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Ask HN: What are the best resources for learning security and pen testing?
- taurusismysign 8y agoThis should help - https://www.zaproxy.org/ https://www.zaproxy.org/
- k4ch0w 8y agoLearn the OWASP top 10 Use vulnerable VM's and practice like Metasploitable and https://github.com/SecGen/SecGen https://github.com/SecGen/SecGen Get the OSCP I also highly recommend being good at some programming. This is for source code review and quick scripts/exploit development.
- strictnein 8y ago> Get the OSCP I mean, sure, yeah, that's great, but that's not an easy task.
- lainon 8y agor/netsec
- mansilladev 8y agoI find that talking to folks in the trenches is incredibly useful. If you’re already at a company that has a security team, or even a small company that has folks that deal with infra/app security and/or incidents, you can learn a boatload directly the practitioners on the line. Even better if there’s a chat room that you can be a fly on the wall in. When I worked at Mashery (a SaaS API management company) we were the front end for the APIs of hundreds of companies around the world, handling billions of API calls for the likes of Comcast, Best Buy, Starbucks, Macy’s, etc. During my time there, I learned a god awful amount about ops, scaling, amd security, simply by sticking my head in whenever I detected chaos going down. Some comments mentioned tools like Metasploit, or reading up on the OWASP 10. Yup and yup. Plus, there are other tools to add to your belt that I find indispensable: Charles Proxy (install a MITM to watch web traffic), nmap (discover all the services running on a network)
- arkadiyt 8y agoThere's no standard path in information security, most schools don't offer information security degrees and many extremely successful people in security didn't come from a CS background at all. Some general recommendations: - follow smart security people on Twitter, which is the defacto medium for information security discussion - read publicly disclosed bug bounty reports on Hackerone and Bugcrowd - read The Tangled Web by Michal Zalewski - learn to use Burp Suite
- strictnein 8y ago> - learn to use Burp Suite Burp Suite is an awesome tool for devs as well. The Repeater tool is better for messing with API calls than any of the browser dev tools, imo. For people finding the proxy setup stuff annoying: install Foxyproxy in Firefox and it makes your life really simple.
- andromedavision 8y agoHow about for proxy servers in headless browsers; what do you recommend? Any experience with how public and premium proxies vis-a-vis uptime and reliability compare?
- strictnein 8y agoSorry, no experience with that.
- Mandatum 8y agoNo-bullshit, basics of hacking guide often referenced as preparation material for the OSCP exam. https://nostarch.com/pentesting https://nostarch.com/pentesting /r/netsec netsecfocus.com - chat community, super active
- paddlepop 8y agoI highly recommend pentesterlab.com. The Web for Pentester course is a great intro for first timers if you read the PDF and play with the VM When training newbies I will start with this and get them to play around with google-gruyere.appspot.com. These are only relevant for web app testing, I haven't been able to find a suitable free resource for network testing but for paid resources OSCP is a great practice course if not pretty challenging for first timers
- strictnein 8y agoIf you like watching videos and following along: Free: https://www.cybrary.it/ https://www.cybrary.it/ Cheap: https://www.pluralsight.com/ https://www.pluralsight.com/ The entry level cert in this area is the CEH. It's kind of looked down upon, like a lot of entry level certs are, but studying/working towards that isn't a bad thing. Books: - Practical: The Web Application Hacker's Handbook 2nd Edition - Gives a very good overview and is a good place to start. The Hacker Playbook 3: Practical Guide To Penetration Testing - #3 just came out. Haven't gone through my copy yet, but I've heard good things. RTFM - Red Team Field Manual - Nice to have, quick reference guide BTFM - Blue Team Field Manual - Like the above, but for the good guys ;) - Covering the bigger picture, if you're curious (geopolitical): The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage
- MaxBarraclough 8y ago> It's kind of looked down upon, like a lot of entry level certs are Well, it's an entry level cert, as you say. Passing CEH doesn't mean someone knows what they're doing. Is there an alternative entry-level qualification that evokes fewer frowns?
