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Reddit mentions of Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking

Sentiment score: 21
Reddit mentions: 41

We found 41 Reddit mentions of Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking. Here are the top ones.

Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking
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Found 41 comments on Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking:

u/FunkyCannaHigh · 30 pointsr/MrRobot

Excellent questions! If you are a CS grad you are ahead of the game. However, it all depends on what you want to do. I suggested learning programming/CS principles for two reasons:

  1. The more you understand how computers, code, compliers, software, stacks, memory randomization, CPU protection rings, and the such work the better you are at hacking. You can find novel ways to get into systems and exploit them, etc.

  2. You can write basic tools on the fly. It is amazing the tools you can create with a few lines of code when you have access to nothing but a GCC compiler in a *nix environment.

    If you want to find zero day exploits, yes learn how low level languages work. It would be very helpful in that case.

    Otherwise, Learn python (or whatever is popular at the time) to write your own exploit tools....or to modify existing ones.


    If you want to be apart of a red team learning lower level languages could make you a better exploiter. However, IMO, I would start with just learning the basics of hacking.


    These two books are old but they are absolute standards for anyone starting off:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593271441/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_GYIACb1Z2YXFA

    And:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593275641/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_zZIACbMH0WTMP


    Also, learn as much as you can on how windows/Linux/virtual machines (and containers) work. The more you know about how an OS works the easier it is to exploit.

    Learn to exploit, there are a ton of free sites to help you learn:

    http://overthewire.org/wargames/


    https://www.cybrary.it



    www.vulnhub.com


    http://google-gruyere.appspot.com



    Learn CTF challenges:

    https://ctflearn.com


    When you are able to hack take part in real challenges:


    https://ctf365.com


    Then start your career with a RESPECTED CERT, OSCP:


    https://www.offensive-security.com/information-security-certifications/oscp-offensive-security-certified-professional/

    The OSCP is no joke and it is a timed, 24 hour cert test. Yes, you read that right, 24 hours.

    Unless you want a government gig stay away from C|EH, it is a joke cert in the community. Again, unless you need to work for a gov agency



    Finally, and I cannot stress this enough.....LEARN CLOUD COMPUTING!!! It is here to stay and on-prem systems are dying a slow death. It will change how you exploit systems and how software is engineered/deployed.

u/telnetrestart · 19 pointsr/blackhat

I'm taking it right now. The books I read through or started before the OSCP in no particular order:

u/lebootydestroyer · 15 pointsr/HowToHack

Learning to hack, with little knowledge of it, will be a journey. You have some background in CS which will definitely help.

Learning to hack, from scratch, is where things become difficult. Where do you start? How do you learn? Luckily there's a vast amount of resources to learn from online.

To start learning is a matter of what you prefer.

Like watching videos/lectures?
https://www.udemy.com/penetration-testing/
https://www.udemy.com/learn-ethical-hacking-from-scratch/

Prefer reading books on the subject?
https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641
https://www.amazon.com/Basics-Hacking-Penetration-Testing-Second/dp/0124116442

Most universities have Ethical Hacking / Cyber Security courses, can always check there.

I'd recommend learning Python, SSH, and the Linux Terminal in general to get started. But learning how those apply to hacking is a matter of learning and practice.

Hope this helped, and good luck!

u/polypeptide147 · 14 pointsr/HowToHack

Start here.

Read those left to right. You will learn a lot about networking, a lot about Python and how that is commonly used to hack, and then a lot about Kali Linux. You won't learn how to use the tools, but you will learn what they are.

I would also recommend "Operating System Concepts" but it is a bit pricey. I like that book because it doesn't teach you how to use a bunch of commands in linux, rather it teaches you how operating systems work and why they work that way. Very interesting, and there is an entire section on security. Also, "Penetration Testing" is a good one, and it is cheap too. You will learn how to use some Kali tools, but you'll also learn the important stuff. Buffer overflows and format string attacks are what you need to know how to do. You need to know how to look at and manipulate memory.

If you want to figure out how to do it yourself, read the first four books. If you want a step-by-step guide of exactly what to do, read the last book. It is also pretty important, IMHO, to know a bit about operating systems, but honestly you don't need that one. It just tells you why things are the way they are, which is sometimes helpful when you're like "oh I wonder if I can hack in like this" but then you remember that you could, but they changed it because you could.

Good luck on your endeavors!

