Great tutorial! Very easy to understand, and I just can't wait for the next one! 

@ajohnson
                Thanks for the great advice!   

To tell you the truth, I didn't know about RSS until I read your post. I think its a great way of keeping up with technology and managing links. Up till now, I was using bookmark manager. (pretty lame, I know    )

@Jamie R

I don't have a Twitter account (only fb-and that's pretty useless) but I may get one at the end of this year.

@MaXe
   I tried to find InteNOT and as expected I failed. In the end, I had to use the link next to your post. Thanks for suggesting the site. I went there once but I forgot about it until your post.

Ok, its been a while......(again)

Anyways, maybe I should have made my point a bit clearer.

Could members post those sites(resources) which ARE NOT easily found on the net?

Like if its found on the so called "invisible net". i.e. if you used a particular refined search. If so what was it?

And if its not found on the first page of Google search results or if you found it after lots of toil etc.

Also post those sites you felt were ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for your development.

                                             -NH

Thanks for the great tutorial!

I won't be able to understand all of it but I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts sincerely   

Keep up the great work!    (I would love it if you produced more tutorials geared towards beginners)

@Jamie R.

Thanks for mentioning that great website!   (I've noticed that you've been quite active recently 


It was very comprehensive and I am sure that it will help people like me a lot.

But, it was a bit more hacking-related then general.

If anyone has some more references to add in the above topics, please add and help in the expansion of this collection. I'm sure if lots of members contribute the collection could become very big and  useful as well.

Hi guys   

Its been a very long time since I've posted but I assure you that I've been watching the community from time to time, from the shadows. (My interest to learn to become a hacker(white hat has just increased)

Anyway,

As I'm a beginner struggling to break into the IT field, I request all members of the community to share their resources with everybody.

Please post all the resources that you have found to be useful or those which have helped you in your journey as a pen-tester or as a general skilled computer user.

Here are the following topics which I would like you guys to post your resources:

1) Operating Systems  (Client and server)

a) Windows 
b) Linux
c) Backtrack

2) Programming

a) web designing and web related
b) scripting&programming
c) bash& assembly

3) Networking

4) Hardware

5) Databases

6) System administration


Please keep in mind the following:

NOTE:

1) MENTION THE HEADING(from the above) BEFORE YOU POST YOUR RESOURCES AND ALSO MENTION IN BRACKETS WHETHER IT IS BASIC OR ADVANCED.

2) RESOURCES MENTIONED MAY INCLUDE LINKS TO WEBSITES, E-BOOKS, BOOKS etc.

Once again, this is a plea to the entire community to share their experience.

I speak for many beginners when I say that your vast reserves of experience will prove very, very useful to us all.

Regards,
             - A beginner trying to break into IT and then Security

I think the post is great and its great to see that you're helping out beginners like us   

So,

1) Keep up the good work!!!!! ( I appreciate it and I'm sure that there are many others)

2) I agree with many of the suggestions mentioned already so your tuts. might prove more useful if you followed some of the above ideas.

3) My personal suggestion would be to (in the next tut) give a bit more detail to your tuts. and provide lots of resources.

Thanks!   

For informing me about that update on the site. You're right the section has some great info which I'm sure will keep me busy       

@ajohnson

Thanks for clarifying that issue....

I don't have any doubts on the client-side but regarding the server side could you tell me whether Java is used only for web applications or can it be used to write programs as well? (just curious)

As for the remaining part of the message I've sent you a p.m.

   

Hi   
I haven’t been able to access the internet all this time due to a cable fault( I had to complain twice before they fixed it) But, I’m finally back on track!   
@MaXe
Thanks for getting me started in the web app direction         
Would you recommend learning both or do you think that HTML is enough? It’s very useful when you mention how much you have to learn too. Like I already said, I already know basic HTML and I will try completing all of the w3school material when I reach that stage.
I’m not that sure about what an event handler is but I will make sure to know how it works. Thanks for all the info on the other languages but could you mention which one’s I actually need? (All of them?)
And I’m getting confused….should I learn Java or Javascript?
Please mention the languages that I should learn. (the one’s I need) and also mention how I could learn the basics of those languages. (I’m thinking w3schools and the local library, do you know any other good websites or resources for learning, if so please share them)
As for the OWASP top ten, I was already aware of the list but I never really got into learning the techniques, though I will as soon as I master the basics.
What I want to know? I don’t know much about the field or the languages so I don’t think I can be trusted to pick any. But, with what I know I would probably choose HTML, Javascript, PHP.
As for Coding for pen-testers, do you think a basic/intermediate knowledge of programming skills is enough to follow those concepts? I also checked out the Table of contents in Gray hat python and it is WAY over my head but I will be sure to turn to it after getting the hand of programming.
Thanks for revising my list, would you add any programming languages to it?
@ajohnson
Nice profile pic     
Thanks for the wonderful resources that you gave on system administration. I will turn to those when I reach that stage.
As for your link, I really wanted to reach it, but I can’t reach the link.   
I tried to go to the main webpage but I couldn’t reach that either…..?
And I once again like your combination which suits me very well   (Python&C)
Do you recommend any other languages to add to my list? I will add assembly last.
Which of these are necessary to know? (all?) And do I have to learn Java or Javascript? And isn’t ASP different from .NET?
As you can see I’m clueless in this field……so do you have any resources as in websites or books to learn the basics of this field?(other than w3schools?)