- fybe 8y agoCISSP is a bit harder but still entry level and has more credibility
- morrbo 8y agoBut still gets looked down on. It's a running joke in pretty much everywhere I've worked that if you see someone with CEH and/or CISSP in their email signature - like a badge of honour - that you know you're going to be in for a real tough time.
- 8y ago
- yobananaboy 8y agoI'm going through HackTheBox to prepare for taking the OSCP course. https://www.hackthebox.eu/ https://www.hackthebox.eu/
- jquast 8y agohttps://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Dowd-Art-of-Software-Security-Assessment-The-Identifying-and-Preventing-Software-Vulnerabilities/PGM306255.html https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Dowd-Art...
- loteck 8y agoThis often goes overlooked on a forum full of coders, but not everyone who reads HN or wants into infosec is proficient with a major scripting language. I'd bet being solid in python/bash/powershell would come in handy, and that having no skills in any of them may be a dealbreaker.
- deaps 8y agoHighly recommend python or perl myself - and obviously know how to use bash as well. One related suggestion: Do not become reliant on third party modules/add-ins (other than the standard library stuff) - at least when learning. Really learn how it works.
- throwaway000021 8y agoThis is a good intro to pen testing: https://www.sgsgroup.com.hk/en/news/2014/02/general-requirements-and-test-methods-for-pen https://www.sgsgroup.com.hk/en/news/2014/02/general-requirem...
- xrayzerone 8y agoFollow anyone from SpecterOps and the content they put out.
- runningmike 8y agohttp://security-and-privacy-reference-architecture.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ http://security-and-privacy-reference-architecture.readthedo... with Only open resources
- s14ve 8y agoCTFs: https://github.com/apsdehal/awesome-ctf https://github.com/apsdehal/awesome-ctf especially https://www.hackthebox.eu/ https://www.hackthebox.eu/ In case you want cert: skip CEH, get some basic knowledge and go OSCP Daily resources: * https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/ https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/ * https://www.hackerone.com/zerodaily https://www.hackerone.com/zerodaily * https://hackerone.com/hacktivity https://hackerone.com/hacktivity For lightweight learning by watching after work, check out LiveOverflow: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClcE-kVhqyiHCcjYwcpfj9w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClcE-kVhqyiHCcjYwcpfj9w
- LiveOverflow 8y agothank you for sharing my channel <3 I would also like to highlight the following other creators. For me seeing the process of others has been a lot more fruitful then just following text tutorials: + ippsec: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6eh7gCkpPo5XXUDfygQQA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6eh7gCkpPo5XXUDfygQQA + John Hammond: https://www.youtube.com/user/RootOfTheNull https://www.youtube.com/user/RootOfTheNull + Gynvael EN: https://www.youtube.com/user/GynvaelEN https://www.youtube.com/user/GynvaelEN + Derek Rook: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMACXuWd2w6_IEGog744UaA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMACXuWd2w6_IEGog744UaA + ...
