INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS

SCHOOL OF CYBERSECURITY

Ethical Hacker
Nanodegree Program Syllabus
Overview
This program will equip students with the skills they need to advance in their security career and become an ethical hacker
or penetration tester. Offensive security professionals in these roles play a critical role in any organization. Students will learn
how to find and exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in various systems, design and execute a penetration testing plan, and
report on findings using evidence from the project.

Learning Objectives

A graduate of this program will be able to:

• Manage the vulnerability lifecycle including scanning, analyzing, prioritizing, and managing risk.

• Perform security audits of internal systems, web applications, and information leakage.

• Manage security awareness programs and emulate attacks to demonstrate risk.

• Produce meaningful reports that detail findings, prioritize risk or criticality, and suggest mitigations.

• Perform stealthy reconnaissance against organizations to avoid potential tripwires.

• Scan systems and identify common security risks and oversights in best practices that can allow
compromise.

• Investigate and research vulnerabilities in specific packages of software, identify applicable exploits, and
“stand up” appropriate attack platforms (Python environment, web intercepting proxy, etc.).

• Perform exploitation using common tools and exploit code of identified vulnerabilities in open services.

Ethical Hacker 2
Program information

Estimated Time Skill Level

2 months at 10hrs/week* Advanced

Prerequisites

• Basic Linux file structure

• Networking basics

• Three-way handshake, encryption and hashing

• One programming language (Python is preferred)

Required Hardware/Software

Learners need access to:

• Operating System: Windows, OSX, or Linux

• Processor: Minimum 2 GHz speed with virtualization and x64 support

• RAM: 8 GB DDR3 or higher (16 GB DDR4 RAM is preferred)

• Storage: 100 GB free space (SSD is preferred over HDD)

Note: This program uses the Oracle VM VirtualBox hypervisor tool that is incompatible with Apple’s new M1 chip computers.

*The length of this program is an estimation of total hours the average student may take to complete all required
coursework, including lecture and project time. If you spend about 5-10 hours per week working through the program, you
should finish within the time provided. Actual hours may vary.

Ethical Hacker 3
 Course 1

Intro to Ethical Hacking

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the broad set of techniques and job responsibilities associated with the
role of an ethical hacker. Ethical hackers leverage their knowledge of business’ processes to evaluate risks while protecting
core operations. The results of an ethical hacker’s efforts are improvements to business policies, procedures, and standards of
conduct on its computer systems.

Course Project

Audit ExampleCorp
In this project, manage a full-fledged security audit of a fictitious company called ExampleCorp. This project
requires practical knowledge of all major elements of ethical hacking, including vulnerability management,
hacking systems and applications, social engineering, and open-source intelligence. Demonstrate
vulnerability chaining, modification of exploit code, using documentation to learn new tests, and effective
report writing.

• Configure, launch, and manage vulnerability scans.

Lesson 1
• Calculate risk scores and assign risk ratings.
Vulnerability Management
• Prioritize vulnerabilities and manage response efforts.

• Interpret test scopes to conduct assessments.

Lesson 2 • Perform information gathering.

System Auditing • Research vulnerabilities and validate the exploits.

• Write a report to communicate audit results.

Lesson 3 • Explain the benefits of utilizing the Bitcoin Core testnet.

Application Auditing • Describe the difference between the public testnet and regression testing.

Ethical Hacker 4
 • Understand techniques attackers use to exploit employees.

Lesson 4 • Conduct a phishing simulation.

Social Engineering • Create malware to use in test attacks.

• Design a simulated landing page to use in social engineering tests.

• Uncover information leakage.

Lesson 5
• Use exploratory link analysis to find information and establish links.
Open-Source Intelligence
• Analyze data relationships to develop conclusions.

Course 2

Penetration Testing & Red Teaming Operations

The purpose of this course is to take a deep dive into the specific technique of penetration testing and how it can be used
to perform a cybersecurity assessment on a specific system and conducted as a part of a specific penetration testing project
within an organization to identify vulnerabilities, flaws, and risks.

Course Project

Red Teaming Operations

In this project, utilize and implement modern penetration tester and red teamer methodologies on PJBank
CISO’s virtual operations. Demonstrate the ability to use all the skills learned throughout the course while
maintaining clear and concise documentation and testing efforts to generate a report in a timely fashion.
The reporting process will demonstrate one’s understanding of business applications of security testing.

Ethical Hacker 5
 • Identify the appropriate tool for a given phase of reconnaissance.

