Awesome Hacking Resources
A collection of hacking / penetration testing resources to make you better!
Learning the Skills
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| CS 642: Intro to Computer Security | academic content, full semester course, includes assigned readings, homework and github refs for exploit examples. NO VIDEO LECTURES. |
| CyberSec WTF | CyberSec WTF Web Hacking Challenges from Bounty write-ups |
| Cybrary | coursera style website, lots of user-contributed content, account required, content can be filtered by experience level |
| Free Cyber Security Training | Academic content, 8 full courses with videos from a quirky instructor sam, links to research, defcon materials and other recommended training/learning |
| Hak5 | podcast-style videos covering various topics, has a forum, “metasploit-minute” video series could be useful |
| Hopper’s Roppers Security Training | Four free self-paced courses on Computing Fundamentals, Security, Capture the Flags, and a Practical Skills Bootcamp that help beginners build a strong base of foundational knowledge. Designed to prepare for students for whatever they need to learn next. |
| Learning Exploitation with Offensive Computer Security 2.0 | blog-style instruction, includes: slides, videos, homework, discussion. No login required. |
| Mind Maps | Information Security related Mind Maps |
| MIT OCW 6.858 Computer Systems Security | academic content, well organized, full-semester course, includes assigned readings, lectures, videos, required lab files. |
| OffensiveComputerSecurity | academic content, full semester course including 27 lecture videos with slides and assign readings |
| OWASP top 10 web security risks | free courseware, requires account |
| SecurityTube | tube-styled content, “megaprimer” videos covering various topics, no readable content on site. |
| Seed Labs | academic content, well organized, featuring lab videos, tasks, needed code files, and recommended readings |
| TryHackMe | Designed prebuilt challenges which include virtual machines (VM) hosted in the cloud ready to be deployed |
YouTube Channels
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 0patch by ACROS Security | few videos, very short, specific to 0patch | |
| BlackHat | features talks from the BlackHat conferences around the world | |
| Christiaan008 | hosts a variety of videos on various security topics, disorganized | |
| Companies | ||
| Detectify | very short videos, aimed at showing how to use Detictify scanner | |
| Hak5 | see Hak5 above | |
| Kaspersky Lab | lots of Kaspersky promos, some hidden cybersecurity gems | |
| Metasploit | collection of medium length metasploit demos, ~25minutes each, instructional | |
| ntop | network monitoring, packet analysis, instructional | |
| nVisium | Some nVisum promos, a handful of instructional series on Rails vulns and web hacking | |
| OpenNSM | network analysis, lots of TCPDUMP videos, instructional, | |
| OWASP | see OWASP above | |
| Rapid7 | brief videos, promotional/instructional, ~ 5 minutes | |
| Securelist | brief videos, interviews discussing various cyber security topics | |
| Segment Security | promo videos, non-instructional | |
| SocialEngineerOrg | podcast-style, instructional, lengthy content ~1 hr each | |
| Sonatype | lots of random videos, a good cluster of DevOps related content, large range of lengths, disorganized | |
| SophosLabs | lots of brief, news-style content, “7 Deadly IT Sins” segment is of note | |
| Sourcefire | lots of brief videos covering topics like botnets, DDoS ~5 minutes each | |
| Station X | handful of brief videos, disorganized, unscheduled content updates | |
| Synack | random, news-style videos, disorganized, non-instructional | |
| TippingPoint Zero Day Initiative | very brief videos ~30 sec, somewhat instructional | |
| Tripwire, Inc. | some tripwire demos, and random news-style videos, non-instructional | |
| Vincent Yiu | handful of videos from a single hacker, instructional | |
| Conferences | ||
| 44contv | in | |
| MIT OCW 6.858 Computer Systems Security | Information security con based in London, lengthy instructional videos | |
| BruCON Security Conference | security and hacker conference based in b\Belgium, lots of lengthy instructinoal videos | |
