Tags: Job Role Information - Penetration Tester Job Role Information - Penetration Tester Cyber Security Cyber Security - In-demand Skills
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Cyber security interviews will have some questions very specific to the role. Here are some examples you should prepare for.
Introduction Questions
- Where do you go to research the latest vulnerabilities?
- What is the last script you wrote?
- What areas are you planning to improve on?
- How have you given back to the infosec community?
- What individuals or organizations do you follow on social media, or what blogs do you read that you recommend others follow and why?
Less Technical
- What is the purpose of a penetration test?
- Define the difference between red teams, blue teams, and purple teams.
- How is a black-box test different from a white-box test?
- What would you do if you saw signs of a previous breach during a pentest?
- What are some types of threat actors?
Moderate Technical
- Define golden and silver tickets.
- What are the most common network vulnerabilities?
- Define session hijacking and some methods.
- What Nmap command won’t ping the host?
- What is Kerberoasting?
Highly Technical
- Can SQL injection lead to remote code execution? How?
- What is the first thing you should do before testing begins?
- You have local credentials to a machine but not network credentials. What do you do next?
- On an Active Directory network, you have a valid username but no credentials. What would you do next?
- You get simple command injection on a web server through the address bar. What would you do to get a shell?
Job and Salary Prospects for Penetration Testers
As with any career, the average salary can vary depending on the specifics of the role, the location you are working, and your individual experience. But let’s take some statistics from various sources to assemble a more complete picture.
Availablity of Roles
Junior
Approaching Mid-level
Intermediate/Senior
Tags: [[Cyber Security hacking]]
Links:
(https://www.stationx.net/how-to-become-a-penetration-tester/)
What Penetration Testers Do - High Level
Common Job Titles for Penetration Testers
Some terms to look out for when seeking a pentesting position include
- Pentester/Penetration Tester
- Junior Penetration Tester
- Penetration Tester Trainee
- Senior Penetration Tester
- Penetration Tester Team Lead
- Ethical Hacker
- White Hat Hacker
- Red Teamer
- Vulnerability Tester
- Security Tester
- Vulnerability Assessor/Vulnerability Assessment Professional
- Application/Network Security Consultant
- Application Security Analyst
- Application Security Architect
What Stage Are You at in Your Journey to Become a Penetration Tester?
Let’s look at the diagram below. It represents, on a high level, the stages you must go through to become an ethical hacker. The goal of this guide is to get you the skills, knowledge, and experience of Stage Four.
Let’s talk about the stages. Read the descriptions below and decide what stage you are in right now. Be honest with yourself, as this will determine your next steps. We’d all love to skip ahead and get right to hacking, but skills stack upon each other. Without a solid foundation, everything else can crumble.
Stage 1 – Essential IT
You start at Stage One if you have zero (or almost zero) IT and cyber security knowledge and need to start from scratch. Here is where you gain a reasonable understanding of Windows and maybe Linux and Mac. You learn PCs, ports, file management, basic networking, .etc. You learn to set up and configure operating systems and troubleshoot IT problems. You might pursue certificates like CompTIA’s ITF or A+.
Stage 2 - Networking
Enter Stage Two when you have your essential IT skills and need to learn TCP/IP, routers, switches, and the Internet. You might pursue certificates like CompTIA’s Network+.
Stage 3 - General Cyber Security
Enter Stage Three when you have experience working with all the previously mentioned topics and have good experience with IT, networking, and applications. You might hold IT fundamentals, A+, or a technology degree, or have worked in IT support.
At the end of Stage Three, you will have knowledge/experience of topics like encryption, authentication, threats and vulnerabilities, basic hacking, OS security, .etc. You might have qualifications already, like CompTIA’s Security+, CEH, or ISC(2)’s SSCP.
Then you would be ready for a **junior penetration tester role**.
If you’re not at Stage Three yet, don’t worry. Consider some of our fundamental courses to get up to speed, such-as:
CompTIA A+ Core 1 and Core 2, Network+, and Security+.
If you’re ready to start Stage Four, keep reading.
