Information Security

genlist – Backtrack – Miscellaneous – Miscellaneous Network – genlist

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Clicking on the genlist menu item in Backtrack Linux opens a terminal window and outputs the genlist help menu at the top. Genlist is a Perl script written to provide an easy way to generate a list of live hosts on a network or set of networks so you can then begin analyzing those hosts. All the genlist Perl script does is call nmap with the -sP switch and parse the results so only the live IP addresses are output and as simple as it seems its a handy little tool if you do penetration testing on a regular basis. Below we describe genlist in more detail and show an example of genlist in action.

Information Security

keepnote – Backtrack 5 – Reporting Tools – Evidence Management – keepnote

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KeepNote is a great note taking application installed by default in Backtrack Linux. Notes are an important part of security assessments as well as pretty much any technical projects you work on because there is no way to remember everything that happens in hours of working on a project unless you have good notes. KeepNote provides the ability to create multiple notebooks, directories under those notebooks, and associate actual notes to any level of directories underneath the primary notebook.

Information Security

ipcalc – Backtrack 5 – Miscellaneous – Miscellaneous Network – ipcalc

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A tool that is more than likely not used very often in Backtrack is the ipcalc which is a command line to that will quickly provide you broadcast address, network address, netmask, and Cisco wildcard mask. If you do a lot of Backtrack Linux installations that each require different IP information for various networks this tool can be really useful to verify settings made in the networks file in Ubuntu/Backtrack. I used to find myself breaking out a iPhone IP calculator on a regular basis and while I still do use that application I prefer ipcalc from the command line if its readily available. Below are details regarding ipcalc and the various switches available to it.