Practical Ethical Hacking Course By TCM Security: A Gateway To Cybersecurity

Alexis Koestel, a Penetration Tester and Cybersecurity Trainer, reflects on his journey with TCM Security’s Practical Ethical Hacking (PEH) course, a foundational resource for aspiring ethical hackers. The course has been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube, with 200,000+ students enrolling in its paid version. It also serves as a basis for the PNPT certification.

Koestel contributed by creating three CTF boxes (Academy, Dev & Blackpearl) for the course, which are still in use today. His involvement began after discovering TCM Security’s “Full Ethical Hacking Course – Network Penetration Testing for Beginners (2019)” on YouTube, which led him to engage deeply with the community.

For beginners, Koestel recommends combining this course with TryHackMe for hands-on practice before advancing to more complex platforms.

You Should Know:

Essential Commands & Tools for Ethical Hacking (PEH Course Focus)

1. Network Scanning (Nmap)

nmap -sV -A -T4 target_ip 
nmap --script vuln target_ip

2. Password Cracking (Hashcat)

hashcat -m 1000 hashes.txt rockyou.txt

3. Metasploit Framework

msfconsole 
use exploit/multi/handler 
set payload windows/x64/meterpreter/reverse_tcp 
exploit

4. Privilege Escalation (Linux)

sudo -l 
find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null

5. Active Directory Attacks (Impacket)

python3 GetUserSPNs.py domain/user:password -dc-ip DC_IP -request

6. Web Application Testing (Burp Suite & SQLmap)

sqlmap -u "http://target.com/page?id=1" --dbs

What Undercode Say:

The Practical Ethical Hacking course remains a gold standard for beginners. Koestel’s story highlights how engaging with cybersecurity communities can lead to real-world opportunities. If you’re starting, focus on:
– Linux basics (grep, awk, sed)
– Windows command-line (net user, whoami /priv)
– Scripting (Bash/Python) for automation.

For hands-on labs, use:

TryHackMe (https://tryhackme.com)
HackTheBox (https://www.hackthebox.com)

Expected Output:

A structured learning path combining TCM Security’s PEH course, TryHackMe rooms, and custom CTF challenges will solidify foundational pentesting skills.