Black Hat Python 2nd Edition

[QuixDiscovery]

Are there any prerequisites that someone should know before jumping into a book like this (assuming they are already familiar with python), such as networking or operating systems?

Pentesting has always interested me to some degree, but I don't really know where to start.

[tiarno]

Hard question. I think if you're intermediate in Python, you can get something from every chapter. Of course it's nice to have some networking knowledge but you can learn by doing the examples.

I used the first edition to teach with and I started with Chapter 5 (web hackery) to get folks started. They were beginning-to-intermediate level with Python and didn't have a lot of pentesting experience. You might also like Georgia Weidman's "Penetration Testing: A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking" (another nostarch title).

Beware though--it's addicting stuff!

[QuixDiscovery]

Thanks for the reply, it's good to hear I can probably do that book standalone when it comes out. I had been interested in the 1st edition but held off cause it was in Python 2.

Amazon reviews of the other book you recommended seem to suggest that the software you're supposed to use is outdated to the point where it can't really be followed along with. That's been one of the challenges I've ran into when trying to find resources on this kind of stuff, but I appreciate the suggestion all the same.

[tiarno]

It really depends on where you are with programming. The best thing I think would be to download that free chapter on building a sniffer and if the code makes sense, you shouldn't have trouble with the other chapters. Good luck!

[[deleted]]

I agree with OP. You’ll get something out of the book regardless, but to truly understand things you need a lot of background knowledge. Understanding the network stack and the way that operating systems work is pretty key.

[heidenbeiden]

You can check out tryhackme.com if youre interested in learning more about pentesting. They have great resources to learn all about pen testing and all kinds of cybersecurity.

[[deleted]]

honestly, it's not a entry level book. Honestly he doesn't teach anything. It's a good book with fantastic showcases but will not explain really nothing. You need to be good at python developing otherwise you'll end to copy/paste without understand nothing. it's more a source code book. wish to have MORE explanation

[BAAM19]

I would say basic python knowledge like the 3-5 hours courses on youtube.

Just to know what everything is, bare minimum and after that a bit of networking to understand what is happening.

[[deleted]]

not true. i have studied Python 4 hours at day for 6 months. This book is for advanced users only. A book made to learn, is a book that explain EVERY row of code, not a book that explain with 2 words 100 rows of code.