Before you move through this course and learn more
about the Metasploit Framework,
I'll provide some brief guidance on how to use this course
to your advantage, then a quick wrap‑up.
You're probably eager to get started.
Here's some quick thoughts on how you can use this
material to aid with your learning.
Please be aware Metasploit is a big framework with a lot of capability.
This course is only intended to start you on the path to
learning more about that framework.
Some technical knowledge is needed.
I will help you install an operating system,
describe detailed technical attacks, and demonstrate some
sophisticated tools through the command line.
This course is designed as a learning path to be consumed from
the starting module through to the last one.
Each module builds a foundation for the next one.
We use a Linux distribution called Kali Linux.
It contains all the tools we need for this course.
I will show you how to run it in a virtual machine so that you
can experiment with the Metasploit Framework.
Finally,
have some fun. In this module, I spent some time introducing the concepts of
penetration testing and hopefully got you excited about this course. Before
we got too far into that subject, I talked about the ethics associated with
the powerful tools we'll be using.
Remember,
the tools in this course can have consequences when used inappropriately.
Make sure that you have the permission and acknowledgement of the system owner
before running these tools on real systems. I identified some codes of ethics
for penetration testing and information security.
We talked specifically about both the EC‑Council's
and the (ISC)2 codes of ethics.
Use these as guides in your testing.
While there are no formally approved standards for penetration testing,
the Penetration Testing Execution Standard is a great
resource created by real practitioners.
It lays out a great path for the penetration testing process.
Next up, we'll begin diving into the capabilities of the Metasploit Framework.