• Identify IP addresses belonging to a company using public DNS.

Lesson 1
• Identify various web frameworks and content management systems.
Reconnaissance
• Conduct passive, active, and physical reconnaissance.

• Document the discovery, mapping, and reconnaissance phase of red teaming.

• Use common tools for network service scanning to map open ports, network
services, and associated versions.

• Extend the basic web application scanning to grab banners and find
vulnerabilities in available services.
Lesson 2
• Capture command usage, explain the usage, and provide results with
Scanning & Research screenshots and findings.

• Use software version discoveries to find common vulnerabilities and exposures

(CVEs), MAP CVE to available exploit code.

• Identify the appropriate database to conduct vulnerability research.

• Use Python, SQL query, and other languages to run exploit code.

• Conduct web application and on-premise software attacks.

Lesson 3
• Conduct password attacks.
Gaining Access
• Conduct phishing and social engineering attacks.

• Exploit software vulnerabilities.

• Learn advanced persistent threat techniques.

• Maintain access through persistent connection.

Lesson 4
• Traverse subnets by pivoting.
Maintaining Access
• Avoid IPS by obfuscating backdoor connection.

• Uncover root account passwords and conduct privilege escalation.

Ethical Hacker 6
 • Learn techniques on covering tracks after exploitation.

• Clear logs on Windows and Linux targets.

Lesson 5 • Deploy toolkits to automate log clearing.

Cover Tracks & Reporting • Assess digital footprints on the network and remove or hide them.

• Draft and update a pen test report.

• Draft non-technical executive summaries.

Ethical Hacker 7
Meet your instructors.

Sagar Bansal
Chairman at Bansal X

Sagar Bansal is a consultant, speaker, and author in the information security industry. He helps
large enterprises, governments, and intelligence agencies reduce the cost of security by creating
reliable and proactive security workflows.

Paul Oyelakin
Founder of PJ Pros

Paul Oyelakin is the founder of PJ Professional IT Services. He has experience in security

compliance, penetration testing, and architecting network security solutions for private and
government. He has an MS in cybersecurity, an MBA, and is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and
Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP).

Ethical Hacker 8
Udacity’s learning
experience

Hands-on Projects Quizzes

Open-ended, experiential projects are designed Auto-graded quizzes strengthen comprehension.
to reflect actual workplace challenges. They aren’t Learners can return to lessons at any time during
just multiple choice questions or step-by-step the course to refresh concepts.
guides, but instead require critical thinking.

Knowledge Custom Study Plans

Find answers to your questions with Knowledge, Create a personalized study plan that fits your
our proprietary wiki. Search questions asked by individual needs. Utilize this plan to keep track of
other students, connect with technical mentors, movement toward your overall goal.
and discover how to solve the challenges that
you encounter.

Workspaces Progress Tracker

See your code in action. Check the output and Take advantage of milestone reminders to stay
quality of your code by running it on interactive on schedule and complete your program.
workspaces that are integrated into the platform.

Ethical Hacker 9
Our proven approach for building
job-ready digital skills.
Experienced Project Reviewers

Verify skills mastery.

• Personalized project feedback and critique includes line-by-line code review from
skilled practitioners with an average turnaround time of 1.1 hours.

• Project review cycle creates a feedback loop with multiple opportunities for
improvement—until the concept is mastered.

• Project reviewers leverage industry best practices and provide pro tips.

Technical Mentor Support

24/7 support unblocks learning.

• Learning accelerates as skilled mentors identify areas of achievement and potential
for growth.

• Unlimited access to mentors means help arrives when it’s needed most.

• 2 hr or less average question response time assures that skills development stays on track.

Personal Career Services

Empower job-readiness.
• Access to a Github portfolio review that can give you an edge by highlighting your
strengths, and demonstrating your value to employers.*

• Get help optimizing your LinkedIn and establishing your personal brand so your profile
ranks higher in searches by recruiters and hiring managers.

Mentor Network

Highly vetted for effectiveness.

• Mentors must complete a 5-step hiring process to join Udacity’s selective network.

• After passing an objective and situational assessment, mentors must demonstrate

communication and behavioral fit for a mentorship role.

• Mentors work across more than 30 different industries and often complete a Nanodegree
program themselves.

*Applies to select Nanodegree programs only.

Ethical Hacker 10
Learn more at
www.udacity.com/online-learning-for-individuals →

12.16.22 | V1.0