ABSTRACT

There are few subjects that can perk up a tired audience quicker than a discussion of network penetration testing. This is the chance for the good guys to act like the bad guys for a short period of time. Secretly, this is what most network administrators wish they could do, but for whatever reason, they have not joined the “elite” of the “information Wild West.” Having a chance to “hack” a network as part of their job is something that most people will jump at. It is interesting, it is dramatic, and it is the reason (at least initially) that most people become interested in the information security field. While management and government rally the public about the danger of computer crime, it is a fact that many in the information security field, on either side of the fence, regard the process of breaking into and securing computer networks as a challenging test of skill and experience.