pages that contain links to the specified website or page. For example, link:vpn.com would return pages that link to vpn.com, which may include VPN reviews, comparisons, or recommendations. References:

Google Search Operators: The Complete List (44 Advanced Operators)

Footprinting through search engines

Module 02: Footprinting and Reconnaissance

Just like any other service that accepts usernames and passwords for logging in, AWS users are vulnerable to social engineering attacks from attackers. fake emails, calls, or any other method of social engineering, may find yourself with an AWS users’ credentials within the hands of an attacker.

If a user only uses API keys for accessing AWS, general phishing techniques could still use to gain access to other accounts or their pc itself, where the attacker may then pull the API keys for aforementioned AWS user.

With basic opensource intelligence (OSINT), it’s usually simple to collect a list of workers of an organization that use AWS on a regular basis. This list will then be targeted with spear phishing to do and gather credentials. an easy technique may include an email that says your bill has spiked 500th within the past 24 hours, “click here for additional information”, and when they click the link, they’re forwarded to a malicious copy of the AWS login page designed to steal their credentials.

An example of such an email will be seen within the screenshot below. it’s exactly like an email that AWS would send to you if you were to exceed the free tier limits, except for a few little changes. If you clicked on any of the highlighted regions within the screenshot, you’d not be taken to the official AWS web site and you’d instead be forwarded to a pretend login page setup to steal your credentials.

These emails will get even more specific by playing a touch bit additional OSINT before causing them out. If an attacker was ready to discover your AWS account ID on-line somewhere, they could use methods we at rhino have free previously to enumerate what users and roles exist in your account with none logs contact on your side. they could use this list to more refine their target list, further as their emails to reference services they will know that you often use.

For reference, the journal post for using AWS account IDs for role enumeration will be found here and the journal post for using AWS account IDs for user enumeration will be found here.

During engagements at rhino, we find that phishing is one in all the fastest ways for us to achieve access to an AWS environment.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Social engineering is a psychological manipulation technique used by attackers to trick individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes.

It relies on human interaction and may involve tactics such as:

Impersonation

Pretexting

Phishing

Baiting

Rather than attacking systems directly, attackers exploit human trust and error.

From CEH v13 Courseware:

Module 7: Social Engineering

The scenario describes a method used to make a cryptographic key more secure by making it harder to brute-force. This process is called Key Stretching.

Key Stretching:

Takes a weak or short key and processes it through a function (often repeatedly) to produce a stronger, longer key.

Commonly used in password hashing (e.g., bcrypt, PBKDF2, scrypt).

Increases the computational time required to test each guess in a brute-force attack, effectively reducing attack feasibility.

Incorrect Options:

A. Key derivation function (KDF) is related but more general; key stretching is a specific technique often implemented within KDFs.

B. Key reinstallation is associated with WPA2 KRACK attacks.

C. Public key infrastructure (PKI) is a system of digital certificates, not a key strengthening technique.

Reference – CEH v13 Official Courseware:

Module 20: Cryptography

Section: “Password Hashing and Key Stretching Techniques”

Subsection: “bcrypt, PBKDF2, and Key Strengthening”

CEH iLab: Password Hashing and Cracking Simulations