Professional Ethical Hacker with Kali Linux v2026

Install VirtualBox on Windows, download from the VirtualBox website, run the installer, create a new virtual machine, and install the extension pack for USB and device support.

Install Kali Linux on VirtualBox by downloading Kali VM via torrent, unzip with seven zip, and import the box; configure bridge network and allocate 4–8 gb RAM and 4 cores.

Set up Kali Linux basics by enabling root access and SSH for remote administration, then configure password, start and enable the SSH daemon, and perform system updates.

Install PowerShell 7, enable OpenSSH, and use SSH from Windows without PuTTY to securely connect to Mikrotik, Linux, and other devices.

Install and configure Docker on Kali Linux, update repositories, install Docker, enable the daemon for non-root users, and verify with docker run hello world.

Explore open source intelligence (osint) as the art of gathering public information for offensive and defensive pentesting, including DNS, subdomains, MX records, Shodan, Google hacking, and dark web sources.

Explore service enumeration on Kali Linux by using DNSenum to gather public information about a target, including subdomains, DNS servers, email servers, and zone transfers.

Explore network information gathering with Kali Linux tools like Dmitry for subdomains, whois, Netcraft, and port scans, and Scapy for traceroute, plus graphing results saved to a txt file.

Explore enumeration and network range discovery using the terminal, run Dmitry for data, perform port scans and traceroutes, collect public information, and generate an svg report.

Explore recon-ng in kali linux to gather domain intelligence using modules for discovery, whois, subdomain enumeration, and reporting. Install, configure workspaces, and generate html reports to document reconnaissance findings.

Explore EyeWitness to automate website and remote desktop screenshot capture from Kali Linux, configure diverse targets, generate offline HTML reports, and run tests via a simple bash setup.

Learn to extract detailed information from an IP using a Kali Linux tool, including location, timezone, ASN, and ISP, with free and paid options and JSON output.

Explore theharvester for open-source intelligence gathering to map a domain's external threat landscape by collecting emails, IPs, subdomains, and URLs from passive sources and API data.

Learn to capture and enumerate domain information with RiskIQ, comparing free and paid versions, and extracting IPs, DNS, certificates, subdomains, and whois data.

Explore GooFuzz, a free Kali Linux tool that performs google-like web searches to uncover files by extension (pdf, xls, doc, txt, sql) and directories, using proxies to bypass blocks.

Explore Maigret, a data collection tool that builds dossiers by scanning 500 top sites and thousands more, analyzing profiles, tags, and URLs to generate HTML or PDF reports.

Learn to gather cloud service information with dnsrecon on Kali Linux, checking dns records (a records, mx records, cname records) and subdomains to identify hosting environments and cloud providers.

Explore how SNMP enables information gathering across devices like routers, switches, and printers in Kali Linux. Learn risks of v1/v2 with default 'public', and improvements in v3 encryption.

Learn to install Nessus on Kali Linux, activate with a corporate email code, and run the Essentials free version, including Debian package download and https access on port 8834.

Identify and assess vulnerabilities on network devices and services using Nessus, configuring scanners, policies, and plugins, and produce detailed reports with remediation steps.

Learn to detect Linux vulnerabilities across Linux-based devices—servers, routers, and other systems running the Linux kernel—using Nessus, configuring policies, and scanning for Samba shares, SSL settings, and certificates.

Run a Nessus scan on Windows servers, using Windows plugins and policies to identify vulnerabilities on Windows Server 2019 and related systems, including remote authentication and SQL server risks.

Install and configure OpenVAS GVM as a vulnerability assessment system, explaining its central vulnerability manager, scanner, database, and web interface, plus the lengthy setup and plugin synchronization.

Configure and run OpenVAS vulnerability scans on Linux and Windows targets, using custom scan configurations to identify CVEs, vulnerabilities, and generate reports for remediation.

Learn to use Nikto, a Kali Linux command-line scanner, to identify web vulnerabilities by enumerating server type, subdomains, installed applications, and potential issues like unauthenticated file access.

Install and run BodgeIt and Juice Shop in Docker on Kali Linux to create a vulnerable, testable web environment for hands-on pentest studies.

Learn to use wget in Kali Linux to recursively download web pages for offline analysis, and explore web crawlers, spiders, and robots for indexing and file discovery.

Learn to use HTTrack on Kali Linux to download a website for offline analysis, including installation, configuration, site mirroring, and reviewing cookies, robots, and log files.

Install and run httptrack on Kali Linux to download recursively a website for offline analysis and inspect cookies, robots, logs, and page structure.

Learn how cookies store user data and session identifiers, then demonstrate obtaining, modifying, and managing cookies with a browser and cookie manager, including http only and expiration controls.

Set up zap zed attack proxy on Kali Linux, configure Firefox as a proxy, install the zap certificate, and test web vulnerabilities with Juice Shop.

Navigate the ZAP interface, mastering safe, protect, standard, and attack modes, contexts and sites, scripts, request/response, and breakpoints to identify web vulnerabilities.

Explore how fuzzing tests work with the zap proxy, configure payloads and their types, and analyze results to identify login or unauthorized access vulnerabilities.

Learn how fuzz testing with the zap proxy automates sending payloads to reveal bugs and unauthorized access, and understand two fuzzing types and how to configure tests on port 3000.

