What this book covers

Chapter 1, Installing Kali and the Lab Setup, documents best practices for setting up a testing environment, where you can test the skills highlighted in this book.

Chapter 2, Reconnaissance and Scanning, enables you to learn the skills necessary to gather information about your target environment. We will gather domain names, IP subnets, hosts, routing information, as well as other useful information. You will also learn how to keep track of this data, so we can refer to it in the future as we progress through our penetration testing environment.

Chapter 3, Vulnerability Analysis, explains that once access to a network has been gained and the systems within that network have been identified, the next step is to establish a foothold and persistent access.

Chapter 4, Finding Exploits in the Target, takes the host information that we have accumulated to determine the potential exploits to use against target machines and services.

Chapter 5, Social Engineering, speaks about social engineering that can be employed through electronic means and is also used in physical penetration testing and even data gathering. We bend well-known natural tendencies to help us accomplish or obtain what we want.

Chapter 6, Password Cracking, enables you to learn different techniques and tools to gain knowledge of password hashes gained during various attacks, as well as the means to reset these passwords if access is gained.

Chapter 7, Privilege Escalation, helps you to learn how to use a small foothold to expand the scope of your breach, increase the admin level, and use lateral movement to compromise more machines. In most cases, the initial point of a breach is not the desired target, but just a means to get to the more valuable targets.

Chapter 8, Wireless Specific Recipes, explains that due to the ever growing adoption of wireless networking, as well as the extended reach wireless signals can provide, we will focus on how to gain access to these networks through a variety of means.

Chapter 9, Web and Database Specific Recipes, explains that evaluating the security of web applications and databases requires a unique set of tools that can be leveraged against them. In the event that a web application is compromised, it is highly likely that it may then be used as a jumping off point for further network penetration.

Chapter 10, Maintaining Access, explains that once access has been gained to the target environment, it is crucial to make sure that your access is maintained. Learn how to maintain access and pivot into other areas of your target environment.