Hands-on Hacking™

Online Course Syllabus

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Table of Contents
COURSE SYLLABUS .........................................................................................................................................3
Course Description.................................................................................3
Student Pre-requisites ............................................................................3
Computer Requirements.......................................................................... 4
Objectives ..........................................................................................4
Code of Conduct ...................................................................................5
COURSE SCHEDULE & FORMAT .................................................................................................................5
[1] ETHICS & LEGALITIES ...............................................................................................................................6
[2] OPEN-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE ........................................................................................................... 6
[3] DNS & DOMAIN HACKING ......................................................................................................................6
[4] E-MAIL ATTACKS & MAIL INFRASTRUCTURE ...............................................................................7
[5] WEB SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE HACKING .................................................................................. 8
[6] VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKING ATTACKS ...................................................................................8
[7] FILE SERVERS & INTERNAL INFRASTRUCTURE ATTACKS ......................................................9
[8] UNIX SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE .......................................................................................................9
[9] DATABASES .................................................................................................................................................10
[10] WEB APPLICATION ASSESSMENTS ...............................................................................................10
[11] WINDOWS ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTS .................................................................................11
[12] ART OF PASSWORD CRACKING .......................................................................................................11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................12
Exam & Certificate............................................................................... 12
Further Reading & Resources ...................................................................12

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Course Syllabus
Course Description
Hacker House Hands-On Hacking course is an intensive introductory course that
teaches applied hacking methodologies in a hands-on practical orientated
approach. Our course is engineered from decades of experienced cyber security
practitioner’s knowledge to educate students on common cyber security tasks.
Our course is delivered by expert hackers to prepare students on adversarial
thinking and equip them for tasks conducted in a number of different cyber
security roles. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that each student is adequately
prepared and capable of performing several applied hacking concepts to real-
world problems. We teach the theoretical concepts required for each assessment
activity, provide instructor led demonstrations and then tutor assisted hands-on
practical labs to be completed by each student. Our course lab contents and
modules are downloadable and can be re-used by students to continue learning
beyond the course. Access to all material will be granted for 12 months following
the purchase.

Our labs are provided as an educational resource to further enhance student

learning and as a reference material for on-the-task assessment activities in
future. We teach you how to hack into computers so you can better defend
against and understand the methodologies used by hackers to breach systems.

Student Pre-requisites
We teach students from a grounds-up approach meaning you are not necessarily
an expert in the technology field. Our students have come from all manner of
technical environments or are currently attempting to enter industries in technical
job roles. We however do require that students can demonstrate technical
proficiency and are comfortable with computing tasks. To benefit the most from
our course as a student you should be comfortable with the following topics:

• Basic TCP/IP networking

• Comfortable using Linux and performing general computer
administration tasks
• Knowledge of programming languages are an advantage but not
essential

As this is an introductory course designed for training people into junior and mid-
level positions in the cyber security field, you should be competent with
configuring your computers network interfaces and doing routine administration
tasks beforehand.

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If you do not understand basic concepts of computers and networking such as

“what is an IP address”, “how to list files and processes” or “what is a firewall” then
it is advised to take a course in Linux fundamentals and TCP/IP networking
before approaching our course. If you can answer the example questions above
then this course is likely suitable for you. Typical students attending our course
are working in or towards jobs within IT and technology realms.

Computer Requirements
You will need a computer that meets the following recommended minimum
technical specifications to complete our course:

• 2 or more CPU cores (Intel i3 & above recommended)

• At least 2-4gb of RAM
• Approximately 40-50gb free hard disk space (you may be ok with less)
• Virtual Box (https://www.VirtualBox.org)

You can try a sample of our practical components to assess your suitability for
free on the Hacker House website (https://hacker.house/training). This module is
intended to be challenging to our students and so do not be worried if you do not
complete all of the module, it is intended as a guide to show you what the course
is about. There will be plenty of time during the course to sharpen your skills and
ask questions of tutors.

Objectives
We teach how to conduct network and application security assessments from a
real-world scenario driven hacker’s approach. Students who complete our course
leave with a core competency of skills that are applicable to many cyber security
roles. Students will have performed a number of practical hands-on assessment
activities covering different network perspectives and aimed at understanding the
how’s and why’s of how breaches occur. Students completing this course will
leave with an understanding of performing the following assessment activities:

• Open-source Intelligence Review

• External Infrastructure Assessments
• Internal Infrastructure Assessments
• Web Application Assessments
• Perform a Penetration Test

Our course will leave students with a clear understanding of the fundamentals in
performing security assurance exercises against a range of technologies. This can

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help assist you with deploying secure platforms, assessing company

infrastructure for weaknesses and defending assets such as databases or servers.

