A hands-on guide to hacking computer systems from the ground up, from capturing traffic to crafting sneaky, successful trojans. A crash course in modern hacking techniques, Ethical Hacking is already being used to prepare the next generation of offensive security experts. In its many hands-on labs, you’ll explore crucial skills for any aspiring penetration tester, security researcher, or malware analyst. You’ll begin with the basics: capturing a victim’s network traffic with an ARP spoofing attack and then viewing it in Wireshark. From there, you’ll deploy reverse shells that let you remotely run commands on a victim’s computer, encrypt files by writing your own ransomware in Python, and fake emails like the ones used in phishing attacks. In advanced chapters, you’ll learn how to fuzz for new vulnerabilities, craft trojans and rootkits, exploit websites with SQL injection, and escalate your privileges to extract credentials, which you’ll use to traverse a private network. You’ll work with a wide range of professional penetration testing tools—and learn to write your own tools in Python—as you practice tasks like: • Deploying the Metasploit framework’s reverse shells and embedding them in innocent-seeming files • Capturing passwords in a corporate Windows network using Mimikatz • Scanning (almost) every device on the internet to find potential victims • Installing Linux rootkits that modify a victim’s operating system • Performing advanced Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks that execute sophisticated JavaScript payloads Along the way, you’ll gain a foundation in the relevant computing technologies. Discover how advanced fuzzers work behind the scenes, learn how internet traffic gets encrypted, explore the inner mechanisms of nation-state malware like Drovorub, and much more. Developed with feedback from cybersecurity students, Ethical Hacking addresses contemporary issues in the field not often covered in other books and will prepare you for a career in penetration testing. Most importantly, you’ll be able to think like an ethical hacker⁠: someone who can carefully analyze systems and creatively gain access to them.

This book explains the methodologies, framework, and "unwritten conventions" that ethical hacks should employ to provide the maximum value to organizations that want to harden their security. It goes beyond the technical aspects of penetration testing to address the processes and rules of engagement for successful tests. The text examines testing from a strategic perspective to show how testing ramifications affect an entire organization. Security practitioners can use this book to reduce their exposure and deliver better service, while organizations will learn how to align the information about tools, techniques, and vulnerabilities that they gather from testing with their business objectives.

In an effort to create a secure computing platform, computer security has become increasingly important over the last several years. It is imperative to know the right tools and resources to use so that you can better protect your system from becoming the victim of attacks. Understanding the nature of things like file encryption, firewall, and viruses help you make your system more secure.

The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing, Second Edition, serves as an introduction to the steps required to complete a penetration test or perform an ethical hack from beginning to end. The book teaches students how to properly utilize and interpret the results of the modern-day hacking tools required to complete a penetration test. It provides a simple and clean explanation of how to effectively utilize these tools, along with a four-step methodology for conducting a penetration test or hack, thus equipping students with the know-how required to jump start their careers and gain a better understanding of offensive security.Each chapter contains hands-on examples and exercises that are designed to teach learners how to interpret results and utilize those results in later phases. Tool coverage includes: Backtrack Linux, Google reconnaissance, MetaGooFil, dig, Nmap, Nessus, Metasploit, Fast Track Autopwn, Netcat, and Hacker Defender rootkit. This is complemented by PowerPoint slides for use in class.This book is an ideal resource for security consultants, beginning InfoSec professionals, and students. - Each chapter contains hands-on examples and exercises that are designed to teach you how to interpret the results and utilize those results in later phases - Written by an author who works in the field as a Penetration Tester and who teaches Offensive Security, Penetration Testing, and Ethical Hacking, and Exploitation classes at Dakota State University - Utilizes the Kali Linux distribution and focuses on the seminal tools required to complete a penetration test

