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Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking
by
Penetration testers simulate cyber attacks to find security weaknesses in networks, operating systems, and applications. Information security experts worldwide use penetration techniques to evaluate enterprise defenses.
In Penetration Testing, security expert, researcher, and trainer Georgia Weidman introduces you to the core skills and techniques that every pentester needs
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Kindle Edition, 528 pages
Published
May 29th 2014
by No Starch Press
(first published May 22nd 2014)
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This book was written by a security expert, researcher, and trainer Georgia Weidman. Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking teaches the fundamental skills that every penetration tester needs. You will build a virtual lab with Kali Linux and a couple of vulnerable virtual machines and you will run through multiple scenarios in this environment. Tools like Wireshark, Nmap and Burp Suite are being used in this book, amongst many others.

Very good. Perhaps the reference book i've used most during sitting the OSCP.
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This was one of our textbooks from our Red Teaming class last semester. The book uses a step-by-step approach in configuring and deploying different penetration testing tools, real-world hacking scenarios and how they are executed and explains some computer science theories (buffer overflows, hashes, TCP/IP, etc) behind the attacks. You get a much broader understanding on what you are doing as a pen tester. Not bad for an introductory book.
The author is active in the penetration testing industry ...more
The author is active in the penetration testing industry ...more

An extremely thorough book that offers more than introductions to the topics at hand.
Georgia does a great job at sticking to the main points and not getting distracted.
She guides you along, usually step by step, in each exercise.
Her method aims at teaching you the fundamentals so that you can build upon them in the future, especially since technology is constantly changing and these hacks are evolving.
Instead of having you take the easiest route from A to B, you will sometimes find yourself goin ...more
Georgia does a great job at sticking to the main points and not getting distracted.
She guides you along, usually step by step, in each exercise.
Her method aims at teaching you the fundamentals so that you can build upon them in the future, especially since technology is constantly changing and these hacks are evolving.
Instead of having you take the easiest route from A to B, you will sometimes find yourself goin ...more

The author selected quite a few old softwares to demonstrate how people can exploit a vulnerable in some software. One thing I don't like about this "lab setup" is that it includes Windows XP, Windows 7 which readers may face difficulty to find the correct ISO images to install.
The exploitation is kinda one-hit exploit. It's quite obvious vulnerable and I couldn't learn much about the exploitation. Maybe it's because of my learning method. Or maybe it's because the vulnerable machines are instal ...more
The exploitation is kinda one-hit exploit. It's quite obvious vulnerable and I couldn't learn much about the exploitation. Maybe it's because of my learning method. Or maybe it's because the vulnerable machines are instal ...more

A *really* great introduction to penetration testing, and the author provides all the tools necessary with the book. My only complaint is that it's a bit dated, but that's not the fault of the book, there just hasn't been a book of similar quality that's been published more recently. Note that this book is not for casual reading; it is a step-by-step guide to pentesting and becoming familiar with the tools of the trade. It is a comprehensive and detailed manual that every cybersecurity student s
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An excellent informational resource. While the content is a bit outdated at this point the author is still very helpful and provides the necessary resources to those who take the time to ask. A great primer for getting in to penetration testing, and the PWK training and OSCP certification.

Georgia's book is great. It is also sadly outdated as many of the labs require websites and tools that are either no longer up or deprecated.
Can't wait for the second edition though! ...more
Can't wait for the second edition though! ...more

Great handbook! Due to the fast development of technology it is a bit out of date already. But a new version is under it's way.
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