Edit: I looked at the sidebar and it agrees with me about learning how OS's work. It says: I think the best place to start is to get a solid understanding of OS concepts first. The combo of Linux, C, and ASM are almost essential to really understanding how everything melts together. I like this resource: http://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page.

u/spidermesh · 11 pointsr/AskNetsec

As a pentester you would typically need to follow a methodology of some sort. Here is a well known one http://www.pentest-standard.org/index.php/Main_Page

Typically you would first enumerate all open tcp/udp ports using a port scanner such as nmap. Then you would analyze ports one by one to see if they contain any vulnerabilities. If it’s a service running an outdated version of a particular software you would look up exploit-db and see if there is a corresponding exploit. Then tweak it to give you reverse shell to your IP address in metasploit or netcat. If it’s a web service you would use web methodology such as the one from here https://jdow.io/blog/2018/03/18/web-application-penetration-testing-methodology/ to look for web vulnerabilities in the web application and attempt to gain a shell that way. After you get a shell you might be highest privileged user or you might need to escalate your privileges. If you are regular user you look for ways to escalate your privileges depending on operating system you are logged in to. Get hackthebox vip account because this will give you access to retired vms and especially windows.

The OSCP certification is pretty much is doing combination of the steps described above on multiple machines. There is a book which goes over this methodology as well https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641

Here is a great resource that many people use as a resource to study for OSCP as well https://xapax.gitbooks.io/security/content/
And if you search for oscp survival guide you can get additional resource to reference. Also rtfm is a good reference book as well.

Edit: here’s a good guide on using methodology with template you can import https://411hall.github.io/OSCP-Preparation/

u/B0b_Howard · 11 pointsr/netsecstudents

(re-comment of a re-comment of a re-comment but...)

One of the books I see come up time and again in recommendations for OSCP prep is Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking by Georgia Weidman.

She has also done a video series along the same lines as the book that is available for free from Cybrary.

u/BeanBagKing · 11 pointsr/HowToHack
  1. Code Academy has some free resources for getting started: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-the-command-line Overthewire is also usually recommended. Also, just start using Linux and google solutions as things come up that you don't know how to do. Regarding pentesting methods - There's a lot of resources out there, check the sidebar, but this book lays out the standard methods used: https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641 (you can probably find it cheaper with a no starch press discount code)
  2. WSL and python (or just python, but might as well get used to linux at the same time). Also, bash and powershell scripting.
  3. Yes, the book above isn't free, so like I said, sidebar and such. Ask for it for your birthday, do odd jobs, etc. You don't have to make things expensive, but you're eventually going to have to spend a little bit here and there.
  4. Anything. Kali is kind of the standard, which is basically Ubuntu Gnome (actually Debian based) with all the tools installed. Windows is good for some tools though, and just to learn the environment since Windows environments are typically the target.

    Also, second what /u/BigDaddyXXL said.
u/netscape101 · 7 pointsr/netsec

Learn sysadmin skills (linux sysadmin especially), learn to program in atleast one language can be anything: javascript or even python. Learn to hack web applications. Learn about infrastructure penetration testing. Have a look at hackerone.com and bugcrowd.com. Here are some guides to get your started:

Here is a copy paste of what I sent to another guy. Anyways here is my reading list: Check this too for practice: (List of vulnerable web applications that you can try on)https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Vulnerable_Web_Applications_Directory_Project Try hackerone and bugcrowd too. Live sites you can hack. Some Stuff to read: https://forum.bugcrowd.com/t/common-assessment-tool-cheatsheets/502 https://forum.bugcrowd.com/t/researcher-resources-tutorials/370 https://ghostbin.com/paste/5o5zc https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/4k7y0q/video_of_hack_on_catalan_police_union/ http://0x27.me/HackBack/0x00.txt https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3782hv/here_are_some_burp_suite_tutorials_for_you_guys/ Also read: 1. The Web Application Hacker's Handbook. (800 pages but just browser through it) 2. The Database Hackers's Handbook 3. Android Hacker's Handbook 4 . This book is good if you still very new: https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641 Also read this: https://www.owasp.org/images/5/52/OWASP_Testing_Guide_v4.pdf and this: https://github.com/jhaddix/tbhm Also check my subbreddit: /r/netsec_reading http://www.slideshare.net/bugcrowd/how-do-i-shot-web-jason-haddix-at-defcon-23 Some more blackhat stuff: https://ghostbin.com/paste/5o5zc https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/4k7y0q/video_of_hack_on_catalan_police_union/ http://0x27.me/HackBack/0x00.txt https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3782hv/here_are_some_burp_suite_tutorials_for_you_guys/

u/flexxoh · 6 pointsr/AskNetsec

https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641

IMO Georgia's book covers everything you'll need for the exam (specifically exploit development and POC modification).

