Malware Mike's journey to eCPPT

MalwareMike

Background: I bought the OSCP material last year and have pushed back my lab time 3 times (which is the max you can do) so now I have to start on August 4th. Years before that I bought the eCPPT v3 material and never finished it. So since I have to start my OSCP lab on August 4th and I've read that the eCPPT is a great way to ease yourself into the OSCP...I upgraded to the eCPPT v5 material and I'll be pushing myself to knock out the eCPPT before the OSCP.

Week 1 update: I've finished the Web App section and I'm half way through the Network section. I took the GWAPT/SEC542 course so I was able to breeze by most of the Web App section, since it was review. Once I finish the network section I'll start messing with the lab and eventually move to buffer overflow section which seems slightly intimidating.

Coding: I'm spending roughly 90 minutes a day going over PHP/Python...I would say I'm between a beginner/intermediate level.


- MM

L0rdN1k0n

I will also be starting eCPPTv5 tomorrow myself. This just gave me a great reason to grab some new hardware just for this. Yes Sir lol!!!

MalwareMike

L0rdN1k0n wrote: »

I will also be starting eCPPTv5 tomorrow myself. This just gave me a great reason to grab some new hardware just for this. Yes Sir lol!!!

Hey man good luck! Did you get the material already?

L0rdN1k0n

Thanks! Yeah I was going through some of it today. It's 47 modules and 27 labs. After I pass this I'll be going either OSCP or CISSP? Not sure yet though....

Naruto985

Good luck malwaremike and l0rdn1k0n. I started eCPPT a week back. Now in second module. Going slow on my studies. Need to pick up the speed

xXxKrisxXx

Hey Mike,

eCPPT related, after I passed my OSCP, I was able to challenge the eCPPT Gold Exam without my eCPPT material up-to-date at the time and was able to successfully pass the Exam. eLearnSecurity will often fail you the first time and will give you feedback on where you need to improve on. If you were successful with attacking everything required, it's often failing you just because your report isn't in order. Luckily you're given a free attempt with these guys. My personal background going in at the time was I had obtained the eCPPT 1.0 (Silver) Certification and also had the OSCP.

When eLS was rolling out with eCPPT Gold and v2 of their PTP course, they gave eCPPT Silver students a free exam attempt at Gold and offered them a course upgrade fee option. The exam objectives of the OSCP and eCPPT are very similar, it's just you're given a week over a day for the challenge, and eLS requires a more formal report. I saw a similar overlap between both exams and I'm confident that any OSCP can conquer the eCPPT Gold.

I could totally be wrong here, but did you take SEC542 and not attempt the exam yet? I'm trying to see if you have access to PWK, SEC542, and eCPPT material, but you're trying to focus on eCPPT at the moment. You said you had v3 of the material before but didn't get to go through it at the time. You sound like a busy guy who has access to a lot of course material and should hone your focus on PWK. If you have your GWAPT voucher and recently took SEC542, I would highly recommend getting the GWAPT multiple choice exam out of the way then move back into PWK. If you hit the PWK Labs hard enough, you'll be able to walk into the eCPPT Gold Exam without having studied the PTP material and pass it. The eCPPT Gold exam could even be a good warm up to your OSCP challenge attempt.

Again could be wrong, but it seems like you're throwing a lot of course content in the way kind of holding you back from fully diving into PWK, the better to arm and prepare yourself for the rough ride through the labs. My suggestion may sound unorthodox, but I highly recommend it

MalwareMike

Awesome reply Kris,

1. So you said you think any OSCP can conquer the eCPPT Gold but what about the other way around?

2. Correct, I do have a lot of study material but there’s a little background to it. I took the SEC542/GWAPT class at the beginning of June because I want to get into bug bounties and its part of my master program. Well I forgot my OSCP lab was a month away so I emailed them to change it to the end of the year but since I have already pushed the lab back 3 times, I am stuck with August 4^th. I have 4 months to take the GWAPT exam and Sans exams are pretty easy with the correct index so I’m not worried about that…I just don’t want to waste my OSCP lab time. So my thought process is: review the eCPPT material because they hand hold you more than OSCP, go through the labs, and then knockout vulnhubs/hackthebox boxes over the next 40 days or so. Then I’ll be ready to hit the OSCP lab running and not waste lab time. Then attempt the OSCP > eCPPT >GWAPT.

