Thousands of organizations are recognizing the crucial role of penetration testing in protecting their networks and digital assets. In some industries, "pentesting" is now an absolute requirement. This is the first systematic guidebook for the growing number of security professionals and students who want to master the discipline and techniques of penetration testing.

Leading security expert, researcher, instructor, and author Chuck Easttom II has brought together all the essential knowledge in a single comprehensive guide that covers the entire penetration testing lifecycle. Easttom integrates concepts, terminology, challenges, and theory, and walks you through every step, from planning to effective post-test reporting. He presents a start-to-finish sample project relying on free open source tools, as well as quizzes, labs, and review sections throughout. Penetration Testing Fundamentals is also the only book to cover pentesting standards from NSA, PCI, and NIST.

You don't need any prior pentesting knowledge to succeed with this practical guide: by the time you're finished, you'll have all the skills you need to conduct reliable, professional penetration tests.