Penetration Testing with Kali Linux
Recon, scanning, exploitation and reporting in a safe lab.
Taught by Kiran Basnet · Security Engineer
What you'll learn
- Plan an authorised engagement with a written scope, rules of engagement, and legal sign-off
- Build an isolated Kali Linux lab of virtual machines with deliberately vulnerable targets
- Map an attack surface using passive and active reconnaissance techniques
- Scan and enumerate hosts, ports, and services with Nmap and its scripting engine
- Explain how exploitation and privilege escalation work using Metasploit in the lab
- Write a penetration-test report with prioritised findings, evidence, and remediation advice
About this course
Learn penetration testing the way working testers practise it: with written authorisation, a defined scope, and the goal of finding and fixing weaknesses before criminals do. This hands-on course is for aspiring security engineers and IT professionals who want practical skills with Kali Linux, the industry-standard testing distribution. You will build a legal home lab of virtual machines, map an attack surface with reconnaissance, scan and enumerate services with Nmap, understand how exploitation works with Metasploit against intentionally vulnerable targets, escalate privileges, and write a clear report that gets findings fixed. Everything happens inside consented, isolated lab boundaries, and every lesson reinforces the legal and ethical rules that separate a professional tester from a criminal. You finish able to plan and run an authorised engagement end to end.
Course content
7 lessons- 1What Penetration Testing Is and the Rules That Bind ItThe tester's mindset, the difference between legal and illegal testing, and the standard methodologies.Preview
- 2Building Your Kali Linux LabSet up an isolated lab with Kali Linux and deliberately vulnerable targets so you can practise legally.
- 3Reconnaissance: Mapping the Attack SurfaceGather information passively and actively to understand a target before you touch it.
- 4Scanning and Enumeration with NmapDiscover hosts, open ports, services, and versions with Nmap and its scripting engine.
- 5Finding and Exploiting Vulnerabilities with MetasploitUnderstand how exploitation works by confirming known weaknesses on lab targets with Metasploit.
- 6Privilege Escalation and Post-ExploitationTurn limited access into deeper control and assess the true impact of a foothold.
- 7Writing the Penetration-Test ReportTurn your findings into a clear, prioritised report that gets weaknesses fixed.