Chromebook as a Web Hacking Platform

by David

A Chromebook is usually a cheap laptop which runs the ChromeOS.  Another common trait on these laptops is that they do not have much power in regards to RAM or disk space.

But another common trait among these laptops is that it is possible to run Linux including graphical applications.

Therefore, a Chromebook is a cheap laptop for your daily surfing usage, if you can overcome that Google looks over your shoulder.  But it is also a very cheap platform for getting started in web hacking.  So here is a short guide on installing the software needed to transform a Chromebook into a potent web hacking platform.

This guide has been made on a Lenovo Chromebook 100e, second-generation.  This is an ARM-based laptop, so it is a cheap platform which has a long battery life.

But without further ado, here are the steps needed.

Steps

1.)  Get a Chromebook (you can get a Chromebook in every price range from $200 to a-lot-of-$s.  Or maybe even lower.)

2.)  Activate Linux on your Chromebook.  See here for a guide: support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439

3.)  Update the software on the Chromebook using the following:

$ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

4.)  Install some needed packages:

$ sudo apt-get install openjdk-11-jdk dirb python3-pip firefox-esr libffidev libxm12-dev libxmlsec1-dev zlib1g-dev

5.)  Clone theHarvester:

$ git clone: github.com/laramies/theHarvester

6.)  Go to the folder and install requirements:

$ cd theHarvester $ sudo pip3install -r requirements.txt

7.)  Download Burp Suite.  Get the JAR version and copy to the Linux files folder.

8.)  Start Burp Suite and Firefox:

$ java -jar burpsuite_community_v2020.2.1.jar

9.)  In Firefox, go to "Settings -> Certificates -> Authorities"

10.)  In Firefox, configure proxy to be localhost:8080 for all protocols.

11.)  Go to: http://burp

12.)  Download CA cert.

13.)  Install the cert in Firefox as an authority CA.  Enable the certificate and identify websites and mail.

14.)  Done.  Ready to hack.

This will install the following tools:

• Firefox - Browser to perform the hacking in.
• Burp Suite - Web proxy to intercept web calls and modify them on the fly.  Burp Suite is also configured to do SSL "man-in-the-middle" on the Firefox browser.
• theHarvester - Tool to scan Google and other search engines for information about companies and domains.
• DIRB - Tool to scan a site for common words.  (dirb222.tar.gz)

Hope this can help you getting started with web hacking.

Remember!  Stay Safe.  Stay Legal.