Teaching ethical hackers

It would be easy to assume that penetration testers and ethical hackers need little in the way of education, almost by the very nature of the way they come to be in the job. But there is always something new to learn.

And so the upcoming SANS Pen Test Berlin 2014, the largest dedicated training event for ethical hackers in Europe, has added two new courses which will debut at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin from the 3rd to the 8th of June.

The event will open with SANS’ European Pen Test Summit, a full day of presentations, panel discussions and demonstrations from some of the brightest minds in the field. Chaired by SANS’ James Lyne and Stephen Sims. There will be significantly discounted delegate rates available for those going on to take a SANS course at the event.

The two new courses `Python for Penetration Testers’ and `Advanced Exploit Development’.

SANS SEC573, the Python for Penetration Testers, is a course designed to help penetration testers customise existing open source tools or develop their own tools. As course instructor Tim Medin explains, “Organisations serious about security emphasise their need for skilled tool builders and there is a huge demand for people who can understand a problem and then rapidly develop prototype code to attack or defend against it.”

SANS SEC760, the Advanced Exploit Development for Penetration Testers course, is being led by Stephen Sims. This will delve into vulnerabilities in modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 7 and 8, Server 2012, and the latest Linux distributions.

An estimated 150 students are expected to participate in the penetration testing and ethical hacking courses led by SANS' expert instructors. The Summit day is targeted at delegates and students from across the region who are keen to learn from industry experts. In addition, each evening SANS will host a series of @Night talks and social functions across a wide range of subject areas.

“The event is a chance for some of Europe’s most talented penetration testers to get together and enhance their skills in a fantastic learning environment,” explains Gareth Dance, Training Events Director, EMEA for SANS Institute, “We are offering a diverse range of specialist pen test courses this year and look forward to launching the SANS Europe Pen Test Summit at the start of the week.” 

Additional courses at the six day event include SEC542: Web App Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking with Pieter Danhieux, SEC560: Network Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking with James Lyne, SEC575: Mobile Device Security and Ethical Hacking with Raul Siles,

The courses provide essential preparation for a number of Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) exams including GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN), GIAC Assessing and Auditing Wireless Networks (GAWN) and GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester (GXPN).

Attendees that register and pay by April 17^thcan save up to €250 on tuition fees with discounts offered to early registrants. Complete details about the event can be found here.