| BSides Manchester | security and hacker con based in Mancheseter, lots of lengthy videos | |
| BSidesAugusta | security con based in Augusta, Georgia, lots of lengthy instructional videos | |
| CarolinaCon | security con based in North Carolina, associated with various 2600 chapters, lots of lengthy instructional content | |
| Cort Johnson | a handful of lengthy con-style talks from Hack Secure Opensec 2017 | |
| DevSecCon | lenghty con videos covering DevSecOps, making software more secure | |
| Garage4Hackers – Information Security | a handful of lengthy videos, About section lacks description | |
| HACKADAY | lots of random tech content, not strictly infosec, some instructional | |
| Hack In The Box Security Conference | lengthy con-style instructional talks from an international security con | |
| Hack in Paris | security con based in paris, features lots of instructional talks, slides can be difficult to see. | |
| Hacklu | lots of lengthy con-style instructional videos | |
| Hacktivity | lots of lengthy con-style instructional videos from a con in central/eastern europe | |
| Hardwear.io | handful of lengthy con-style video, emphasis on hardware hacks | |
| IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy | content from the symposium; IEEE is a professional association based in the us, they also publish various journals | |
| LASCON | lengthy con-style talks from an OWASP con held in Austin, TX | |
| leHACK | leHACK is the oldest ( 2003 ), leading, security conference in Paris, FR | |
| Marcus Niemietz | lots of instructional content, associated with HACKPRA, an offensive security course from an institute in Germany | |
| Media.ccc.de | The real official channel of the chaos computer club, operated by the CCC VOC – tons of lengthy con-style vids | |
| NorthSec | lengthy con-style talks from an applied security conference in Canada | |
| Pancake Nopcode | channel of Radare2 whiz Sergi “pancake” Alvarez, Reverse Engineering Content | |
| Psiinon | medium length instructional videos, for the OWASP Zed Attack Proxy | |
| SJSU Infosec | handful of lengthy instructional videos from San Jose State university Infosec | |
| Secappdev.org | tons of lengthy instructional lectures on Secure App Development | |
| Security Fest | medium length con-style talks from a security festival in Sweden | |
| SecurityTubeCons | an assortment of con-style talks from various cons including BlackHat and Shmoocon | |
| ToorCon | handful of medium length con videos from con based in San Diego, CA | |
| USENIX Enigma Conference | medium length “round table discussion with leading experts”, content starts in 2016 | |
| ZeroNights | a lot of con-style talks from international conference ZeroNights | |
| News | ||
| 0x41414141 | Channel with couple challenges, well explained | |
| Adrian Crenshaw | lots of lengthy con-style talks | |
| Corey Nachreiner | security newsbites, 2.7K subscribers, 2-3 videos a week, no set schedule | |
| BalCCon – Balkan Computer Congress | Long con-style talks from the Balkan Computer Congress, doesn’t update regularly | |
| danooct1 | lots of brief screenshot, how-to vids regarding malware, regular content updates, 186K followerss | |
| DedSec | lots of brief screenshot how-to vids based in Kali, no recent posts. | |
| DEFCON Conference | lots of lengthy con-style vids from the iconical DEFCON | |
| DemmSec | lots of pen testing vids, somewhat irregular uploads, 44K followers | |
| Derek Rook – CTF/Boot2root/wargames Walkthrough | lots of lengthy screenshot instructional vids, with | |
| Don Does 30 | amateur pen-tester posting lots of brief screenshot vids regularly, 9K Followers | |
| Error 404 Cyber News | short screen-shot videos with loud metal, no dialog, bi-weekly | |
| Geeks Fort – KIF | lots of brief screenshot vids, no recent posts | |
| GynvaelEN | Security streams from Google Researcher. Mainly about CTFs, computer security, programing and similar things. | |
| HackerSploit | regular posts, medium length screenshot vids, with dialog | |
| HACKING TUTORIALS | handful of brief screenshot vids, no recent posts. | |
| iExplo1t | lots of screenshot vids aimed at novices, 5.7K Followers, no recent posts | |
