Cyber Projects

After a week of refining my vulnerability scanner operating skills, I wanted to see if I could convert my Raspberry Pi into a semi-portable Nessus vulnerability scanner. Again, the Pi did not disappoint (I, by the way, do not work for Raspberry Pi). The most difficult aspect of the process was the amount of time it took the Nessus programme to load and finish assembling its plugins (around 1 hour and 20 minutes).   The right Nessus version for the Raspberry Pi was simple to locate and download from the Tenable website; I used the terminal to unpack, install, and launch the Scanner. The installation is done in a browser, and I enrolled for the Nessus Essentials licence. After entering the activation code, it's off and running, well, more of a leisurely stroll; it did take a long time to get going, but it did. Then you must choose the type of scan you wish to perform and its target. I ran a simple scan on a laptop on my network and waited for the results. Surprisingly, just a ...

 

So, my nostalgic Pi1 experiment had to come to an end as it basically stopped working and started smoking. Next came the Raspberry pi 4 luckily, I didn’t need to pay the £200 that Amazon had advertised. I wanted the Pi so I could re-learn and develop my Linux and Python skills. My first Linux mission was to install Apache2 webserver and set the Pi up as a webserver. Using the terminal in Ubuntu I set up an Apache server and utilised Nano to edit the default index page. After that, more Linux commands were implemented to make a new domain folder and them copy across the HTML files for the LWRcyber site. Finally, I used a no IP website to help host both the test websites through the Apache web server. 

  I needed a system that I wouldn't be able to destroy in order to experiment with Linux and Bash scripting, so I went on the hunt for one of the many Raspberry Pi’s that I had been given over the years of teaching computing. Surprisingly, I discovered one that was 11 years old and had a massive 256MB of RAM. Obviously, the first thing I did was fire up the Retro-game emulator and relive my Sonic playing days, which is still semi-entertaining. After that, I installed the most recent operating system that would run on the Pi1 and began researching Linux and scripting. The Pi was surprisingly capable and given its age, it's a remarkable piece of kit. In my former life the Pi's purpose was to teach students Python and how to control a robot. I'm considering getting a new Pi because they appear to have advanced somewhat, but they appear to cost a hefty £199.