- s14ve 8y agoWow, thanks for sharing and for your hard work on your channel! I recommend it to everyone who is even remotely interested in security as your videos provide really valuable knowledge which is very easy to digest in the same time. Thank you and keep it up please!:)
- indigochill 8y agoPlenty of good suggestions here already. Some I've not seen mentioned yet: Books: Hacking, 2nd edition (some specifics are out of date, but it teaches hacking by teaching how the relevant pieces of a computer work which is still valuable) Anything else from https://nostarch.com/catalog/security https://nostarch.com/catalog/security that looks relevant to your specific interests Hands-on practice: OverTheWire: http://overthewire.org/wargames/ http://overthewire.org/wargames/ (wargames to ease you into things) WeChall: https://www.wechall.net/ https://www.wechall.net/ (challenge site directory that'll help you pick challenge sites based on your topic of interest) +Ma's Reversing: http://3564020356.org/ http://3564020356.org/ (old reverse engineering site/community - mostly dead as far as I know but the puzzles will still challenge you and the old articles you can unlock make it a bit of a hacking museum) CTF Time: https://ctftime.org/ https://ctftime.org/ (A directory/calendar of tons of CTFs you can play in) Pwn Adventure: http://www.pwnadventure.com/ http://www.pwnadventure.com/ (A vulnerable MMO server/client designed to demonstrate common game vulnerabilities) VulnHub: https://www.vulnhub.com/ https://www.vulnhub.com/ (A repository of deliberately vulnerable VMs you can host and attack in your security lab)
- Liblor 8y agoResources I like that haven't been mentioned yet: Offensive Computer Security (used to be a class at FSU): http://hackallthethings.com/ocs.php http://hackallthethings.com/ocs.php https://www.cs.fsu.edu/~redwood/OffensiveComputerSecurity/lectures.html https://www.cs.fsu.edu/~redwood/OffensiveComputerSecurity/le... (2014 version) Opensecuritytraining (various stuff on different topics): http://opensecuritytraining.info/Welcome.html http://opensecuritytraining.info/Welcome.html
- WhiteSource1 8y agoResources I like: DDoS BootCamp: https://www.ddosbootcamp.com/ https://www.ddosbootcamp.com/ InfoSec Industry: https://www.infosecinstitute.com/topics/information-security-training/ https://www.infosecinstitute.com/topics/information-security... Learning Tree (might have free access through your local library): https://www.learningtree.com/training-directory/cyber-security-training/ https://www.learningtree.com/training-directory/cyber-securi... and several courses available on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/it-security https://www.coursera.org/learn/it-security
- longnow 8y agoThis ‘awesome list’ is a great list of curated security resources. https://github.com/sbilly/awesome-security/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/sbilly/awesome-security/blob/master/READM...
- dogma1138 8y agoAskNetsec on reddit. OWASP find your local chapter and go to meetings. YouTube, and pentesterlab (even the free ones are better than most (even all) other paid resources).
- DyslexicAtheist 8y agofor learning security I'd start with this book: Security Engineering — The Book https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/book.html https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/book.html
- LiveOverflow 8y agoI create highly technical videos about various topics of IT security. Many of my videos are walk-throughs of CTF challenges explaining my thought process. I think this playlist could be interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhixgUqwRTjywPzsTYz28I-qezFOSaUYz https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhixgUqwRTjywPzsTYz28... I have also recently started a series on Pwn Adventure 3, where we are hacking a game and I explain my process: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhixgUqwRTjzzBeFSHXrw9DnQtssdAwgG https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhixgUqwRTjzzBeFSHXrw... Besides that, I can also really recommend livestreams/screenshares from the following creators. To me, seeing how somebody really does it and where they struggle, really really helped me break through a wall I was hitting: + ippsec: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6eh7gCkpPo5XXUDfygQQA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6eh7gCkpPo5XXUDfygQQA + John Hammond: https://www.youtube.com/user/RootOfTheNull https://www.youtube.com/user/RootOfTheNull + Gynvael EN: https://www.youtube.com/user/GynvaelEN https://www.youtube.com/user/GynvaelEN + Derek Rook: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMACXuWd2w6_IEGog744UaA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMACXuWd2w6_IEGog744UaA + ...
- Kagerjay 8y ago+1 I love your videos there great, I've watched a few of your pwnadvenuture videos and some other ones related to MMOs
- bartcywinski 8y agoI'm a big fan of your videos. Thanks buddy!
