Certified Advanced Penetration Tester (CAPT) – Self-Study
Course Overview
Certified Advanced Penetration Tester (CAPT) is an advanced technical cybersecurity course for experienced practitioners who want to strengthen offensive-security and adversarial-testing capability.
The course focuses on realistic enterprise penetration testing, including reconnaissance, advanced exploitation, privilege escalation, lateral movement, Active Directory attacks, evasion, pivoting and professional reporting.
Hands-on exercises are used to build practical skill in assessing hardened systems and complex attack surfaces.
Who Should Attend
Experienced penetration testers
Red-team and adversary-simulation professionals
Security consultants conducting complex technical assessments
Threat hunters and incident responders seeking attacker-perspective skills
Security architects and engineers validating security controls
Cybersecurity professionals preparing for senior offensive-security roles
Prerequisites
Foundational practical experience in security assessments or ethical hacking is expected. Participants should also be comfortable with command-line use, basic networking concepts and simple scripting.
Learning Objectives
Execute advanced reconnaissance and exploitation techniques
Establish and maintain controlled footholds and persistence
Apply privilege escalation and lateral movement techniques
Use evasion approaches against modern defensive controls
Plan and conduct realistic red-team-style assessments with professional reporting
Course Outline
Advanced reconnaissance and threat modelling
OSINT, network mapping and service enumeration
Application and attack-surface analysis
Advanced exploitation and initial access
Web exploitation and input-validation attacks
Remote code execution, shells and persistence
Post-exploitation and credential attacks
Linux post-exploitation and privilege escalation
Credential access and defence evasion
Active Directory and pivoting
Active Directory reconnaissance and compromise
Windows escalation, lateral movement, pivoting and reporting
Exam & Certification
The course leads to the PECB Certified Advanced Penetration Tester examination and certification pathway.
Certification is subject to PECB's applicable professional and penetration-testing experience requirements.
Eligible partner-delivered training includes the first exam attempt, one free retake, the certification application fee and the first year of the annual maintenance fee within the applicable 12-month cycle.
This Self-Study option is designed for learners who prefer to work independently using the learning materials provided through the applicable PECB enrolment.
After purchase, CyberCognize will process your enrolment with PECB. Your course access, learning materials, and applicable PECB instructions will be provided separately once your enrolment has been completed.
Your purchase also includes the CyberCognize PECB Enrolment & Next Steps Guide, which explains what happens after checkout and how your access will be issued.