Thanks again           

I researched some of the skills for System administrator and it seems like I should have a good knowledge of some OS for that. So, I will leave that be for right now and continue with my current development.

I've completed 1/3rd of the hardware book though I'm lagging a bit in learning programming.

Regarding web app, I once heard that I needed to know one web-designing language and one server side scripting language though I'm not exactly sure about what is. (Something like Javascript?)
I have a few questions that I would be grateful to have answered:


1)Could someone give me a complete list of stuff a pen-tester has to know about web app stuff? ( I may integrate learning that with networking, not now)

2) Could you also give me advice on learning programming with relation to hacking? (Should I read coding for pen-testers?)

I also received recent advice that I should not focus too much on one language and should learn several languages at an intermediate level to become versatile. Here's my list:

Python, Perl, C, C++                (Do you think this is OK or should I expand on this list?)

Thanks     

                                                                            -NH
   

@ MaXe

Sorry for the late reply....got bogged down with work....


That's very encouraging to hear but I know that I have to be very skilled to land a junior pen-testing position so I assure you I will be working hard      

From all these posts I have come to recognize the importance of Web App Security skills. Actually, I really kind of wanted to learn how to hack websites but why I avoided it and kind of disliked it was because:

1) I already know some basic programming in C,C++ so learning further programming kind of excites me . but the stuff that you need to know for web applications (e.g. Javascript, PHP etc.)
I don't really have a clue about them. In the web app field all I know is basic HTML. This is what was kind of discouraging me from expanding my knowledge in this domain.
But thanks for opening my eyes on the matter. I will try to improve in this aspect in the future  
(After all I don’t want to get owned by some script kiddie!! )
About getting a sys admin job, could you please mention the skills a sys admin has? I saw the Wikipedia page but ‘maintain and operate the system’ doesn’t seem to provide a good insight into what it actually is.
And I must say that your examples are highly instructive.
I forgot to add that I found the bread analogy educational as well       (Those links you provided were pretty cool including intern0t.org. Reading about your CTF experiences were cool but I will leave that to the ‘big boys’ for now.

Yay        

Thanks for informing me about the scam too. I will keep my eyes peeled. (Ever since I started reading about E-mail hacking I’ve been pretty careful in checking for phishing pages. )
(I think you’re supposed to check the URL to  make sure it’s the Google Gmail page and not someone’s phishing page, right?)
@ZeroOne   
I agree that the people who have contributed to this thread are very knowledgeable and have posted many useful posts for beginners like me.  I’m sure the book would sell like hotcakes since it’s not just the title that’s catchy but the content is valuable too.

@MaXe

@ajohnson

I read the reviews for that book and  ouch......it could never compete with the content offered by you guys      


Thanks for helping me to realize its importance and helping to overcome my initial fear. Now, I feel a lot more warm to web app stuff. I still don't know anything about improving my current position.(I only know HTML) but I will get to web app after I finish the basics or side by side with networking(this combination looks kind of good)


Thank you very much for these examples too    

I love it when you guys give real life scenarios.   It makes it so much easier to grasp the concept and fun too. Like I said, I'm seeing web app with new eyes now. Do you know how to improve in this field and what I should know? (Don't worry I won't do learn it until I complete the basics, I'm just gathering info.)

Sounds cool!

Once again thanks for making me aware of these issues  

@MaXe



How many years of experience do you need in an IT job before you can land an infosec one?

Thanks for the remaining answer and those links too   

I'm still improving slowly, but it seems that Web Security turns up everywhere I turn....guess I will have to sharpen my skills on that?

Is it possible to just stick to systems, networks etc?

Or not?

.....

@MaXe

Thanks for the post         

Sorry about the late reply but I was kind of got caught up with work at school.



   Ok, I will keep it s a future 'title'.


I can see that pen-testing excites you a lot too. I hope you do well! 

Thanks for the suggestions regarding recruitment. 

 I plan to become highly skilled and then market myself.

Those tests you mentioned at the end were very interesting but also seemed very difficult.....Are pen-testers asked to perform such tests  regarding web applications? And do you have any idea whether there are any 'challenges' to land a job? Like competitions? I'm really interested in participating in these competitions......

Finally, just a few questions regarding my current stand:

1) How far do I have to be familiar with computer hardware and A+ material. I've read about 200 pages of the Kate Chase handbook and I want to know if I should be ready to install a new CPU,motherboard etc. and should have experience assembling a computer and stuff. So, please mention to what extent I should possess knowledge of A+ material (only the hardware part)

2) Have you ever played CTF? It seems to be a lot of fun 

Once again thanks for replying and remember to have loads of fun at your new job

Hi.

Welcome to the community, (It feels strange saying that to someone with more experience than me


I'm not experienced enough to answer your questions but all I can say is that ajohnson's post is the best way for you to follow.

So +1 for ajohnson's post     

Oh and


          (Trust me, the path laid out for you in the previous post is your best post.