- joshschreuder 8y agoYour videos are great, thanks for your hard work! And thanks for the ep with John Hammond recently that put me onto his channel too :)
- MoomDog 8y agoI really appreciate your videos.. I'm an early early beginner, regardless though the videos and how you construct them is really entertaining and informative. Keep it up. <3
- jdeca568 8y agoAs mentionned several times already, OWASP has very interesting stuff, it's more web application oriented though. (https://www.owasp.org https://www.owasp.org) WebGoat is a good way to put things in practice locally. (https://github.com/WebGoat/WebGoat https://github.com/WebGoat/WebGoat) The project ZAP is a really great tool to help you in the process. (https://www.zaproxy.org https://www.zaproxy.org) Outside the web sphere, exploit database is a great site with a bunch of exploit code, explanation and papers. (https://www.exploit-db.com https://www.exploit-db.com) The tool suite in Kali Linux is also very good if you don't mind read the documentation and try understanding the goal of the tools. (https://www.kali.org https://www.kali.org) Kali NetHunter lets you practice from Android. (https://github.com/offensive-security/kali-nethunter https://github.com/offensive-security/kali-nethunter) Security is such a wide domain that you can quickly get flood. I don't think the ultimate step-by-step learning guide exists. Once you've learned and practiced a bit, if you don't give up too soon, you will get the point and understand how deep you need to go into a protocol or a system to actually do something yourself (then this not about security documentation anymore, but about understanding how the target works, and how you can make it work the way you want). I would say that you need to focus on some targets first, and expand the scope over time depending on your needs/interests.
- mattr3 8y agoThis Medium article provides a comprehensive overview https://hackernoon.com/how-to-become-a-hacker-e0530a355cad https://hackernoon.com/how-to-become-a-hacker-e0530a355cad Books
- mattr3 8y agoAuthor maintains a GoodReads page https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/57131835-andrew-douma https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/57131835-andrew-douma
- lewsire 8y agohttp://www.securitytube.net/ http://www.securitytube.net/ https://www.pentesteracademy.com/ https://www.pentesteracademy.com/ ... both run by same company
- thorin 8y agoHow about these courses: https://www.edx.org/micromasters/ritx-cybersecurity https://www.edx.org/micromasters/ritx-cybersecurity it's free if you don't want the certificate and Johnathan S Weissman is an amusing and informative geek. I've only done the foundation so far, but as a long time developer I've already learnt a few things
- jonahx 8y agoSurprised I didn't see the Matasano security challenges mentioned yet: https://cryptopals.com/ https://cryptopals.com/
- runjake 8y agoOffSec's course is both very well-respected and very in-depth. https://www.offensive-security.com/information-security-training/penetration-testing-training-kali-linux/ https://www.offensive-security.com/information-security-trai... The price isn't bad, either.
- myself248 8y agoIf your goal is to land a job with the skills you acquire, you'll need more than just solid basic skills. It would be helpful to keep abreast of new developments, where there might not necessarily be a lot of training material yet. One way to keep up on what's new, is to watch the talks posted by security conferences. Speakers generally submit their freshest work, and are often playing their own game of resume-enhancement by getting their name associated with hot topics. So pay attention to not just the topics, but also the vocabulary around them... A lot of the newest-fanciest research won't necessarily be within your grasp as a neophyte, but some of it will, and some of it will inform your direction and focus as you work your way up. And some of it will suggest entirely new avenues, disciplines, and modes of thinking.
- sakshyamshah 8y agorecommended way, 1. learn operating system internals, start using Linux 2. learn computer networking. TCP/IP, OSI layer and network protocols like TCP, UDP, HTTP 3. learn about software programs and Web application architecture 4. start following up security related resource like books, videos, courses (OSCP is great). - Pick one programming language along the way and try scripting programs while learning. - you need not master every topic but knowledge of how and why everything works the way it works increases you expertise as security practitioner - since there are many public bug bounty programs these days, legally testing out stuffs to hone your knowledge has never been easy. plus you get paid.
- kayge 8y agoFor getting started in web security, the Hacker101 series by HackerOne is a great — and free — place to start. And I believe they are currently adding new content every month. https://www.hacker101.com/ https://www.hacker101.com/
- Athaman 8y agoThe university of NSW (respected Australian uni) is putting up a bunch of materials from their Masters in Cyber Security. It's going up slower than expected but the lecturer is engaging and the first subject to roll out covers a lot of good philosophy of security type subjects. Find it at sec.edu.au/moocs