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Ultimate Ethical Hacking Roadmap: From Basics to Expert Level

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🧠 What Is Ethical Hacking?

Ethical hacking is the authorized practice of bypassing system security to identify potential data breaches and threats. Ethical hackers, also known as white-hat hackers, help organizations strengthen security by detecting vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them.

✅ Learn more about ethical hacking from EC-Council

🛠️ Phase 1: Web Application Basics

Understanding how web applications operate is foundational.

  • URL Structure & Parameters

  • Client-Server Model

  • HTTP Request & Response

  • Headers and Caching

  • Common Web Technologies (HTML, PHP, JS, SQL)

  • OWASP Top 10 Web Vulnerabilities
    👉 OWASP Official Site

🖥️ Phase 2: Basics of Server

  • What is a Server?

  • Server Types: Web, Mail, DNS, Proxy

  • Password Storage (Hashing, Salting)

  • Working of Servers (Apache, NGINX)

🌐 Phase 3: Network Protocols & Fundamentals

A good hacker is also a good networker.

Key Protocols:

  • TCP, UDP, ICMP, ARP, RARP

  • FTP, SSH, HTTPS, SNMP

  • BGP, OSPF, EIGRP

Network Concepts:

  • Subnetting & CIDR

  • IP Addressing (IPv4, IPv6)

  • DHCP, DNS

  • OSI & TCP/IP Models

    • Layers, PDU, Headers, Services

    • 3-Way Handshake

    • Network Troubleshooting

Proxies & TOR:

🖥️ Phase 4: Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, macOS)

  • Windows: Group Policies, PowerShell, Active Directory

  • Linux: File Systems, Permissions, Command Line

  • macOS: Admin & Security Tools

Understand OS-specific vulnerabilities and scripting capabilities.

☁️ Phase 5: Virtualization & Cloud

  • Virtual Machines (VMware, VirtualBox)

  • Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
    👉 Learn more at AWS Training

👨‍💻 Phase 6: Programming Languages

Knowing code helps in writing exploits and scripts.

Python

  • Syntax, Loops, Functions

  • Exception Handling, File I/O

  • Basics of Socket Programming

Bash & PowerShell

  • Linux and Windows automation

🌐 Phase 7: Web Application Development

Understand what you are hacking.

  • HTML, CSS, JavaScript

  • Server-Side Scripting (PHP, Node.js)

  • RESTful API Basics

🛡️ Phase 8: Web Application Security

  • Common Attacks: SQLi, XSS, CSRF

  • Security Headers: CSP, X-Frame-Options

  • Same-Origin Policy

  • Tools: Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP

📶 Phase 9: Wireless Security

  • Encryption Standards: WEP, WPA, WPA2

  • Wireless Attacks: Deauthentication, Evil Twin

  • Wireless Intrusion Detection Systems (WIDS)

🔐 Phase 10: Network Security

  • Firewalls: Stateful, Stateless

  • IDS/IPS: Working and Implementation

  • VPNs: Protocols (L2TP, IPSec), Encryption, Use Cases

🔒 Phase 11: Cryptography

  • Encryption Algorithms: AES, RSA

  • Hashing: SHA, MD5

  • PKI & Digital Signatures

  • Symmetric vs Asymmetric

  • Block vs Stream Ciphers

📘 External Resource: Introduction to Cryptography – NIST

🎯 Final Thoughts

This roadmap is designed for anyone passionate about cybersecurity. Whether you’re a student, IT professional, or an aspiring penetration tester, mastering these modules will pave your way to becoming a proficient ethical hacker.

📚 Recommended Resources

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