Hi. I'm Don... (crowd responds, "Hiiiii Doonnnnn."), and I am addicted to computers.

 

OK... in all seriouness... I had recommended that all members of the Charter Study Group for Pen Testing introduce themselves and let the rest of the group know where we are and how we plan to accomplish passing the CEH exam by June / July.

I have been working in IT for over a decade and have been a computer enthusiast for over 2. Security holds my interest, but it is not my only function on a day to day basis for my full time job. I also work hard to maintain a couple sites dealing with security. As in my signature, I currently have my CISSP, MCSE 2003 and Security+. I am also a Subject Matter Expert for Security+.

In prep for the CEH exam (the cert that members of the Charter Group chose as our first pen test credential), I have so far:

1. Setup virtual and real lab with XP, Win Server 2003 and Fedora Core 5. I may add RHEL4. I also have numerous bootable CDs and the individual hacking tools for practice.
2. Read Hacking for Dummies.
3. Familiarized myself with EC-Council's Course Outline.
4. Watched CBT Nuggets CEH Videos.

Plan to:

1. Read Exam Prep CEH
2. Watch Career Academy Videos
3. If time allows, I have several other titles that interest me such as Counter Hack Reloaded & Cisco Press Pen Testing that I have skimmed but would like to read more thoroughly.
4. Attend The Training Camp's CEH Boot Camp. I have already received the EC-Council Official Courseware that comes with 3 books, several CDs, a t-shirt and a backpack to hold it all.

That should be plenty.

Don't know if I'll get to them all, but I'd like to write an article on my experience in attaining the CEH credential and do a comparison of study materials for others to use as a reference. So the more I use the more comprehensive the article will be.

Now that you know about me and how I plan to pass the CEH, it's time to hear from the other members.

I'll update this post as I move through the material,
Don

Well, first of all Welcome to EH-Net. We also look forward to you being a valuable member of this community.

As for help, look around the forums and the articles, if you have any specific question, feel free to start a new topic. I'm sure you'll get plenty of help from all of us.

Thanks for your words of encouragement,
Don

Well... time for an update. It's Tues, and I just finished lunch at the site of the Training Camp CEH Boot Camp. All is going well so far. My best advice I can give to anyone looking into this process is to do 2 main things:

1. Pre-study. Read as much as you can and watch videos whether they be freebies online or retail CBTs of some sort. This way the boot camp seems like a review. This will help greatly in readying yourself for the exam.

2. Create a virtual lab using Windows 2000, WinXP and BackTrack. There are plenty others out there, but this will get you started. This way, you are not just reading about the tools, but you will have hands-on experience with them before class. If you never attend a class that sets up a lab computer for you, then this is your only option. If you do attend the class, still create your own virtual lab. As mentioned above, it allows the class to be more of a review. That way you can catch onto the subtle details and tricks as opposed to learning basics in class.

NOTE: When creating a virtual lab, especially in a classroom full of hackers, do not connect it to any network, wired or wireless. Install a MS Loopback  Adapter and make sure it is on the same subnet as the virtual machines.

Look for a more detailed tutorial on setting up a virtual lab from either Negrita or myself (and maybe both) in the coming weeks.

That's all for now. Class is starting again.

Stay tuned...

Don

Don,

I didn't quite know where to post this.  I work with dengar13.  We are both attempting to pass the CPTS exam.  Do you if there is a list of topics published somewhere for the exam?

I would appreciate any help you could give on this.

I passed my CEH exam! 

I'm exhausted and a little under the weather, so look for more in a day or two. Also, I plan to do a full article for the site over the next few weeks.

Night night...

Don

Congrats, Don!! 

Now you can look forward to getting your certificate...in about 3 MONTHS!! Eeeyow! That's really the hard part of the whole CEH exam experience. This AIN'T no Microsoft Exam, this is EC-Council!

 

In short - No. That doesn't mean that the exam itself covered every topic known to the field of pen testing. But the instructor did cover all topics more than adequately for exam success, and that was your question.

This is one of the areas on which I'll touch in the upcoming article on my quest for CEH. The Training Camp (TTC), being an official training partner with several cert organizations, seems to catch on to the organizations 'way' of doing things. Just as there is the Microsoft Way when taking a MS exam, there is also a way of thinking and certain topics that deserve greater focus for every exam. TTC seems to grasp those subtleties and pass them onto their students. I'm not saying they give you exact questions and answers like a brain dump. They do instruct using the official course work of the given organization, but they also make slight changes in an attempt to convey the info better. So I guess it's more like a mindset dump.

I hope that's not too vague, but at midnight after spending the entire day in the sun, it's the best I can do. 

Don