Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity Course for Beginners

Explore how operating systems underpin hacking, from OS vulnerabilities and Linux versus Windows dynamics to countermeasures like patches, firewalls, IDS, MFA, and incident response.

Install and set up VirtualBox to run multiple operating systems on one machine, download the host, check system requirements and virtualization, and complete the installation for a virtual lab.

Enable virtualization in the BIOS to use virtual machines with VirtualBox. Access BIOS during boot, enable Intel virtualization technology, then save and exit to start creating VMs.

Install and explore VMware Workstation Pro, compare it with VirtualBox, apply a license (or run with limited features), and launch the interface to manage virtualization.

Download the Kali Linux ISO and understand it as a copy of a disc; mount the ISO in VirtualBox or VMware and select installer images from kali.org (64-bit or 32-bit).

Install Kali Linux in VirtualBox from an ISO image by creating a Debian 64-bit VM, configuring memory, storage, network, and desktop, then install GRUB and Guest Additions.

Install Kali Linux in VMware Workstation using the same ISO image, create and configure a virtual machine, then run the graphical installer and log in.

Discover how to deploy Kali Linux quickly in VirtualBox or VMware using pre-configured images, avoiding ISO installs. The video guides downloading and setting up ready-to-use Kali VMs for both platforms.

Import a pre-configured Kali Linux VM image into VMware Workstation and power it on to access Kali. Log in with the Kali credentials to start using the virtual machine.

Learn how to download the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft’s official site by selecting the multi edition ISO, choosing language English United States, and choosing 64-bit or 32-bit options.

Explore downloading a Windows 7 ISO from third-party sites after Microsoft stopped support, within an ethical hacking course, using Get into PC to choose professional, ultimate, or home editions.

Learn to install Windows 10 in VMware Workstation by creating a VM, selecting Windows 10 64-bit, allocating 60 GB and 4 GB RAM, and mounting the ISO.

Install VMware Tools to fix black screen when resizing and enable improved mouse movement, video, and performance, following prompts to run setup, complete installation, and restart.

Install Windows 10 in VirtualBox by creating a new virtual machine, selecting a 64-bit iso, configuring memory, CPUs, and storage, then install guest additions for full screen performance.

Learn how to download the Parrot OS ISO securely, verify integrity with hashes, and choose between direct download or torrent for installation in VMware or VirtualBox.

Demystify the essentials of computer networks, including protocols and packets, wired and wireless connections, and the five network types: pan, lan, can, man, and van.

Identify devices on a network using IP addresses and MAC addresses. Explore how public and private IP addresses differ, IPv4 vs IPv6, and the security implications of MAC address spoofing.

Use the ping command to test reachability and measure latency with ICMP echo requests and replies. Demonstrate pinging a local device and 8.8.8.8 to observe packet loss and response times.

Explore local area networks as the digital glue that connects devices in homes, offices, and schools, and examine LAN topologies—star, bus, and ring—and their advantages and flaws.

Explore how switches segment networks into subnets, filter packets by mac addresses, and forward data to intended devices, while routers connect networks and route data along optimal paths.

Explore class a IPv4 addressing: 1-127 networks with the first bit zero, 24-bit host IDs, loopback 127.0.0.1, and about 17 million hosts per network.

Explore class B IP addressing, identifying the network and host portions, and applying the 255.255.0.0 subnet mask to support up to 65,534 hosts per network and 16,382 usable networks.

Understand class C IP addressing for small networks, where the network ID uses the first three octets, the 255.255.255.0 subnet supports up to 254 hosts, with 192.168.0.1 as gateway.

Explore class d IP addressing for multicast delivery in streaming and gaming, and examine class e as a reserved experimental space ignored by routers in IPv4.

Explore public versus private ip addresses, showing that public addresses are global and routable over the internet, while private addresses stay within local networks and require nat to communicate.

Explore localhost, the loopback address 127.0.0.1 (and IPv6 ::1), for testing, development, and local network services. Access via browser or command line and verify connectivity with ping, traceroute, and telnet.

Explore loopback in IP terminology, testing and troubleshooting network software using the loopback address, and understand IPv4 127.0.0.1, IPv6 ::1, and the loopback interface for local testing.

Explore how cidr enables classless inter-domain routing, using vlsm and cidr notation like 192.168.1.0/24 to allocate IPv4 efficiently, reduce routing table size, and decrease routing updates.

Understand the subnet mask, a 32-bit IPv4 sequence of ones then zeros, that defines network boundaries, guides routing, and supports class A/B/C default masks in dotted-decimal form.

Explore the default gateway, a router that routes packets beyond the local network, uses arp to map devices, and provides basic protection while dhcp assigns addresses like 192.168.0.1.

Install Cisco Packet Tracer to model networks with virtual devices, drag and drop routers and switches, simulate IoT and cybersecurity scenarios for beginners and seasoned professionals.

Explore VLANs (virtual local area networks) to isolate traffic, improve performance, and cut costs by reusing switches, with port-based, protocol-based, and MAC-based types and ACL security considerations.