| JackkTutorials | lots of medium length instructional vids with some AskMe vids from the youtuber | |
| John Hammond | Solves CTF problems. contains penTesting tips and tricks | |
| Latest Hacking News | 10K followers, medium length screenshot videos, no recent releases | |
| LionSec | lots of brief screenshot instructional vids, no dialog | |
| LiveOverflow | Lots of brief-to-medium instructional vids, covering things like buffer overflows and exploit writing, regular posts. | |
| Metasploitation | lots of screenshot vids, little to no dialogue, all about using Metasploit, no recent vids. | |
| NetSecNow | channel of pentesteruniversity.org, seems to post once a month, screenshot instructional vids | |
| Open SecurityTraining | lots of lengthy lecture-style vids, no recent posts, but quality info. | |
| Pentester Academy TV | lots of brief videos, very regular posting, up to +8 a week | |
| Penetration Testing in Linux | DELETE | |
| rwbnetsec | lots of medium length instructional videos covering tools from Kali 2.0, no recent posts. | |
| Samy Kamkar’s Applied Hacking | brief to medium length instructional vids from the creator of PoisonTap for the Raspberry Pi Zero, no recent content, last updated in 2016 | |
| SecureNinjaTV | brief news bites, irregular posting, 18K followers | |
| Security Weekly | regular updates, lengthy podcast-style interviews with industry pros | |
| Seytonic | variety of DIY hacking tutorials, hardware hacks, regular updates | |
| Shozab Haxor | lots of screenshot style instructional vids, regular updates, windows CLI tutorial | |
| SSTec Tutorials | lots of brief screenshot vids, regular updates | |
| Tradecraft Security Weekly | Want to learn about all of the latest security tools and techniques? | |
| Troy Hunt | lone youtuber, medium length news videos, 16K followers, regular content | |
| Waleed Jutt | lots of brief screenshot vids covering web security and game programming | |
| webpwnized | lots of brief screenshot vids, some CTF walkthroughs | |
| Zer0Mem0ry | lots of brief c++ security videos, programming intensive | |
| LionSec | lots of brief screenshot instructional vids, no dialog | |
| Adrian Crenshaw | lots of lengthy con-style talks | |
| HackerSploit | regular posts, medium length screenshot vids, with dialog | |
| Derek Rook – CTF/Boot2root/wargames Walkthrough | lots of lengthy screenshot instructional vids, with | |
| Tradecraft Security Weekly | Want to learn about all of the latest security tools and techniques? | |
| IPPSec | Hackthebox.eu retired machine vulnerable machine walkthroughs to help you learn both basic and advanced processes and techniques | |
| The Daily Swig | Latest Cybersecurity News |
Sharpening Your Skills
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Backdoor | pen testing labs that have a space for beginners, a practice arena and various competitions, account required |
| The cryptopals crypto challenges | A bunch of CTF challenges, all focused on cryptography. |
| Challenge Land | Ctf site with a twist, no simple sign-up, you have to solve a challengeto even get that far! |
| Crackmes.de Archive (2011-2015) | a reverse engineering information Repo, started in 2003 |
| Crackmes.one | This is a simple place where you can download crackmes to improve your reverse engineering skills. |
| CTFLearn | an account-based ctf site, where users can go in and solve a range of challenges |
| CTFs write-ups | a collection of writeups from various CTFs, organized by |
| CTF365 | account based ctf site, awarded by Kaspersky, MIT, T-Mobile |
| The enigma group | web application security training, account based, video tutorials |
| Exploit exercises | hosts 5 fulnerable virtual machines for you to attack, no account required |
| Google CTF | Source code of Google 2017, 2018 and 2019 CTF |
| Google CTF 2019 | 2019 edition of the Google CTF contest |
| Google’s XSS game | XSS challenges, and potentially a chance to get paid! |
| Hack The Box | Pen testing labs hosting over 39 vulnerable machines with two additional added every month |
| Hacker test | similar to “hackthissite”, no account required. |
| Hacker Gateway | ctfs covering steganography, cryptography, and web challengs, account required |
| Hacksplaining | a clickthrough security informational site, very good for beginners. |