Requiring no prior hacking experience, Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Guide supplies a complete introduction to the steps required to complete a penetration test, or ethical hack, from beginning to end. You will learn how to properly utilize and interpret the results of modern-day hacking tools, which are required to complete a penetration test. The book covers a wide range of tools, including Backtrack Linux, Google reconnaissance, MetaGooFil, dig, Nmap, Nessus, Metasploit, Fast Track Autopwn, Netcat, and Hacker Defender rootkit. Supplying a simple and clean explanation of how to effectively utilize these tools, it details a four-step methodology for conducting an effective penetration test or hack.Providing an accessible introduction to penetration testing and hacking, the book supplies you with a fundamental understanding of offensive security. After completing the book you will be prepared to take on in-depth and advanced topics in hacking and penetration testing. The book walks you through each of the steps and tools in a structured, orderly manner allowing you to understand how the output from each tool can be fully utilized in the subsequent phases of the penetration test. This process will allow you to clearly see how the various tools and phases relate to each other. An ideal resource for those who want to learn about ethical hacking but don‘t know where to start, this book will help take your hacking skills to the next level. The topics described in this book comply with international standards and with what is being taught in international certifications.

JUMPSTART YOUR NEW AND EXCITING CAREER AS A PENETRATION TESTER The Pentester BluePrint: Your Guide to Being a Pentester offers readers a chance to delve deeply into the world of the ethical, or "white-hat" hacker. Accomplished pentester and author Phillip L. Wylie and cybersecurity researcher Kim Crawley walk you through the basic and advanced topics necessary to understand how to make a career out of finding vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications. You'll learn about the role of a penetration tester, what a pentest involves, and the prerequisite knowledge you'll need to start the educational journey of becoming a pentester. Discover how to develop a plan by assessing your current skillset and finding a starting place to begin growing your knowledge and skills. Finally, find out how to become employed as a pentester by using social media, networking strategies, and community involvement. Perfect for IT workers and entry-level information security professionals, The Pentester BluePrint also belongs on the bookshelves of anyone seeking to transition to the exciting and in-demand field of penetration testing. Written in a highly approachable and accessible style, The Pentester BluePrint avoids unnecessarily technical lingo in favor of concrete advice and practical strategies to help you get your start in pentesting. This book will teach you: The foundations of pentesting, including basic IT skills like operating systems, networking, and security systems The development of hacking skills and a hacker mindset Where to find educational options, including college and university classes, security training providers, volunteer work, and self-study Which certifications and degrees are most useful for gaining employment as a pentester How to get experience in the pentesting field, including labs, CTFs, and bug bounties

Learn how to hack systems like black hat hackers and secure them like security experts Key Features Understand how computer systems work and their vulnerabilities Exploit weaknesses and hack into machines to test their security Learn how to secure systems from hackers Book Description This book starts with the basics of ethical hacking, how to practice hacking safely and legally, and how to install and interact with Kali Linux and the Linux terminal. You will explore network hacking, where you will see how to test the security of wired and wireless networks. You’ll also learn how to crack the password for any Wi-Fi network (whether it uses WEP, WPA, or WPA2) and spy on the connected devices. Moving on, you will discover how to gain access to remote computer systems using client-side and server-side attacks. You will also get the hang of post-exploitation techniques, including remotely controlling and interacting with the systems that you compromised. Towards the end of the book, you will be able to pick up web application hacking techniques. You'll see how to discover, exploit, and prevent a number of website vulnerabilities, such as XSS and SQL injections. The attacks covered are practical techniques that work against real systems and are purely for educational purposes. At the end of each section, you will learn how to detect, prevent, and secure systems from these attacks. What you will learn Understand ethical hacking and the different fields and types of hackers Set up a penetration testing lab to practice safe and legal hacking Explore Linux basics, commands, and how to interact with the terminal Access password-protected networks and spy on connected clients Use server and client-side attacks to hack and control remote computers Control a hacked system remotely and use it to hack other systems Discover, exploit, and prevent a number of web application vulnerabilities such as XSS and SQL injections Who this book is for Learning Ethical Hacking from Scratch is for anyone interested in learning how to hack and test the security of systems like professional hackers and security experts.