Explore the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as a buffer between internal and external networks, isolating critical systems with firewalls, IDS/IPS, proxies, and public facing servers for added security.

Discover how ARP maps IP addresses to MAC addresses within a local network using ARP requests and replies, build ARP cache, and defend against ARP poisoning and MITM threats.

Explore how network address translation converts private LAN addresses to public IPs to conserve addresses and enhance privacy. Learn static, dynamic, and port address translation with Packet Tracer configurations.

Explore how the domain name system translates web addresses into IPs, detailing the resolver, root, TLD, and authoritative servers, common DNS records, and security risks.

Explore how DHCP automates IP address assignment and network configuration using pools and leases; follow the discover, offer, request, and ACK steps and guard against rogue servers.

Learn the network time protocol (NTP) and its role in authentication, logging, and digital signatures, plus clock synchronization, time stratum, polling, and NTP security risks.

Master IP address management with IPAM to organize IPv4 and IPv6, integrate DNS and DHCP, and monitor allocation, network discovery, auditing, policy compliance, and analytics for secure networks.

Explore how TCP delivers reliable data by breaking information into packets, numbering and acknowledging them, and regulating flow and congestion within the TCP/IP model.

Explore user datagram protocol (UDP) as a fast, connectionless transport layer for real-time apps, with no guaranteed delivery, port usage, and common network services.

Explore file transfer protocol (FTP), its application-layer operation, how clients connect and transfer files, and why secure alternatives like SFTP/FTPS exist.

Explore how SMTP enables email delivery between clients and servers, using MIME for attachments, and securing messages with TLS or SSL and SMTP authentication.

Explore the operating system as the backbone of computer resources, focusing on Windows and Linux and their security considerations, vulnerabilities, and threat-handling across Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, and Debian distributions.

Learn how to securely install and configure operating systems, verify downloads with hashes, apply patches, enforce least privilege, enable encryption, and configure firewall, logging, and unnecessary services to reduce risk.

Explore GUI and CLI, two essential interfaces for navigating systems and networks; GUI offers visual icons and ease for beginners, while CLI enables fast, scriptable control.

Explore file permissions, including read, write, and execute, and how they control access for user, group, and others. Use ls -l to read permissions and practice adjusting them.

Explore essential operating system commands across Windows, Linux, and Mac, including ipconfig, ifconfig, netstat, ss, systeminfo, uname, nslookup, dig, and ping, to troubleshoot networks.

Explore file system commands across Windows and Linux, learn to list and manage directories and files using dir, ls, mkdir, touch, cd, cp, mv, del, rm, and rmdir.

Explore network analysis commands, including ARP for mapping IP to MAC addresses and traceroute/tracert to trace hops, across Windows and Linux, with reference to ipconfig, netstat, and ping.

Explore information gathering and footprinting, mastering active and passive methods, sources like social media, search engines, and Whois, and implement countermeasures to protect against such reconnaissance.

Learn how threat intelligence gathers, processes, and analyzes data to reveal threat actor's motives, targets, and attack behaviors, enabling proactive defense through strategic, tactical, and operational insights.

Explore how open source intelligence powers cyber threat intelligence, enabling anticipation, proactive prevention, and precise risk assessment through rich data sources, and understanding tactics, techniques and procedures, plus real-time updates.

Download and install Maltego community edition, configure Java and memory settings, register and log in, and explore transforms and graphs for ethical hacking practice.

Explore Maltego Transform Hub to access a central repository of data sources and transforms, install free and premium tools, and enhance threat intelligence and digital footprint analysis.

Explore Maltego basics, create and manage multiple graphs, and add person and email entities to perform transforms. Navigate results with keyboard shortcuts, zoom, and import previous investigations from MDL files.

Use Maltego's Censys transforms to map devices connected to a domain and view ASN, IP, location, and whois details in a visual graph.

Explore Maltego's DNS DB, the world's largest DNS resolution and registration data, offering real-time and historical DNS records for cybersecurity and network analysis.

Master Google Maps geocoding in Maltego, performing city searches and reverse geocoding from GPS coordinates. Explain per-month transform limits for community, pro, and enterprise editions.

Learn how website footprinting tools like Burp Suite, Zap proxy, Paris Proxy reveal headers, status codes, accept ranges, last modified data, and the export by information header, highlighting security implications.

Install and activate Burp Suite Pro on Parrot OS in VMware or Linux, configure Java 8, grant permissions, and perform manual license activation for ongoing use.

Explore Burpsuite Pro's target tab to analyze HTTP traffic, inspect requests with raw, params, headers, and hex views, and focus testing by adding sites to scope and filtering in-scope requests.

Explore the Burp Suite proxy tab to intercept, forward, and modify web requests, view headers and raw data, and use tools like repeater and intruder for manual testing.

Master the Burp Suite intruder tab to automate targeted web input attacks, configure sniper payloads, and explore brute force, fuzzing, and parameter tampering for security testing.