| hackburger.ee | hosts a number of web hacking challenges, account required |
| Hack.me | lets you build/host/attack vulnerable web apps |
| Hack this site! | an oldy but goodie, account required, users start at low levels and progress in difficulty |
| knock.xss.moe | XSS challenges, account required. |
| Lin.security | Practice your Linux privilege escalation |
| noe.systems | Korean challenge site, requires an account |
| Over the wire | A CTF that’s based on progressive levels for each lab, the users SSH in, no account recquired |
| Participating Challenge Sites | aims at creating a universal ranking for CTF participants |
| PentesterLab | hosts a variety of exercises as well as various “bootcamps” focused on specific activities |
| Pentestit | acocunt based CTF site, users have to install open VPN and get credentials |
| Pentest Practice | account based Pentest practice, free to sign up, but there’s also a pay-as-you-go feature |
| Pentest.training | lots of various labs/VMS for you to try and hack, registry is optional. |
| PicoCTF | CTF hosted by Carnegie Mellon, occurs yearly, account required. |
| pwnable.kr | Don’t let the cartoon characters fool you, this is a serious CTF site that will teach you a lot, account required |
| pwnable.tw | hosts 27 challenges accompanied with writeups, account required |
| Ringzer0 Team | an account based CTF site, hosting over 272 challenges |
| ROP Emporium | Return Oriented Programming challenges |
| SmashTheStack | hosts various challenges, similar to OverTheWire, users must SSH into the machines and progress in levels |
| Shellter Labs | account based infosec labs, they aim at making these activities social |
| Solve Me | “yet another challenge”, account required. |
| Vulnhub | site hosts a ton of different vulnerable Virtual Machine images, download and get hacking |
| websec.fr | Focused on web challenges, registration is optional. |
| tryhackme | Awesome platform to start learning cybersecurity, account is needed |
| webhacking.kr | lots of web security challenges are available, recommended for beginners. You need to solve a simple challenge to sign up. |
| Stereotyped Challenges | Challenges for web security professionals, account required. |
| Stripe CTF 2.0 | Past security contest where you can discover and exploit vulnerabilities in mock web applications. |
| Windows / Linux Local Privilege Escalation Workshop | Practice your Linux and Windows privilege escalation |
| Hacking Articles | CTF Brief Write up collection with a lot of screenshots good for begginers |
| Hacker101 CTF | CTF hosted by HackerOne, always online. You will receive invitations to some private programs on HackerOne platform as a reward. |
| Hacking Lab | European platform hosting lots of riddles, challenges and competitions |
| Portswigger | Best Platform inorder to learn Web Pentesting, account required |
Reverse Engineering, Buffer Overflow and Exploit Development
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| A Course on Intermediate Level Linux Exploitation | as the title says, this course isn’t for beginners |
| Analysis and exploitation (unprivileged) | huge collection of RE information, organized by type. |
| Binary hacking | 35 “no bullshit” binary videos along with other info |
| Buffer Overflow Exploitation Megaprimer for Linux | Collection of Linux Rev. Engineering videos |
| Corelan tutorials | detailed tutorial, lots of good information about memory |
| Exploit tutorials | a series of 9 exploit tutorials,also features a podcast |
| Exploit development | links to the forum’s exploit dev posts, quality and post style will vary with each poster |
| flAWS challenge | Through a series of levels you’ll learn about common mistakes and gotchas when using Amazon Web Services (AWS). |
| Introduction to ARM Assembly Basics | tons of tutorials from infosec pro Azeria, follow her on twitter |
| Introductory Intel x86 | 63 days of OS class materials, 29 classes, 24 instructors, no account required |
| Lena’s Reversing for Newbies (Complete) | listing of a lengthy resource by Lena, aimed at being a course |
| Linux (x86) Exploit Development Series | blog post by sploitfun, has 3 different levels |
| Megabeets journey into Radare2 | one user’s radare2 tutorials |