Code of Conduct
Hacker House strives to provide an environment that encourages student growth
and enables efficient learning. A code of conduct will be provided to students that
outlines our anti-harassment policies and expected behaviour of all course
attendees. We will not teach students who wish to use the course material to
engage in unlawful conduct.

Course Schedule & Format

Hacker House Hands-on Hacking course is divided into twelve modules, these
modules are designed to teach fundamental concepts through both theory and
practical approaches. Each module will begin with a lecture introducing the
necessary technical concepts and background for the practical module. A
demonstration will then be performed of the practical lab components. Students
are then tasked with completing the module themselves,

This course is not for the faint of heart; we work hard and fast to ensure you get all
the concepts and materials you need to learn and begin a career in ethical
hacking.

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[1] Ethics & Legalities

Description
A module with focus on the ethical and legal issues around network breaches.
We delve into a number of legislative issues and viewpoints on ethics. This
module is a theory based module that teaches the best practice guidelines when
dealing with issues such as vulnerability disclosure, bug bounty programs, laws
when hacking and where to seek guidance from.

Objective
• Student will demonstrate an understanding of legal responsibilities
• Student will demonstrate an understanding of ethical practices
• Student will know where to seek legal advice and support

[2] Open-Source Intelligence

Description
Our OSINT module focuses on exposing vulnerabilities and gathering information
that is useful to an attacker. We will introduce all the necessary concepts on how
to perform wide-reaching intelligence gathering for assisted intrusions into
networks. We perform analysis on leaked intelligence and show how you can
leverage public data sets to identify weaknesses and better secure organisations.

Objective
• Student will be able to demonstrate practical use of OSINT
• Identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses through OSINT
• Identify exposed accounts and data leaks through OSINT

[3] DNS & Domain Hacking

Description
We explore DNS and associated technologies from the perspective of an
attacker. Perform passive reconnaissance and enumeration against a fictional
target environment and gain a better understanding of the types of records in use
by DNS. We teach how to probe DNS servers for reconnaissance purposes and

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also how to misuse insecure configurations to perform attacks. Students will

compromise and target a misconfigured DNS server.

Objective
• Student will be able to assess domain technology for common
weaknesses
• Student will be able to identify misconfigurations and weaknesses in
DNS
• Student will conduct vulnerability analysis against and exploit a DNS
server
• Student will understand and perform DDoS attacks using DNS

[4] E-Mail attacks & Mail Infrastructure

Description
We review common e-mail server technologies and use in delivering/receiving
email. Methodologies on targeting e-mail environments will be presented and
assessment activities will be performed to target mail server systems. We will
identify and tear down several popular mail server attacks and their use to breach
network perimeters. Common protocols such as SMTP, POP3, IMAP and
integration with web mail are explored in detail.

Objective
• Student will be able to assess e-mail technology for common
weaknesses
• Student will be able to identify misconfigurations and weaknesses in e-
mail
• Student will understand and perform attacks against e-mail
infrastructure
• Student will compromise an email server

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[5] Web Server Infrastructure Hacking

Description
Web servers are explored in-depth in this module, covering the basics of web
technologies and supporting infrastructure. We review common server side
scripting capabilities, application server usages and everything in between. This
module will have also serve as an introductory focus on common injection
attacks that can be leveraged to gain access to the server. Examples of how to
target and exploit common web infrastructure is covered in detail. We look at
several high profile vulnerabilities in a real-world scenario with the goal of
providing hands-on experience identifying and exploiting such situations.

Objective
• Student will be able to assess web server technology for common
weaknesses
• Student will be able to identify misconfigurations and weaknesses in web
servers
• Student will understand and perform attacks against web infrastructure
• Student will compromise a web server and perform privilege escalation
activities

[6] Virtual Private Networking Attacks

Description
VPN servers are used by individuals and businesses all over the world to secure
network endpoints and data in-transit. This module will introduce the
methodologies used to expose weaknesses in the initial VPN connectivity, exploit
these weaknesses to compromise a VPN end-point and then conduct further
analysis on secondary stage authentication processes. We will explore network
topologies and designs that can result in significant weaknesses in VPN
deployment.

Objective
• Student will breach a VPN environment through common attacks
• Student will explore secondary stage authentication attacks
• Student will demonstrate proficiency in performing analysis of VPN
technology

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[7] File Servers & Internal Infrastructure Attacks

Description
This module marks a shift in learning, moving from external network perimeter
assessments and moving towards internal network resources. Students will
review common internal network protocols such as FTP, SMB, CIFS, SNMP, TFTP
and others to highlight ways in which centralised file storage repositories can be
compromised. We cover a range of commonly seen vulnerabilities and
misconfigurations that can result in data loss from internal file servers. File
permissions and their security models are explored in this module.

