Kali Linux Revealed: Mastering the Penetration Testing Distribution

***** UPDATE AS OF 12 AUGUST 2017*****I still believe the book is worth five stars. I was a little mad at myself for purchasing it when it first came out, but I realized that by purchasing the book, I am supporting the company and community. Since its physical publication, they have released a PDF version on their website and an online version, which has actual exercises and questions. My assumption is that those things will better assist individuals who want to pursue the Kali Linux Certified Professional (KLCP) exam.For those who chose to give the book one and two star ratings and complained about not learning tools, probably should have read the press releases from January 2017 on Offensive Security's website. It is clearly stated that this is about the distribution itself and not the tools that are installed on it. If you want to learn the tools, go to the website for that particular tool and read the documentation. Or Google the tool's name and find endless tutorials on its uses. Not everyone is going to use the tool the same.If you are still disappointed then save up some money and pursue the OSCP by taking the PWK course. From what I have heard, it is a great course but will still require you to do research and learn things on your own.I am growing tired of folks that want to have their hands held through every single process. I don't know everything nor does any human being walking the planet. Go out and seek knowledge. Learn what you can, ask questions, make some mistakes, learn from them, and keep trying harder.********ORIGINAL REVIEW*********I have been a fan of this distro for quite some time. My first experience with Kali was when it was called BackTrack. Since those times, the platform has undergone some pretty significant changes. The Offensive Security Team has done some amazing things for the community and continues to remain an influential entity for penetration testing and security professionals.With that said, I really enjoyed this book. I received it on Friday evening and skimmed through it in a few hours. It is not a long read at all. For those who already have a handle on Linux in general, some of the content may be a little remedial. Johnny Long's preface takes you on a journey and discusses the beginnings of the distribution. From its humble beginnings as WHoppiX to WHAX, to BackTrack, and now Kali.If you are expecting to learn how to use the individual tools then you will disappointed. As the authors mention, this book is not going to show you how to conduct an penetration test. This book is meant to show people how to acquire, install, configure, and maintain their setup. First time Linux users will be able to follow along just fine (although I'd say that beginners would be better served if they expanded their knowledge of Linux by using additional resources).This book does an excellent job of showing how Kali can be deployed in an enterprise environment and even how to customize it to suit an organization or individuals needs. I would put this book in the same company as the Linux Essentials or Red Hat Essentials.

As long as you understand what this book is going in, you'll likely agree that it's a good book. First of all, it's not an advanced book. It begins with Linux basics that are pretty much applicable to any Debian based distribution (including Ubuntu). It's just done through the lens of Kali. Right before I read this, I took and passed the LPI Linux Essentials Exam. To be honest, I kind of wish I read this book first. While I have already been exposed to the both basic and advanced commands, this book actually shows some different uses of even the more common commands. It's a nice supplement.This book is not a pentesting book. There is some introduction to certain tools but it mostly revolves around the operating system itself. This means if you have little experience with Linux, but you know you want to get into pen testing and ethical hacking, this is a great first book for you. You'll get the basics as well as specifics about Kali itself. Keep in mind that you can use Kali as your regular OS too (I've known people who have) as pretty much anything that will run on Debian based distributions will run here.

This is an excellent book THAT DOES NOT COVER PENETRATION TESTING. This book covers the operating system, Kali Linux, and how to use the tools included in the Debian distribution. Pentesting with Kali and the OSCP certification are for pentesting. This book teaches you how to master the operating system, how to manage it, how to secure it and how to deploy it. This book is more about learning Linux than anything else, but it is tailored to the Kali OS as opposed to generic Debian Linux.If you want to learn about Kali and how powerful it is outside of the pentesting features, this is the book for you. The information within is very useful. Some sections go into detail, while others will get you started and give you the resources to dig deeper on your own. I highly recommend this book if you aren't an expert with Linux. I'm using it to prep for the PWK course so that I go into with as many tools as possible.

Basically if you know nothing about infosec this is for you heavy beginner book

This guide provides pretty comprehensive coverage of the distribution and is best suited for those not already familiar with Kali/Debian. It's a great foundation for helping to get Kali set up and configured in preparation for the real fun in putting it to work. If more practical guidance around the many included penetration tools is needed, then there are arguably better resources. The author does not misrepresent this, but it's worth noting. Upon installation of Kali Linux, one immediately discovers numerous testing tools available--right out of the box. This book, however, is not intended to cover usage of any of these tools. Great book...just know what you're getting.

Nice book but cheap versions of same book as pdf if you don’t want to spend this much money

As a senior starter to Linux and the advanced capabilities of Kali, this is a must have. Y preference to read from the page rather than a screen makes the format ideal and font very useable. I can take notes and store Inc the library for further reference when ever required.For those who wish to use the online (free) version this is also available but less personal unless printed off.. enjoy, I am👍👍

This book does not detail attack methods, rather the crucial inner workings of the Debian based Linux distro Kali.Knowing this stuff is the difference between being another script kiddie and actually knowing your stuff. It may not be the most fun all the time, but its necessary.I highly recommend this book to learn the administration and maintenance of Kali Linux. Knowing what's going on under the hood will complement your offensive abilities very nicely