Certified Pentester

1. Introduction to Penetration Testing

• What is Penetration Testing?
• Ethical Hacking vs Malicious Hacking
• Goals and Objectives of a Pentest
• Types of Penetration Testing
  • Black Box
  • White Box
  • Gray Box
• Rules of Engagement (RoE)
• Legal and Ethical Considerations
• Standards and Frameworks
  • NIST
  • PTES
  • OWASP
  • ISO 27001

2. Information Gathering (Reconnaissance)

Passive Reconnaissance

• Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
• WHOIS Lookup
• Google Dorking
• Social Media Intelligence

Active Reconnaissance

• DNS Enumeration
• Network Mapping
• Banner Grabbing

Tools

• Maltego
• theHarvester
• Recon-ng
• Shodan

3. Scanning and Enumeration

• Network Scanning Concepts
• Port Scanning Techniques
• Service Identification
• OS Fingerprinting
• Vulnerability Scanning

Tools

• Nmap
• Nessus
• OpenVAS
• Netcat

4. Vulnerability Assessment

• Identifying Security Weaknesses
• CVSS Scoring
• Risk Prioritization
• False Positives vs True Positives
• Patch Management Awareness

5. Exploitation Techniques

• Exploit Fundamentals
• Exploitation Workflow
• Common Network Exploits
• Password Attacks
  • Brute Force
  • Dictionary
  • Credential Stuffing

Tools

• Metasploit Framework
• Hydra
• John the Ripper
• Burp Suite (for web)

6. Web Application Penetration Testing

• OWASP Top 10 Overview
  • SQL Injection
  • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
  • CSRF
  • Broken Authentication
  • Security Misconfiguration
• Session Management Testing
• Input Validation Testing

Tools

• Burp Suite
• OWASP ZAP
• Nikto
• SQLmap

7. Wireless Network Penetration Testing

• Wireless Security Basics
• WPA2/WPA3 Attacks
• Rogue Access Points
• Packet Capture and Analysis

Tools

• Aircrack-ng
• Kismet
• Wireshark

8. Post-Exploitation

• Privilege Escalation
• Maintaining Access
• Pivoting and Lateral Movement
• Data Exfiltration Risks
• Covering Tracks (for awareness, not misuse)

9. Social Engineering

• Phishing Attacks
• Spear Phishing
• Pretexting
• Human Vulnerabilities
• Security Awareness Strategies

10. Reporting and Documentation

• Importance of Accurate Reporting
• Writing a Penetration Test Report
• Executive vs Technical Reports
• Risk Ratings and Recommendations
• Evidence Collection and Screenshots

11. Pentesting Methodologies & Frameworks

• PTES Phases
• Cyber Kill Chain
• MITRE ATT&CK Overview
• Red Team vs Blue Team vs Purple Team

12. Hands-On Labs and Capstone Project

• Simulated Corporate Network Testing
• Web Application Assessment
• Capture-the-Flag (CTF) Exercises
• Full End-to-End Penetration Test
• Final Presentation and Defense

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, learners should be able to:

• Perform structured penetration tests
• Identify and exploit common vulnerabilities
• Use industry-standard pentesting tools
• Document findings professionally
• Recommend remediation strategies