Applied Ethical Hacking and Rules of Engagement

Install Visual Studio Code on Linux via the package manager, then explore its debugging and syntax highlighting while creating and running a Python hello world script.

Explore the basic concepts and terminology of ethical hacking, distinguish ethical hackers from crackers and script kiddies, and survey common cyber crimes and threats.

Set up vulnerable labs using prebuilt docker images for dvwa, bwapp, webgoat, juiceshop, and metasploitable2 to practice penetration testing exploits; learn configuration, operation, and offline lab options.

Install and configure Metasploitable3 labs using Vagrant and VirtualBox, setting up Windows and Linux hosts, plugins, and VM images to explore vulnerable surfaces safely.

Explore capture the flag concepts and explore platforms such as CTF time, Over the Wire, Bandit, Route Me, Hack Me, and How the Box, plus VPN access and flag discovery.

Explore attack vectors as paths to access, including compromised credentials, social engineering, web vectors, brute force, and misconfigurations, and learn threat modeling for red team operations.

Explore how to perform OSINT framework-driven reconnaissance by gathering public data—IP addresses, domains, subdomains, emails, and employee info—to map attack vectors for red-team assessments.

Learn to perform active network scanning with Nmap and Zenmap, identify open ports, services, and operating systems, and use NSE scripts and timing options to map targets and virtual hosts.

Explore scanning with nmap from the command line and in python, covering target selection, port ranges, SYN scans, service and OS detection, NSE scripts, timing, and output reports.

Learn to use the metasploit framework for scanning, enumeration, and post-exploitation with auxiliary modules and censys, connect via openvpn, configure scanners, run port scans, and generate reports from results.

Configure a metasploitable environment by creating a VirtualBox network for the attack machine and vulnerable targets on the 10.10.0.0/24 subnet with dhcp, then disable firewalls to enable enumeration and exploitation.

Enumerate target systems with Nmap to identify open ports, determine service versions, and assess vulnerabilities, then use scripted brute-force checks and SMB enumeration to reveal users for ethical hacking.

Explore how to use nmap for multi-target port scans, focusing on non-intrusive and fast scans, script-based discovery, and enumeration to reveal services, vulnerabilities, and exposed shares.

Enumerate linux and windows targets with metasploit and related tools to reveal user lists, password policies, domain data, shares, and groups, then test authentication bypass and exploitation.

Translate vulnerability scanning into risk by assessing threats and vulnerabilities, referencing CPE and NVD, and tracing exploits, payloads, and loot to understand how attackers operate.

Install and configure OpenVAS-GVM and PostgreSQL, enabling unauthenticated and authenticated vulnerability scanning. Manage feeds, Nessus attack scripting language modules, certificates, and the OpenVAS-GVM dashboard with risk-based tasks.

Learn vulnerability assessment with OpenVAS-GVM by configuring targets, credentials, and scan profiles, running scans, and generating reports to analyze vulnerabilities across hosts.

Perform vulnerability analysis by inspecting scanner reports to determine exploitable vulnerabilities, plan exploitation steps, and report findings to the customer with mitigations and patches.

Demonstrates second opinion vulnerability scanning with nmap nse scripts, revealing exploitable flaws, patch-worthy issues, and public exploits, while sourcing scripts from GitHub for targeted pen testing.

Learn to perform active vulnerability scanning with Metasploit, using auxiliary scanners and exploits to assess remote services, including MS17-010 on Windows servers.

Explore exploitation techniques from initial access through post-exploitation, escalating privileges and moving laterally while cracking password hashes, analyzing vulnerabilities, and reporting exploits.

apply ethical hacking and metasploitable2 part 1: learn to set up metasploit, scan targets, run exploits with and without credentials, obtain remote access, and generate exploit reports.

Explore Metasploitable2 with Metasploit modules, configure options, deploy payloads, and perform post-exploitation to discover credentials and escalate privileges, including reverse shell access and PostgreSQL credentials.

Demonstrates remote command execution on Metasploitable2 using multiple exploit modules and payloads. Explore post-exploitation techniques, privilege escalation, and credential discovery across web services and Tomcat configurations.

Demonstrates remote code execution via RMI with default configuration and non-default mapper settings in Metasploitable2, using staged payloads, exploitation modules, and password brute-forcing against services.

Explore exploitation of a deliberately vulnerable Metasploitable 3 Ubuntu box using nmap scans, an exploit, and a reverse shell, then perform post-exploitation to discover credentials and pivot to admin.

Examine metasploitable3 ubuntu vulnerabilities, including apache directory traversal, uploads, sql injection, and shellshock, and demonstrate gaining a remote shell via metasploit and default credentials.

Explore detecting vulnerabilities on Metasploitable3 Ubuntu, generating payloads with msf, deploying via get and post methods, and pivoting through targets to illustrate reverse connections and post exploitation.

Demonstrates post-exploitation on metasploitable3 ubuntu part 4 by exploiting a ruby on rails remote code execution vulnerability to gain a reverse shell and escalate privileges.

Explore hands-on exploitation of Windows Server 2008 in a metasploitable setup, from network scanning and credential harvesting to post-exploitation tactics like hash collection and privilege escalation.

Explore post-exploitation on a Windows 2008 system, covering privilege escalation, credential dumping with Mimikatz, keylogging, and screen capture, plus persistence options and subnet discovery.

Explore metasploitable3 Windows 2008 exploitation using modules to demonstrate remote code execution on port 80 (MS15-034) and privilege escalation.

Extract and store sha-512 password hashes from systems, then crack them locally and discuss cloud-based hash cracking services for WordPress hashes, with a privacy warning.

