The primary goal of this program is to equip security professionals with the strategic and technical expertise to implement a continuous, risk-based Vulnerability Management program and to effectively manage Penetration Testing engagements:

• Vulnerability Management Specialists.
• Security Analysts and SOC Personnel.
• IT and Network Engineers.
• Penetration Testers and Ethical Hackers.
• Security Architects.
• Compliance and Audit Professionals.
• CISO and Security Managers.

• Group activities prioritizing a list of 50 vulnerabilities based on exploitability and asset criticality.
• Hands-on exercises configuring and running a vulnerability scan against a mock network.
• Case studies on PT engagements where scoping or communication failed.
• Discussions on the ethical dilemmas faced by penetration testers.
• Individual assignment drafting a Rules of Engagement (ROE) document.

Unit 1: Foundations of Vulnerability Management (VM)

• Defining the scope and goals of a continuous VM program.
• The VM lifecycle: Discovery, Assessment, Prioritization, Remediation, Verification.
• Criticality of maintaining an accurate, comprehensive asset inventory.
• Integration of VM with patching and configuration management processes.

• Agent-based vs. network-based scanning and when to use each.
• Selecting and configuring commercial and open-source vulnerability scanners.
• Credibility and authentication in scanning for deep visibility.
• Scanning for misconfigurations (e.g., CIS benchmarks) alongside known CVEs.

Unit 2: Risk-Based Prioritization and Remediation

• Limitations of CVSS scoring and the need for business context.
• Risk-based prioritization using threat intelligence (e.g., CISA KEV catalog).
• Exploitability, asset criticality, and impact in risk scoring.
• Establishing service-level agreements (SLAs) for remediation based on severity.

• Strategies for efficient patching and configuration drift management.
• Exception and false-positive management procedures.
• Developing dashboards and metrics for operational and executive reporting.
• Verification scanning to confirm remediation effectiveness.

Unit 3: Penetration Testing Strategy and Scoping

• Defining penetration testing, red teaming, and vulnerability assessment differences.
• Types of testing: Black box, Grey box, and White box.
• Establishing clear scope, rules of engagement, and legal agreements.
• Ethical and legal considerations for penetration testing.

• Web Application Penetration Testing (following OWASP methodologies).
• Network and Infrastructure Penetration Testing.
• Cloud environment and API penetration testing.
• Social engineering and physical security testing overview.

Unit 4: The Penetration Testing Kill Chain

• Passive and active reconnaissance techniques (OSINT).
• Port scanning, service enumeration, and vulnerability identification.
• Developing attack trees and planning the exploitation phase.
• Techniques for avoiding detection by security controls.

• Executing exploits and bypassing security controls (e.g., firewalls, WAFs).
• Gaining persistence and establishing command and control (C2).
• Techniques for privilege escalation and lateral movement.
• Data exfiltration and documenting the impact of the exploit.

Unit 5: Post-Test Management and Advanced VM

• Structuring the final penetration test report for both technical and executive audiences.
• Managing and verifying remediation efforts post-test.
• The re-test process and validation of control effectiveness.
• Integrating PT findings directly into the overall VM program.

• Vulnerability assessment for cloud and containerized environments.
• Predictive VM using machine learning for risk scoring.
• Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART) and Purple Teaming concepts.
• Managing vulnerabilities in third-party and supply chain software.