Hello friends, welcome or welcome back. I'm Venecia.
And on this channel we talk all about cybersecurity and how you can succeed as a professional
in cybersecurity. Now in today's video, we are going to talk about becoming a penetration
tester starting from zero.
So from a penetration tester perspective, let's first understand that there are many
names for this job. And for this type of skill set. Now, there are many different names because
the role actually varies in accordance with the name. a penetration tester can also be
known as an ethical hacker. There are also bag bounty hunters that basically do similar
kinds of things that penetration testers do. And so that is also a variation of this role.
Sometimes they're called offensive security professionals. They're called Red teamers.
And so there's a whole, like list of different names that this role can be cold. But it would
essentially require similar types of skills in order to get into any one of these roles.
So I hope that makes sense. Firstly, let's talk about what a penetration test is. Now,
a penetration test simply is used to measure how vulnerable an asset an IT infrastructure
component and application, a website, or really anything digital is, their skin even span
into critical infrastructure spaces where there are industrial control systems, and
you then have a person that is skilled and that knows how to do certain things, in order
to test and assess how vulnerable certain systems are. Second to that these pain tests
also enable organizations to know what their vulnerabilities are and which security controls
are required to then actually mitigate or defend against those vulnerabilities. And
that's why it is often known as red teaming type engagements because your ethical hacker
or pentester type professional would come in and assess basically how secure that system
is whether you have set up that system so that it is, you know, not easily exploitable.
And so that's why they're often referred to as red teamers as well. Now, there are various
different forms of pen tests that can be done, it can be a some bought vulnerability scan,
where you basically have a doll and you scan it against these systems to assess different
vulnerabilities. And this would typically be known vulnerabilities. So there's a common
vulnerability database. And then tasters would then scan the systems for known vulnerabilities.
Second to that you can go a step further, and they can do actual social engineering
type attacks against that organization. Thirdly, it can be assessments against the particular
application or a common component within an application that can be assessed and tested.
And then finally, this can be basically a string of attacks put together to really exploit
how far a tester can go within an organization. So if they've compromised the perimeter, and
they've gotten into one system, or one server or one application, how can they elevate from
the how can they laterally move, elevate their privileges and then get to basically the crown
jewels, whether that be your identity systems or your financial systems in a financial services
organization, basically, they try and compromise a certain target. All right. And then finally,
with regards to the pain testing process, basically, there is an entire lifecycle that
is followed. So depending on what kind of assessment is being done, whether it's a blackbox
test or a gray box, they store, you know, whether they have received a lot of the information
for the system that they are assessing. It just then depends how much reconnaissance
or information gathering they would need to do up front and then how they what type of
results they are finding in the assessment to how vulnerable or compromisable that system
is, what are the critical risks that the Business needs to focus on at that point, they then
report on that. They also are sometimes in the advisory room to advise the IT professionals
on how to actually remediate those vulnerabilities. And then they after they would validate it
again, meaning once it's been remediated, tested again, scan again, do the compromise
assessment against to validate that it's actually been remediated. And in summary, you know,
that is the job of a penetration tester. Now, this job and this role is number one, highly
in demand. Second to that, one consideration to have is also that it is one of the most
well known jobs within cybersecurity. So people are like you work in cybersecurity or you
hacker, you know, it's just the thing. So one thing to understand, if you're looking
to get into this field, and this domain of cybersecurity from zero, you have to consider
that you have to bold skills, you have to be able to demonstrate the skills, you're
going to have to be able to network with a lot of people, and you're going to have to
figure out what makes you different, what is your X Factor and what is going to help
you to stand out from the crowd of a lot of people that is applying for the same job as
you just remember, the more people applying for the job, the less likely your chances
are of getting that job unless you have something that makes you different and some people that
you need to work with and you know, a good portfolio to demonstrate your skills. Okay,
so let's look at some of the core skills and core skill requirements.
As always, with cybersecurity, there's always something bigger, there's always something
more, you have to decide, where do you want to focus within the hacking space. Now you
can be a network, pen tester, infrastructure tester, or you can be application, specifically,
web app tester, or you can test against industrial control systems. But that's what I mean with
that X factor, look at what is going to make you stand out from the crowd and go for something
that is really more focused and perhaps less saturated in the field. How I would go about
doing this is going to check on different job websites for ethical hackers wanted open
taste, pain or pen testers needed. And I would then go and check whether they have specific
job requirements. So are they looking for someone to test industrial control systems?
Are they looking for something for someone to test against web applications, etc. Because
these all require different kinds of skills and knowledge about different kinds of systems.
