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Introduction
BOOK OVERVIEW AND KEY LEARNING POINTS This book will walk the reader through the penetration testing lifecycle using the most advanced live disk available today, Kali Linux. After this brief introduction, the chapter details how to find, download, install, and customize Kali Linux. Next a brief introduction to basic Linux configurations and settings will ensure basic commands and settings are understood. The remainder of the book is devoted to the penetration testing lifecycle—Reconnaissance, Scanning, Exploitation, Maintaining Access, and Reporting. While there are hundreds of different tools on the Kali Linux distribution, each chapter covering the penetration testing lifecycle will cover the tools most commonly used in that phase. The reporting phase will detail reports that can be used to present findings to management and leadership and a Rules of Engagement (ROE) template that can be used before beginning a penetration test.
BOOK AUDIENCE
Technical Professionals
Technical professionals in a wide range of specialties can gain benefit from learning how penetration testers work. By gaining this understanding these professionals will better know the basic concepts and techniques used by penetration testers, this knowledge can then be used to better secure their information systems. These specialties include, but are not limited to, server administrators, network administrators, Database Administrators, and Help Desk Professionals.
Those technical professionals that want to transition into becoming a professional penetration tester will gain a good deal of knowledge by reading this book. The underlying understanding that these technical experts have in the various specialties gives them a distinct advantage when becoming a penetration tester. Who better to test the secure configuration of a server than a penetration tester that has extensive knowledge in the administration of server technologies? This is true for other specialties as well.
This book will introduce these technical professionals to the world of penetration testing, and the most common tool used by penetration testers, the Linux Live Disk. By following the examples and instructions in the coming chapters, these professionals will be on the way to understanding or becoming a penetration tester.
Security Engineers
Those security engineers that are striving to better secure the systems they develop and maintain will gain a wealth of knowledge by understanding the penetration testing mindset and lifecycle. Armed with this knowledge, these engineers can “bake in” security features on the systems they are developing and supporting
Students in Information Security and Information Assurance Programs
Understanding the world of penetration testing will give these students insight into one of the most rewarding, and frustrating, professions in the information technology field. By being introduced to penetration testing early in their careers, these students may decide a career in penetration testing is the right choice for them.
Who This Book Is Not for
This book will not give you the skills and experience to break into the National Security Agency (NSA) or a local bank branch, and I suggest no one attempts to do this. This book is not for someone that has been conducting professional penetration tests for a number of years and fully understands how each tool on the Backtrack/Kali Linux disk works. Anyone with intentions of breaking the law, as the intention of the book is to introduce more people to penetration testing as a way to better secure information systems.