Learn to copy a full website using haystack, create a mirroring project, and manage download options and file types for offline viewing and front end reconnaissance.

Learn to use Google Docs queries and operators, such as inurl, intitle, allintitle, site, filetype, indexed, info, related, and index of, to uncover hidden information for ethical hacking and cybersecurity.

Explore how session hijacking takes over a valid TCP session by stealing a session ID to masquerade as a legitimate user, and mitigate with HTTPS, short timeouts, updates, and MFA.

Learn how attackers hijack sessions by stealing session IDs via HTTP referrer headers, sniffing, and XSS, and apply defenses like input sanitization, encoding, and CSP.

Learn the two main types of session hijacking—active and passive—and how attackers identify, steal tokens, and take over sessions, while monitoring data with tools like Wireshark.

Explore spoofing and session hijacking, how attackers gain unauthorized access by impersonation or hijacking existing sessions, and apply protective measures like HTTPS, MFA, secure cookies, monitoring, and updates.

Demonstrate session hijacking over tcp via telnet by capturing telnet traffic with wireshark and executing a hijack between attacker and victim machines.

Set up a shared network in Oracle VirtualBox, enable DHCP on 192.168.200.0/24, and assign multiple VMs to the same network, then verify connectivity with ping and telnet.

Set up WebGoat on a Kali machine by downloading the standalone jar, verifying Java, and running the server to practice web exploitation and session hijacking in a deliberately insecure app.

Demonstrate spoofing an authentication cookie to impersonate users, using Burp Suite, FoxyProxy, and token decoding (base64 and hex) on a local Webgoat server to log in as Webgoat or admin.

Explore the fundamentals of web server security and hacking, including common attacks like sql injection and cross-site scripting, and learn practical tips to secure your own web servers.

Explore the backbone of the web by examining diverse web servers, from Apache and Nginx to Tomcat and IaaS, and understand how they impact performance, security, and scalability.

Identify reasons web servers compromise: improper permissions like chmod 777, default credentials, anonymous login, and unnecessary services. Promote secure setup with updated software and strong authentication over https.

Explore popular web server attacks, including DDoS, DNS hijacking, DNS amplification, and directory traversal, illustrating how attackers overwhelm or misdirect traffic to compromise online systems.

Learn to install and verify Apache on Ubuntu, update the system, install Apache, and host a website from /var/www/html by editing index.html with vim.

Explore how a DDoS attack denies service by flooding a server with traffic, demonstrated through practical UDP/ICMP floods and a ping of death using Kali and Ubuntu.

Explore a beginner-friendly DDoS demonstration using the Byob botnet framework on a local Kali/Linux setup, including payload creation, botnet control, and a docker-based web UI.

Explore how social engineering manipulates human psychology, enabling ethical hackers to test security and reveal staff weaknesses while highlighting scams via SMS and email that target personal data.

Explore how social engineering exploits human psychology to bypass technical vulnerabilities, manipulating greed, curiosity, politeness, and authority, enabling online attacks like phishing and smishing as steps in larger attack chains.

Study phishing and related social engineering types—phishing, spear phishing, whaling, baiting, and pretexting—and see how attackers exploit fake login pages to steal credentials.

Explore social engineering and phishing fundamentals through a hands-on lab that uses the Go Fish framework to simulate real-world attacks and capture credentials in a controlled Kali Linux setup.

Learn what digital forensics means in cybersecurity, and how investigators extract electronic evidence—from phones to emails—and produce admissible, timeline-based forensic reports for court.

Explore the classification of cyber security in digital forensics, covering scope from devices to records and objectives like confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Classify cyber crime into violent, potentially violent, and non-violent categories, and identify examples like phishing, identity theft, cyberbullying, and unauthorized data access.

Learn how volatile information differs from non-volatile memory and why volatile data in ram matters for digital forensics, including what to capture before forensic duplication.

Explore the types of digital evidence in forensics, including logs, video footage and images, archives, active data, metadata, residual data, volatile data, and replicant data.

Explore internet fraud types such as phishing, spoofing, data breaches, DDoS attacks, malware, ransomware, and business email compromise. Learn practical steps to protect personal information and finances online.

Explore how hard disks and file systems store and organize data, compare HDDs and SSDs, learn their architecture, performance implications, and common file systems across Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Learn how to download and install autopsy, a free open-source digital forensics tool, to perform disk imaging, preserve evidence, analyze file systems, search keywords, and run timeline and registry analyses.

Use autopsy, a digital forensics tool, to recover deleted pendrive files, explore its modules like hash lookups and keyword search, and generate a comprehensive report.

Learn how to install and run a cybersecurity tool on your device, including creating a final project folder, extracting the project, installing dependencies from requirements.txt, and launching main.py.

Learn to build and use a web vulnerability scanner in Python, covering scan URL, scan ports, SSL checks, Nmap scans, DNS lookup, directory enumeration, and SQL injection testing.