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Introduction:
The cybersecurity industry has long been plagued by certification programs that prioritize theoretical multiple-choice questions over practical, real-world exploitation skills. This disconnect leaves many certified professionals unprepared for the actual challenges they face in live environments—where misconfigurations, cloud identity abuse, and AI-specific attack vectors demand more than textbook knowledge. The SecOps Group, creators of PentestingExams.com, is celebrating their third anniversary by offering 90% off all certifications from July 1–10, making hands-on, practical security validation more accessible than ever. Whether you are a red team operator, blue team defender, cloud security engineer, or AI security researcher, this is the moment to invest in certifications that test what you can actually do.
Learning Objectives:
- Master real-world penetration testing techniques across network, web, API, mobile, and cloud environments through practical, scenario-driven exams.
- Develop advanced Active Directory exploitation skills, including privilege escalation, lateral movement, and multi-forest compromise.
- Build incident response and forensic investigation capabilities to reconstruct sophisticated APT intrusions spanning on-premises and cloud infrastructure.
- Understand emerging AI/ML and agentic AI security risks, including OWASP LLM Top 10 vulnerabilities and prompt injection attacks.
- Learn to enumerate, exploit, and secure cloud environments (AWS, Azure) using industry-standard tools and attack chains.
You Should Know:
- Certified Network Pentester (CNPen) – The Foundation of Practical Offensive Security
The Certified Network Pentester (CNPen) is an intermediate-level, four-hour practical exam that tests core network security concepts through real-world pentesting scenarios. Candidates must demonstrate practical knowledge to conduct both internal and external network penetration tests, covering everything from OSINT and network mapping to brute-force attacks, vulnerability exploitation, and Active Directory enumeration.
What makes this exam stand out: It is not a multiple-choice test. Candidates connect to an exam VPN server and solve 15 challenges by identifying and exploiting various vulnerabilities to obtain flags. The exam requires hands-on skills across Unix/Linux and Windows vulnerabilities, credential security, and advanced attack strategies. As one candidate noted, “It was an intense 4 hours of hacking (high level), but it was worth the effort!”
Step‑by‑step guide for CNPen preparation:
- Step 1: Build your lab environment. Set up a virtual lab with Kali Linux and target Windows/Linux VMs. Practice enumeration with Nmap, masscan, and Rustscan.
- Step 2: Master OSINT techniques. Use tools like theHarvester, Maltego, and Shodan to gather intelligence about target networks.
- Step 3: Practice brute-force and credential attacks. Use Hydra, Medusa, and John the Ripper against common services (SSH, RDP, SMB, FTP).
- Step 4: Enumerate Active Directory. Use tools like BloodHound, SharpHound, and PowerView to map AD environments and identify attack paths.
- Step 5: Exploit common vulnerabilities. Practice with Metasploit, but remember—the exam environment is built around misconfigurations, not unpatched CVEs like MS17-010.
- Step 6: Document your findings. The exam requires answering practice questions alongside exploitation, so practice writing clear, concise reports.
Linux command examples for enumeration:
Quick network scan nmap -sV -sC -T4 -p- 192.168.1.0/24 SMB enumeration enum4linux -a 192.168.1.10 Active Directory enumeration with BloodHound sudo bloodhound --1o-sandbox & Run SharpHound on a Windows machine to collect data SharpHound.exe -c All Password spraying with CrackMapExec crackmapexec smb 192.168.1.0/24 -u users.txt -p 'Password123' --continue-on-success
Windows command examples for AD enumeration:
Enumerate domain users net user /domain Enumerate domain groups net group "Domain Admins" /domain PowerShell AD module Get-ADUser -Filter -Properties | Select-Object Name,SamAccountName,Enabled Enumerate SPNs for Kerberoasting setspn -T domain.local -Q /
- Certified Cloud Pentesting eXpert – Azure (CCPenX-Az) – Cloud Attack Chains Demystified
The Certified Cloud Pentesting eXpert-Azure (CCPenX-Az) is an expert-level, seven-hour practical exam designed to test a candidate’s understanding of Microsoft Azure cloud security by simulating a complete attack chain in a real-world scenario. Candidates must demonstrate deep expertise in identifying and exploiting cloud misconfigurations, abusing overly permissive roles and privileges, and leveraging access to Azure resources to escalate privileges, move laterally, and gain control over the cloud environment.
Why this matters: Cloud misconfigurations remain one of the leading causes of data breaches. This exam forces candidates to think like an attacker who has gained initial access—how do you pivot, escalate, and compromise the entire tenant? As one tester described, “The exam is and will challenge you with real-world Azure vulnerabilities that you’ll need to chain together to compromise the tenant.”
Step‑by‑step guide for Azure cloud penetration testing:
- Step 1: Perform Azure reconnaissance. Use tools like AzureHound, Stormspotter, and MicroBurst to enumerate Azure AD tenants, subscriptions, and resources.
- Step 2: Identify privilege escalation paths. Look for overly permissive roles, service principals with high privileges, and misconfigured managed identities.
- Step 3: Abuse Azure AD misconfigurations. Test for insecure application permissions, guest user over-privilege, and conditional access policy bypasses.
