Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking

Navigate the Linux filesystem using pwd, ls, and cd.

Create, copy, move, and remove practice files and directories using mkdir, touch, cp, mv, and rm.

Inspect text files using cat, less, head, and tail.

Filter command output using pipes and grep.

Trace a simple browser request on a diagram using IP addresses, DNS, transport protocols, and destination ports.

Identify the computer's IPv4 address, default gateway, and DNS server using Windows network commands.

Test name resolution and network paths using nslookup, ping, and tracert.

Capture an authorized DNS lookup in Wireshark and identify its query and response packets.

Distinguish host discovery, port scanning, and service detection by interpreting example Nmap results.

Start a test web service bound to the loopback address and verify that it is available as a local practice target.

Use Nmap against the loopback target to identify and interpret its open port.

Run Nmap service detection against the loopback target and save the results as evidence.

Inspect an HTTP request and response using browser developer tools in an authorized practice application.

Interpret HTTP methods, status codes, and selected headers in captured web traffic.

Observe how an authorized practice application uses a cookie to maintain a session.

Modify a query parameter in an authorized sandbox and explain the resulting change in the response.

Distinguish authentication from authorization in security scenarios.

Compare encoding, hashing, and encryption by examining their purposes, outputs, and reversibility in a practice tool.

Evaluate self-created toy passphrases with a local or offline strength-estimation tool without testing real credentials.

Explain how multi-factor authentication reduces the impact of a stolen password in a given scenario.

Trace untrusted input to rendered output in a sandboxed application and identify where validation or output encoding is missing.

Predict which records simple SQL SELECT queries will return in a practice database.

Document a guided SQL injection in an intentionally vulnerable training lab, including harmless evidence, its root cause, and parameterized-query remediation.

Document reflected cross-site scripting with a harmless proof of concept in a training lab, including its root cause and output-encoding remediation.

Document an insecure direct object reference in an authorized training lab, including evidence and the missing server-side authorization check.

Run and modify a short Python script that uses variables, input, and output.

Use a conditional statement to classify a sample HTTP status code.

Read a saved text file line by line and select lines that match a defined pattern.

Parse saved Nmap output with Python and print the discovered open ports.

Sequence the scoping, discovery, testing, reporting, and retesting stages of a penetration test.

Write a test plan that defines permission, boundaries, and allowed techniques for the course's loopback service and designated web sandbox.

Enumerate the loopback practice target using only approved Nmap techniques and preserve reproducible evidence.

Verify one intentionally vulnerable behavior in the designated training sandbox and assign it a simple impact-and-likelihood rating.

Write a professional finding that includes reproduction steps, evidence, impact, remediation, and a retest step.