Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing: A Candid Review

Good day, good afternoon, and good evening! How are you? First off, I apologize for the sporadic nature of my articles recently. The past month has been, to put it mildly, quite intense with coursework, job interviews, and personal matters. Not to mention, this book didn't make things any simpler (due to its complexity).

Following feedback from my last post about the length and detail of my reviews, which some found too extensive or bordering on spoiler territory, I want to clarify: my goal has always been to share my genuine opinion without spoiling the content (I hate when that happens with movies). The main idea is to learn; for me, summarizing books helps me understand them better and hopefully motivates others to decide whether to read them or not.

In this article, I'll attempt a more concise summary, though I might have to boil down some interesting points into mere comments.

Mastering the Advanced

"Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing" is undoubtedly a book for the technically advanced. Titles claiming to be for "advanced users," "dummies," or "experts" usually leave me skeptical. However, in this case, the title perfectly matches the content.

It's a book that delves into various techniques depending on the penetration testing phase you're in, offering a wide range of tools, settings, and parameters to utilize. If you're not already familiar with Kali (or GNU/Linux systems), networking, and Windows/Linux OS, you might find it quite challenging, even daunting, to dive into this book, especially when time is short.

This is not a light read. Attempting it when you're tired might lead to waking up in a different position, feeling even more exhausted. The book is exercise-heavy and assumes knowledge the reader might not have, turning Google/ChatGPT/HackTricks into a necessary companions for bouncing back and forth between the text and web searches.

A Critical Perspective

One downside I noticed is the book's reliance on Windows 7 VMs for penetration testing examples. This seems out of place in an advanced-level book, where one might expect examples on virtualized Linux servers or, even better, more updated Windows OS versions like 10 or 11... more typical of real-world engagements.

We all know Windows 7 is far from secure, especially when is an official deprecated OS so the main question here is: why continue with outdated examples?

That said, this is the only significant flaw I found. Throughout the book, I learned about tools I hadn't encountered before and found great value in the parameters taught by the author, Vijay Kumar Velu. He structures his book around the well-known "Kill Chain Metamodel", aligning the presentation of topics with the sequence a potential attacker would follow.

Conclusion

"Mastering Kali Linux for Advanced Penetration Testing" is a dense resource, somehow complex with lot of content, and might just be one of those books you keep within arm's reach, knowing you'll return to it eventually (or just keep those handy commands on your google sheet).

I wouldn't recommend this book to absolute beginners, particularly those with less than six months of active training in cybersecurity. However, for someone a bit more seasoned, it could prove incredibly valuable, possibly teaching them new tricks and configurations for familiar tools.

Remember, these views are subjective, shaped by my own experiences and knowledge. A mentor of mine might find even more to appreciate and make additional connections within the material. This book is rich with insights.

I hope you enjoyed this review and found it useful, whether you've read the book or are considering it. As the year winds down, I plan to be more active in sharing and posting content that might interest you. As always, I welcome your critiques to help me grow in this field.