I started with Kali Linux after watching a few tutorials on YouTube about pen-testing and ethical hacking. Firstly I just repeated the steps shown in videos in my Kali Linux virtual machine. After that I started to get interested in other Linux distributions and played with them and Kali for some time, then after I realized I love Linux so much I had to do something about it.
Getting started
Playing with Linux and learning it on your own is fun but what benefit do you have from it? Yes, you have some knowledge but you are not learning step by step and you miss some important parts because they are boring or hard when you learn on your own with your sources. I realized that and started looking for some education that is directed towards Linux. Now, there is a lot of IT fields and career options in the Linux world, and you have to choose something that is most interesting to you, right? I was choosing between Linux Administration and pen-testing but pen-testing got me right away. You have to have some ground and fundamentals to even start in this field. So, I was looking for a book that would guide me through the fundamentals and advanced features of Kali Linux and I found it on Offensive Security Website – Kali Linux Revealed Book. First, I see that it is free, and it has exercises in it, great! Then, after reading it a little bit, I came back to the site and realized there is a certification for Kali Linux, Kali Linux Certified Professional, so why not at least try?
Self-study
I just listened to Offensive Security team's advice to read the whole book, do all the exercises in it and have a really good understanding of everything that's in the book and in the exercises. That seems simple right? Believe me, it's not and thank God that I already had some experience and knowledge about getting around Kali Linux and understanding basic Linux concepts and functions. I started by reading the Kali Linux Revealed Book and doing exercises and quizzes at the end of each chapter. Then, after a month doing so, I had to stop for four days because I wasn't feeling good. After a short break, I continued and finished the book and exercises. After finishing the book I went through the whole book again and marked everything that I thought was important(almost everything). I realized that I wouldn't have enough time to read through all that so I read just through the hardest chapters for me, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Especially hard for me was also chapter 7 because of the iptables commands. I would suggest for anybody having difficulty with iptables to go through some tutorials on YouTube. After all that, I went through the whole book once again and extracted all the commands written in the book and their meanings, learned all the extracted commands and scheduled an exam. Keep in mind that I had two months of free time to study for this certification, and I used every day to study for KLCP.
Exam
You have to schedule the exam at your nearest Pearson VUE proctoring center. The book is free but the exam costs $450. It is an English-language, 80-question, 90-minute, multiple-choice exam which requires an 80% passing score. I came to the Pearson VUE proctoring center and did the exam. First, you have the tutorial on how to answer the questions and go back to the ones you didn't know. You can flag any question and go back to it. Then you answer the questions and in the end, you have the review of all the questions so you can see which ones you flagged and which ones are answered and unanswered. The biggest problem is that you don't have too much time to answer so many questions, but if you understood everything that you read in the book, you will know. If you are considering doing this certification, don't forget to take two identification documents that didn't expire, have your name and surname on them and your signature on them. More info here.
Conclusion
Kali Linux Certified Professional is a great addition to any resume, especially if you are considering pen-testing and ethical hacking career paths. It also teaches you the fundamentals of Kali Linux and any other Debian based Linux distribution. All in all, I wanted it, I got it, and you can too!
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