eJPTv2 Review - Dragkob

My Background

Although I have a degree in Cybersecurity, I had never taken any penetration testing courses before, so I was essentially a complete beginner. However, prior to starting the eJPT, I spent two months doing daily Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges on TryHackMe, during which I completed the entire Jr. Penetration Tester path.

⚠️ - Please note that the eJPTv2 training is enough on its own!

Time to finish the 150 Hours of training?

I was able to complete the 150 hours of training in approximately 29 days while working a full-time job. It ultimately depends on how determined you are and how much time you're willing to invest each day. It's worth noting that I watched all the videos at 2x speed, and according to the INE website, I spent around 48 hours in total on the platform. So, it took me 48 hours to complete the 150 hours of training.

Is the training enough?

The Penetration Testing Student learning path given by Alexis Ahmed is definitely enough to pass the eJPTv2 exam. However, the web penetration testing section of the course is somewhat lacking. In the exam, there isn't much emphasis on web pentesting (no spoilers here—web penetration testing is actually covered in a separate certification, the eWPT). That being said, you will still need to use a tool that isn't covered in the course. I recommend learning the basics of WPScan beforehand.

What can I skip in the training?

As of eJPT version 2, and as of the date of writing this article (October 1, 2024), I can confidently say that the following parts can be skipped:

• Phishing with GoPhish
• Armitage
  • Armitage is pretty much a dead project
• PowerShell Empire
• The entire Social Engineering section
  • You need people to social engineer, which is out of scope for this exam

The Exam

The exam consists of 35 multiple-choice questions, which you'll need to answer by conducting penetration testing on approximately 5-7 machines within a 48-hour time frame. 48 hours is more than enough time; I was able to complete the exam in approximately 9 hours.

What's in the exam?

Here's what you can expect in the exam:

• •Pivoting into an internal network. (Letter of engagement)
• •Both Linux and Windows machines will be present, so study both.
• •Extensive enumeration - focus on doing as much as possible.
• •A lot of brute-forcing - Learn Hydra
• •Privilege escalation. (Use https://gtfobins.github.io/)
• •Some machines offer multiple methods for gaining access.
• •Hash Cracking.

Should you scan all ports?

The answer is a simple no. Scanning the first 1,000 ports is typically sufficient for almost all machines. Don't hesitate to use -T4 for your scans.

Where will I find the target IPs?

This is a good question to consider, as the IP addresses were always provided during the training. The answer is that in the exam, you will need to begin with a host discovery phase. Everything related to this step is covered in the INE course. I personally used the netdiscover tool, and it worked exceptionally well.

Tips

• •Take breaks. Although I personally didn't take any, I highly discourage that approach, as I nearly experienced burnout.
• •You will need to do some Googling. Certain questions may require you to know where to locate specific installation files. Don't worry if you don't know where to find them - you can simply search for the information online.
• •MSFConsole, SearchSploit, xfreerdp and Hydra will be your best friends.
• •Be prepared to take note: Dedicate one page for each machine. Make sure to save your scan results and enumeration findings.
• •Enumeration is 🔑
• •My Notes + Cheat Sheet: https://github.com/Dragkob/eJPT

Best of luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.