- Step 4: Exploit Azure resource misconfigurations. Check for publicly accessible storage accounts, overly permissive Key Vault access policies, and misconfigured network security groups.
- Step 5: Perform lateral movement. Use stolen credentials or tokens to move between subscriptions and resource groups.
- Step 6: Establish persistence. Create backdoor service principals, add new administrative users, or deploy malicious function apps.
Azure CLI commands for cloud security assessment:
List all subscriptions
az account list --output table
Enumerate all resources in a subscription
az resource list --subscription "subscription-id" --output table
Check Key Vault access policies
az keyvault show --1ame "vault-1ame" --query "properties.accessPolicies"
List storage accounts and check for public access
az storage account list --query "[].{name:name, publicAccess:allowBlobPublicAccess}"
Enumerate Azure AD users
az ad user list --output table
List service principals
az ad sp list --output table
PowerShell commands for Azure enumeration:
Connect to Azure AD Connect-AzureAD Get all users Get-AzureADUser -All $true Get all service principals Get-AzureADServicePrincipal -All $true Get directory roles Get-AzureADDirectoryRole Check role assignments Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleMember -ObjectId "role-id"
- Certified Active Directory Pentesting eXpert (C-ADPenX) – Mastering the Heart of Enterprise Security
The Certified Active Directory Pentesting eXpert (C-ADPenX) is a rigorous seven-hour practical exam focused on an Active Directory environment with multiple Domain Forests. Candidates must escalate privileges to Domain Admin/Domain Controller in each environment, starting with a Kali Linux machine already connected to the environment but with no direct Windows Domain-joined machine access.
The challenge: This exam is purely AD-focused—no distractions, just pure AD pentesting. Candidates must secure initial access before starting privilege escalation and lateral movement. Complete enumeration is crucial! The environment is designed around common AD misconfigurations found in corporate networks, not unpatched CVEs. As one candidate who failed their first attempt noted, “Why? Because BloodHound wasn’t working. Second attempt? Passed!”
Step‑by‑step guide for Active Directory penetration testing:
- Step 1: Reconnaissance. Map the AD infrastructure using LDAP queries, DNS enumeration, and SMB null session checks.
- Step 2: Obtain initial foothold. Exploit misconfigurations like weak passwords, unconstrained delegation, or insecure service accounts.
- Step 3: Enumerate AD comprehensively. Use BloodHound to identify attack paths, but be prepared to troubleshoot—it’s part of the exam.
- Step 4: Escalate privileges. Target Kerberoasting, AS-REP roasting, ACL abuse, and DCSync attacks.
- Step 5: Move laterally. Use Pass-the-Hash, Overpass-the-Hash, and Pass-the-Ticket techniques.
- Step 6: Establish persistence. Create Golden Tickets, Silver Tickets, or Skeleton Key attacks.
- Step 7: Cross forest attacks. Exploit trust relationships between multiple domain forests.
Active Directory attack commands:
Kerberoasting with Impacket impacket-GetUserSPNs domain.local/username:password -request AS-REP roasting impacket-GetNPUsers domain.local/ -1o-pass -usersfile users.txt DCSync attack (requires high privileges) impacket-secretsdump domain.local/username:[email protected] Pass-the-Hash with CrackMapExec crackmapexec smb 192.168.1.10 -u username -H hash --local-auth Golden Ticket creation with Mimikatz (on Windows) mimikatz.exe "kerberos::golden /domain:domain.local /sid:S-1-5-21-... /krbtgt:hash /user:Administrator /id:500 /ptt"
- Certified AI/ML Pentester (C-AI/MLPen) – Securing the Next Generation of Applications
As organizations rapidly adopt AI and machine learning, the attack surface expands dramatically. The Certified AI/ML Pentester (C-AI/MLPen) is an intermediate-level, four-hour practical exam designed to test a candidate’s ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in AI/ML systems. This certification addresses the OWASP Top 10 for LLM applications, including prompt injection, insecure output handling, training data poisoning, model denial of service, and supply chain vulnerabilities.
Why this is critical: Agentic AI systems introduce new risks—prompt injection and Agent Goal Hijack are now at the top of the risk list. As one study noted, “Most of the risks in an agentic pen-test are risks that pen-testing contracts have handled for three decades. What changes is how each mitigation is actually delivered.” This certification ensures you understand both traditional and AI-specific attack vectors.
Step‑by‑step guide for AI/ML security testing:
- Step 1: Understand the OWASP LLM Top 10. Familiarize yourself with each vulnerability class and its real-world implications.
- Step 2: Test for prompt injection. Attempt to override system instructions and extract sensitive information.
- Step 3: Evaluate insecure output handling. Check if the application properly sanitizes LLM-generated content before rendering.
- Step 4: Assess training data poisoning risks. Understand how an attacker could corrupt the model’s training data.
- Step 5: Test model denial of service. Attempt to exhaust computational resources through resource-intensive queries.
- Step 6: Evaluate supply chain vulnerabilities. Check third-party models, libraries, and data sources for security issues.
- Step 7: Test agentic AI systems. Assess multi-agent frameworks like AutoGen and CrewAI for security weaknesses.
