Private IPs for Hacking Activities

[Cyber Arch]

Once ye've tapped intae a Wi-Fi network, ye want tae develop guid "hacking habits" and start aff by findin' oot whit type o' subnet ye're on. This is important fur a few reasons, but mainly tae gie ye some insight intae the network configuration and how sneaky ye should be while on the network.

Ye should ken aboot the private IP addresses that are gien tae ye by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and whit IP ye get assigned when ye connect tae a network. This will gie ye a wee insight intae the "lowest hanging fruit" and whit IPs ye'll maist likely come across problems wi.

The IANA reserves the following IP address blocks for use as private IP addresses:

• 10.0.0.0 tae 10.255.255.255.
• 172.16.0.0 tae 172.31.255.255.
• 192.168.0.0 tae 192.168.255.255.

Dependin' on the setup o' the router will dictate which block o' IPs are issued. Usually when ye're connected tae a hame Wi-Fi network, ye can expect yer IP tae be in the 192.168.X.X range.

Tae check whit IP ye've been gien on the network ye're currently connected tae, jist type:
macOS in terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo ifconfig

Linux/Kali in terminal (First, type "sudo iwconfig" tae find oot yer wireless network card interface):

Code: Select all

sudo iwconfig
sudo ifconfig INTERFACE

Windows in the Command Line (Keep an eye oot fur "IPv4 Address" fur yer IP address and "Default Gateway" fur the router IP):

Code: Select all

ipconfig

If ye hae onythin' other than 192.168.X.X, then maybe ye're no on a hame network, the network has been set up this way, or ye didnae switch yer network settings in the VM tae "Bridged Adaptor". This could cause some issues fur ye when followin' alang dependin' on the router and built-in defenses (there's a million different routers), but ideally this is why ye should be on yer hame Wi-Fi network.
If ye hae an IP in the 192.168.X.X range, then this is the best thing fur ye and yer mischievous ways, ye king hacker ye. This gies ye an idea that whoever set up the router/access point is probably less skilled, which means the network is less protected and most likely will hae aw the default settings unchanged.

Every time ye connect tae a network, aye check yer internal IP which will gie ye the insight o' how the network has been set up and whit the router IP is. This should be common practice each and every time ye gain access tae a network.

Anytime ye're on a network ye don't own, it's best tae aye assume there's some sort o' monitoring goin' on and act accordingly. Maybe there are some folk runnin' WireShark and lookin' fur malicious activity or some sysadmin who has set up some sort o' honeypot nonsense on their network and is lookin' fur crackers. Developin' guid hacking habits while practicin' stealthy actions is much better for ye, and remainin' undetected is whit ye should strive for, if possible or wanted.