Chapter 1
Engagement Management
Course: Comptia Pentest Pt0 003
Subject: Comptia Pentest Plus
Chapter: Post Exploitation And Lateral Movement
Staging and exfiltration are techniques used by attackers to prepare and transfer stolen data from a compromised system or network. Staging involves organizing, encrypting, and compressing data before exfiltration, while exfiltration refers to moving the data to an external location without being detected.
1. File Encryption and Compression
Before exfiltrating data, attackers often encrypt or compress files to evade detection, reduce file size, and obscure content. Encryption ensures that even if the data is intercepted, it remains unreadable without the decryption key.
Technical Details
- Encryption converts data into an unreadable format that can only be decrypted with a key.
- Common encryption algorithms include AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman), and Blowfish.
- Compression reduces file size, making exfiltration faster and less noticeable.
- Common compression formats include ZIP, RAR, and 7z.
- Some compression tools support password protection and AES encryption, adding another layer of security.