Objective
• Student will be able to probe internal servers for common weaknesses
• Student will leverage weaknesses in file servers for unauthorised access
• Student will be able to probe and identify technology in use for file
sharing
• Student will demonstrate an understanding of file permission attacks
• Student will be able to use privilege escalation attacks against file
servers

[8] UNIX Server Infrastructure

Description
UNIX technology is often found in use through many businesses. This module will
explore in detail common attack methodologies used to target UNIX server
estates. We will explore numerous protocols and configurations in technologies
such as SSH, RPC & X11. This module will explore dozens of common UNIX
attacks from both a remote and local perspective. This module will teach how to
preform common audit activities against UNIX environments to identify
vulnerabilities.

Objective
• Student will compromise a UNIX server through misconfigured services
• Student will gain a detailed understanding of targeting RPC and
associated services

• Student will demonstrate ability to exploit UNIX environments for

privilege escalation
• Student will be able to audit UNIX environments for weaknesses

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[9] Databases
Description
This module deals with database servers and database technologies. We will
demonstrate common attack methodologies against a range of different
database environments, ranging from MySQL & Postgres to NoSQL services. We
will review common misconfigurations that can be misused by attackers to gain
elevated positions within database servers. We teach the core concepts of how to
breach a database server for the purpose of extracting information and accessing
network resources.

Objective
• Student will be able to identify insecure databases and configurations
• Student will be able to extract sensitive information from databases
• Student will be able to exploit and target database servers
• Student will be able to abuse database configurations for privilege
escalation attacks

[10] Web Application Assessments

Description
This module builds on the topics explored in earlier modules to present a
common network perimeter breach scenario. We explore typical application layer
security weaknesses such as Cross-Site Scripting attacks, SQL injection
vulnerabilities and XML entity injection flaws. We review typical CMS and
deployed web applications to identify vulnerabilities that can be leveraged to
gain unauthorised access to data. Identification and exploitation of common flaws
and how to leverage them are explained.

Objective
• Student will be able to conduct a basic web application assessment
• Student will be able to identify common OWASP top 10 vulnerabilities
• Student will be able to leverage vulnerabilities to access data and
network resources

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[11] Windows Enterprise Environments

Description
We present an introductory assessment of a Windows Enterprise architecture,
leveraging many popular tools for exploiting Windows environments. The module
will help assist in identification of missing patches, misconfigured Active Directory
environments, trust and boundary issues as well as common privilege escalation
attacks. This course will demonstrate how to leverage common Windows
assessment tools and PowerShell to perform hacking attacks against Windows
systems.

Objective
• Student will demonstrate how to compromise Windows servers
• Identification of vulnerabilities in common Windows enterprise
technologies
• Perform basic lateral movement and privilege escalation attacks on
Windows servers
• Audit Windows servers for common attack weaknesses

[12] Art of Password Cracking

Description
This module explores passwords and attacks in detail. We explore concepts such
as accelerated password cracking, word list compilation, identification of hash
types and algorithms in use.

Objective
• Identify hashing and encryption algorithms
• Extract password hashes from common locations
• Use appropriate tools to target and recover plain-text passwords
• Perform password complexity analysis

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Additional Information
Exam & Certificate
Hacker House provides a formal examination through the quiz centre. At the end
of the course a certificate is presented to students who demonstrate sufficient
competency of the course material. Taking the course does not guarantee a
certificate and you may not be presented with a certificate if you are unable to
demonstrate successful understanding of practical or theory components. Most
students who take our course are able to demonstrate such understanding and
providing you have read the pre-requisites this should not be a concern.

Further Reading & Resources

Students attempting our course are often self-motivated learners and ask us for
recommended reading guidelines. We have short listed here several books which
our tutors and colleagues have found both enjoyable and relevant to the course.

1. NMAP Network Scanning – Gordon Fyodor Lyon (ISBN-10:

0979958717)
2. Silence on the Wire - Michal Zalewski (ISBN-13 978-1-59327-046-9)
3. Network Security Assessment – Chris McNab (ISBN-13:
978-1491910955)
4. Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security – Stuart Mcclure (ISBN-13:
978-0071780285)
5. Hacking Exposed Web Applications - Joel Scambray (ISBN-13:
978-0071740647)

There are a number of websites and resources online which can help students
learn Linux fundamentals. Our tutors recommend that you should install Linux
and use it as your daily computer for a few weeks to easily grasp the basics. Here
are some of our favourite Linux distributions for beginners and general hacking
use:

• Ubuntu for Desktops - https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

• Kali Linux - https://www.kali.org
• Pentoo Linux - http://www.pentoo.ch
• BlackArch Linux - https://blackarch.org

We look forward to seeing you at one of our course events soon! If you have any
questions or would like further information then contact the team through our
website https://hacker.house. Happy Hacking!

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