Your pen testing career begins here, with a solid foundation in essential skills and concepts Penetration Testing Essentials provides a starting place for professionals and beginners looking to learn more about penetration testing for cybersecurity. Certification eligibility requires work experience—but before you get that experience, you need a basic understanding of the technical and behavioral ways attackers compromise security, and the tools and techniques you'll use to discover the weak spots before others do. You'll learn information gathering techniques, scanning and enumeration, how to target wireless networks, and much more as you build your pen tester skill set. You'll learn how to break in, look around, get out, and cover your tracks, all without ever being noticed. Pen testers are tremendously important to data security, so they need to be sharp and well-versed in technique, but they also need to work smarter than the average hacker. This book set you on the right path, with expert instruction from a veteran IT security expert with multiple security certifications. IT Security certifications have stringent requirements and demand a complex body of knowledge. This book lays the groundwork for any IT professional hoping to move into a cybersecurity career by developing a robust pen tester skill set. Learn the fundamentals of security and cryptography Master breaking, entering, and maintaining access to a system Escape and evade detection while covering your tracks Build your pen testing lab and the essential toolbox Start developing the tools and mindset you need to become experienced in pen testing today.

Table of Contents:
Introduction xvii Chapter 1 Introduction to Penetration Testing 1 Defining Penetration Testing 1 Preserving Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability 4 Appreciating the Evolution of Hacking 5 Chapter 2 Introduction to Operating Systems and Networking 15 Comparing Common Operating Systems 15 Exploring Networking Concepts 21 Chapter 3 Introduction to Cryptography 37 Recognizing the Four Goals of Cryptography 37 The History of Encryption 38 Speaking Intelligently About Cryptography 39 Comparing Symmetric and Asymmetric Cryptography 41 Transforming Data via Hashing 47 A Hybrid System: Using Digital Signatures 48 Working with PKI 50 Chapter 4 Outlining the Pen Testing Methodology 55 Determining the Objective and Scope of the Job 55 Choosing the Type of Test to Perform 58 Gaining Permission via a Contract 60 Following the Law While Testing68 Chapter 5 Gathering Intelligence 71 Introduction to Intelligence Gathering 71 Examining a Company’s Web Presence 73 Finding Websites That Don’t Exist Anymore 77 Gathering Information with Search Engines 78 Targeting Employees with People Searches 80 Discovering Location 81 Do Some Social Networking 82 Looking via Financial Services 85 Investigating Job Boards 86 Searching Email 86 Extracting Technical Information 87 Chapter 6 Scanning and Enumeration 89 Introduction to Scanning89 Checking for Live Systems 91 Performing Port Scanning 96 Identifying an Operating System 107 Scanning for Vulnerabilities 110 Using Proxies (Or Keeping Your Head Down) 110 Performing Enumeration 112 Chapter 7 Conducting Vulnerability Scanning 121 Introduction to Vulnerability Scanning 122 Recognizing the Limitations of Vulnerability Scanning 123 Outlining the Vulnerability Scanning Process 124 Types of Scans That Can Be Performed 127 Chapter 8 Cracking Passwords 129 Recognizing Strong Passwords 129 Choosing a Password-Cracking Technique 130 Executing a Passive Online Attack 131 Executing an Active Online Attack 133 Executing an Offline Attack 134 Using Nontechnical Methods 137 Escalating Privileges 140 Chapter 9 Retaining Access with Backdoors and Malware 143 Deciding How to Attack 143 Installing a Backdoor with PsTools 144 Opening a Shell with LAN Turtle 145 Recognizing Types of Malware 146 Launching Viruses 147 Launching Worms 153 Launching Spyware 153 Inserting Trojans154 Installing Rootkits 159 Chapter 10 Reporting 161 Reporting the Test Parameters 161 Collecting Information 163 Highlighting the Important Information 164 Adding Supporting Documentation 168 Conducting Quality Assurance 169 Chapter 11 Working with Defensive and Detection Systems 171 Detecting Intrusions 171 Recognizing the Signs of an Intrusion 176 Evading an IDS 179 Breaching a Firewall 182 Using Honeypots: The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 189 Chapter 12 Covering Your Tracks and Evading Detection 193 Recognizing the Motivations for Evasion 193 Getting Rid of Log Files 194 Hiding Files 201 Evading Antivirus Software 208 Evading Defenses by Entering Through a Backdoor210 Using Rootkits for Evasion 211 Chapter 13 Detecting and Targeting Wireless 213 An Introduction to Wireless 213 Breaking Wireless Encryption Technologies 222 Conducting a Wardriving Attack 230 Conducting Other Types of Attack 232 Choosing Tools to Attack Wireless 234 Knocking Out Bluetooth 237 Hacking the Internet of Things (IoT)240 Chapter 14 Dealing with Mobile Device Security 243 Recognizing Current-Generation Mobile Devices 243 Working with Android OS 248 Working with Apple iOS 254 Finding Security Holes in Mobile Devices 256 Encountering Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) 257 Choosing Tools to Test Mobile Devices 258 Chapter 15 Performing Social Engineering 261 Introduction to Social Engineering 261 Exploiting Human Traits 263 Acting Like a Social Engineer 264 Targeting Specific Victims 265 Leveraging Social Networking 267 Conducting Safer Social Networking 268 Chapter 16 Hardening a Host System 271 Introduction to Hardening 271 Three Tenets of Defense 273 Creating a Security Baseline 276 Hardening with Group Policy 279 Hardening Desktop Security 279 Backing Up a System 289 Chapter 17 Hardening Your Network 291 Introduction to Network Hardening 291 Intrusion Detection Systems 292 Firewalls 296 Physical Security Controls 302 Chapter 18 Navigating the Path to Job Success 305 Choosing Your Career Path 305 Build a Library 307 Practice Technical Writing 309 Display Your Skills 309 Chapter 19 Building a Test Lab for Penetration Testing 311 Deciding to Build a Lab 311 Considering Virtualization 313 Getting Starting and What You Will Need 316 Installing Software 317 Appendix Answers to Review Questions 319 Index 331