When you think of hacking, what might come to your mind are complex codes and scripts that only geniuses can understand. Again, the notion created by the media is that malicious people only do hacking for their personal gains. However, hacking doesn't have to be complex, and it does not have to be done for malicious reasons.

Ethical hacking, used interchangeably with pen-testing, is the type of hacking where you have permission to hack into a system to expose vulnerabilities and suggest ways to seal these vulnerabilities to make your client's system more secure. This book explains all you need to know to conduct an ethical hack, either internally or externally.

In this book, you will find:

· Introduction to Hacking - Understand the basic terms used in hacking and the different categories of hacking.

· Linux Basis - Because Linux is the best OS for hackers, we have discussed some of the basic features and tools you will need to be a successful ethical hacker. The Linux BackTrack distro, which was developed for hackers, is discussed in depth.

· Information gathering techniques - This is the first step in ethical gathering. You will learn how to collect information directly from your targets (active information gathering) and indirectly (passive information gathering) and the tools you use to do that.

· Enumerating Targets and Scanning Ports - This is an advanced stage in information gathering where you find out more details about the host, open ports, OS, and running services, among other details.

· Assessing Target's Vulnerability - Here, you will learn about different vulnerability scanners and how to use them to find a gateway into the target's system.

· Sniffing the Target's Network - This chapter teaches how to find more details about the target's network and how to place yourself in the middle of the target's network to gather more information.

· Server Side Exploitation - Exploitation stage is where you now gain access to the target's system. In server-side exploitation, you exploit the hosts and services on the target's system.

· Client-Side Exploitation - Here, you will learn how to compromise users on a network, including how to crack passwords based on information gathered during information gathering stage.

· Post-Exploitation/Exploiting the Target Further - In this chapter, you will learn how to maintain access on the target's computer, accessing more details, compromising more targets on the same network as your first target, and escalating privileges.

You only need basic computer skills and knowledge on how to use the command prompt in order to use this book. Most of the tools are launched and used through the command line on BackTrack. Don't be intimidated! It's a fun journey and we'll walk you through every step.