I’ve had my eyes in the AWAE course for several months, and initially thought it would be too difficult for me to do this year. But then I just decided to give it a try! Note: This blog post is very low quality compared to the one I wrote about My OSCP experience, I encourage you to go read An experience leading up to Offensive Security Web Expert by loca1gh0s7, which was my inspiration for starting on this journey....
After I started looking at OSCP, I also noticed OSWP - which seemed like a much shorter, and simpler, course. I knew it was old, but it was still interesting enough that I wanted to give it a go. My advice Pre-WiFu advice Make sure to purchase the correct equipment. I recommend sticking to the recommended hardware (see what I used further down). WiFu advice Read all of the PDF, even the highly technical boring stuff Take notes (I recommend Markdown in VS Code) Do the exercises and write down your steps (good training for the exam report, and nice to have later) Use the latest Kali, or whatever Linux distro you prefer (no need to use the provided image) Exam advice Schedule your exam a couple days in advance Schedule the exam for a time slot that best fits you Use the provided report template Keep it simple Take notes and screenshots My background I’ve been a hobby coder since I was 10, and a professional developer for a long time, so I know my way around a computer....
I hadn’t even heard about OSCP until I noticed that a colleague had taken it early in 2019. So I decided that I want to do the same. Fast forward to November 2019, and I decided it was time to do it. So I did. I want to share a bit about my experience (sorry, no spoilers), and my advice on how to succeed. My advice Unless you’re already working as a penetration tester, this should be about learning....
During my PWK (Penetration Testing with Kali Linux) course and lab time, I used VS Code extensively to write my own research notes. I used Joplin for enumeration and attack notes. VS Code combined with Markdown and git (and GitHub, Gitlab etc) make up a very powerful note tool. Below you’ll see a list of all the extensions I’ve added, which make working with Markdown in VS Code even easier....