Learn ethical hacking and penetration testing techniques

Organisations need cybersecurity professionals who can identify weaknesses before malicious attackers exploit them. On this three-week course, you’ll gain career-ready skills as you master penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and security testing.

You’ll explore the phases of ethical hacking and learn how penetration tests are planned and conducted within appropriate legal and regulatory boundaries. You’ll also discover how reconnaissance and scanning techniques can be used to map an attack surface and identify potential vulnerabilities.

Identify and assess security vulnerabilities

Build practical knowledge of the tools and techniques used to investigate security weaknesses. You’ll explore network scanning and service enumeration with tools such as Nmap and Nikto, helping you understand how security professionals identify potential attack paths.

You’ll also learn how to interpret vulnerability scanner results, assess findings using risk scoring models, and distinguish meaningful security risks from false positives or scanner noise.

Explore web application security and vulnerability management

Develop your understanding of common web application vulnerabilities through testing approaches aligned with OWASP principles. You’ll examine security issues including SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) within authorised, controlled environments.

The course also takes you beyond finding vulnerabilities and into managing them. You’ll explore vulnerability management, remediation workflows, automated patching, SLAs, and security dashboards, learning how organisations prioritise and track security improvements over time.

By the end, you’ll be able to take a structured approach to identifying, assessing, and managing security vulnerabilities.

Syllabus

Week 1
Ethical Hacking Foundations and Vulnerability Assessment
- Ethical Hacking Fundamentals
  Explore the principles, phases, and legal considerations of ethical hacking and penetration testing. Examine attack surface mapping, security standards, and responsible practices for conducting security assessments.
- Vulnerability Assessment and Network Discovery
  Apply vulnerability assessment techniques to identify security weaknesses through reconnaissance, host discovery, and port scanning. Evaluate vulnerabilities using risk-based analysis and industry scoring methods.
- Vulnerability Scanning and Risk Analysis
  Evaluate vulnerability assessment tools, network and web scanning techniques, and scanner reports. Interpret findings, distinguish real risks from false positives, and assess web server exposure using Nikto.
Week 2
Advanced Ethical Hacking Techniques and Web Application Testing
- Network Enumeration and Exploitation
  Perform advanced network scanning, service enumeration, and protocol analysis to identify attack paths. Simulate controlled exploitation techniques, including SQL injection and reflected cross-site scripting attacks.
- Web Application Security Testing
  Examine secure web application design, HTTPS, SSL/TLS, web application firewalls, and OWASP security standards. Validate web defenses by assessing transport security, HTTP headers, and common security controls.
Week 3
Vulnerability Management and Security Improvement
- Remediation and Patch Management
  Implement configuration hardening, change control, automated patch deployment, and post-remediation validation techniques. Verify remediation effectiveness through system logs and security validation processes.
- Security Governance and Reporting
  Establish governance frameworks using security policies, metrics, SLAs, and risk scoring. Create governance dashboards and consolidate security findings to support informed security and compliance decisions.

Prove you're job ready

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Complete each course and pass assessments.
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Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
Make your career dreams a reality.

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Explain ethical hacking methodologies, penetration testing phases, legal requirements, and vulnerability assessment processes.
Apply reconnaissance, host discovery, port scanning, and service enumeration techniques in controlled environments.
Classify web application vulnerabilities using OWASP-aligned testing techniques and controlled exploitation.
Perform vulnerability remediation, patching, configuration hardening, and post-remediation verification workflows.
Evaluate vulnerability risk, remediation priorities, governance metrics, and overall security posture.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for learners who are ready to adopt the attacker’s perspective and build structured offensive security skills. Whether a beginner building toward a penetration testing career or a security professional looking to formalise an ethical hacking practice, this course provides the methodology and hands-on tool experience that the industry demands.

It supports career pathways such as Penetration Tester, Ethical Hacker, Vulnerability Analyst, and Security Consultant across sectors including financial services, healthcare, government, defence, and technology, where organisations increasingly rely on proactive security testing to identify and close weaknesses before attackers exploit them.

This course also suits network engineers, system administrators, and SOC analysts who want to understand offensive techniques to strengthen their defensive practice. Prior familiarity with cybersecurity concepts, Linux fundamentals, and basic networking is recommended.

What software or tools do you need?

Learners should have foundational cybersecurity, networking, and Linux knowledge. A computer with a stable internet connection and support for virtual machines is required. Vulnerability assessment, scanning, and ethical hacking tools used in the labs are introduced during the course.

Who will you learn with?

Edureka Instructors

Who developed the course?

Edureka

Edureka is a global online learning platform offering industry-focused training in emerging technologies such as Cloud, AI, GenAI, Data Science, DevOps, and Cybersecurity, helping professionals upskill and advance their careers.

About this ExpertTrack

Build job-ready cybersecurity skills as you learn to defend networks, identify vulnerabilities, and respond to cyber incidents.

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