Thanks!

Received my result and certificate yesterday, I'm now an eCPPT!

The exam wasn't difficult. If you've studied the material thoroughly, you should be able to pass it easily. What I found challenging was writing the report, especially since I'm still an undergraduate student (6 months left) and this was my first 'penetration test report'. The reporting guide which you get along with the course contents was very valuable in structuring the report. I advice anyone giving the exam to read it very carefully. I also used some other reporting guides which can all be found here
http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,5456.msg28488/topicseen,1/

Thanks Don for the giveaway and all the EHNet members for all the wonderful posts here which I always found useful.

I'm extra happy since it's my first professional certificate

Congrats to all the winners

Congrats!

I second awesec. There are enough free resources available for learning python that spending spending 400$ sounds like a waste of money. Learning syntax of any language isn't difficult, you've to practice regularly to retain it and become efficient at it.

I have taken reLearnsecurity's PTP course (submitted my report yesterday and waiting for the result). Though I haven't taken GPEN but I would still recommend GPEN over PTP.

PTP is more like a beginner to intermediate level course. They give you enough information about network, system and web app. pentesting but not make you an expert in any one particular area. The one module I really enjoyed in PTP was web application security, but then again, it doesn't teach you everything.

Since you've your OSCP I think you are already past the intermediate stage. I've heard some great things about GPEN and based on the reviews, it appears to be an advanced pentest course, something which suits your profile.

I use OpenSUSE for my home computer and am quite satisfied with it. There's just something about compiling the tools on your own which Backtrack can't offer

Congrats Alucian! Looks like you need to update your signature

I've to submit my report by 14 November. I'm almost done, just have to perform some backend infrastructure tests though. Hopefully, I'll be an eCPPT by the end of this month.

Great giveaway! Good luck to all participating members.

Hello, hungrymind!

I am  eLearnsecuirty's PTP course student. xXxKrisxXx and I did a small post comparing PWB and PTP. You can find it here
http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,5938.msg31605/#msg31605

Let me know if you've more questions, I'll be happy to help =)

COm_BOY wants to ask whether you want a commercial tool or an opensource tool?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

This is my standard 'building your lab' response at EH-Net  which I copy-paste from one thread to another. Hope you'll find it helpful.

You do not need any expensive stuff to build your 'virtual' test lab. In fact most of the stuff in my lab is absolutely free. You can find various open source counterparts of commercial tools.
There are various 'free' virtualization products available like virtualbox, vmware player and vmware server. I'm a big fan of vmware products. Personally, I believe that vmware server will be enough for what you want to do. Vmware server is a stripped down version of the excellent commercial vmware workstation but contains almost all the basic features you'll require. You can download pre-built linux virtual machines from the vmware website http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/
There's also a free route to get Windows OS. Either you can download the OS from Microsoft's website which comes with around 3 month trial period. Furthermore, you can also download Windows XP SP2 virtual machine from  NIST's website http://www.offensive-security.com/metasploit-unleashed/windows-xp-machine-setup
As for the softwares like ftp, telnet daemons and webservers etc...well most of them are free anyway 

Jhaddix and Laz3r have posted wonderful tutorials to build a virtual test lab. You can get them here:-
Network pentest lab setup    
Pentest Lab: Web Application Edition

Additionally, you can practice on ready made targets like De-ICE live disks, hackerdemia and pWnOS all of which are available here http://forums.heorot.net/  You also have LAMP security disks http://sourceforge.net/projects/lampsecurity/  Also try your hands at the 'Skillz' section of this forum http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/board,12.0/ They will test your limits.
There's also a topic here at EHNet which will direct you to more stuff for practicing http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,5043.0/

Congrats Jason!

You might want to check some links I posted few months back http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,5541.0/

Do you have basic understanding of C/C++, specifically arrays,strings and pointers? If not then it'll be useful to firstly get some programming experience. I suggest reading "C programming language" http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-2nd-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0131103628/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284897188&sr=8-1

You can then move to assembly language tutorials from securitytube especially videos 1,2,3,4 and 11. (I suggest watching all the videos, but if you can't then don't miss at least these five)
http://www.securitytube.net/Assembly-Primer-for-Hackers-%28Part-1%29-System-Organization-video.aspx

Armed with this knowledge it should be easy for you to understand bufferoverflows.
Again, securitytube has free buffer overflow primer videos. I found these very useful.
http://www.securitytube.net/Buffer-Overflow-Primer-Part-1-%28Smashing-the-Stack%29-video.aspx