Metasploit The Penetration Tester’s Guide Book Review
I’m an accomplished test automation/performance engineer, but one area of testing that I’m pretty green at is penetration testing.
Luckily, I came across Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide, a book about penetration testing using the open source Metasploit Framework testing and is a great introduction to security testing in general. Since I’m a complete novice to Metasploit, the book was great for getting me started with the basics of the framework. (A more experience Metasploit user, however, will probably want to read something a bit more advanced.)
What you need to know before reading the Metasploit book
The book assumes the reader has zero experience and begins with a brief history of Metasploit and how to install it. Although you don’t need to be a programmer to read it, most examples are written in Ruby and Python. You should also be familiar with Linux and how to set up VMs.
What’s in Metasploit – The Penetration Tester’s Guide
Overall, the book is written with a hands-on, tutorial-like style that is great for people like me who prefer to learn by doing. The book is a progression, beginning by establishing the methodologies/phases and terminology of penetration testing and an intro to the utilities and functions within the Metasploit framework.
The first few chapters are a great help in getting up to speed on penetration testing and provide a nice overview of the different phases of a penetration test. The author then walks you through how to identify different types of vulnerabilities and how to exploit them using the tool. I liked the sections on how to attack MS SQL, Browser-Based & File exploits, and Social Engineering attacks.
Many modules of the framework are covered, as well as how to create a module. The book ends with a realistic simulation of an actual penetration test.
Do no evil with Metasploit.
The author states that the book is “designed to teach you everything from the fundamentals of the Framework to advanced techniques in exploitation,” I believe the author excels in fulfilling that goal.
After reading this book, I was reminded of the old saying, “with great knowledge comes great responsibility.” The author states at the beginning of the book under Ethics: “Don’t be malicious and don’t be stupid.”
Note: I received a free copy of this book as part of the O’Reilly Blogger Review program. View O’Reilly Product Page
Joe Colantonio is the founder of TestGuild, an industry-leading platform for automation testing and software testing tools. With over 25 years of hands-on experience, he has worked with top enterprise companies, helped develop early test automation tools and frameworks, and runs the largest online automation testing conference, Automation Guild.
Joe is also the author of Automation Awesomeness: 260 Actionable Affirmations To Improve Your QA & Automation Testing Skills and the host of the TestGuild podcast, which he has released weekly since 2014, making it the longest-running podcast dedicated to automation testing. Over the years, he has interviewed top thought leaders in DevOps, AI-driven test automation, and software quality, shaping the conversation in the industry.
With a reach of over 400,000 across his YouTube channel, LinkedIn, email list, and other social channels, Joe’s insights impact thousands of testers and engineers worldwide.
He has worked with some of the top companies in software testing and automation, including Tricentis, Keysight, Applitools, and BrowserStack, as sponsors and partners, helping them connect with the right audience in the automation testing space.
Follow him on LinkedIn or check out more at TestGuild.com.
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