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📚 Ethical Hacking & Red Teaming Book List (Beginner → Pro)

🔰 Beginner Level — Foundations

1. Linux Basics for Hackers by OccupyTheWeb

🧠 Learn terminal, filesystems, networking, and basic hacking tools.

🔗 PDF widely available online.

2. The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing by Patrick Engebretson

📘 Step-by-step intro to Kali Linux, Nmap, Metasploit, and more.

🧪 Excellent for practical beginners.

3. Nmap Network Scanning by Gordon “Fyodor” Lyon (Free)

🌐 OJicial book from the Nmap creator.

🔗 [Link]

4. How Linux Works by Brian Ward (1st ed PDF online)

🧬 Understand what goes on under the hood in Linux.

5. CEH v10 Study Guide by Matt Walker (Free versions available)

🎯 Aligned with Certified Ethical Hacker exam — good structure for self-study.

🛠 Intermediate Level — Hacking in Action

6. Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson (1st Ed. PDF)

💻 Learn memory, C programming, buJer overflows, Linux assembly.

🎯 Deep and hands-on, a must-read.

7. Penetration Testing by Georgia Weidman

🛠 Tool-based learning (Nmap, Burp, Metasploit, etc.) + real-world labs.

🔍 Practical and comprehensive.

8. The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook (1st Ed.) by Dafydd Stuttard

🌐 The Bible of web hacking.

✅ XSS, SQLi, CSRF, authentication, sessions — in full detail.

🔗 Free PDF of 1st edition widely available.

9. The Hackers Playbook 1 by Peter Kim

🎮 Real attack paths, red team tools, practical workflow

🆓 Book 1 is easier to find as PDF than THP2/3.

10. OWASP Testing Guide v4 (Free & o0icial)

🔐 Methodical guide to web app testing (OWASP Top 10).

🔗 [Link]

🔓 Advanced Level — Red Teaming & Deep Exploitation

11. Red Team Field Manual (RTFM)

⚔ Command cheat sheet for Windows, Linux, networking, PowerShell.

🔍 Think of it as a hacker’s Swiss army knife.

12. The Art of Memory Forensics by Ligh, Case, et al.

🧠 RAM forensics, malware in memory, Volatility framework.

13. The Art of Software Security Assessment by Mark Dowd

🔬 Reverse engineering, fuzzing, secure coding audits

🧱 Advanced — for binary and app exploiters

14. Adversarial Tradecraft in Cybersecurity by Dan Borges

🕵 Red team strategies, OPSEC, command & control, defense bypasses.

📚 Advanced red teaming mindset

15. Real-World Bug Hunting by Peter Yaworski (some free chapters)

🐞 Real bug bounty writeups, recon tips, and exploitation examples.

✅ Recommended Path (When to Read What)

Level Book(s)

✅ Start Here Linux Basics for Hackers, Basics of Hacking & Pen Testing

⚙ Tools Nmap Book, CEH Guide, Weidman’s Pen Testing

🌐 Web Focus Web App Hacker’s Handbook, OWASP Guide

💻 Deep Skills Hacking: Art of Exploitation, THP1, RTFM

🔐 Red Team Adversarial Tradecraft, Memory Forensics, Software Sec Assessment

💰 Bug Bounty Real-World Bug Hunting, HackerOne Writeups

✅ Expanded Beginner-Level Ethical Hacking Book List

# Book Title Why You Should Read It

1 Linux Basics for Hackers – OccupyTheWeb Essential for CLI, scripting, Kali tools

The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Practical walkthroughs of tools like

2
Testing – Patrick Engebretson Nmap, Metasploit, Burp

Industry-standard for network

3 Nmap Network Scanning – Fyodor (Free)
discovery

Teaches the Linux internals every

4 How Linux Works – Brian Ward
hacker should know

5 CEH v10 Study Guide – Matt Walker Structured intro to the hacking process

Cybersecurity for Beginners – Raef High-level view of terms, roles, and

6
Meeuwisse concepts

Real hacker stories, inspiring and

7 Ghost in the Wires – Kevin Mitnick (optional)
mindset-shaping

Networking All-in-One For Dummies – Doug A gentle but deep dive into TCP/IP,
8
Lowe ports, DHCP, DNS

Deep networking knowledge; used in

9 TCP/IP Illustrated Vol. 1 – W. Richard Stevens
pro red team training

OverTheWire: Bandit Wargame Guide Helps you solve Bandit with

10
(Community PDF) walkthrough explanations
Bryan’s Book

✅ Start With These (Beginner – Foundation Level)

Book Why Start Here?

📗 Cracking Codes with Best intro to Python + logic + ciphers. Fun and practical. Perfect
Python first step.

📘 Linux Basics for Teaches you Linux commands, file systems, users — essential
Hackers for any ethical hacker.

📙 Python for Obensive Simple language, shows how to build basic oJensive tools.
PenTest Great intro to oJensive security.

🧠 After That (Intermediate – Practice Phase)

Book Why It’s Next

Dive deeper into Linux tricks and commands used in

🖥 Linux 101 Hacks
real systems.

