Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing

Authorized methodology from recon to report.

Beginner-to-advanced offensive security practiced only in isolated labs — recon, scanning, exploitation fundamentals, privilege escalation concepts, and professional reporting.

Level: Intermediate
Duration: 12 weeks
Modules: 3 modules · 22 lessons
Learning method: Lessons + labs

Preview first lesson

What you will learn

Run structured recon and enumeration in labs
Use Nmap responsibly in authorized scopes
Explain exploitation and privilege escalation concepts
Write a clear finding with evidence and remediation

Course curriculum

Expand each module for lessons, progress, and labs assigned to that module — not a flat topic dump.

Module 1

Ethical hacking foundations

0/6 lessons

Lessons

1. Ethical Hacking Fundamentalspreview~22 min
2. Penetration Testing Methodologies~22 min
3. Information Gathering~22 min
4. Passive and Active Reconnaissance~22 min
5. OSINT~22 min
6. Google Dorking~22 min

Module labs

Enrol to unlock full lessons and track module progress.

Module 2

Enumeration & scanning

0/7 lessons

Lessons

1. DNS Enumeration~22 min
2. Subdomain Discovery~22 min
3. Port Scanning~22 min
4. Nmap~22 min
5. Service Enumeration~22 min
6. Vulnerability Identification~22 min
7. Vulnerability Assessment~22 min

Module labs

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Module 3

Exploitation & post-exploitation concepts

0/9 lessons

Lessons

1. Exploitation Fundamentals~22 min
2. Metasploit Framework~22 min
3. Linux Privilege Escalation~22 min
4. Windows Privilege Escalation~22 min
5. Active Directory Security~22 min
6. Internal Network Penetration Testing~22 min
7. Wireless Security Testing~22 min
8. Post-Exploitation Concepts~22 min
9. Professional Penetration Testing Reports~22 min

Module labs

Enrol to unlock full lessons and track module progress.

OSINT in this course

Open-source intelligence is taught here — not only under Resources. Use authorized, public sources; no doxing or harassment; document sources and timestamps.

OSINT fundamentals — Questions, authorization, passive-first mindset, and case notes.
Search techniques — Dorks, archives, and structured queries without intrusive scanning.
Domain and DNS intelligence — DNS maps, certificates, historical records, and shadow DNS.
Public infrastructure intelligence — Internet-wide exposure views for owned assets and scoped assessments.
Social media verification — Username/persona corroboration — never harassment or doxing.
Investigation documentation — Sources, timestamps, confidence, and remediation recommendations.
Legal and ethical boundaries — Authorization, ToS, privacy, and harm reduction — non-negotiable.

Full OSINT center → · Investigation playbook

Inside this course

Labs · Quizzes · Certificate

Labs below are curated for this syllabus (shared engine, course-specific assignments). They unlock with enrol; quizzes match course topics; finish ≈90%+ to claim a CYNARKS Academy certificate.

Course labs

16 assigned labs · free with this course enrol

Port RiddleUnlock via course or plan
Pick the SYN PacketUnlock via course or plan
Mail Server RecordUnlock via course or plan
Lock Down secret.txtUnlock via course or plan
Inspect the Login RequestUnlock via course or plan
Kerberos Ticket NameUnlock via course or plan
NTLM vs KerberosUnlock via course or plan
Lateral Movement IdeaUnlock via course or plan

+8 more assigned

Track quiz

99 questions matched to this course topics

Knowledge checks for this track only — not a separate global quiz menu.

Start track quiz

CYNARKS certificate

Educational completion certificate · verify by ID

Your progress: 0% · enrol to unlock claim

Enrol in this course first.