j0rDy,

Wow, this is a great list. Thanks! I think I'll start slowly over time building these up.

My labs for PWB expire today(I did the 60 day plan), and really only had 1-3 hours a day at the most(probably skipping a good 15 days) to work on it. If you have at least that much time to devote to it, the 60 day should be fine.

I finished the entire course about 2 weeks ago and have been using the remaining time to break into the remaining lab machines. Unfortunately there are still a handful that I couldn't get.

I'm just hoping the OSCP exam won't take the whole 24 hours!

I definitely wouldn't expect them to be free. I would totally be willing to spend a little money for the time and effort that someone is spending to maintain a lab.

I've seen the de-ice.net/heorot site, and have entertained setting the stuff on there up. I'd just rather spend my limited free time researching, hacking, etc rather than downloading and configuring VM's.

I'll be sure to check out security aegis too. I haven't been over there in ages.

Thanks!

I have been enjoying the Pentesting with Backtrack course and my time in their labs is about to expire. I have managed to break into nearly every machine in the lab, and it has been an amazing experience. I'm really looking forward to the OSCP challenge.

Does anyone know if there are other penetration testing or ethical hacking labs out there like this that can be used to practice and grow skills?

I know I can build my own labs, but there is definitely a benefit of going into it blind and having to discover the systems and develop a penetration strategy.


Thanks!

The reviews got me very intrigued with the course so I signed up. I've been with the course for 5 weeks now, squeezing in as much time between life and work as I can.

It's a very interesting course, and has really forced me to think outside the box.

I'm eagerly awaiting the final part of the series so I can have a preview of what to expect from the exam.

Great work!

We use the McAfee Total Protection Service. Frankly it's a bit heavy on resources and we're considering switching to Trend Micro or Panda's SaaS offering when our McAfee contract is up.

You need to have the CCNA before you can take the CCNA Security. I'm studying for it right now and find that there is a fair amount of basic security knowledge associated with it. It's mostly covering security architecture and the basics like CIA and risk assessment as well as configuring IOS firewall and using the SDM.

How about for those of us who can't make it? 

Personally I found the CEH to be a decent certification. My only real complaints are the heavy focus on Windows, and the poor editing of the printed content. I feel that I learned a lot though.

I would recommend the CCNA to anyone who works in systems or network administration. I had 10 years of system administration experience when I started studying for the CCNA, including a lot of Cisco experience. I was amazed at how much I DIDN'T know.

I used the CCNA study guide by Todd Lammle and would highly recommend it. It was the only study source that I used, so I don't know the quality of the other ones.

I would also recommend putting together a "lab" of equipment. You can get many older pieces of cisco equipment on ebay, though I'd steer clear of pre-packaged ones as they tend to be overpriced. Do a little research, you only need a couple of routers and switches to really be able to experiment with the different technologies you'll need hands-on experience with for the test.

Having the networking experience and the CCNA did actually help a bit with getting my new job. I have 13 years of experience in systems, networks, and security so I don't know what entry-level wages would be, but if you truly understand the knowledge required for the CCNA, practice in your lab, and don't just study "to the test", then you'll stand out against other candidates.

Good luck!

I passed the CEH exam 4 weeks ago, but I haven't heard a thing at all from EC-Council. Is this normal, or should I have heard something by now? I know their site says it can take up to 8 weeks, but I would rather get the process fixed sooner rather than later if it's very unusual for them.

Thanks!

At the very minimum anyone sitting for the CISSP should read the Shon Harris 'CISSP All In One' book . It definitely was good at filling the gaps in my security knowledge. After reading the book and doing all of the quizzes I didn't find hardly any difficulty at all with the test itself.

I'm curious if anyone knows of any good practice tests for the C|EH? I think I'm pretty close to being ready for the test, but I want to make sure before handing over $250 and taking out the time for the test.

I've taken the test in the book Certified Ethical Hacker Exam Prep By Michael Gregg and scored 88%, but I found there were several errors in that test.

Thanks