Street #CySec

While there some penetration testing courses out there are great, some of which changed radically (and for the better) my knowledge and way of approaching challenges, I’m still a big fan of self studying because of how you can delve deeper into your favorite arguments, plus, reading and learning the experts’ tips and tricks is a great way to look at things from a different point of view. I am compiling this list of must read books, and I hope you can find it valuable:

1. Georgia Weidman: Penetration Testing - A hands on introduction to hacking.
   Along with the BlackHat EU 2019, this is the book that got me started. Georgia has an excellent way of teching, with visual examples to follow along while reading. The book itself is a bit old and something might not work, but online there are many resources to fix/change what might be broken, e.g. like this. Either way, if you want to get started reading a book and really get you hands dirty, then look no further!

2. Peter Kim: The Hacker Playbook 2. This book is another must read. While written in 2015, and even though there is a new version (v3, aka Red Team Edition), it is still an awesome reference. Peter Kim’s explanation is straight to the point and clear, covers A LOT of different tools and techniques which are derived from his personal experience conducting assessments. He gives advice to build a vulnerable home Active Directory Lab on which to practice the techniques described, and, since technology evolves quickly, provides updates on such tools and techniques on his blog, so that even if the information in the book is outdated, the reader can still adapt it and have a working version. Some of the techniques described were completely new to me and had a real wow factor when first read, such as the printer exploitation and building a custom reverse shell with its C2 infrastructure! While, as I said, Peter’s explanation is clear, I still recommend gaining some experience before actually reading this book, and if you’re wondering whether skipping this one and going straight to the V3, I think that both books go along well, and as such complement each other. To sum up: a very interesting read, both for the new and the seasoned pentester!