From Penetration Testing to Digital Forensics, Social Engineering to Cryptology — A Hands-On Foundational Guide

A comprehensive, hands-on reference for anyone building a solid foundation in cyber security — from students and IT professionals to anyone responsible for organizational information security.

Inside this handbook, you'll find:

- Core information security concepts, ISO 27001, and cybercrime law fundamentals
- How to build your own penetration testing lab with Kali Linux
- OSINT techniques: Shodan, Whois, Google Hacking Database, theHarvester, Nmap, DMitry
- Network protocols and their vulnerabilities (TCP/IP, SNMP, FTP, HTTP)
- Man-in-the-Middle and ARP spoofing attacks — how they work and how to defend against them
- Web application security: XSS and SQL Injection, detection and prevention
- Exploitation frameworks: Metasploit and Armitage walkthroughs
- Malware types: Trojans, worms, ransomware, botnets, RATs, and keyloggers
- Log management, SIEM systems, and building a 7-step deployment plan
- Social engineering: real-world attack scenarios and organizational defenses
- DDoS attack types and mitigation strategies
- Symmetric and asymmetric encryption standards (DES, AES, RSA, Diffie-Hellman)
- Digital forensics: legal framework, evidence handling, and IP tracing
- Cyber threat intelligence and incident response
- Mobile application security, BYOD, and MDM/MAM systems

Combining theory with hands-on, tool-by-tool walkthroughs, this handbook offers a step-by-step guide for anyone learning cyber security from the ground up.

Note: The content in this book is for educational and awareness purposes. All security testing should only be performed on systems you own or have explicit written permission to test, in accordance with applicable law.