Ethical Hacking & Pen Testing Curriculum

Master the art of ethical hacking through our comprehensive, hands-on training program that follows the stages of a real-world penetration test.

Teaching Through the Stages of an Actual Hack

Stage 0: Setup & Mindset (Pre-Attack)

Goal: Prepare environment and introduce hacker thinking.

What You Cover:

  • Hacker vs Ethical Hacker
  • Laws & Ethics (Computer Misuse Act, CFAA, GDPR basics)
  • Setting up a Safe Lab (isolated VMs, no outbound traffic, snapshot use)
  • Kali vs Parrot OS
  • VPNs and Proxies
  • Note-taking tools (CherryTree, Obsidian, Markdown, KeepNote)
  • OpSec (No logs, no leaks, burner accounts)

Tools:

VirtualBox VMware Kali Linux Parrot OS TryHackMe HackTheBox Obsidian CherryTree
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Stage 1: Target Identification

Goal: Choose and scope a target (with permission)

Skills:

  • Understanding Engagement Rules
  • Threat Modeling Basics (STRIDE, DREAD)
  • Asset Discovery and Scope Limiting

Tools:

Google Whois NSLookup Hunter.io Shodan Censys ZoomEye
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Stage 2: Reconnaissance (Information Gathering)

Goal: Collect data about the target without touching it (passive) or with light probing (active)

Skills:

  • OSINT
  • Social Engineering awareness
  • DNS enumeration
  • Whois and metadata analysis

Passive Tools:

theHarvester Google Dorking Maltego SpiderFoot

Active Tools:

Nmap Amass DNSenum DNSrecon
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Stage 3: Enumeration

Goal: Actively probe the system for deeper info like users, services, shares

Skills:

  • Port & Service Enumeration
  • Banner Grabbing
  • Directory & File Brute-forcing
  • SMB & FTP Enumeration

Tools:

Nmap Gobuster Dirbuster Enum4Linux Nikto SMBclient SNMPwalk
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Stage 4: Vulnerability Identification

Goal: Find weaknesses in identified services or web apps

Skills:

  • Manual CVE analysis
  • Automated vulnerability scanning
  • Misconfiguration detection

Tools:

Nessus OpenVAS Nmap NSE Searchsploit Vulners CVE databases
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Stage 5: Exploitation

Goal: Gain unauthorized access to the system

Skills:

  • Payload crafting
  • Shell management
  • Exploit execution

Tools:

Metasploit Netcat Socat MSFvenom Sqlmap Burp Suite ExploitDB
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Stage 6: Post-Exploitation

Goal: Expand access and assess impact

Skills:

  • Privilege Escalation (Kernel, SUID, Weak Services)
  • Credential Extraction (SAM, LSASS)
  • Lateral Movement (Pass-the-Hash, Remote Admin)

Tools:

Mimikatz WinPEAS LinPEAS BloodHound LaZagne SharpHound
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Stage 7: Covering Tracks (Optional but Explained)

Goal: Understand how attackers evade detection (for awareness)

Skills:

  • Log deletion & obfuscation
  • Time stamp alteration
  • AV/EDR evasion techniques

Tools:

Timestomp Veil-Evasion Powershell Obfuscation
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Stage 8: Reporting & Recommendations

Goal: Translate technical findings into actionable reports

Skills:

  • Technical & Executive Summaries
  • CVSS Scoring
  • Strategic Mitigation Advice
  • Proof of Concept Writing

Deliverables:

  • Final Penetration Test Report
  • Screenshots and Notes
  • Remediation Checklist
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