Hackin tools used in penetration testing. part-5 Metasploit Framework

Metasploit Framework is a tool for developing and executing exploit code against a remote target machine. Metasploit can be used to test the vulnerability of computer systems in order to protect them, and it can be used to break into remote systems. Like many information security tools, Metasploit can be used for both legitimate and unauthorized activities. The basic steps for exploiting a system using the Framework include -

1. Choosing and configuring an exploit (code that enters a target system by taking advantage of one of its bugs; about 300 different exploits for Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac OS X systems are included).
2. Checking whether the intended target system is susceptible to the chosen exploit.
3. Choosing and configuring a payload (code that will be executed on the target system upon successful entry, for instance a remote shell or a VNC server).
4. Choosing the encoding technique to encode the payload so that the Intrusion-prevention system will not catch the encoded payload.
5. Executing the exploit. This modularity of allowing to combine any exploit with any payload is the major advantage of the Framework: it facilitates the tasks of attackers, exploit writers, and payload writers.