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Ethical Hacking Discussions and Related Certifications => Network Pen Testing => Topic started by: millwalll on May 29, 2008, 01:21:41 PM



Title: Where to start?
Post by: millwalll on May 29, 2008, 01:21:41 PM
Hi all,

First of all I am new here and total new to EH, I know this question has been asked a million times before but I am looking for some advice.

I am really intrested in security and EH but I dont really know where to start. I am doing a Degree in Information Technology at the Moment and have been intresed in EH for long time now. So I have read book's and other information that I thought were related to it in some way, but fill I am not really getting anywhere so wanted some advie where best place to start off ?


Thanks in advance :)


Title: Re: Where to start?
Post by: don on May 29, 2008, 01:25:26 PM
Moving to Ethical Hacking Board. Much better place to start than on the Board for news & discussions on the site named ethicalhacker.net and not the topic of ethical hacking.

Welcome and be sure to look at the Ethical Hacking Board for 2 pinned threads that will answer your question.

Don


Title: Re: Where to start?
Post by: oneeyedcarmen on May 29, 2008, 01:26:14 PM
Welcome to EHNet!

Well, you asked where to start...but you're already here!

The forum has a search feature, and if you use it you'll find a ton of information about learning opportunities, what type of job you can expect to start out in, and different InfoSec certifications.

Good luck, and be sure to ask questions in here.  Everyone's pretty helpful.


Title: Re: Where to start?
Post by: millwalll on June 01, 2008, 04:54:56 AM
Thanks for that but where is best to start? as there so many certificates as well. I have heard of a program called back track 2 so on,  is here like first step then u can move up or does it not matter where I start?


Title: Re: Where to start?
Post by: RoleReversal on June 01, 2008, 05:22:19 AM
Millwall,

deciding where to start off is, IMO, mostly dependent on a combination of your existing skill sets and where you want to get to. For example, if you have experience as a web-dev take a look at SQL injection, XSS, etc. (btw, if anything I mention is unknown Google is a good place to start researching unknown topics ;) ).

In terms of certifications, again it depends where you wish to get to and what skills you wish to gain. Basically I'd suggest that any cert where you have the pre-req's could be a good start. Typically people start out with Sec+, C|EH or OCSP (use this site's search functionality to find more indepth info on the certs).

Finally BackTrack (any version) isn't a traditional 'program' it is a live Linux distribution containing many of the tools used by security (and other) professionals. It can be a good start to get a feel for scope of the field and the best-of-breed tools available, but as others have and will point out, you will gain a much fuller understanding of your tools and Linux in general by creating platform from scratch using a standard distro as a base.

Overall, the best place to start in the security field (I'm guessing it holds true for most professions) is to read, study and learn as much as you can. Even if it provides no immediate benefit having a wider breadth of understanding is never going to go amiss.

Hope this helps, happy hunting


Title: Re: Where to start?
Post by: millwalll on June 01, 2008, 07:29:41 AM
Thanks


I will have look on this site and see where it takes me and what I can find out ..