The Metasploit book is cool, but since you don't really get to use it in the exam lab (you only get one Metasploit "lifeline" to use) it may not be worth picking up right now.

u/CrisisJake · 6 pointsr/ITCareerQuestions

I agree with what the others have said.

However, I'll give you some more direction and encouragement. I'm sort of in a similar position as you (except I'm a senior, and have a few years experience working with systems and networking) who is also looking at Security-focused internships.

The CompTIA certificates are okay, especially as a beginner, but they don't hold much weight. They're great for laying down foundational knowledge, and maybe helping you get an interview, but beyond that, they won't do much else.

If I were in your position, I would put my study time into getting the OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional). This thing is intimidating. It's one of the harder certificates to get in the industry, and the main reason for that is the exam is a rigorous 24 hour pentest. The payoff is worth it though; the OSCP has an overwhelmingly positive reputation in the industry (don't take my word for it, read up on other's opinions of it). This certificate doesn't expire, and it's something that can help you in your career further down the road (unlike the CompTIA certs). The biggest reason I'm mentioning it is because you can start as a total noob and still pass the exam (all you need is a basic understanding of networking and somewhat familiarity with linux) - be prepared to spend 300-400 hours in a lab environment until you get to that point, though. Start out with the Georgia Weidman book to see it it interests you, if so, go for it and don't look back. Even if you apply to non-offensive/blue team security positions, the OSCP will still put you and your resume near the top of the stack.

As your interest progresses in the Security industry, know that it's essential to have a thorough understanding of systems and networking - and how everything connects to each other.

Best of luck!

u/recrudesce · 5 pointsr/HowToHack

Came here to say the same thing; you don't NEED Kali to pentest, it's really mostly used because it has a lot of tools already included. You can test from a Windows box if you really wanted to.

Kali won't magically make you a pentester, nor will it teach you how to be one as it's just a bundle of tools - there's no tutorials included with those tools. Read Hackers Playbook 2 and Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking and do some vulnerable VM's from places like Vulnhub

u/JasonCarnell · 5 pointsr/AskNetsec

Part of me wants to say just do it. The course starts at a beginner level, but bear in mind that most people, myself included spend between 2-4 weeks of the precious lab time doing the course. Unfortunately there is no way to get the course material ahead of time, so factor that in when choosing how much lab time to prepare.

Having said that, I highly recommend reading Georgia Weidman’s book prior as this covers a lot of the same material as the PWK and is a great way to prep for the coursework so some of the ideas presented are not completely new to you

https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641

Depending on your ease with programming, you may want to bone up on some python fundamentals as well. I did about 1/4 of this Udemy course before starting

https://www.udemy.com/the-modern-python3-bootcamp/learn/lecture/7991038#overview

Here’s a great guide from Abatchy on OSCP Prep, although a lot of the stuff he discusses in the guide are covered in the OSCP course

https://www.abatchy.com/2017/03/how-to-prepare-for-pwkoscp-noob.html

There is also a YouTuber named IPPSEC that does video walkthroughs for retired Hackthebox machines. some of the machines are very CTF like, so Just watch the OSCP Like ones in this playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLidcsTyj9JXK-fnabFLVEvHinQ14Jy5tf

Finally, if your willing to shell out some money, 30 days on Virtualhackinglabs.com is a great way to practice. Their course is very OSCP like and a good way to jump right in.

https://www.virtualhackinglabs.com

Of course Hackthebox is always a great resource to practice your pwnage skills.

https://www.hackthebox.eu

Don’t feel like you have to do ALL of this before the OSCP, the list I gave is pretty much every resource outside of the PWK course I used to pass the exam.

If you only did one thing before you start the course, Definitely read Georgia’s book. Everything else can be used in conjunction with the course if you need extra help.