Stage 4 - Cyber Security Specialization - Penetration Tester
After completing Stage Three, you move towards gaining a deeper knowledge of penetration testing and hacking. Here you may choose to specialize in an area of penetration tesing, like web apps, mobile, red team, and so on. You might pursue certificates like
- OSCP – Offensive Security Certified Professional
- GPEN – GIAC Certified Penetration Tester
- GWAPT – GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester
**Stage 5 - Cyber Security
- Specialization - Senior Penetration Tester
It’s time for Stage Five when you have five+ years of working as a pen tester and want to become an expert in a specialist area. For example, you are a penetration tester who wants to move into reverse engineering and create custom exploits. You might pursue certificates like
- CCSAS – CREST Certified Simulated Attack Specialist
- OSCE3 – Offensive Security Certified Expert 3
- OSWE – Offensive Security Web Expert
Identify the Capability Gap Between You and a Penetration Tester
Let’s talk about skills and capabilities. You are going to need to think about what skills and abilities you have that apply to this role and which need to be developed.
We’ll start by looking at possible specializations you may be interested in within pentesting, identifying your current skillset, and analyzing what you need to work on.
Find a Passion and Specialization
Pentesting is certainly a specialized role within cyber security, but you can still dive deeper and focus on particular areas if you choose. You will, of course, start as a generalist, and many continue to stay well-rounded in all areas of pentesting. Should you wish to specialize, you can consider:
Web App Pentester
They test websites and web applications such as forms, databases, and anything that interacts with a user over the web. Here you will focus more on SQL databases, JavaScript, PHP, APIs, and content management back-ends like WordPress and Drupal. See our web app hacking courses.
Mobile Pentester
In this field, you will focus on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as IoT (Internet of Things) devices such as smart-home devices. You will need to become more familiar with iOS and Android, SSL, jailbreaking, and OWASP Top Ten for Mobile devices. See our mobile hacking courses.
Red Team Pentester
Red Teamers are simulating real-world attacks. This will involve obfuscation techniques, antivirus evasion, forging SSL certificates, and modifying log files. You will need to be much more familiar with how Windows and Linux systems log events. See our red team hacking courses.
Exploit Developer
While most penetration testing specialties do not require advanced programming, writing exploits will require knowledge of Python and C at a minimum. 32-bit Assembly, Ruby, Powershell, debugging, and reverse engineering will also be skills you are likely to develop. See our exploit developer course.
You can also specialize in hacking Active Directory, WiFi, cloud infrastructures such as Azure and Amazon Web Services, SCADA/ICS systems, and more.
Identify Your Current Hard, Soft, and Transferable Capabilities
Time to take an inventory of the skills you currently possess and how they might be transferable to this new career.
Once you’ve taken a good hard look at what you have to offer in terms of hard skills (such as Linux or TCP/IP) and soft skills (like time management and report writing), it’s time to line them up against the skills you see listed on the kinds of job ads you want to apply for. Determine what is missing, and set a plan to fill in the gaps.
The Capabilities section is split into three parts:
- Hard capabilities, which are formal technical skills (e.g Python or TCP/IP)
- Soft capabilities, which are developed through experience (communication skills, adaptability, etc.)
- Transferable skills are skills developed in other pursuits that can translate to this career (a mechanic might have problem-solving skills or attention to detail)
List a maximum of ten for each. Then, move on to the other columns.
First, you will select the knowledge level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced). This refers to your understanding of the capability.
Next is your skill level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced). This is your ability to apply knowledge to a task or situation.
Lastly, the amount of experience is measured in months or years.
At the bottom, you can list any certifications, degrees, or provable achievements.
The second tab is “Capabilities I Need”. It is laid out the same as the previous table.
Here, you review the job description of the position you want. Perform a gap analysis on the junior/entry-level position you’re after. In this case, a junior penetration tester.
You can also consider mid and advanced-level positions, so you know the direction you want to move towards in the long term.
Fill in the hard and soft capabilities you frequently see in job postings and our recommended skills and certifications in the next sections.
Cyber Security - In-demand Skills