Quick reference for Python syntax — good while

📒 Python Notes for Professionals
coding tools/scripts.

🧪 Python Web Penetration Testing Learn real-world pentesting skills (auth bypass,
Cookbook session hijacking, etc).

🔐 Python and Hacking Made More applied examples of writing scripts, scanning,
Simple brute-forcing.

💣 Advanced Topics (Red Team, Domain, Wireless)

Book Use For

These are red team tactics — privilege escalation, AD

🕸 Pwning the Domain (3
abuse, lateral movement. Do this only after you know Linux
parts)
+ Python well.

🛜 Wireless Hacking with Focused on Wi-Fi cracking, packet sniJing, WPA attacks.
Kali Linux (both versions) Great for wireless labs.

📶 Wireless and Mobile

Goes beyond Wi-Fi into mobile OS hacking — advanced.
Hacking Techniques

🧭 My Suggested Learning Path for You

🗓 Month 1–2: Foundation

• 📗 Cracking Codes with Python

• 📘 Linux Basics for Hackers

• Practice in Kali VM

🗓 Month 3–4: Tools + Practice

• 📙 Python for OJensive PenTest

• 🖥 Linux 101 Hacks

• Build your own scripts (scanner, brute forcer)

🗓 Month 5+: Specialization

• Pick Wireless or Active Directory/Red Team path:

o Wi-Fi: Start Wireless Hacking books

o Red Team: Pwning the Domain series

📗

Cracking Codes with Python

Al Sweigart

• Author: Al Sweigart (also wrote Automate the Boring Stu0 with Python)

• Content: Teaches classic ciphers (Caesar, Vigenère, Transposition) by building and

breaking them in Python.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Great for learning logic, Python basics, and cryptography thinking.

Linux Basics for Hackers

OccupyTheWeb

• Author: OccupyTheWeb (well-known online hacker/trainer)

• Content: Linux commands, file structure, permissions, Bash scripting, networking

tools (Nmap, Netcat).

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Must-read if you’re using Kali Linux. Written like a hacking course.

Linux 101 Hacks

Ramesh Natarajan

• Author: Ramesh Natarajan ([Link])

 • Content: 101 powerful Linux tips — grep, awk, crontabs, SSH tricks, etc.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Great second Linux book after “Linux Basics”. Easy to follow.

Python for Obensive PenTest

Hussam Khrais

• Author: Hussam Khrais (security researcher and developer)

• Content: Writing port scanners, brute force tools, keyloggers, reverse shells in
Python.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

One of the best beginner Python + hacking books. Focused and practical.

Python Notes for Professionals

• Author: Community-curated (GitHub / Goalkicker)

• Content: A huge reference for Python syntax, snippets, and built-in functions.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Not a learning book — a reference. Keep it open while coding tools.

Python Web Penetration Testing Cookbook

Packt Publishing

• Author: Cameron Buchanan and others

 • Content: Covers session hijacking, XSS, CSRF, SQLi, file upload attacks — real-
world web pentesting.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of the most practical books for web app hacking. Requires Python + basic hacking
knowledge.

Python and Hacking Made Simple

• Author: Often self-published, sometimes anonymous

• Content: Intro-level Python examples for port scanning, basic network attacks.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Mostly good for practice if you’re completely new. May repeat content you see elsewhere.

Wireless Hacking with Kali Linux

• Author: Not always clear — some editions by Alex Artis

• Content: Aircrack-ng, packet sniJing, cracking WPA2, deauth attacks.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Very useful if you have a Wi-Fi adapter and want to attack real wireless networks.

Wireless and Mobile Hacking Techniques

Rafay Baloch

• Author: Rafay Baloch (well-known security researcher)

• Content: Mobile OS hacking, app vulnerability testing, Android/iOS pentesting.

 • Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Advanced — only do this if you’re already confident in Linux, networking, and Python.

Pwning the Domain

Series –

Silent Break Security / Enigma0x3 / SpecterOps-style

• Author: Usually anonymous or team-authored (red teamers)

• Content: Lateral movement, privilege escalation, Active Directory hacking,

Mimikatz, Kerberoasting, etc.

• Usefulness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Professional-level red teaming content. Only study this once you fully grasp Windows AD
and oJensive tools.

Book_Checklist.pdf

• Probably your own or a checklist from a GitHub repo. Might include stages like
“Learn Linux → Learn Python → Learn Networking → Start Labs”.

🧠 TL;DR — Best Starting Books for You

📚 Book Start If You’re…

Cracking Codes with Python New to Python and want fun challenges

Linux Basics for Hackers New to Linux or Kali users

Python for Obensive PenTest Ready to code your first hacking tools

Wireless Hacking with Kali Have Wi-Fi adapter and want hands-on hacking
📚 Book Start If You’re…

Pwning the Domain Already good at hacking, ready for red team level

Would you like a personalized roadmap now using the exact books you own, like:

👉 Week 1–4: Linux Basics + Python

👉 Week 5–8: Start real attacks

👉 Week 9+: Web or Wireless specialization?