There is also an active discord channel for PWK students, use it!

u/korben996 · 5 pointsr/ApplyingToCollege

My advice? Enjoy your summer. It's one of the last times in your life that you'll genuinely have very little to no responsibilities. The field of CS is very much about learning on your own as an autodidact, so if for some reason you're getting bored doing teenage girl things there are plenty of resources out there to learn CS topics from.

I would focus on these rather than a formal, guided summer program because in your CS career you're likely not going to have the opportunity to have a guided internship every time you need to learn something new. Not to mention you're going to have a hard time finding an internship as a prefrosh since even freshmen/sophomores are looked over in favor of more experienced candidates. Some of these sites I've listed below offer certificates of completion, especially the MOOC-type courses, if for some reason you need vindication of your efforts. Lynda I believe offers their entire collection free through many local libraries. If your local library doesn't have a relationship, try other libraries in other counties or parts of your state.

Other than that, do your best to absorb as much programming knowledge as you can as it will be immensely helpful in your studies. As you learn, try to learn what really interests you in the field of CS (cybersecurity, machine learning, AI, robotics, data science/databases, or maybe you just turn out to really, really like coding) so you can make it a specialty. The field of CS pays enormous dividends when you specialize into things. It's these types of niche consultants that can demand $100-200/hr and get handsomely rewarded.

Oh, and think about subscribing to these subreddits, you might find them useful:

/r/cscareerquestions
/r/learnprogramming
/r/netsecstudents
/r/sysadmin
/r/ITCareerQuestions

If you enjoy programming:

u/BlastedInTheFace · 4 pointsr/AskNetsec

No. If it were so easy, pentesters wouldn't get pais so much to do it. That being said, start here

u/sephstorm · 4 pointsr/army

Buy this book. Get your security+. Where do you want to live when you get out and what do you want to do? You are not likely to jump directly into pentesting unless you move to VA/MD and even that is unlikely IMO.

After Sec+ get your CEH, eCPPT, OSCP, and GPEN in that general order. That will get you where you need to be to get seriously looked at. As far as what you should be doing in the meantime, SOC work is generally open to newbies while you study through the above. If you PM me with your timeframe and keep in touch I can probably help you out with jobs.

u/Bilbo_Fraggins · 4 pointsr/netsec

It doesn't do anything you don't tell it to. You can tell it to do a lot.

I'd recommend testing the wifi stuff out at home with some old APs, or something like range-box (image here). Other features can be tested with VMs in virtualbox.

Metasploit unleashed or Penetration Testing have some decent suggestions about building test machines (as well as directions for some of the tools of course).

u/Secure4Fun · 3 pointsr/AskNetsec

The book "Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking" by Georgia Weidman isn't free, but it's low cost and will give you the same information that PWK course materials provides, and a lot more. https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503490444&sr=8-1&keywords=georgia+weidman+pentesting

For completely free training, search around Vulnhub for targets to go after. Plenty of lists on the internet about which ones are similar to the OSCP lab machines.

u/lortik · 3 pointsr/AskNetsec

I wouldn't say this a good training book as it's just a list of commands that can be used as a reference for those who already know what they're doing but need to job their memory.

I'd say look at Metasploit The Penetration Testers Guide or Georgia's book Penetration Testing A Hands On Introduction to Hacking to get started off.

u/Jurph · 3 pointsr/netsecstudents

Get a copy of Georgia Weidman's Penetration Testing and work through the exercises with the class. I think there's a way to order the book and get several PDF copies for classroom use; you could also contact Ms. Weidman on twitter and see if she'd let you do a bulk order at a discount.

Talk to the campus cyber-security rep and see if he or she would give your club access to the latest image file they're using on campus, so you can use that as a target in a VM. Vulnerability reporting should be a negotiated part of that deal -- you get the image, with the understanding that any vulns you find get reported internally.

Similarly, you could war-walk the campus and see how many unsecured or poorly secured WiFi networks you can find. If you can get on the network and then pivot to the access point you can change the SSID to "NETWORK_NAME (weak passwd)" or use your access to ID the network owner and notify them that their network's not secure. But make sure you have permission from whoever the campus ISP is before you do that -- the last thing you want is for some kid whose dad is a lawyer to sue you guys, or angrily demand that the school kick you out.

Also, if anyone in the club is planning to do work for the Federal government or other work requiring a security clearance, make sure that all of your work is strictly white-hat. Unauthorized access to any computer system, or access without consent of the owner, could potentially disqualify you from getting a clearance.

