Ethical Hacking From Scratch 2026

Set up your ethical hacking lab by installing a Linux host in a virtual machine, configuring hardware, network, and disk settings for a Debian-based environment.

Explore the basics of Kali Linux, an advanced penetration testing and security audit distribution. Navigate the default desktop, terminal, and built-in information gathering, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, and forensic tools.

Master essential Kali Linux commands. Explore commands like whoami, date, pwd, cd, ls, mkdir, touch, nano, cat, cp, mv.

Learn how information gathering drives ethical hacking by collecting network data, domain names, IP blocks, open ports, and system banners, while distinguishing passive methods from active techniques like social engineering.

Explore nmap, the free open-source tool for vulnerability scanning and network discovery, to map devices, uncover open ports and services, and detect security risks.

Learn to use nmap for basic to advanced network scanning of IPs and hostnames, identifying open ports, services, and vulnerability testing with the scripting engine.

Explore how Google dorks leverage advanced search queries to uncover security holes in website configurations and code, exposing vulnerable sites that hackers can exploit.

Master Google hacking techniques to discover vulnerable data with Google dorking, using operators like all index, inurl, intitle, file type, and site, under white hat ethical hacking guidance.

Explore the Shodan search engine and how it surfaces internet-connected devices—printers, security cameras, computers—revealing sensitive information about unprotected systems and their potential vulnerabilities.

Explore Shodan, the hacker's search engine, to locate internet-connected devices, identify default credentials and exposed services, and use targeted queries to secure networks.

Discover how to search for a social media username across roughly 300 sites using Sherlock, a Python tool available on GitHub, to reveal online presence.

Set up the Metasploitable 2 virtual machine for vulnerability testing, including downloading, extracting, configuring RAM, upgrading hardware compatibility, powering on, and verifying network connectivity.

Explore how attackers could compromise an Android phone on a local network using a backdoor payload, and present defensive steps to protect devices from such attacks.

learn to use the ghost framework to identify vulnerable Android devices, remotely deploy payloads, execute commands, and capture screenshots, enabling remote device access.

Learn ethical wifi security testing by capturing WPA handshake and cracking password with a dictionary brute-force attack using monitoring mode and tools like airmon-ng and aircrack-ng in a VM.

Learn practical steps to secure your Wi‑Fi network from attacks by changing default admin credentials, updating firmware, hiding the SSID, filtering MAC addresses, and using a strong password.

Demonstrates resetting a Windows 10 administrator password using bootable media and recovery options, employing advanced troubleshooting, system32 file manipulation, and command-line password reset techniques.

Learn how to reset a lost Windows administrator password using a Linux live environment, explore access to the SAM database, and understand how to secure administrative accounts.

Learn to secure an operating system and prevent password hacking by hardening Windows 10 password protection, preventing installation-media attacks, encrypting all drives, and strengthening password safeguards.

Explores Windows 10 Pro OS hacking techniques using the Metasploit framework, including payload creation, backdoor deployment, remote execution, file transfer, keystroke logging, and system information gathering.

Protect servers and clients by keeping the operating system and antivirus up to date, enabling a firewall, and removing admin access to prevent unauthorized software.

Explore ethical hacking techniques to assess an Active Directory domain controller by identifying open ports and exposed credentials, highlighting how attackers gain unauthorized access and how to strengthen security controls.

Update the operating system, run up-to-date antivirus, and build a baseline with Microsoft Security Compliance Manager via group policy to block internet access and enable firewalls on servers.