Everyone knows that hackers are thirsty for knowledge and strive to be deeply technical individuals. However, two of the biggest areas I've seen professional hackers lacking in are report writing and client communication. Since it's the least favourite part of hacking for a living, these soft skills are often forgotten and can hold back significant potential and career advancement.
When you learn that your client is a resource to power your assessment, and that a report document is often the only deliverable they will receive, you'll realise how important it is to spend time improving your communication and report writing abilities.
This course will fast-track these soft skills by guiding you through the entire assessment process—from receiving the scope, to creating and delivering reports, and verifying that clients have remediated the findings. Clients will receive comprehensive reports that clearly outline risks and recommended remediation, minimising the need for follow-ups.
Lessons will aim to instil the feedback I've given my team members in the past that propelled them from average to excellent report writers.
- Luke Rogerson
Chapter Introduction
FREE PREVIEWPre-assessment Tasks
Pre-assessment Tasks - Exercises
Kick-off Meetings - Standard Kick-off
FREE PREVIEWKick-off Meetings - Technical Kick-Off
Kick-off Meetings - Exercises
FREE PREVIEWClient Report Consumption
Client Report Consumption - Exercises
Report Audience
Report Audience - Exercises
Communication During the Assessment
Communication During the Assessment - Exercises
Chapter Summary
Chapter Introduction
Consistency
Consistency - Exercises
Grammar
Grammar - Exercises
Conciseness
Conciseness - Exercises
Tense
Tense - Exercises
Voice
Voice - Exercises
Tools
Tools - Exercises
Facts vs Opinions
Facts vs Opinions - Exercises
Writing in a Second Language
Writing in a Second Language - Exercises
Fancy Words & Colloquialisms
Fancy Words & Colloquialisms - Exercises
Chapter Summary
Chapter Introduction
Chapter Introduction - Exercises
Overview
FREE PREVIEWOverview - Exercises
FREE PREVIEWMiscellaneous Data and Sections
Miscellaneous Data and Sections - Exercises
Executive Summary
Executive Summary - Exercises
Recommendations
Recommendations - Exercises
Overview of Findings
Overview of Findings - Exercises
Scope
Scope - Exercises
Caveats
Caveats - Exercises
Findings
Findings - Exercises
Appendix
Appendix - Exercises
Additional Report Sections
Additional Report Sections - Exercises
Chapter Summary
Chapter Exercise
Chapter Introduction
Chapter Exercises
Finding ID
Finding ID - Exercises
Severity and Risk Ratings
Severity and Risk Ratings - Exercises
Other Finding Metadata
Other Finding Metadata - Exercises
Title
Title - Exercises
Impact and Context
Impact and Context - Exercises
Description
Description - Exercises
Description - Additional Context
Description - Additional Context - Exercises
Making Description Openers More Concise
Making Description Openers More Concise - Exercises
Evidence
Evidence - Exercises
Redaction of Secrets and Sensitive Data
Redaction of Secrets and Sensitive Data - Exercises
Recommendations - Introduction
Recommendations - Fixing what was Found
Recommendations - Finding Other Instances
Recommendations - Preventative Recommendations
Recommendations - Examples
Recommendations - Considerations and Summary
Recommendations - Exercises
Location or Area
Location or Area - Exercises
References
References - Exercises
Finding Templates
FREE PREVIEWFinding Templates - Exercises
FREE PREVIEWTool Output Text for Issues
Example Issues
Chapter Summary
Chapter Introduction
The QA Process
The QA Process - Exercises
Preparing for QA
Preparing for QA - Exercises
Dealing with QA Feedback
Chapter Summary
It would be preferable to have some cyber security penetration testing experience, although not essential. As a self-study course it is expected that students will research and learn any terminology or practices that they are unfamiliar with that are referred to in the course.
Writing red team reports is not covered on this course. However, much of the core reporting concepts in terms of content and delivery would be transferable to red teaming reports.
Yes. Check out the free lessons - All of the lessons in the "Introductions" chapter are free and will tell you a bit more about the course. There are also a number of other free lessons throughout the course.
While there are many exercises in the course that ask you to perform tasks, none are related to testing vulnerabilities. The course does contain some exercises that might cover testing some tooling, however, any evidence required for writing up findings for reporting exercises is provided in the course.
There is no exam, but you can earn a certificate of course completion by finishing all the chapters.
Student Reviews
So much depth and breadth in this course! Certainly helped me realize the differences between a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ report, and has helped me to improve both my...
Read MoreSo much depth and breadth in this course! Certainly helped me realize the differences between a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ report, and has helped me to improve both my deliverables and communication with clients
Read LessA great course with loads of useful tips to improve my report writing, accompanied by well thought out exercises for me to hone my new skills!
A great course with loads of useful tips to improve my report writing, accompanied by well thought out exercises for me to hone my new skills!
Read LessFor a large part of my career I was fortunate to work with Luke. I was able to personally experience all the knowledge that he has ended up capturing into th...
Read MoreFor a large part of my career I was fortunate to work with Luke. I was able to personally experience all the knowledge that he has ended up capturing into this course... and I can say that it completely transformed my reporting skills. I wholeheartedly recommend this course. I've seen the effort Luke has put in to making this, and I had the opportunity to review the amazing content before its public release. If you want to grow as a pentester, this course is for you.
Read Less