Once your team builds up a baseline set of skills you might want to see if you can start attending events for the CCDC.

u/maharajuu · 3 pointsr/oscp

There's a ton of resources online for OSCP. Check out abatchy's prep guide: https://www.abatchy.com/2017/03/how-to-prepare-for-pwkoscp-noob.html?m=1.

Some VMs to practise on:

(#1) Kioptrix: 2014 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/kioptrix-2014-5,62/

(#2) FristiLeaks: 1.3 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/fristileaks-13,133/

(#3) Stapler: 1 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/stapler-1,150/

(#4) VulnOS: 2 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/vulnos-2,147/

(#5) SickOs: 1.2 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/sickos-12,144/

(#6) Brainpan: 1 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/brainpan-1,51/

(#7) HackLAB: Vulnix https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/hacklab-vulnix,48/

(#8) /dev/random: scream https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/devrandom-scream,47/

(#9) pWnOS: 2.0 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/pwnos-20-pre-release,34/

(#10) SkyTower: 1 https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/skytower-1,96/


A really good book for OSCP prep:
Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking

u/proverbialbunny · 3 pointsr/cscareerquestions

There are books specifically on the subject that teach you everything you want to know. eg, https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641

I'd also recommend getting familiar with Linux. Most of the industry is beefed up sys admins / dev ops, that enjoy doing the more QA-like work of pentesting. It's not just knowing web pages, it's knowing the system too.

Also, go to security conferences.

u/StoveyJ · 3 pointsr/HowToHack

One option is to just jump in at the deep end. Buy this book - https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641 and follow along.

You might need to Google a few things you don't understand along the way but YouTube will almost certainly have a few 'explainer' videos for concepts you're not familiar with.

u/Cerkoryn · 2 pointsr/cscareerquestions

Your most important starting step is to make sure that you have the foundational knowledge, at least at a conceptual level. I'm a big fan of books, so I would recommend a few to you.

Pick ONE of these. Exam is not necessary, but recommended:
Mike Meyers CompTIA Network+ All-in-One Exam Guide
Todd Lammle's CCENT Study Guide - ICND1

Pick ONE of these. Pay attention to business terminology as well. Again, exam is not necessary, but recommended:
Mike Meyers CompTIA Security+ Certification - SY0-501
CompTIA Security+ All-in-One Exam Guide
Darril Gibson SSCP All-in-One Exam Guide

100% read this. It's the Bible of Python scripting. Second edition is brand spanking new too:
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

This is a good all-around Penetration Testing book that teaches Linux too. You don't *have* to use Kali, Ubuntu is probably less intimidating to those new to Linux, but you will have to install your own software/packages. This is the only book on this list I haven't read, but I often see it recommended:
Penetration Testing: A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking

While you read these books, you should install some kind of Linux distro on a home computer and use it for practice. I would also recommend doing HackTheBox(first challenge is to hack the login page) and starting with the easy boxes. Do as much as you can on your own first, but if you get stuck, watch IppSec's YouTube walk-through for the box you are on. Might be a bit overwhelming until you get through most of the books on that list though.

You should also start looking towards either the eJPT/eCPPT, the OSCP, or GPEN at this point, as those are the best value certifications in this field and will hold a lot of weight at an interview. There's some stigma with certifications in IT/CS, but the ones I listed are all baseline knowledge and/or high value for those in this field. At the very least the knowledge will go far. But definitely avoid anything from EC-Council like the plague.

u/konukoii · 2 pointsr/Hacking_Tutorials

Penetration Testing by Georgia Weidman is a pretty decent place to start. It goes through the basics of a simple pentest and does a good job in conveing the 'hacker' mentality.

u/ITestPenetration · 2 pointsr/security

Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking by Georgia Weidman is similar to the OSCP syllabus and a good introduction.

The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Finding and Exploiting Security Flaws 2E is the web application hacking bible.

Don't take any shortcuts, if you don't understand any topics read around them and make sure you do - that is usually a good start.

u/GimmeThaShekels · 2 pointsr/oscp

For your specific situation I would highly recommend purchasing Georgia Weidman's book and working through it with a new kali.
You will learn an inordinate amount simply from fixing the broken packages and commands. Aside from this the exercises are very similar to the lab material.

