Ethical Hacking Tools and Techniques

Learn how to use common hacking tools and techniques to protect, rather than exploit, networks and confidential data.

An ethical hacker is an information security or network professional who uses various penetration test tools to uncover or fix vulnerabilities. The purpose of ethical hacking is to locate vulnerabilities in an organization’s defenses, which can then be corrected to strengthen overall security. This web-based course is designed for IT professionals who require in-depth knowledge of ethical hacking techniques to test the security of their networks. Areas of instruction include the fundamentals of hacking, the latest information and strategies in penetration testing, footprinting, vulnerability scanning and exploits, and network traffic analysis. The course offers access to online resources including texts, case studies, lectures, and a mix of paper-based and virtual labs that duplicate real-world scenarios. Qualified instructors are available to answer questions about the content and theory.

In the labs for this course, you will first conduct internal penetration tests for a hypothetical organization. From there, you will perform live data gathering and footprinting of a targeted organization and its website. Then you will explore all five phases of hacking: reconnaissance (using Zenmap GUI for Nmap), scanning (using OpenVAS), enumeration, compromise/attack (using the Metasploit Framework application), and post-attack and fallback activities. Finally, you will use tcpdump and Wireshark to capture network traffic, and then analyze the data using Wireshark and NetWitness Investigator.