xXxKrisxXx

Good question regarding can an eCPPT Gold holder challenge the OSCP and be successful vs someone with an OSCP challenging the eCPPT Gold exam. I really think it depends on a couple factors. I feel a lot of grit is built when taking the PWK course throughout the large lab environment. I can't really speak for the Hera Labs because I don't have access to the latest and greatest PTP material. I only have access to PTP v1 (which corresponds to the eCPPT Silver).

The reason why I feel an OSCP would be able to challenge the eCPPT Gold and be successful without seeing the course content is because I was able to do it. I didn't have any vulnhub/hackthebox experience or CTF experience. I didn't have any official security industry experience walking into the eCPPT Gold exam, I only had the course content to PWK (which was PWB at the time I earned Gold a handful of years back) and had earned the OSCP. The time difference between exams also plays a big factor. If you're only given 24 hours for an exam, you're hustling pretty hard and your skills need to be sharpened pretty well to make the most use of your time.

If I'm given a week for an exam, sure the pressure is on, but I can also be well rested each day with a pair of fresh eyes to continue prodding and poking where I may of been stuck. I'll also have enough time to go back into sections of the course ware, or view hints within the Hera Lab environment to get solutions to attacks that may assist me in the exam.

With the OSCP challenge, if you're stuck, you're stuck. Challengers of it will know whether they passed of failed. I hint at the grit built up during the lab time spent in the PWK labs. You're going to need this along with your research ability as a backing to be able to obtain the OSCP. We all know their motto is, 'Try Harder', and in the exams for both vendors you're going to find yourself using it. Think about the difference of being able to say, 'I am screwed and out of ideas and I know I am not going to pass this with 7 hours remaining', versus being able to say, 'Well, I couldnt hit this box, let me come back to that one last a couple days from now. I will review section x of the course during that time to repeat what I may of missed'. Picture yourself reviewing course content to brush up on your skills during a 24 hour test. The panic can indeed be real. Your notes and scripts taken throughout PWK are going to be your best friend, the same can be said with PTP.

I'm happy you recently took SEC542. I'd get it out of the way just because it's fresh in your mind and there's a time limit on it. You will be able to index for it, but you don't want to find yourself coming back to it 3 or 4 months later having to cram for the GWAPT. The PTP and eCPPT Gold Exam isn't going to be updated soon (you have the latest courseware). I see where you're coming from in doing a lot of preparation work for the OSCP by studying the eCPPT material, but I feel like Offensive Security gives you everything you need to be able to pass the OSCP. This doesn't have to mean course wise, but environment wise. It's true you're going to find yourself researching a lot outside of the available PWK course ware to root boxes in the lab environment - but your skills are built up by participating in the lab environment. Vulnhub/HackTheBox challenges are good, but I highly recommend you get as far as you can within the Lab Environment you paid for to prepare for the exam. I do firmly believe that if you can get your OSCP out of the way, you'd be able to walk right into the eCPPT Gold and knock it out of the park.

I would even challenge both within the same week. After you finish 1, go for the other one because the course content is still fresh in your mind.

MalwareMike

Kris,

Awesome advice once again! My goal is to most likely take both of them very close to each other.

AggressiveProgression

I too aspire to pass the OSCP and I'm just now hearing about the eCPPT for the first time today. I was wondering if coding knowledge is necessary to pass either exam?

MalwareMike

AggressiveProgression wrote: »

I too aspire to pass the OSCP and I'm just now hearing about the eCPPT for the first time today. I was wondering if coding knowledge is necessary to pass either exam?

Being able to read code and modify is needed.


***Update***
I will be in Europe for the next 2 weeks running with the bulls and traveling...I have a goal to lab a hour a day in the morning. Ill be back July 20th!