View source for Prerequisite Skills to Studying Web Security

The best thing you can do for yourself at this stage is expose yourself to
many different topics and obtain a surface-level understanding of them. You
could say a goal of this document is casting a wide but shallow net of topic
exposure. Deeper knowledge will build on these foundations at a pace you will
find for yourself along the way. Resources have been chosen to put an emphasis
on repeating topics to drill them in without being too dry. I would encourage
you to follow any rabbit holes you might fall down in the process, because
doing so gives you an opportunity to better map out how computers work and
ideally their security and threat landscape.
 
Hacking isn't a single skill, but rather exhausting as many possibilities as
you can think of to accomplish a given task. Understand how systems are built
before attempting to break them. In other words, it's an application of a set
of fundamental skills and first principles.
 
The order of topics isn't that important, but was chosen intentionally. For
example, by starting with Linux you give yourself an opportunity to use it as
an environment for learning Python and networking. Networking will include
Python programming, and Python may expose you to some networking. Ultimately,
you should just choose your own adventure to avoid burn-out.
 
Use Library Genesis to search for the books mentioned. Yes it's safe. If you
don't trust it then use a VM and scan the downloads for viruses.
http://libgen.rs/
 
== Linux ==
 
Start with "The Linux Command Line" by William Shotts. It will take you from
nothing to competent. This book should be enough for you to do the OverTheWire
Bandit challenges which you can think of as a sort of rite of passage.
https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/
 
If you are inclined, you can follow this up with "How Linux Works" by Brian
Ward for some recap as well as a deeper dive into some more sysadmin focused
topics that are just touched on in TLCL. Web security is basically just an
application of DevOps so these are important things to understand. It will also
offer you an extremely high-level introduction into how the kernel itself works
which should be all you need if you are just going into web security.
 
If you want to really apply your Linux knowledge to a final lab then consider
following the Linux From Scratch project:
https://www.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/
It will have you build a Linux system from source so you'll encounter
everything there is to know on the user's end and how the filesystem is laid
out. It's just a book. Don't convince yourself you wouldn't be able to do it.
 
== Scripting/Python ==
 
My personal recommendation is to start with Python because it's such an
incredible "Swiss Army knife" for hacking oriented tasks.
 
I like "Python Crash Course" by Eric Matthes because it's really two books in
one: the first half is a typical beginners textbook, and the second half is
three "real-world" projects: data visualization, game development, and web
development. These may not seem directly relevant, but in the interest of
exposing yourself to new things, what this should accomplish is demystifying
software development so you have an idea as to how the systems you will be
attacking are created, as well as the ability to look through a software
project and understand how and why it is laid out the way it is.
 
If you'd like to follow that up with another book to drill in the concepts
and to provide another teaching style and set of exercises, consider reading
"Black Hat Python, 2nd Edition" by Justin Seitz and Tim Arnold. This may
give you insight into practical script writing and basic hacking tool
development. Ideally, this will also keep you motivated and focused on your
end goals if you are getting bored by theory.
 
Python's most valuable feature is its thorough standard-library. Python 3
Module of the Week, or the reference textbook equivalent "Python 3 Standard
Library by Example" by Doug Hellmann presents libraries sorted in categories
that will be helpful in aiding you to create your own scripts to accomplish
tasks instead of relying on niche and archaic hacking tools you may find on
github. That being said, a massive collection of good community created Python
tools and libraries already exists as well, and some resource lists on finding
those follows.
* https://pymotw.com/3/
* https://github.com/Hack-with-Github/Awesome-Hacking
* https://github.com/vinta/awesome-python
* https://www.awesomepython.org/
* https://github.com/carpedm20/awesome-hacking
* https://github.com/enaqx/awesome-pentest
* https://github.com/jekil/awesome-hacking#python
* https://hackersonlineclub.com/python-tools/
 
Here are some websites that you can use for more coding exercises. You don't
need to be as skilled as a software developer, let alone a competitive
programmer, but you should be able to brute force your way through easy to
medium challenges without issue.
* https://edabit.com/
* https://www.codewars.com/
* https://leetcode.com/
* https://projecteuler.net/
* https://adventofcode.com/
 
Remember you can always seek guidance in /cyb/ or /dpt/.
 