​

https://www.amazon.com.au/Penetration-Testing-GEORGIA-WEIDMAN/dp/1593275641/ref=asc_df_1593275641/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341743255824&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=264966838417540078&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9070776&hvtargid=pla-433822384008&psc=1

u/eagle2120 · 2 pointsr/ITCareerQuestions

I’ve been working on this for a while, so I might as well drop it here. It should provide an authoritative answer for “How do I get started in CyberSecurity”

Before I get started, there are a few things I need to explain about cybersecurity - There are a ton of different areas of “CyberSecurity”.

This post is specifically catered around the core concepts of cybersecurity.

The most basic thing you need to understand about cybersecurity: It revolves around stuff communicating with other stuff. Anything from side-channel attacks to large-scale DDoS’ - stuff is insecure because stuff communicates with other stuff. Communication can be hard understand and even harder to define (let alone secure). I know this is a very vague statement, but it’s one of the core, fundamental concepts of cybersecurity.

The second most basic thing about cybersecurity you need to understand - “hacking” (I hate that word) as it’s known is not some bond-villain type activity. It’s intentionally mis-using something that already exists in a way that introduces a security flaw into the environment. Sometimes the right circumstances line up and this flaw can be leveraged into something, but sometimes it can’t.

I split up my resources into offensive-based and defensive-based because it’s important for you to understand that while each of these groups are individually important, each knowledge area is not as effective without the an understanding of the other one.

One other thing to note - Certifications are great, but you need to de-couple the idea that certifications=knowledge/skills in this field. There are certainly certifications that break out of that mold, but for the most part, this holds true. I’ve ordered them in the order in which I used/learned with these resources, so you can follow-along directly in order (if you want to). I learned offense first, so that’s the way I’m laying it out here.


Offensive-Based:


I started my career in InfoSec by studying for the most basic, foundational certification: The Security+. This is the best beginner-level cert that says “I know something about security.”

I learned by going through Professor Messer’s entire course, and I felt pretty ready after I went through it all. Here’s the link to his Sec+ course

Now, lets get into some practical stuff. OverTheWire. These are war-games, or CTF’s - challenges designed to test your practical ability in security, but also designed to help you learn new things. CTF’s are the absolute best way I’ve found to learn security. Here’s the link to OverTheWire in case Google is down. If you get stuck, here are some helpful write-up’s.

Do them in this order:

  • Bandit
  • Leviathan
  • Natas
  • Narnia.

    At this point, you should be set to start with the books and Hacking Labs.

  • Penetration Testing (Book, Follow-along labs)


  • Hacking, the Art of Exploitation (2nd Edition, Book, follow-along labs)


    At this point, I’d recommend going for another certification - CEH. Once you have the CEH, you’re ready to move into more practical-based certifications. Here's what I used to learn and practice the CEH:

    Now, lets get into some more practical exploitation. PentesterLabs focuses a bit more on WebApp stuff, but I’ve found its the best intro-environment (as it is relatively scripted scenarios, and you don’t have to do as much recon). They're fairly explanatory, and will walk you through the solution if you get stuck.

  • PentesterLabs


    Next, lets get into HackTheBox (Exploitable virtual machines, ranging in difficulty. You’re going in mostly blind here, so you have to do your own recon and enumeration): HackTheBox

    Here are some helpful write-ups (Written Explanations):

  • GitHub

  • 0xRick Webiste

    Also, there’s some super awesome video explanations by IppSec


    After you get through most of these, you should be set to start on your OSCP. The OSCP contains a course (Penetration Testing with Kali), a lab environment (~50-60 vulnerable boxes), and a practical lab test at the end. OSCP

    After you’ve completed the OSCP, then you have enough knowledge to continue directly down the cert path, and the courses (in combination with the certs) put out by Offensive Security contain enough good content to where you don’t have to study other resources. The certification path from here on out splits into two different areas: Technical, and management.

  • Technical:
    • OSCE (OSCP 2, basically)
    • OSWE (OSCP but for web exploitation)
    • OSEE (OSCP 3, really fucking hard).

      If you’re at this point, getting past the OSEE, you can pretty much walk into any offensive-based job, slap you’re cert on the table, and they’ll hire you. You don’t need my help anymore here.

      Now, here's the management path:

  • Management:
    • CISSP
    • PMP
    • MBA

      Having the technical background of the OSCP, plus a CISSP, PMP, and MBA would create an extremely potent executive - one who can understand the technical details and risk, and who then could translate that into verbiage that other executives could understand.


