Setting the Scene

This chapter is about two fictional characters Yaseen and Nathan.Although the characters and events are entirely fictional, it is based on real-world technology andmethodologies. The two characters face each other in the struggle to penetrate/secure Primulus anenergy research facility. Their encounters are as close as you will ever get to a realisticdogfight in cyberspace (that is, without special effects, blow jobs, and 3D visualization ofnetworks). The story follows both perspectives on attacking and defending a network on severallevels:

• Foot printing and intelligence gathering

• Network level

• Network Application level

• Application level

• Content level

Yaseen s Recruitment

Yaseen Naran strolled into the office whistling, greeting justabout everyone on the way in. It was mornings like this that made him love working in Bangalore:the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the street was relatively quiet as he peddled hisbicycle on his way to work. The 10-minute cycle in his jeans and T-shirt sure beat being stuck intraffic for an hour, as he would be if he were still working at his previous company.

He still instant-messages with the some of his ex-colleagues at the behemoth that was once aninformation security start-up, and thanks the stars that he moved back home before the job (or theindustry) consumed him. Yaseen always had mixed feelings on the information technology industry. Onone hand the relative (im)maturity of the game directly fuels some of the outstanding work done bypeople (who were never told the limits they were supposed to be...