{"id":19924,"date":"2021-02-03T20:28:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T14:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/?p=19924"},"modified":"2021-02-12T17:52:12","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T12:22:12","slug":"pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How to become a pentester from scratch, and in general, what does penetration testing include?&nbsp;What tools should you master and in what sequence?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pentesting &#8211; what you need to know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Penetration testing (pentesting) is used for early detection of problems and vulnerabilities in IT systems.&nbsp;For this, both manual testing methods and automated tools are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pentester simulates the actions of an attacker, while exploiting possible security holes.&nbsp;If the protection is weak, the specialist gets access to the required data and reports on the vulnerability found so that it can be eliminated by the developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pentester skills and tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To understand how to become a pentester from scratch, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the training scheme from scratch.&nbsp;The roadmap included the following points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The basics<\/li><li>Cyber \u200b\u200binfrastructure for penetration testing<\/li><li>Escalation of cross-platform privileges<\/li><li>Attacks on network infrastructure<\/li><li>Reverse engineering and malware analysis<\/li><li>Preparation for CEH and OSCP exams<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s analyze them in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The basics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, this is an introduction to the profession, from which you should learn about hacking web applications, attacks on operating systems and networks, as well as external IT infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What experience will help here?&nbsp;Knowing assembler is a good background for malware research.&nbsp;If you are looking towards web security, then you definitely need to start by studying web technologies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The main technologies used by browsers: HTML, JavaScript, HTTP, web sockets, CSS, SOP, CORS, cookies, storage and how they work.<\/li><li>The main technologies for developing the server side: PHP, frameworks, content management systems.&nbsp;Then you can move on to more rigorous and demanding languages \u200b\u200band technologies, such as Java, Python, Node.JS, C #, Golang, etc.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowledge of Linux at the level of a pentester is not limited to installing the &#8220;hacker&#8221; Kali distribution.&nbsp;Service, user, permissions, network management, and package managers are the foundations for understanding how UNIX-like operating systems work from the inside out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same goes for Windows Server.&nbsp;Knowledge of the mechanisms for managing a network of devices and network equipment will help you.&nbsp;This applies to working with Active Directory, network protocols DNS, DHCP and ARP, as well as their settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A separate block should be allocated to corporate networks Cisco, their architecture.&nbsp;A good penetration tester can quickly figure out how to configure Cisco equipment, routing, VLAN and Trunk ports, monitor traffic, and manage the corporate network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cyber \u200b\u200binfrastructure for penetration testing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As a pentester, you have to scan networks and analyze network traffic.&nbsp;This will help&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wireshark.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wireshark<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211; a popular tool for capturing and analyzing network traffic, which is often used both in training and in real-life tasks.&nbsp;You also have to monitor and process open sources using the principle of open-source intelligence (OSINT), work with cracking passwords, attacks on Wi-Fi and MITM.&nbsp;It is at this stage that you will become familiar with brute force or brute force, as well as related programs like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.openwall.com\/john\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John The Ripper<\/a>&nbsp;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Escalation of cross-platform privileges<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this innocuous name, privilege escalation refers to the exploitation of a vulnerability in a program or operating system, as a result of which an attacker gains access to information, which is usually protected from a certain category of users.&nbsp;This action allows a cybercriminal to gain the right to perform unauthorized actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Privilege changes are divided into three main types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>vertical rise &#8211; imitation of the user by levels higher;<\/li><li>horizontal increase &#8211; imitation of a user of the same level;<\/li><li>downgrade &#8211; imitation of the user by levels below.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To become a pentester, you need to understand how it works from an attacker&#8217;s point of view.&nbsp;To this end, you will have to learn how to change your privileges in various operating systems, stick to them, use exploits, buffer overflows and replace DLL files with malicious libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Attacks on network infrastructure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Such attacks are divided into active and passive &#8211; the type directly depends on the malware.&nbsp;To provide protection against attacks on the network infrastructure, the following are used:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>VPN;<\/li><li>proxy servers;<\/li><li>firewalls;<\/li><li>network monitoring systems.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But this concerns methods of protecting end users.&nbsp;As a penetration testing specialist, you will test attacks via SMB Relay and Responder, use PowerShell as a tool for attacks and network security analysis, check domain configuration, and capture and analyze network traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reverse engineering and malware analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>But true cybersecurity experts go even further.&nbsp;They study and analyze the logic of executable files, investigate the results of malware operation, reverse-engineer compiled executable files and debug them.&nbsp;This is where assembly language, C, and the OllyDbg, x64dbg and GDB debuggers come in handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Preparation for CEH and OSCP exams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Passing the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eccouncil.org\/programs\/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CEH<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.offensive-security.com\/pwk-oscp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OSCP exams is<\/a>&nbsp;optional, but it will allow you to consolidate the passed material, receive the appropriate certificates and put a fat point in training in the rank of a beginner, becoming a specialist.&nbsp;You should understand the technical details of the format for both exams and build an effective preparation plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional tools<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Complex:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>OWASP ZAP &#8211; an open source cross-platform tool for automatically searching for vulnerabilities in web applications during development and testing;<\/li><li>Burp Suite &#8211; a set of interconnected components for a comprehensive security audit;<\/li><li>Metasploit is an open source platform for creating exploits for various operating systems.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brute forcers:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>THC-Hydra &#8211; multifunctional brute-force passwords;<\/li><li>RainbowCrack is a popular hash cracker;<\/li><li>John the Ripper is a cross-platform tool with three types of iteration: full, hybrid, and dictionary.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Network scanners:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Nmap;<\/li><li>ZMap;<\/li><li>Masscan.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Traffic analyzers:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Wireshark;<\/li><li>tcpdump;<\/li><li>mitmproxy.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to become a pentester from scratch, and in general, what does penetration testing include?&nbsp;What tools should you master and in what sequence?&nbsp; Pentesting &#8211; what you need to know Penetration testing (pentesting) is used for early detection of problems and vulnerabilities in IT systems.&nbsp;For this, both manual testing methods and automated tools are used&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch | ValeurBit Infosec<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch | ValeurBit Infosec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to become a pentester from scratch, and in general, what does penetration testing include?&nbsp;What tools should you master and in what sequence?&nbsp; Pentesting &#8211; what you need to know Penetration testing (pentesting) is used for early detection of problems and vulnerabilities in IT systems.&nbsp;For this, both manual testing methods and automated tools are used....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ValeurBit Infosec\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/valeurbitinfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-03T14:58:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-12T12:22:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@valeurbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@valeurbit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Valeurbit Infosec\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/valeurbitinfo\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/valeurbit\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/valeurbit-infosec\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/valeurbit\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Valeurbit-new-logo-center.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Valeurbit-new-logo-center.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Valeurbit Infosec\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"ValeurBit Infosec\",\"description\":\"Cyber Security Company\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/\",\"name\":\"Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch | ValeurBit Infosec\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-03T14:58:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-12T12:22:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df20c1cd317765fa8677a3056caeccfa\"},\"headline\":\"Pentest Roadmap: How To Become A Pentester From Scratch\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-03T14:58:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-12T12:22:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/pentest-roadmap-how-to-become-a-pentester-from-scratch\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":948,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Valeurbit\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df20c1cd317765fa8677a3056caeccfa\",\"name\":\"ValeurBit\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/author\/valeurbit\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valeurbit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}