OSCP Review – BouSalman's Blog

Intro:

I have been developing Software for years, However had a great chance to switch my career path to be in security field recently and that’s why I started looking for trainings to gain more skills.
Security for a software developer is writing a good code, running scanners, setting firewall, etc.
but there is still a missing link, how can hackers break into servers, what tools and techniques they use?

Enter OffSec:

In my journey for finding the right trainings, I reached OffSec since I was using Kali Linux as a platform to use scanners.
I was skeptical at first but after reading different reviews I decided to enroll in PWK course since I am a big fan of Linux and I need a training with a hands-on experience to know how hacking happens.

Materials:

Fast forward after registration, I received the e-mail package and start reading…
Well I have to say, this is indeed a 101 course but the topics covered is broad and wide.
OffSec will takes you in a journey to all hacking topics, you will know the How and the Why for each concept in a self-learning way.
as Morpheus said: “I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.”
I did spend two months reading the materials without rushing to know all the topics and connect the dots before hitting the lab, In the same time I did solve the exercises and skipped the ones required more engaging to do it later on.

Lab:

After finishing materials reading and taking summer vacation for one month, I was ready to hit the lab.
I have to say the Lab is just fantastic! I was overwhelmed and running around like a lost sheep in the first few days, but after that I start enumerating the whole lab network and start hacking the low-hanging fruit boxes first.
I spent approximately 3.5 months hacking the lab machines and was able to hack fantastic boxes like PAIN, Sufferance and gh0st. But personally I like dotty.

Exam:

after hitting 32 boxes, I felt ready to take the exam to test my skills.
my first attempt went bad and failed, the exam is BRUTAL but was an eye-opener and knew my weakness.
I did take multiple exam attempts and with each attempt I was gaining more and more skills, it’s a tough process but the aftermath of it is HUGE and learned/tuned a lot of things.
If you want to take the exam then you have to be 100% ready for it. 80% or 90% will not be enough, you have to Try Harder and Harder.
On Saturday 25-3-2017 I passed the OSCP exam with a BIG smile, it went smoothly and I was able to finish the exam along with writing the report in the 24 hours time slot.

Recommendations:

you have to change your mindset, in this course you have to think like a hacker or a breaker because developers expect the code to work in a certain way but the hacker will try to twist the code to get in.
study and research, you have to read a lot of information and test it to understand what is happening and why.
its simple, sometimes it’s plain simple to hack in and you do not have to go deep in the rabbit hole.
set a game-plan, know you target very will and spend time reading the enumeration data to set a proper game plan before start hacking Otherwise you will waste your resources.
practice, download images from Vulnhub.com and practice. Also I do find the walk-throughs a great way to learn from other people experience.

Final Toughs:

I do encourage anyone seriously interested in Information Security or Hacking to enroll in PWK course, the learning curve is high and you will learn a lot of things in a short amount of time.
you have to dedicate effort/time for this course, otherwise you can’t learn or pass the exam.
the community and OffSec people are great and you will learn many new things, Definitely I will enroll in other courses and try to engage more in the community.