In cybersecurity, a fingerprint or footprint is a collection of information that may be used to identify the OSes, protocols, apps, and hardware that make up a given infrastructure. By comparing and contrasting various data sets, penetration testers and sophisticated operators may create a profile of a server using cybersecurity fingerprinting. In order to launch sophisticated attacks, attackers might use this data to “fingerprint” targets’ machines and networks.
This article goes over fingerprinting in cybersecurity, different fingerprint attacks, preventative methods, and frequently asked topics.
What is Footprinting/Fingerprinting?
Fingerprinting is a penetration testing technique to get as much configuration information about a system as possible. Application software technology, network topology, cluster architecture, host OS platform, and database version are all examples of data that may be found in a fingerprint.
Fingerprinting entails examining network traffic and outgoing packets from target computers and sending bespoke packages to the target network. The digital signature generated by the targeted system is usually the end goal of such malicious acts. An attacker can use the information in the digital signature to create a detailed map of the ecosystem’s architecture, services, and network components.
What is Fingerprinting in Network Security?
Fingerprinting is one of the most serious types of attacks since it allows hackers to identify a distant host’s network protocols, hardware devices, and private network architecture by crafting malicious packets and sending them toward the host. If hackers can get enough of these specifics, they can use them to draw out a schematic of the entire network, complete with pinpointed weak points.
In most cases, fingerprinting is the second stage in a full-fledged cybersecurity attack. Correlating discrepancies in network packets with distant network response patterns aids hackers in tailoring attacks.
Fingerprinting Types
Common fingerprinting methods can be broken down into the following categories, depending on their execution:
Passive Fingerprinting
Passive fingerprinting is a stealth attack technique in which a hacker sniffs network data to create a digital imprint of the corporate network. Instead of putting any packets into the network, the hacker avoids detection and becomes an active, persistent danger. In order to do this, cybercriminals frequently do network scanning and utilize various tools to fake penetration testing and record online actions.
The fingerprint created by these actions aids attackers in creating a digital shadow of the program, which is then utilized to fine-tune future assaults.
Active Fingerprinting
For active fingerprinting, the hacker will send out potentially malicious packets to the target systems and then analyze the systems’ answers to create a configuration profile. By recognizing the TCP/IP structures and the underlying target hosts, the most prevalent fingerprinting methodology provides easier detection of the host OS systems.
Active fingerprinting methods are also the most dangerous since intrusion detection systems are the easiest to detect. Active fingerprinting technologies, such as port scanning and network mapping, can be used to determine the program setup based on the sorts of packets returned.
- TCP options
- Requests for ICMP
- DHCP requests
- IP Time-to-Live (TTL) values
- ID values and IP addresses
- Don’t Fragment bit setting
- Window size
Fingerprinting Attack Methods
Fingerprinting attack tactics can also be categorized based on the systems/components that they target. In this category, we find:
OS fingerprinting
A set of approaches for determining the operating system of a remote host. The attackers can then craft exploits that target known vulnerabilities linked with the exact version of the operating system in use.
Network fingerprinting
This assault seeks to learn about TCP/IP stacks and other network protocols used on the business network. Network address translation attacks often include scanning targets’ networks for information, including TCP/IP address ranges, subnet masks, TCP/IP header fields, and DNS server settings.
Email fingerprinting
In this attack, an adversary searches emails within a business network for unique identifiers such as sender type, email address, mail flow rules, headers, footers, and subject lines. Users’ digital fingerprints and message profiles are built from this data over time. Attackers can use these accounts to send phishing emails to other users without their knowledge.
How Can Fingerprinting Attacks Be Prevented?
While fingerprinting assists cybersecurity experts and ethical hackers in analyzing the effectiveness of application security safeguards, it may also allow bad actors to plan complex assaults. The following cyber security methods are critical for preventing fingerprinting attacks:
Using firewalls to limit network traffic
Managing how data is sent and received from inside an application is essential. A web application firewall with correctly configured filtering and routing rules aids in the prevention of unintentional leaking of sensitive information to hostile external actors.
Limit the number of frames that can flow via the NIC.
The Network Interface Card (NIC) sends all incoming data to the central processing unit (CPU) in promiscuous mode. Promiscuous mode for NIC should be used only when essential, such as for debugging network performance issues or testing integration. To prevent unwanted interactions with the host operating system, developers should ensure that the web server’s controller is set up to only accept a certain number of frames.
Keep an eye on events and log files.
Typically, the perpetrator of a passive fingerprinting attack will use a persistent threat, where the attacker will get access to more data over time. Attackers may go undetected, but most computer systems keep detailed logs of all user interactions. To avoid further system intrusion and exploitation, sophisticated operators and security specialists should meticulously analyze application events and log files for malicious activities, such as:
- Utilization of advanced search parameters
- IP addresses for fingerprint devices
- Suspicious packets
- Unauthorized fingerprinting practices
- Suspicious traffic
- Incorrect DNS requests
- Abuse of simple database queries
Constant vulnerability patching
The dynamic community of cyber security professionals, product providers, and software enthusiasts regularly discovers and publishes vulnerabilities in threat enumeration databases. When conducting fingerprinting attacks, hackers frequently use such databases to exploit systems as a source of recognized vulnerabilities. To mitigate such attacks, it is advised that vulnerabilities be patched as soon as they are found or that interim stop-gap protections be implemented until a permanent remedy is implemented.
