Penetration Testing Essentials

Your pen testing career begins here, with a solid foundation in essential skills and concepts Penetration Testing Essentials provides a starting place for professionals and beginners looking to learn more about penetration testing for cybersecurity. Certification eligibility requires work experience—but before you get that experience, you need a basic understanding of the technical and behavioral ways attackers compromise security, and the tools and techniques you'll use to discover the weak spots before others do. You'll learn information gathering techniques, scanning and enumeration, how to target wireless networks, and much more as you build your pen tester skill set. You'll learn how to break in, look around, get out, and cover your tracks, all without ever being noticed. Pen testers are tremendously important to data security, so they need to be sharp and well-versed in technique, but they also need to work smarter than the average hacker. This book set you on the right path, with expert instruction from a veteran IT security expert with multiple security certifications. IT Security certifications have stringent requirements and demand a complex body of knowledge. This book lays the groundwork for any IT professional hoping to move into a cybersecurity career by developing a robust pen tester skill set. Learn the fundamentals of security and cryptography Master breaking, entering, and maintaining access to a system Escape and evade detection while covering your tracks Build your pen testing lab and the essential toolbox Start developing the tools and mindset you need to become experienced in pen testing today.

If you are a Python programmer or a security researcher who has basic knowledge of Python programming and want to learn about penetration testing with the help of Python, this book is ideal for you. Even if you are new to the field of ethical hacking, this book can help you find the vulnerabilities in your system so that you are ready to tackle any kind of attack or intrusion.

This book gives you the skills you need to use Python for penetration testing, with the help of detailed code examples. This book has been updated for Python 3.6.3 and Kali Linux 2018.1. Key Features Detect and avoid various attack types that put the privacy of a system at risk Leverage Python to build efficient code and eventually build a robust environment Learn about securing wireless applications and information gathering on a web server Book Description This book gives you the skills you need to use Python for penetration testing (pentesting), with the help of detailed code examples. We start by exploring the basics of networking with Python and then proceed to network hacking. Then, you will delve into exploring Python libraries to perform various types of pentesting and ethical hacking techniques. Next, we delve into hacking the application layer, where we start by gathering information from a website. We then move on to concepts related to website hacking—such as parameter tampering, DDoS, XSS, and SQL injection. By reading this book, you will learn different techniques and methodologies that will familiarize you with Python pentesting techniques, how to protect yourself, and how to create automated programs to find the admin console, SQL injection, and XSS attacks. What you will learn The basics of network pentesting including network scanning and sniffing Wireless, wired attacks, and building traps for attack and torrent detection Web server footprinting and web application attacks, including the XSS and SQL injection attack Wireless frames and how to obtain information such as SSID, BSSID, and the channel number from a wireless frame using a Python script The importance of web server signatures, email gathering, and why knowing the server signature is the first step in hacking Who this book is for If you are a Python programmer, a security researcher, or an ethical hacker and are interested in penetration testing with the help of Python, then this book is for you. Even if you are new to the field of ethical hacking, this book can help you find the vulnerabilities in your system so that you are ready to tackle any kind of attack or intrusion.

The perfect introduction to pen testing for all IT professionals and students · Clearly explains key concepts, terminology, challenges, tools, and skills · Covers the latest penetration testing standards from NSA, PCI, and NIST Welcome to today’s most useful and practical introduction to penetration testing. Chuck Easttom brings together up-to-the-minute coverage of all the concepts, terminology, challenges, and skills you’ll need to be effective. Drawing on decades of experience in cybersecurity and related IT fields, Easttom integrates theory and practice, covering the entire penetration testing life cycle from planning to reporting. You’ll gain practical experience through a start-to-finish sample project relying on free open source tools. Throughout, quizzes, projects, and review sections deepen your understanding and help you apply what you’ve learned. Including essential pen testing standards from NSA, PCI, and NIST, Penetration Testing Fundamentals will help you protect your assets–and expand your career options. LEARN HOW TO · Understand what pen testing is and how it’s used · Meet modern standards for comprehensive and effective testing · Review cryptography essentials every pen tester must know · Perform reconnaissance with Nmap, Google searches, and ShodanHq · Use malware as part of your pen testing toolkit · Test for vulnerabilities in Windows shares, scripts, WMI, and the Registry · Pen test websites and web communication · Recognize SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks · Scan for vulnerabilities with OWASP ZAP, Vega, Nessus, and MBSA · Identify Linux vulnerabilities and password cracks · Use Kali Linux for advanced pen testing · Apply general hacking technique ssuch as fake Wi-Fi hotspots and social engineering · Systematically test your environment with Metasploit · Write or customize sophisticated Metasploit exploits

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.

Kali Linux is the most popular distribution dedicated to penetration testing that includes a set of free, open source tools. This book introduces you to wireless penetration testing and describes how to conduct its various phases. After showing you how to install Kali Linux on your laptop, you will verify the requirements of the wireless adapter and configure it. Next, the book covers the wireless LAN reconnaissance phase, explains the WEP and WPA/WPA2 security protocols and demonstrates practical attacks against them using the tools provided in Kali Linux, Aircrack-ng in particular. You will then discover the advanced and latest attacks targeting access points and wireless clients and learn how to create a professionally written and effective report.

Your pen testing career begins here, with a solid foundation in essential skills and concepts Penetration Testing Essentials provides a starting place for professionals and beginners looking to learn more about penetration testing for cybersecurity. Certification eligibility requires work experience—but before you get that experience, you need a basic understanding of the technical and behavioral ways attackers compromise security, and the tools and techniques you'll use to discover the weak spots before others do. You'll learn information gathering techniques, scanning and enumeration, how to target wireless networks, and much more as you build your pen tester skill set. You'll learn how to break in, look around, get out, and cover your tracks, all without ever being noticed. Pen testers are tremendously important to data security, so they need to be sharp and well-versed in technique, but they also need to work smarter than the average hacker. This book set you on the right path, with expert instruction from a veteran IT security expert with multiple security certifications. IT Security certifications have stringent requirements and demand a complex body of knowledge. This book lays the groundwork for any IT professional hoping to move into a cybersecurity career by developing a robust pen tester skill set. Learn the fundamentals of security and cryptography Master breaking, entering, and maintaining access to a system Escape and evade detection while covering your tracks Build your pen testing lab and the essential toolbox Start developing the tools and mindset you need to become experienced in pen testing today.

Your pen testing career begins here, with a solid foundation in essential skills and concepts Penetration Testing Essentials provides a starting place for professionals and beginners looking to learn more about penetration testing for cybersecurity. Certification eligibility requires work experience—but before you get that experience, you need a basic understanding of the technical and behavioral ways attackers compromise security, and the tools and techniques you'll use to discover the weak spots before others do. You'll learn information gathering techniques, scanning and enumeration, how to target wireless networks, and much more as you build your pen tester skill set. You'll learn how to break in, look around, get out, and cover your tracks, all without ever being noticed. Pen testers are tremendously important to data security, so they need to be sharp and well-versed in technique, but they also need to work smarter than the average hacker. This book set you on the right path, with expert instruction from a veteran IT security expert with multiple security certifications. IT Security certifications have stringent requirements and demand a complex body of knowledge. This book lays the groundwork for any IT professional hoping to move into a cybersecurity career by developing a robust pen tester skill set. Learn the fundamentals of security and cryptography Master breaking, entering, and maintaining access to a system Escape and evade detection while covering your tracks Build your pen testing lab and the essential toolbox Start developing the tools and mindset you need to become experienced in pen testing today.