This list comes from my own journey and struggles in the cybersecurity world. Over the years, I’ve searched for resources that truly help me understand and grow in penetration testing, ethical hacking, and red teaming. Each book on this list has played a crucial role in shaping my knowledge and skills, and I created this collection to share what I’ve learned the hard way. Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to level up your expertise, these books are the ones that have helped me push past obstacles and deepen my understanding of the craft. I hope they do the same for you.
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Metasploit, 2nd Edition by David Kennedy (Author), Mati Aharoni (Author), Devon Kearns (Author), Jim O'Gorman (Author), 2025
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Black Hat Python, 2nd Edition: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters, 2021
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Ethical Hacking: A Hands-on Introduction to Breaking In, 2021
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Bug Bounty Bootcamp, 2021
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Real-World Bug Hunting: A Field Guide to Web Hacking, 2021
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Red Team Development and Operations: A Practical Guide, 2021
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Red Team Field Manual V2, 2022
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Tribe of Hackers Red Team: Tribal Knowledge from the Best in Offensive Cybersecurity, 2020
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Operator Handbook: Red Team + OSINT + Blue Team Reference, 2020
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The Pentester Blueprint: Starting a Career as an Ethical Hacker, 2020
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Hands-on Hacking: Become an Expert at Next-Gen Penetration Testing and Purple Teaming, 2020
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The Hacker Playbook 3 by Peter Kim, 2018
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Advanced Penetration Testing by Wil Allsopp, 2017
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Advanced Penetration Testing for Highly-Secured Environments by Lee Allen, 2016
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Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking by Georgia Weidman, 2014
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Rtfm: Red Team Field Manual by Ben Clark, 2014
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Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters by Justin Seitz, 2014
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Advanced Persistent Threat Hacking: The Art and Science of Hacking Any Organization by Tyler Wrightson, 2014
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The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing by Patrick Engebretson, 2013
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Professional Penetration Testing by Thomas Wilhelm, 2013
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Violent Python by TJ O’Connor, 2012
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Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide by David Kennedy et al., 2011
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Bug Hunter’s Diary by Tobias Klein, 2011
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Unauthorized Access: Physical Penetration Testing For IT Security Teams by Wil Allsopp, 2010
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The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson, 2008
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Fuzzing: Brute Force Vulnerability Discovery by Michael Sutton et al., 2007
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//ToDo add image for each book