So definitely consider which space you want to focus into in the ethical hacking space,
you can always span across the board, once you get a lot of that experience, against
your name, and a lot of the skills that you need to build back think initially where you
want to focus into from a testing and skill building perspective. Okay, next, you want
to go on to different platforms and build your skills. This is a skill that's really
similar to coding. And, you know, a lot of the times you actually do require a bit of
coding for a pain testing type role, because you've got to write it and exploits and you've
got to test certain things. And you've got to understand different processes, etc. But
without getting too deep into the coding requirements for a pen tester, go onto platforms like hack
the box, try hack me. And just go and look at the beginner paths into been testing and
ethical hacking, and try hack me it would be the beginners security path, and then the
red teaming path instead of the defender pass on hack the box, start with the easiest boxes
and then build your way up from there. So those are two platforms that you can typically
look at in order to start building your pen testing skills. Now, another platform that's
really good. It's been a recent discovery, but it is the iron II startup boss. I know
so many people who has been doing the iron II training and it is really, really good
from an ethical hacking perspective. So definitely have a look at that and start with the starter
pass
training. And I think that can really help you from a skills building perspective. All
right. Let's talk about certifications. Now, one of the main certifications that's been
well known and well recognized in the industry has been the C H certification by Ec Council.
While I think this certification is, is it's still good, it's still fine. I think there
are others that are really good contenders from an ethical hacking perspective. And that
actually allows you to bold skills and practice instead of the theoretical nature of DCH certification.
Now, I think I'm going to mention these in order and you can have a look at them. But
this is just you know, some of the starting points that you can consider. So theoretical
certifications that you can look at from an ethical hacking perspective is the C H certification
theoretical, I'm not sure that it is my top recommended certification. To be honest, I
think that there are others out there that you can definitely have a look at bat CAG
still highly recognized in the industry. Secondly, you can have a look at the CompTIA pen test
plus certification. Now this one is also quite theoretically focused. However, it is actually
a great certification to gain that foundational knowledge from a been testing perspective.
Thirdly, you can look at the P NPT certification. Now this certification is highly recommended
by many, many ethical hacking professionals, especially the ones that's recently been obtaining
pentesting certifications. And having a look at this, I think this is a really great certification
and something that you can definitely consider if you are not keen on doing the CH certification,
then definitely consider the PMP certification. As always, I will have all the information
down in the description box below. And while we're talking about it, definitely if you
like this content, hit that subscribe button and the bell icon to get notified. And don't
forget to give this video a like finally, certifications that I want to mention that
you should really look into once you have started. Actually testing and building skills
and getting hands on from pentesting perspective is the certifications by
offensive security. Now, the OSCP certification is a really, really highly demanded certification
from a pentesting perspective, because of the demanding nature of the certification
from a practical perspective reporting perspective, the type of knowledge that you need to have
to pass and obtain the certification. It's highly recognized in the industry. So if you
are looking to elevate and get to that next step and be really seen as a force to reckon
with from pentesting perspective, then definitely start with something like the OSC p as soon
as you have actual hands on technical experience, that is not something that you can start with
in the beginning and be the first certification that you do definitely not bad, it is something
that you can do a long lines, if you are working as a pen tester for about six months to a
year, I would say then start looking at the OSAP. And that can really elevate your career
or set you apart from other professionals in the industry. All right. So next, let's
look at what some of those opportunities are in from pentesting perspective. So in order
to get the job, a lot of the times the barrier to entry for paint is is really high because
a lot of people are trying to get into the space. That would mean that before you can
even get a job to get experience you need to get experience on your own. And luckily,
from a pentesting perspective and for the skills that you would build in this role,
that is really possible. So firstly, you can do freelance pentesting. You can go onto any
of the freelancing websites and go and be a contracted or freelance tester. And that's
how you can build your skills firstly, and then also gain experience in that regard.
Secondly, you can actually go and do bug bounties. Now bug bounties is basically it's offered
by most major organizations where they have a bug bounty program, you sign up for that
program, you then test against different systems and you try and find bugs in software that
is published by the major vendors. And when you find a bug, you can submit this bug and
you can then get money for that. Now that is really good way to make money while you're
still learning and practice your skills on an ongoing basis. And that brings me to the
final point that if you do go the pentester route. Yes, you need skills. Yes, you need
a lot of experience, but also yes, you can work for yourself, you can work from anywhere
in the world, you can do a lot of bug bounty programs and you can make a lot of money through
those programs depending on your dedication towards obviously finding these bags. And
therefore, I think that if you don't just set your sights on actually just getting a
job getting a job getting a job, you can actually build skills and make money without necessarily
having a full time job just by freelancing and just by doing bug bounty program. Alright
friends, I hope you enjoyed this video. If you're looking to get into some of the other
spaces within cybersecurity like a security analyst spot, check out this video because
I have done a full cyber security analyst from zero video and I hope you enjoyed it.
That is it for this video. I will catch you next time. Bye