| Modern Binary Exploitation – CSCI 4968 | RE challenges, you can download the files or download the VM created by RPISEC specifically for challenges, also links to their home page with tons of infosec lectures |
| Recon.cx – reversing conference | the conference site contains recordings and slides of all talks!! |
| Reverse Engineering for Beginners | huge textbook, created by Dennis Yurichev, open-source |
| Reverse engineering reading list | a github collection of RE tools and books |
| Reverse Engineering challenges | collection of challenges from the writer of RE for Beginners |
| Reverse Engineering for beginners (GitHub project) | github for the above |
| Reverse Engineering Malware 101 | intro course created by Malware Unicorn, complete with material and two VM’s |
| Reverse Engineering Malware 102 | the sequel to RE101 |
| reversing.kr challenges | reverse engineering challenges varying in difficulty |
| Shell storm | Blog style collection with organized info about Rev. Engineering. |
| Shellcode Injection | a blog entry from a grad student at SDS Labs |
| Micro Corruption — Assembly | CTF designed to learn Assembly by practicing |
Privilege Escalation
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 4 Ways get linux privilege escalation | shows different examples of PE |
| A GUIDE TO LINUX PRIVILEGE ESCALATION | Basics of Linux privilege escalation |
| Abusing SUDO (Linux Privilege Escalation) | Abusing SUDO (Linux Privilege Escalation) |
| AutoLocalPrivilegeEscalation | automated scripts that downloads and compiles from exploitdb |
| Basic linux privilege escalation | basic linux exploitation, also covers Windows |
| Common Windows Privilege Escalation Vectors | Common Windows Privilege Escalation Vectors |
| Editing /etc/passwd File for Privilege Escalation | Editing /etc/passwd File for Privilege Escalation |
| Linux Privilege Escalation | Linux Privilege Escalation – Tradecraft Security Weekly (Video) |
| Linux Privilege Escalation Check Script | a simple linux PE check script |
| Linux Privilege Escalation Scripts | a list of PE checking scripts, some may have already been covered |
| Linux Privilege Escalation Using PATH Variable | Linux Privilege Escalation Using PATH Variable |
| Linux Privilege Escalation using Misconfigured NFS | Linux Privilege Escalation using Misconfigured NFS |
| Linux Privilege Escalation via Dynamically Linked Shared Object Library | How RPATH and Weak File Permissions can lead to a system compromise. |
| Local Linux Enumeration & Privilege Escalation Cheatsheet | good resources that could be compiled into a script |
| OSCP – Windows Priviledge Escalation | Common Windows Priviledge Escalation |
| Privilege escalation for Windows and Linux | covers a couple different exploits for Windows and Linux |
| Privilege escalation linux with live example | covers a couple common PE methods in linux |
| Reach the root | discusses a process for linux privilege exploitation |
| RootHelper | a tool that runs various enumeration scripts to check for privilege escalation |
| Unix privesc checker | a script that checks for PE vulnerabilities on a system |
| Windows exploits, mostly precompiled. | precompiled windows exploits, could be useful for reverse engineering too |
| Windows Privilege Escalation | collection of wiki pages covering Windows Privilege escalation |
| Windows Privilege Escalation | Notes on Windows Privilege Escalation |
| Windows privilege escalation checker | a list of topics that link to pentestlab.blog, all related to windows privilege escalation |
| Windows Privilege Escalation Fundamentals | collection of great info/tutorials, option to contribute to the creator through patreon, creator is an OSCP |
| Windows Privilege Escalation Guide | Windows Privilege Escalation Guide |
| Windows Privilege Escalation Methods for Pentesters | Windows Privilege Escalation Methods for Pentesters |
Malware Analysis
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Malware traffic analysis | list of traffic analysis exercises |
| Malware Analysis – CSCI 4976 | another class from the folks at RPISEC, quality content |
| [Bad Binaries] (https://www.badbinaries.com/) | walkthrough documents of malware traffic analysis exercises and some occasional malware analysis. |