Tools for AI/ML security testing:
Use OWASP ZAP for DAST scanning of AI applications zap-cli quick-scan --self-contained --start-options "-config api.disablekey=true" http://target-ai-app.com Burp Suite for intercepting API calls to LLM endpoints Configure Burp as a proxy and analyze all requests/responses Custom fuzzing for prompt injection Use tools like Garak or PromptInject to test LLM vulnerabilities
- Certified Blue Teamer – eXpert (CBTeamerX) – Advanced Incident Response and Forensics
The Certified Blue Teamer-eXpert (CBTeamerX) is an advanced seven-hour practical exam designed to assess a candidate’s ability to investigate, correlate, and interpret a sophisticated multi-stage APT intrusion spanning both on-premises Windows Active Directory infrastructure and cloud environments. Candidates must demonstrate expertise in malware reverse engineering, memory forensics, disk forensics, log correlation, cloud security investigation, and attack chain reconstruction.
The reality check: This exam is notoriously challenging. As one candidate described, “It’s so hard, and for each question you need at least two to three steps. Thankfully I have a strong background in forensics otherwise it would’ve been impossible to get through.” The exam tests your ability to reconstruct a complete attack chain from initial compromise through final impact.
Step‑by‑step guide for blue team investigation:
- Step 1: Establish a timeline. Analyze logs to determine when the intrusion began.
- Step 2: Identify initial compromise vector. Determine how the attacker gained initial access.
- Step 3: Reconstruct lateral movement. Follow the attacker’s path through the network using Windows Event Logs, Sysmon telemetry, and network captures.
- Step 4: Perform memory forensics. Use tools like Volatility to analyze memory dumps for malicious processes.
- Step 5: Conduct disk forensics. Examine filesystem artifacts, browser credentials, and malware samples.
- Step 6: Investigate cloud artifacts. Analyze cloud logs for suspicious activities in AWS or Azure.
- Step 7: Map to MITRE ATT&CK. Correlate findings with adversary techniques and tactics.
- Step 8: Produce a comprehensive report. Document the entire attack chain and recommend remediation.
Forensics and investigation commands:
Memory forensics with Volatility
volatility -f memory.dump imageinfo
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win10x64 pslist
volatility -f memory.dump --profile=Win10x64 netscan
Log analysis on Linux
grep -r "Failed password" /var/log/auth.log
journalctl --since "2026-06-01" --until "2026-06-02"
Windows Event Log analysis with PowerShell
Get-WinEvent -LogName Security | Where-Object {$<em>.Id -eq 4624} | Select-Object TimeCreated, Message
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational" | Where-Object {$</em>.Id -eq 1} | Select-Object TimeCreated, Message
Network capture analysis with tshark
tshark -r capture.pcap -Y "http.request or dns" -T fields -e ip.src -e ip.dst -e http.request.uri
What Undercode Say:
- Key Takeaway 1: The 90% discount (use code ANNIV-90) from July 1–10 makes these hands-on certifications more accessible than ever. With prices starting as low as £25 for professional-level exams and £100 for expert-level exams, there is no excuse to delay investing in practical security skills. The window is short—only 10 days—so act decisively.
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Key Takeaway 2: These certifications are not about multiple-choice theory—they are about real-world exploitation, investigation, and defense. The SecOps Group has built a reputation for creating exams that test what you can actually do in a live environment. Whether you are targeting CNPen for network pentesting, CCPenX-Az for cloud security, C-ADPenX for Active Directory mastery, C-AI/MLPen for AI security, or CBTeamerX for blue team excellence, each exam pushes you to apply your knowledge under pressure.
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Analysis: The cybersecurity certification landscape has long been dominated by expensive, theory-heavy programs. The SecOps Group is disrupting this model by offering practical, affordable exams that directly map to industry skill requirements. For professionals seeking to validate their hands-on abilities—or for hiring managers looking to assess real talent—these certifications provide a credible, cost-effective alternative. The three-year anniversary celebration is not just a marketing campaign; it is a strategic opportunity to upskill the global cybersecurity workforce at scale. Don’t be the person saying, “I was going to buy it…” after the countdown ends.
Prediction:
- +1: The democratization of practical security certifications will accelerate the global cybersecurity workforce’s skill development, reducing the industry-wide skills gap over the next 3–5 years.
- +1: As AI and cloud security threats continue to evolve, certifications like C-AI/MLPen and CCPenX-Az will become essential credentials for security professionals, driving demand for specialized AI security training.
- -1: Organizations that fail to invest in hands-on security training for their teams will remain vulnerable to sophisticated attacks, as theoretical knowledge alone is insufficient to defend against real-world threats.
- +1: The shift toward practical, scenario-based exams will pressure traditional certification providers to reform their programs, ultimately benefiting the entire cybersecurity industry.
- -1: The rapid pace of technological change means that even practical certifications must continuously evolve—static exam content risks becoming outdated within 12–18 months.
- +1: The integration of agentic AI into security testing (both offensive and defensive) will create new career paths and opportunities for certified professionals.
- -1: The proliferation of affordable certifications may lead to credential inflation, where employers must look beyond certifications to assess genuine practical ability.
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