Professional Penetration Testing: Creating and Learning in a Hacking Lab, Third Edition walks the reader through the entire process of setting up and running a pen test lab. Penetration testing--the act of testing a computer network to find security vulnerabilities before they are maliciously exploited--is a crucial component of information security in any organization. With this book, the reader will find out how to turn hacking skills into a professional career. Chapters cover planning, metrics, and methodologies; the details of running a pen test, including identifying and verifying vulnerabilities; and archiving, reporting and management practices. The material presented is useful to beginners all the way through to advanced practitioners. A lot has changed within the professional penetration testing world, especially with the migration of enterprise computing systems from on-premises to the Cloud. In addition, the industry has tried to better define how to perform penetration tests, as industries experienced more complex and coordinated attacks from malicious actors. Despite all the changes, some things have remained constant, especially the need for new and talented White Hat Hackers eager to find exploitable vulnerabilities within enterprises before they are found by those with nefarious intent.

Author Thomas Wilhelm has delivered penetration testing training to countless security professionals, and now through the pages of this book the reader can benefit from his years of experience as a professional penetration tester and educator. After reading this book, the reader will be able to create a personal penetration test lab that can deal with real-world vulnerability scenarios. ".this is a detailed and thorough examination of both the technicalities and the business of pen-testing, and an excellent starting point for anyone getting into the field." -Network Security.