Network Scanning / Reconnaissance
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Foot Printing with WhoIS/DNS records | a white paper from SANS |
| Google Dorks/Google Hacking | list of commands for google hacks, unleash the power of the world’s biggest search engine |
Vulnerable Web Application
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| bWAPP | common buggy web app for hacking, great for beginners, lots of documentation |
| Damn Small Vulnerable Web | written in less than 100 lines of code, this web app has tons of vulns, great for teaching |
| Damn Vulnerable Web Application (DVWA) | PHP/MySQL web app for testing skills and tools |
| Google Gruyere | host of challenges on this cheesy web app |
| OWASP Broken Web Applications Project | hosts a collection of broken web apps |
| OWASP Hackademic Challenges project | web hacking challenges |
| OWASP Mutillidae II | another OWASP vulnerable app, lots of documentation. |
| OWASP Juice Shop | covers the OWASP top 10 vulns |
| WebGoat: A deliberately insecure Web Application | maintained by OWASP and designed to to teach web app security |
Vulnerable OS
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| General Test Environment Guidance | white paper from the pros at rapid7 |
| Metasploitable2 (Linux) | vulnerable OS, great for practicing hacking |
| Metasploitable3 [Installation] | the third installation of this vulnerable OS |
| Vulnhub | collection of tons of different vulnerable OS and challenges |
Linux Penetration Testing OS
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Android Tamer | Android Tamer is a Virtual / Live Platform for Android Security professionals. |
| BackBox | open source community project, promoting security in IT enivornments |
| BlackArch | Arch Linux based pentesting distro, compatible with Arch installs |
| Bugtraq | advanced GNU Linux pen-testing technology |
| Docker for pentest | Image with the more used tools to create a pentest environment easily and quickly. |
| Kali | the infamous pentesting distro from the folks at Offensive Security |
| LionSec Linux | pentesting OS based on Ubuntu |
| Parrot | Debian includes full portable lab for security, DFIR, and development |
| Pentoo | pentesting OS based on Gentoo |
Exploits
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 0day.today | Easy to navigate database of exploits |
| Exploit Database | database of a wide variety exploits, CVE compliant archive |
| CXsecurity | Indie cybersecurity info managed by 1 person |
| Snyk Vulnerability DB | detailed info and remediation guidance for known vulns, also allows you to test your code |
Forums
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 0x00sec | hacker, malware, computer engineering, Reverse engineering |
| Antichat | russian based forum |
| CODEBY.NET | hacker, WAPT, malware, computer engineering, Reverse engineering, forensics – russian based forum |
| EAST Exploit database | exploit DB for commercial exploits written for EAST Pentest Framework |
| Greysec | hacking and security forum |
| Hackforums | posting webstite for hacks/exploits/various discussion |
| 4Hat Day | brazilian based hacker forum |
| CaveiraTech | brazilian based, general hacker forum |
Archived Security Conference Videos
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| InfoCon.org | hosts data from hundreds of cons |
| Irongeek | Website of Adrien Crenshaw, hosts a ton of info. |
| infocondb.org | a site that aims to catalog and cross-reference all hacker conferences. |
Online Communities
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Hacktoday | requires an account, covering all kinds of hacking topics |
| Hack+ | link requires telegram to be used |
| MPGH | community of MultiPlayerGameHacking |
Online News Sources
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| InfoSec | covers all the latest infosec topics |
| Recent Hash Leaks | great place to lookup hashes |
| Security Intell | covers all kinds of news, great intelligence resources |
| Threatpost | covers all the latest threats and breaches |
| Secjuice | |
| The Hacker News | features a daily stream of hack news, also has an app |
The Awesome Hacking Resources is a github repository by vitalysim
