What is Metasploit | How to use Metasploit Framework

Metasploit Framwork : Hey Hackers! in this post of Hacking Tips we are going to tell you about the Metsploit Framework. This post is going to answer the following questions for you.

1. What is Metasploit
2. How to use the Metasploit Framework
3. History of Metasploit

What is Metasploit Project: 

The Metasploit Project is a computer security project which aims at providing information about security vulnerabilities and helps in penetration testing and Patching the exploits.

Metasploit framework is its famous sub project, a tool for developing and executing exploits against a remote machine. Apart from Metasploit Framework, Metasploit Project is well known for is anti-forensics and loopholes evading tools.

Other important sub-projects include the Opcode Database, shellcode archive, and security research.

About the Metasploit framework :

Metasploit Framework was programmed by HD Moore in 2003 as a network tool using PERL scripting language. It was reprogrammed using RUBY. You can develop and execute exploits against any target machine using this framework.
this framework comes with many inbuilt exploits and payloads.

Basic steps on How to use Metasploit Framework :

1. Searching and configuring an exploit : Searching exploit on the basis of data acquired by scanning and footprinting the target machine.(current version of Metasploit comes with around 800 exploits against different services.

2. Choosing and configuring a Payload : Payload is the code that will be executed upon the successfully entry into the target machine, for example, a remote shell.

3. Choosing the encoding technique to encode the payload so that the intrusion-prevention system (IPS) will not catch the encoded payload;

4. Executing the exploit.
The capability of combining any exploit with any framework is the best feature of Metasploit Framework.
Metasploit runs on all versions of unix and windows also. It includes two command line interface, a web browser based interface and a GUI.

Choosing exploit and payload is tricky work, you need to gather information about the target machine in order to make the eploit work. this information can be gathered using Port scanning and network scanning techniques Which will be covered in upcoming posts.

Where to get Metasploit Framework?

You can download the free version from the official Metasploit site-http://www.metasploit.com/download/
The free version also comes as a preinstalled application in all versions of Backtrack.

Have a look at the other Penetration tools by Metasploit Project: 

http://www.metasploit.com/about/choose-right-edition/

Well Metasploit framwork might be a new tool to play with for some of you. Metasploit framework is pretty cool to play with and once you learn to use it the right way for Ethical Hacking, you are going to use this penetration testing tool often.