One of the hardest things about starting a new career is getting experience. Even entry-level jobs commonly require experience. This chapter will focus on some of the ways that you can get the experience you need to be employed as a pentester.
Capture the Flag
Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are a way to gain ethical hacking experience. CTFs conduct hacking and other challenges that build infosec skills. Some CTFs have a greater focus on hacking, and these are the best options for those who want to be pentesters. CTFs can help you develop hacking skills and the hacker mindset. You can download CTF virtual machines, uploaded by CTF creators, from VulnHub (www.vulnhub.com). You can also find CTFs at conferences and meetups. Following are some great resources for CTFs:
CTFtime: This is a great resource for finding a schedule of CTFs (ctftime.org).
picoCTF: picoCTF is a good resource to check first for finding CTF competitions (picoctf.com).
VulnHub: VulnHub lists VMs that were previously used for CTFs (
vulnhub.com
).
OverTheWire—Wargames: OverTheWire is a great resource for CTFs, and it offers several CTF competitions that you can try (overthewire.org/wargames).
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