I was recently asked by Syngress to write a book that covered the basics of "hacking" and penetration testing. Syngress is widely respected in the security field for their content and high quality books.
I'll plan to make several updates to this page so that readers can get more information and help.
To get the most out of the book you should set up your penetration testing lab / environment BEFORE starting. I'm a big believer of "hands-on" learning. You should practice each step as you read it. If you do so, you'll find yourself quickly covering all of the basic tools and requirements to conduct a simple PT. The book is written in a proper order and starts with "information gathering", then moves to "scanning". Next up are two chapters covering network and web-based exploitation. A brief overview of backdoors and malware is covered before wrapping up.
Setting up your lab and following along will teach you how to use tools like Nmap, Nessus, Nikto, Metasploit, Netcat, and others! If you've never gotten a remote shell on a target machine (or don't even know what that means) you WILL enjoy this book!
All of the exercises in the book can be completed by simply making two copies of Backtrack in a virtual environment. It's even more fun if you can get your hands on a copy of Windows XP with no service pack. Creating an XP with no SP as a target is a great way to learn the basics and get some "easy wins" before diving into the deeper stuff.
TAKE A MINUTE AND CHECK OUT MY BOOK! You can pick it up here (or at any other book store). It's also available in several popular ebook formats including Kindle, Nook, and others.
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