      So, you’re overall standard security offensive certification path should look something like:

  • Security+
  • CEH
  • OSCP
  • OSCE
  • OSWE
  • OSEE

    OR

  • Security+
  • CEH
  • OSCP
  • CISSP
  • PMP
  • MBA

    Now, for the Defensive-based side.
u/_o7 · 2 pointsr/HowToHack

> Advanced pentesting also seems interesting, since it looks like they go over things like buffer overflows and such.

That course is actually following this book, Penetration Testing: A hands on introduction to Hacking. The course author is also the author of the book.

The malware analysis course isn't bad, it gives some good basics information, but Practical Malware Analysis would be a better way of going about it.

u/pres82 · 2 pointsr/AskNetsec

I may be a bit too harsh, I admit. I'm a jaded tech douche. But consider this....

>This is the worlds most advanced ethical hacking course with 18 of the most current security domains any ethical hacker will ever want to know when they are planning to beef up the information security posture of their organization.

>In short, you walk out the door with hacking skills that are highly in demand, as well as the internationally recognized Certified Ethical Hacker certification!

This is directly from their website. I feel like they make some pretty bold claims there. My instructor was, overall, a pretty solid guy. But my qualms were with the 3rd-party training facility, (my employer had made me do this as OSCP wasn't recognized by the client I was working with), as well as the material. I felt that EC misled people taking the course by what skills they would gain and that it also misleads others by what cert holders are capable of.

But I think we get off of topic - I would suggest that a better book for someone is this.

Maybe v9 is very different. I had several EC Certs as I was once subject to the DoD 8570. But I let them expire as I have several issues with EC Council. One of which being you need 120 CPEs annually. Taking another one of their certifications, gives you a full 120. But discovering a vulnerability is only 5 CPEs. (What?!)

u/everythingmalware · 2 pointsr/AskNetsec

Not all will be. Metasploitable comes in a vm. I believe Damn Vulnerably Linux (DVL) is a live cd. DVL is discontinued though so its hard to find.

You could always install vulnerable services yourself and try breaking into them. Check out NVD for vulnerabilities in software. There are also tons of resources out there to learn, some free, some not. For example, Metasploit Unleashed is a good free resource. There are also many books such as An Introduction to Penetration Testing and Metasploit.

Please also remember to keep what ever you do legal. Do not attempt to break into systems unless you have permission from the owner or you own it, etc, etc. This is why I recommended vms. It is easy to keep all pen testing in an isolated environment.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/AskNetsec

Well give CISSP a wide birth as it's not what you want.

If you just want to get a simple over view to understand some basic concepts then 'Learn Ethical Hacking from Scratch' is available as an Ebook/Book from Packtpub and there's an accompanying course on Udemy.

https://www.packtpub.com/networking-and-servers/learn-ethical-hacking-scratch

https://www.udemy.com/learn-ethical-hacking-from-scratch/

Both are on special offer regularly and will just scratch the surface of some concepts and tools just to give you a taste for it.

Another good beginnner resource is Georgia Weidman's 'Penetration Testing: a Hands-on introduction to hacking'

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641

and she has a course on Cybrary which I believe follows on from that book:

https://www.cybrary.it/course/advanced-penetration-testing/

​

Good luck!

u/FuzzyPickles02 · 1 pointr/Pentesting

OP, get this book. It’s a great starting point. Hands on approach to setting up a home lab and using common pen test tools.
Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593275641/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3MvcBbZFM0P1R

u/icarrysig · 1 pointr/hacking

OK. If you can get to civilization, you might find this useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Penetration-Testing-Hands-Introduction-Hacking/dp/1593275641/

u/token_negro · 1 pointr/CompTIA

Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593275641/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_h4oYAbTMDV0T3

I personally think it doesn't go into enough detail, which I suppose is to be expected for an introductory book that covers an absolutely massive subject. It doesn't help that there's not much info out there so I'm kinda flying blind.

I have a Safari Books subscription through my job so I'm trying to supplement it with CEH resources I find.

u/silicon_w01f · 0 pointsr/cybersecurity

This is a really good book to get you started in the right direction.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1593275641/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nyhaCbJ417EY0

By the time you've finished the Napier degree you'll be in a very good place with the addition of a couple of certifications such as CISSP. It's not actually that great a course but it appears on a lot of job requirements.