[OSCP] Any takers this session?

Hi,

So well, its been quite a while since my last post here, not that I've posted much anyway. Almost all of my posts had been about OSCP, and I am finally getting on with it, and my lab access starts tomorrow! So, just wondering if anyone else from the forums is also taking it up around this session?

If so hit me a PM, might turn out to be productive somehow.

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Comments

NovaHax

Good luck man. Don't forget to have fun.

nar1y

I started 2 weeks ago, its Sink or Swim, but I'm having fun so far and learning a lot!

mumair

Thanks NovaHax. Thats good to know nar1ly, exactly what I am expecting.

Also one thing is that I've never been good at taking notes as such, and since documentation is a big part of the OSCP training and exam itself, could you guys recommend me any good, easy, intuitive tools that I might use for the same purpose? To document stuff along the way during the training and so on.

Uptill now, in almost every thing I do, sublime had been my go to editor, to just jot down stuff from memory, but I suppose it won't cut it this time around.

nar1y

I've been using legal pads to take notes from the videos and pdf, and KeepNote inside Kali to document the machines in the lab. Each box gets its own nmap scan page (ports and services), exploit page, and credentials/loot page. I'm gonna go back now and complete all of the pdf exercises and save them to wordpad at some point.

BlackBeret

The PWB course had a module on using Dradis, I think PWK has a section on Keep Note. You should have your login information now, first thing you should do is go to the forums and read every post you can access. They have a report template for the labs and test, use it.

LionelTeo

I am intending to go mine on September, before that I intend to get myself well covered with the follow books

- Jon Erickson - Hacking the Art of Explotation (100% Theory, 90% Practical)
- Shellcoders Handbook
- Metasploit: The penetration tester guide (40%)
- Violent Python
- Web Application Hackers Handbook

Additional time to spend on
- Advanced Penetration Testing (read through)

Hopefully I can finish them up by september, I can read fast, the problem is I spent 6 month understanding the Art of Explotation by Jon Erickson as debugging and assembly are a complete new topic to it. But so far I am grasping the topic really well.

Master Of Puppets

I also plan to start this year but I don't know when. Good luck to you guys.

wes allen

Just extended my lab time for another month. Love the labs and the course, but it is tough to go through while working full time. I am, however, enjoying the contrast of blue team during the day, and red team at night / weekends for sure. And, much of what you learn can carry over to blue team work as well.

NovaHax

wes allen wrote: »

Just extended my lab time for another month. Love the labs and the course, but it is tough to go through while working full time.

Agreed. I would recommend anyone taking this who is also working full time, get the 90 day package. Even then, you may still need to extend to take full advantage of the lab environment.

necromoniyum

I took the test last month and I didn't pass. I didn't prepare well for the test. I got the 90 days package. I didn't get enough time to prepare as I have a full time job. I'm planning to extend it with a 30 days package. I'm waiting for a course/exam preparation buddy so that I can get some help when I'm stuck. Let me know if anybody is interested to help. Thanks!

mumair

I have another question for you folks. How much time did you guys take on average on burning through the lab manual? (just the lab manual/exercises not the actual machines)

I'm asking because working full time I am finding it hard to give appropriate time to the labs and I want to pace myself well!

NovaHax

Honestly...I got distracted. I got half way through the course material and started playing in the labs (I would not recommend my approach). I had to go back later and kicked myself several time for making things way harder on myself by not reading through that first. Its important that you get those concepts down. If you are new to Pentesting...I think its probably reasonable to spend a full month on mastering those concepts.

Also...go back through the course material before you take the exam

ramrunner800

I attempted the course roughly a year ago, and was significantly over my head. Since then I've taken some classes at the local community college, and spent tons of time working in my virtual lab with VM's from vulnhub, and I plan on beginning my reattempt in the next month. In the time since I've learned that I wasn't as far off as I thought I was at the time, but that if you're lacking in experience (like me) the course can quickly overwhelm you. Like the much overused meme says, you have to keep calm and just keep trying harder!

mumair

NovaHax Thanks for the tip man! Yea I am planning on completing to the lab manual first, before diving into the lab boxes. Lets see how it goes!

NovaHax

Good luck man. Don't give up