Penetration Testing Fundamentals

Thousands of organizations are recognizing the crucial role of penetration testing in protecting their networks and digital assets. In some industries, "pentesting" is now an absolute requirement. This is the first systematic guidebook for the growing number of security professionals and students who want to master the discipline and techniques of penetration testing. Leading security expert, researcher, instructor, and author Chuck Easttom II has brought together all the essential knowledge in a single comprehensive guide that covers the entire penetration testing lifecycle. Easttom integrates concepts, terminology, challenges, and theory, and walks you through every step, from planning to effective post-test reporting. He presents a start-to-finish sample project relying on free open source tools, as well as quizzes, labs, and review sections throughout. Penetration Testing Fundamentals is also the only book to cover pentesting standards from NSA, PCI, and NIST. You don't need any prior pentesting knowledge to succeed with this practical guide: by the time you're finished, you'll have all the skills you need to conduct reliable, professional penetration tests.

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

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.

Thousands of organizations are recognizing the crucial role of penetration testing in protecting their networks and digital assets. In some industries, “pentesting” is now an absolute requirement. This is the first systematic guidebook for the growing number of security professionals and students who want to master the discipline and techniques of penetration testing. Leading security expert, researcher, instructor, and author Chuck Easttom II has brought together all the essential knowledge in a single comprehensive guide that covers the entire penetration testing lifecycle. Easttom integrates concepts, terminology, challenges, and theory, and walks you through every step, from planning to effective post-test reporting. He presents a start-to-finish sample project relying on free open source tools, as well as quizzes, labs, and review sections throughout. Penetration Testing Fundamentals is also the only book to cover pentesting standards from NSA, PCI, and NIST. You don’t need any prior pentesting knowledge to succeed with this practical guide: by the time you’re finished, you’ll have all the skills you need to conduct reliable, professional penetration tests.

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.

Explore real-world threat scenarios, attacks on mobile applications, and ways to counter them About This Book Gain insights into the current threat landscape of mobile applications in particular Explore the different options that are available on mobile platforms and prevent circumventions made by attackers This is a step-by-step guide to setting up your own mobile penetration testing environment Who This Book Is For If you are a mobile application evangelist, mobile application developer, information security practitioner, penetration tester on infrastructure web applications, an application security professional, or someone who wants to learn mobile application security as a career, then this book is for you. This book will provide you with all the skills you need to get started with Android and iOS pen-testing. What You Will Learn Gain an in-depth understanding of Android and iOS architecture and the latest changes Discover how to work with different tool suites to assess any application Develop different strategies and techniques to connect to a mobile device Create a foundation for mobile application security principles Grasp techniques to attack different components of an Android device and the different functionalities of an iOS device Get to know secure development strategies for both iOS and Android applications Gain an understanding of threat modeling mobile applications Get an in-depth understanding of both Android and iOS implementation vulnerabilities and how to provide counter-measures while developing a mobile app In Detail Mobile security has come a long way over the last few years. It has transitioned from "should it be done?" to "it must be done!"Alongside the growing number of devises and applications, there is also a growth in the volume of Personally identifiable information (PII), Financial Data, and much more. This data needs to be secured. This is why Pen-testing is so important to modern application developers. You need to know how to secure user data, and find vulnerabilities and loopholes in your application that might lead to security breaches. This book gives you the necessary skills to security test your mobile applications as a beginner, developer, or security practitioner. You'll start by discovering the internal components of an Android and an iOS application. Moving ahead, you'll understand the inter-process working of these applications. Then you'll set up a test environment for this application using various tools to identify the loopholes and vulnerabilities in the structure of the applications. Finally, after collecting all information about these security loop holes, we'll start securing our applications from these threats. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide full of hands-on examples of real-world attack simulations. Each topic is explained in context with respect to testing, and for the more inquisitive, there are more details on the concepts and techniques used for different platforms.

Penetration Testing Fundamentals -1 Unlock the art of ethical hacking and fortify your cybersecurity arsenal with 'Penetration Mastery: A Comprehensive Guide to Ethical Hacking.' Delve into the mind of a hacker to understand the vulnerabilities that could compromise your systems and emerge as a vigilant defender of digital landscapes. This book provides hands-on techniques, cutting-edge tools, and real-world scenarios to empower you to identify and eliminate security loopholes. From network reconnaissance to exploiting weaknesses and implementing foolproof defenses, this comprehensive guide navigates you through the intricate world of penetration testing. Whether you're a seasoned cybersecurity professional or an aspiring ethical hacker, 'Penetration Mastery' is your definitive roadmap to securing the digital future.

Penetration Testing Fundamentals-2 Unlock the art of ethical hacking and fortify your cybersecurity arsenal with 'Penetration Mastery: A Comprehensive Guide to Ethical Hacking.' Delve into the mind of a hacker to understand the vulnerabilities that could compromise your systems and emerge as a vigilant defender of digital landscapes. This book provides hands-on techniques, cutting-edge tools, and real-world scenarios to empower you to identify and eliminate security loopholes. From network reconnaissance to exploiting weaknesses and implementing foolproof defenses, this comprehensive guide navigates you through the intricate world of penetration testing. Whether you're a seasoned cybersecurity professional or an aspiring ethical hacker, 'Penetration Mastery' is your definitive roadmap to securing the digital future.