== Networking ==
 
Unless you are planning to go into a network-related job you really don't need
to go that deep into networking. "Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach" by
James F. Kurose and Keith Ross will teach you everything you should know. It
has a "focus on security" throughout the book and an entire chapter on network
security. I would urge you not to read this cover to cover but instead to be
diligent in determining what parts will help you in the immediate future;
namely the application layer.
 
Additionally, it has highly valuable WireShark packet analysis labs and Python
network programming labs. If either of those things interests you enough to
read additional material on them, consider "Practical Packet Analysis" by Chris
Sanders and "Foundations of Python Network Programming" by Brandon Rhodes and
John Goerzen. You may want to do your own research on more recent books on
those topics.
 
== A Path Forward ==
 
At this point you have a solid foundation for beginning security oriented
research. "The Web Application Hacker's Handbook" by Dafydd Stuttard and
Marcus Pinto is a great starting point because it's the only book around that
really teaches attack methodology. This book is indeed "outdated", but so are
easy CTF challenges. The purpose of this recommendation is to bridge the gap
between studying theory and actually applying it to challenges, which you
should start doing as many as you can. The knowledge and experience you gain
from doing one will lead to the next one.
 
While not a very popular resource for becoming an exploit developer or reverse
engineer, "Hacking: The Art of Exploitation" will give you an easy intro into
binary exploitation, at least to the extent it will ever be relevant in basic
CTF challenges. See also the "Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit" article
in Phrack 49.
 
Sec+ and PenTest+ certification study guides can be used as a check list for
what you "should know" as a beginner from the industry's perspective. PenTest+
in particular will give you insight into non-technical aspects of pentesting
that aren't talked about as much. Note that this is not an endorsement of those
certifications; I'm only suggesting that you read the study guides.
 
Possibly the most important skill is quickly thinking through and solving
problems. You should be capable of intelligently researching a challenge you
aren't understanding.
 
If you want more fundamentals to grind then here are some sub-topics that could
be useful to you in doing CTFs:
* Web scraping with Python
* Web architecture (back-end: data, servers; front-end: APIs, DOM, browsers)
 
And as always, consult the installgentoo wiki for resources on computer science
and more advanced programming.
https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Programming_resources
 
== Epilogue ==
 
Historically, the advice in old /cyb/ threads was focusing on getting an OSCP
certification. Here's the outline on what this document would have been about
if it were written maybe 5-10 years ago:
 
https://cyberpunked.org/
 
"Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking" by Georgia Weidman
used to be commonly recommended, along with the pdf study guide by Tulpa
Security: "Tulpa’s PWK Prep Guide"
https://web.archive.org/web/20180324181134/https://tulpa-security.com/2016/09/19/prep-guide-for-offsecs-pwk/
 
An anon on /biz/ who became known as "OSCP anon" on /g/ started a short-lived
/rpg/ - Remote Pentester General that was interesting at the time. His
syllabus was called "Path to Pentester (Anon's Quest)"
 
=== Path to Pentester (Anon's Quest v2) ===
https://archive.is/XB5hl  (Saved from https://pastebin.com/vyhNRqj8)
 
=== The relevant /biz/ threads ===
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14246491
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14291877
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14451088
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14460030
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14784856
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S14908749
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15009378
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15111033
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15140492
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15195727
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15207935
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15467643
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15621836
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S15892816
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S16205844
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S16273859
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S17186747
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S17503559
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S17814875
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S18157805
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S19434152
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S20399888
* https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S22240382


[[Category:Generals]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk]]
[[Category:HowTo]]