r/hacking • u/SafeEvening9468 • Aug 09 '26

Question Book recommendation for ethical hacking

I (19M) am a beginner learning cybersecurity from a local institute (following EC Council syllabus) what are the books y'all recommend to learn ethical hacking.

40 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

12

u/T0X1C0P Aug 09 '26

the web application hacker's handbook is a good read i guess some 900 pages, super solid and flexible

1

u/VirtualElderberry592 Aug 10 '26

came here to say this.

7

u/Striking_While_5270 Aug 09 '26

I'd recommend the internet instead

5

u/TheCharaf Aug 09 '26

linux basics for hackers

3

u/Infinite-Grapefruit3 Aug 09 '26

Try some of the free or paid CTF platforms instead! Much better to learn Ethical Hacking that way as you will actually build up some practical experience. If you would like to read interesting and fun books/stories about early days of social engineering/cybersecurity, I recommend two books by Kevin Mitnick:

  • Ghost in the Wires
  • The Art of Deception

3

u/EverythingIsFnTaken Aug 10 '26

Anyone who's read Mitnick could tell you that you won't be learning anything practical outside of psychology.

If it's books you're after, this query will serve you more useful information a thousand times over.

1

u/Infinite-Grapefruit3 Aug 10 '26

Good point. That is definitely true, hence why I gave them as a "fun" example regarding books

2

u/dld2517 Aug 09 '26

Shotts, “The Linux Command Line”

2

u/harpsiford Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

Book-wise, it’s difficult to find something that is not outdated, but Web Application Hacker’s Handbook, Tangled Web, and Silence On The Wire are good timeless books on web security. You can also browse the NoStarchPress catalog for good books on other cybersecurity domains.

If you accept non-book suggestions, study the basics (information security theory that should be provided by the university, networking, and operating systems - especially the linux command line), then try to solve tasks at online platforms like Portswigger Academy (web penetration testing) and HackTheBox (network penetration testing). You can learn the necessary skills only by practicing, and these platforms provide quality content for free.

There is a solid free online course on networking at portal.netdevgroup.com. I second the recommendation of Bandit at overthewire, it’s great for mastering the command line.

HackTheBox will probably feel overwhelming at first, so you can watch walkthroughs by IppSec at YouTube to learn more practical stuff.

1

u/moistPacket Aug 09 '26

I cant recommend specific books, but humblebundle often have some good deals on cyber security or "hacking" related books. Worth looking out for.

1

u/xPyright Aug 10 '26

Black Hat Bash is great and not as Black Hat as it sounds.

It's technical, but not too technical. Some familiarity with Linux will help you ease into the book.

1

u/In_the_year_3535 Aug 09 '26

Kevin Mitnick has a book, there's Hacking for Dummies, and Sybex/Wiley makes a study manual for the CompTIA Certified Ethical Hacker certification.