Learn to use a spider crawler test to discover all hyperlinks and directories on a website, building a context and starting a scan to reveal public features and potential flags.

Master ajax spider testing in Kali Linux by using Zap proxy to crawl a site, configure scope, and review alerts to uncover exposed json, xml, or text data.

Explore exploiting vulnerabilities with metasploit on kali linux, initialize the postgres db, use msf console, manage workspaces, and apply payload, encoders, and evasion modules.

Perform a practical vulnerability scan with metasploit against a windows 7 target, using nmap to identify open ports and smb vulnerabilities such as ms17-010 and related cve details.

Explore and gain access to a Windows target using Kali Linux and Metasploit, configuring MSF console exploits, payloads, and sessions during a practical pentest.

Engage in post-invasion exploration with Kali Linux v2025 to perform pentest tasks, manage sessions, migrate processes, and route connections through the domain controller and Active Directory via modules.

Explore post-invasion techniques on a compromised system using token theft, domain administrator access, and Kerberos attacks within Active Directory with Kali Linux and Metasploit.

Learn to leverage xss and metasploit to obtain a remote shell on a Windows machine, configuring a reverse tcp payload via a crafted link and exploring social engineering risks.

Explore how to assess and simulate hacking Windows systems using Kali Linux, Metasploit, social engineering, including bypassing antivirus and Windows Defender, setting up reverse TCP payloads, and achieving persistent access.

Explore privilege escalation techniques in a Kali Linux environment, using Metasploit to bypass access controls, gain the system user, and dump password hashes from Windows domains.

Install Metasploitable3 in a Kali Linux lab by importing the ready-made OVA into VirtualBox. Explore GlassFish, Apache, Tomcat, Jenkins, SSH, MySQL, WordPress, and phpMyAdmin with Metasploit.

Explore secure SSH access on Linux, using Kali Linux tools and wordlists to brute-force root credentials, and test SSH login and Telnet with Nmap and Metasploit.

Use metasploit to test an apache tomcat server via brute-force against tomcat manager credentials. Adjust host, port, and thread options to demonstrate a login as root with the Owasp password.

Explore how antivirus works, including heuristics and known threat pattern checks, and study antivirus bypass techniques, ransomware, and the role of firewalls and backups in protecting networks and endpoints.

Understand how antivirus systems defend with static analysis using signatures and hashes, and dynamic analysis in sandbox environments. Explore bypass techniques such as shellcode encoding, cryptography, and altering execution flow.

Explores bypassing antivirus using the Veil tool and encryption techniques in Kali Linux v2025, highlighting evasion options and the role of social engineering as complementary methods.

Demonstrate creating a PowerShell payload from Kali Linux, configuring a host, and testing evasion against antivirus and VirusTotal on Windows environments.

Explore how antivirus detection works and test bypass methods in Kali Linux, including encoding payloads, reverse shells, and backdoor techniques using VirusTotal and encoders.

Learn the basics of Google hacking and how Google dorks filter content to uncover public data, files, and potential vulnerabilities. The upcoming class provides step-by-step demonstrations of search techniques.

Learn to use Google search operators—title, all in title, in URL, type pdf, and text—and apply boolean logic to refine queries for targeted results.

Learn types of dorks for searching in Kali Linux, including password txt, file type in URL, WordPress backup files, old WordPress configuration files, and IP cameras.

Learn to use netcat to capture banners and fingerprint services, test open tcp/udp ports, and explore practical options for port scanning, IPv6, and basic proxy or backdoor workflows.

Learn to capture application banners with python using sockets to connect to targets, receive banners such as SSH on port 22 and on port 80.

Master banner grabbing with Dmitry in Linux by learning to capture service versions and banner information from remote ports, using a simple, pre-installed tool and optional options.

Learn to use grabbb to capture banners from FTP and web servers, install via gcc, and monitor a large network’s port 22 to compare SSH and OpenSSH versions across hosts.

Identify services and versions on a target with Nmap and AMAP in Kali Linux, scanning common ports to reveal banners for SSH, FTP, Apache Tomcat, and databases.

Identify operating systems by ttl values in ping, using Python and the scrap tool for pentesting to differentiate Linux and Windows, with ttl 64 and 128.

Identify operating systems using Nmap and xprobe2 with probability-based results, testing on a target IP, and install xprobe2 from official repositories to compare Linux and Windows possibilities.

Explore web applications by viewing page source and using whatweb and curl to reveal servers, operating system probabilities, ports, and programming languages for target analysis.

Explore how denial of service attacks interrupt online services, covering buffer overflow, amplification, and resource consumption methods, from IoT devices to servers, with detection tools such as Snort and Suricata.

Practice denial of service testing on kali linux against a target linux web server running a lamp stack, using ping three to generate floods and iptraf to monitor traffic.

This lecture demonstrates practical denial-of-service testing using icmp ping, ipv6, and udp/tcp floods, exploring single-machine vs distributed attacks and basic defenses under authorized stress testing.

Implement prevention methods against data attacks using robust infrastructure, firewalls and idps, and reverse proxies like Cloudflare; use chkrootkit and iptables to monitor and block traffic on IPv4 and IPv6.