> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://fonty-s.gitbook.io/hacking-guide/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://fonty-s.gitbook.io/hacking-guide/introduction/start.md).

# Starting off

This is a general guide on how to start researching an unknown product/technology.

## Workflow

In 'starting off' we show how we work globally on each product / technology. With this we want to support you in researching vulnerabilities in products / technologies that you know little to nothing about. We hope that this will lower the threshold for you to dive into new / unknown technologies.

We list 3 important points on this page that can help you well. To start with, we show our steps to take while researching and hacking a product / technology. We then put down a list of questions that we ask ourselves during the hacking process. And finally we give a number of tips, which we would like to know in advance, to make the process run as smoothly as possible.

## **General steps**

* Literature study of the technology/product
* Usage of product
* Determine attack vectors
* Answer the list of questions described below.
* Prepare scenarios
* Sort scenarios on real life situations
* Prioritize scenarios (First passive attacks, DoS as last resort)
* Work out the scenarios
* Evaluation

## **Questions**

* What is it used for?
* What kind of operating system is running on the product?
* Which firmware version is the object running on?
* What kind of protocols does it use?
* What kind of hardware is needed for research?
  * Things to look out for when buying hardware.
* Are there any known vulnerabilities?
* How can you connect to the product/technology?
* Is it possible to interact with product/technology?

## **Tips**

* When buying hardware online from foreign countries expect longer delivery time.
* Hardware that is bought online from an untrusted source might not be as advertised.
* Organize the attack as well as possible. Create a step-by-step plan, perform preliminary research and simulate a similar situation (mocking).
* As soon as you start carrying out the attack, carefully consider which attack you are carrying out first. Starting with a DDoS is not the most convenient.
* Try to determine different attack vectors based on real life situation.