Black Hat Bash: Creative Scripting for Hackers and Pentesters By Nick Aleks And Dolev Farhi

Black Hat Bash is an essential hands-on guide designed for penetration testers looking to master the art of offensive bash scripting. This practical resource focuses on leveraging bash as a powerful tool for automating tasks, crafting living-off-the-land attacks, and enhancing overall security strategies. With just a basic familiarity with Linux, readers can dive into the world of scripting to streamline their work and uncover vulnerabilities effectively.

The book begins with the fundamentals of bash syntax and guides readers through setting up a Kali Linux lab, where they can apply their skills at every stage of a penetration test—from initial access to data exfiltration. Key topics include OS command injection, remote machine access, stealthy information gathering, and navigating restricted networks to uncover valuable data.

Readers will gain hands-on experience through exercises covering essential bash scripting concepts, such as control structures, functions, loops, and text manipulation using tools like grep, awk, and sed. Additionally, they’ll learn to conduct reconnaissance and vulnerability scanning with tools like Nmap and Wfuzz, exploit vulnerabilities, and perform privilege escalation.

The book also addresses defense evasion and lateral movement, teaching readers how to audit hosts, avoid detection, and discover additional targets within networks. Whether you’re a seasoned pentester, a bug bounty hunter, or a student entering the cybersecurity field, Black Hat Bash equips you with the skills to automate and optimize offensive security strategies efficiently, all without the need for complex wizardry.