# CompTIA PenTest+ Exam Preparation Course Canonical URL: ## Overview This course prepares experienced security practitioners to sit the CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) exam, covering its five domains. It assumes hands-on testing experience and focuses on the judgment the exam rewards. Learners work through engagement management, reconnaissance and enumeration, vulnerability analysis, attacks and exploits, and post-exploitation. Every knowledge check uses the scenario-based style of the real exam, and no hosted lab is included. ## What you'll learn - Scope and authorize a penetration test engagement using rules of engagement, legal concepts, and compliance requirements. - Conduct passive and active reconnaissance to build a target profile without triggering unnecessary detection. - Enumerate hosts, services, and directory environments to identify likely attack paths. - Run and interpret vulnerability scans, then prioritize findings by exploitability and business risk. - Exploit common network, host, and application vulnerabilities using appropriate tools and techniques. - Test web applications and APIs for injection, authentication, and session-handling weaknesses. - Assess wireless networks, cloud configurations, and IoT devices for exploitable weaknesses. - Plan and execute social engineering and physical security tests within legal and ethical boundaries. - Escalate privileges and move laterally while documenting risk to the target environment. - Select and justify the right tool or technique for each phase of a penetration test. - Translate technical findings into a clear, prioritized penetration test report for technical and executive audiences. - Communicate risk and remediation recommendations to stakeholders at different technical levels. - Recognize the legal and compliance boundaries that govern authorized penetration testing. ## Curriculum #### Module 1: Engagement Management I: Scoping, Rules of Engagement, and Legal Concepts - Lessons: - Pre-Engagement Activities and Scoping - Rules of Engagement and Authorization - Legal Concepts and Compliance Requirements - Contracts, Master Service Agreements, and Third-Party Considerations - Applied activity: Given a fictional client request, learners draft a scope statement and rules of engagement that specify testing windows, excluded systems, and escalation contacts. #### Module 2: Engagement Management II: Communication, Reporting, and Post-Engagement - Lessons: - Communication and Escalation Paths - Report Structure and Findings Documentation - Risk Ratings and Remediation Recommendations - Post-Engagement Cleanup and Deliverables - Applied activity: Learners convert a set of raw findings into a one-page executive summary and a prioritized remediation table. #### Module 3: Passive Reconnaissance and OSINT - Lessons: - OSINT Fundamentals and Sources - DNS, WHOIS, and Certificate Transparency Research - Social Media and Public Records Reconnaissance - Passive Reconnaissance Tools and Documentation - Applied activity: Learners build a target profile for a fictional organization using only publicly available sources, without touching the target's systems. #### Module 4: Active Reconnaissance and Scanning - Lessons: - Network Discovery and Host Scanning - Port and Service Scanning Techniques - Packet Crafting and Scan Evasion - Scan Output Analysis - Applied activity: Learners interpret a sample scan output and identify likely services, versions, and next-step testing priorities. #### Module 5: Enumeration Across Protocols and Services - Lessons: - Enumeration Fundamentals - Windows and Active Directory Enumeration - Web, Database, and Cloud Service Enumeration - Documenting Enumeration Findings - Applied activity: Learners enumerate a simulated Active Directory environment description and identify likely privilege escalation paths from the output. #### Module 6: Vulnerability Scanning and Identification - Lessons: - Vulnerability Scanner Fundamentals - Configuring and Running Authenticated Scans - Interpreting CVSS and Scan Output - Validating and De-duplicating Findings - Applied activity: Learners review a sample scan report, flag likely false positives, and re-rank findings by validated severity. #### Module 7: Vulnerability Analysis and Attack Surface Prioritization - Lessons: - Attack Surface Mapping - Prioritizing Vulnerabilities by Risk and Exploitability - Common Vulnerability Classes: Injection, Misconfiguration, Weak Authentication - From Analysis to Attack Planning - Applied activity: Learners take a list of unranked vulnerabilities and produce a prioritized attack plan with justification for the chosen order. #### Module 8: Network and Host-Based Attacks - Lessons: - Exploiting Network Services and Protocols - Password Attacks and Credential Access - Host-Based Exploitation Techniques - On-Path and Man-in-the-Middle Attacks - Applied activity: Learners work through a scenario selecting the least noisy, most reliable exploitation technique for a described network service weakness. #### Module 9: Application-Based Attacks: Web and API - Lessons: - Web Application Attack Fundamentals - Injection and Input Validation Attacks - Authentication and Session Attacks - API Security Testing - Applied activity: Learners walk through a sample web request and identify where an injection or session weakness could be tested. #### Module 10: Wireless, Cloud, and IoT Attacks - Lessons: - Wireless Network Attacks - Cloud Service and Configuration Attacks - IoT and Embedded Device Attacks - Attack Selection by Environment - Applied activity: Learners are given three environment descriptions, wireless, cloud, and IoT, and select the most relevant testing technique for each. #### Module 11: Social Engineering and Physical Attacks - Lessons: - Social Engineering Fundamentals and Pretexting - Phishing and Related Attack Delivery - Physical Security Testing - Ethical and Legal Boundaries in Social Engineering - Applied activity: Learners draft a pretext and delivery plan for an authorized phishing exercise, including required approvals. #### Module 12: Post-Exploitation Techniques - Lessons: - Post-Exploitation Fundamentals - Privilege Escalation Techniques - Data Exfiltration Simulation and Impact Assessment - Maintaining Access and Cleanup Considerations - Applied activity: Learners describe a privilege escalation path from a low-privileged foothold to administrative access on a described host. #### Module 13: Lateral Movement, Pivoting, and Persistence - Lessons: - Lateral Movement Fundamentals - Pivoting Through Compromised Systems - Persistence Mechanisms and Detection Risk - Mapping the Post-Exploitation Phase to Reporting - Applied activity: Learners trace a described lateral movement path across three systems and identify the point where detection risk was highest. #### Module 14: Tools and Scripting for Penetration Testing - Lessons: - Reconnaissance and Scanning Tool Categories - Exploitation Framework Fundamentals - Scripting Basics for Automation, Python and PowerShell - Choosing the Right Tool for Each Engagement Phase - Applied activity: Learners match a set of described testing tasks to the tool category best suited to each, and justify the choice. ## Schedule - Mar 8, 2027 – Mar 12, 2027 — Live Online - May 3, 2027 – May 7, 2027 — Live Online - Aug 30, 2027 – Sep 3, 2027 — Live Online ## Pricing **Tuition:** $2949