Is “consoling in” a generic umbrella term which VPN is only one method? (telnet being the other popular one i know)
is RDP a TYPE of RAT? how about VPN is that a RAT? is the VPN a network layer application whereas the RDP is an application on the application layer ?
All of this makes sense to me conceptually when I read about them seperately, but when it comes to putting them in a practical scenario it becomes a little convoluted.
I work and read about these all the time, but up to this point I have yet to come across an explaination that states this simply enough for me to fully grasp how and why they are different and used for different situations.
How can you put this in a way that when I repeat it to a 14 year old he would be able to fully understand the concept?
You would use a VPN tunnel (virtual private network) to get on their network. A VPN makes it seem like you’re physically sitting in their office and plugged into their internal network. You can then use RDP (Remote Desktop protocol) to access another computer. This will make it seem like you’re sitting down at a keyboard and mouse attached to that computer.
I wouldn’t say VPN is “consoling in”. A “console” is typically a terminal window or a command line interface. Think DOS-style. When you “console in”, you’re connecting from your computer to another computer, but it’s not generally synonymous with Remote Desktop because Remote Desktop gives you a desktop. Consoling in gives you a command line.
A VPN is also different from telnet. Telnet falls into the category of remote computer access, whereas VPN is remote network access. Telnet, SSH, RDP, and VNC (virtual network computing, a specific type of RDP) log you into a specific computer that is not your own. VPN just gets your own computer into their network. Telnet and SSH would be “consoling in”, whereas RDP and VNC would be Remote Desktop.
However, some people use “consoling in” as a generic term for any kind of administrative remote server access. You’ll get that a lot in computing, people sometimes get to the point where they understand the concepts well enough that they don’t bother using the proper terminology, they just expect people around them will understand.
RAT generally has a derogatory connotation, in my experience: it tends to mean a remote-access tool that’s intended to be installed and used without the machine owner’s consent or awareness. You can use RDP as a bad RAT (it doesn’t try to be stealthy), or a RAT as a bad replacement for RDP (it doesn’t try to be secure, and it targets the wrong features), but they’re generally not interchangeable words. A meatspace example might be the difference between “bodyguard” and “paparazzi”. They both follow you around, yes, but they tend to do different things.
A VPN is the virtual equivalent of physically walking to the right building and plugging into the network. RDP is the virtual equivalent of physically walking to the right computer and plugging in your keyboard and monitor to that computer. Most of the time, you aren’t able to reach the computer if you don’t have a key to get inside the building; similarly, most of the time, you aren’t able to RDP to a computer without VPNing to the network it’s on. (Occasionally there are servers with RDP exposed to the public internet, just like occasionally there are physical computers available just by walking up to them, at public libraries and things.)
“Consoling in” is indeed an umbrella term. You can console in to an individual machine via ssh, telnet, and RDP.
A VPN is a means of accessing a specific network space, such as an internal network.
RAT - Remote Access Tool* - malicious software designed to provide an attacker access to your machine. Not too different from RDP in concept. Very well may open port 3389 (RDP) to enable them to gain access.
Think of it like this: A VPN could be used to gain access to a companies internal (not web facing) network, and from there, you can use RDP, SSH, or telnet to access a specific machine on that network.
A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. This is basically the means by which you connect to their network. In easier terms, its an extension of the existing network to your location. By connecting to a VPN, it would be as if you are sitting in the building where the network is located.
Consoling in is a blanket term. Its just a generic way of saying connecting to a system. For instance, connecting via SSH, Telnet (Highly insecure), and even RDP.
I’ll give you an example of a real world scenario.
I used to work from home at my last company. I needed access to company servers, so I was allowed to connect to the company network via VPN, and then I could connect to our existing Linux and Windows servers by using SSH and RDP.
well I use rdp or vnc (lets say vnc is kind of like teamviewer/logmein, or ms remote assist, as you sit on top of the logged in users session) or IMM\ILO (this is a “lights out” technology which you can use if the pc is off). All of these can be used in deifferent practical ways:
rdp: if everything is working properly (authentication, DNS, AD, network). good to copy files to or from machine, good if you are the admin and you need to install stuff whilst the user is away.
vnc: good for assitance. helping people out when they are having trouble with something and you wantto see what they see
IMM: for when the above 2 dont work. a server cant be contacted, or its off or has blue screened/crashed.
Or telnet/ssh another good way when everything is working, but more linux/shell oriented cli
lets be clear about something an RAT is NOT a trojan. Even a completely legit piece of software like teamviewer is considered an RAT. I think there’s some confusion of the definition here. RAT’s are not all bad.