Learn to crack password hashes locally with John the Ripper using dictionaries, mangling rules, masks and incremental brute force, then compare its approach with hashad and online cracking dashboards.

Explains the basics of man-in-the-middle attacks and spoofing types like IP and DNS spoofing, and their role in phishing and browser-based threats.

Explore man-in-the-middle attacks through ARP spoofing and MAC address spoofing to intercept, sniff, and analyze unencrypted traffic with Wireshark, and discuss SSL stripping and DNS spoofing.

Explore wifi security basics, including authentication, integrity, and privacy, and examine threats like rogue access points and man-in-the-middle, plus wpa and wpa2 basics.

Explore wireless attacks by capturing the WPA/WPA2 four-way handshake in monitor mode and cracking the password offline with a wordlist, illustrating ethical testing with authorization.

Social engineering manipulates the human mind by combining emotion-driven tricks with cyber tools to gain initial access, underscoring training as essential to prevent such attacks.

Learn how social engineering exploits the human element, combining manipulation with cyber tricks, and targets the weakest link through a three-stage process: research, planning, and execution, including phishing and pretexting.

Apply the Gophish framework to reach targets through phishing campaigns by crafting spoofed emails, templates, and landing pages, and configuring smtp profiles and domains for authorized social engineering assessments.

Learn to configure a Gophish phishing campaign from landing pages and email templates to tracking and reporting. Analyze campaign dashboards, groups, targets, and captured data for red team assessments.

Demonstrate social engineering client-side attacks with realistic campaigns, phishing landing pages, email templates, and multi-vector payloads delivered via Microsoft Word, macro, and DDE techniques.

Explore social engineering client-side attacks, including email campaigns delivering weaponized documents that prompt enable editing, enabling payloads, privilege escalation, and red-team lateral movement.

Explore basic web application attack techniques and the top 10 application security risks, learn the client–server HTTP model, and how ethical hackers gain initial footholds to test and defend apps.

Explore injection vulnerabilities, including dynamic queries and LDAP/SQL injections, and broken authentication, credential stuffing, and data exposure, with in transit protections through encryption and hashing.

Explore xml external entity attacks (xxe), xml processors and soap services exploitation, and the risks of denial of service, broken access control, and misconfiguration in web app pentesting.

Explore insecure deserialization and its risk of remote code execution through manipulated serialized objects. Learn about data tampering, role escalation, vulnerable third-party components, and logging gaps.

Learn to install and run Burp Suite Community Edition, set up the proxy, intercept traffic, and use intruder, repeater, and inspector to analyze and test web applications.

Master burp suite basics by intercepting and modifying requests, then using repeater, intruder, fuzzing, and payload configurations (sniper, cluster bomb) to test web app defenses.

Explore vulnerability assessment on a vulnerable web app, performing a brute-force login using cluster bomb payloads with multiple usernames and passwords, then execute command injection and attempt a reverse shell.

Explore practical applications of exploited vulnerabilities, including cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks that change passwords, file inclusion and upload flaws, and SQL injection techniques, with defenses highlighted.

Master sql injection techniques—union-based, boolean and time-based—enumerating databases and tables, extracting usernames and password hashes, and cracking passwords with wordlists in a vulnerable lab.

Explores boolean-based and time-based SQL injection, fingerprinting the DBMS, and extracting databases and tables via union queries, in a practical lab setting.

Explore how stored and reflected cross-site scripting vulnerabilities enable attackers to run scripts in users' browsers, bypass content security policy, and manipulate tokens in a lab setting.

Explore the OWASP Webgoat lab - part 1 to practice rule-based access control testing, bypass unauthorized access, and detect vulnerabilities such as insecure configurations, session management flaws, and cross-site scripting.

Explore hands-on Webgoat labs to practice OWASP attacks, including JavaScript eval payloads, client-side validation risks, coupon code decryption, authentication bypass, XSS, and SQL and command injections.

Practice hands-on ethical hacking with the Mutillidae II lab, testing cross-site scripting, phishing, and SQL injection across multiple targets and documenting findings for a red-team penetration test.

Apply ethical hacking techniques on admin login, directory traversal, time-based blind sql injection, payload testing, logs, and file inclusion and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities in Mutillidae II lab part 2.

Demonstrates exploiting a vulnerable payroll web app on a Metasploitable 3 Linux host using SQL injection to enumerate users, extract credentials, escalate privileges, and achieve full system compromise.

explore the buggy web application lab bWAPP to practice web attacks, including html injection, cross site scripting, command injection, stored and blind injections, sql injection, and phishing concepts.

Practice SQL injection, union attacks, XSS, and authentication vulnerabilities using PortSwigger's online vulnerable web apps labs, a browser-based, updated platform that tracks progress.

Explore server-side and cross-site forgery and related web app attacks in PortSwigger’s online vulnerable web apps lab, using burp to forge requests and test injections.

Learn Python scripting for ethical hacking, covering installation on Linux, Windows, Mac; Python 2 vs 3; console usage; variables; data types; strings; lists; and basic control flow for CTF tasks.

Master Python basics with if/else conditionals, for and while loops, and indentation, then import modules like requests to fetch data and check status codes through practical examples.

Master Python basics by defining classes and functions, using modules, looping with while, handling input, and working with lists, dictionaries, tuples, and exception handling.

Develop a Python port scanner by defining a class with socket-based port probes and colorized status output, while illustrating object-oriented concepts and inheritance.

Explore a hands-on mini project in ethical hacking that builds a simple malware command and control server and client using Python, within a controlled testing environment.