The Complete Pentesting and Privilege Escalation Course

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. Embark on a transformative journey into the realm of pentesting and privilege escalation. This course is meticulously crafted to provide you with an immersive learning experience, starting with an introduction to the fundamental concepts and tools of ethical hacking. You’ll be guided through practical, real-world scenarios via Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges, progressing from basic to advanced levels. The course structure is divided into distinct modules, each focusing on different wargames such as Bandit, Wakanda, Mr. Robot, FristiLeaks, and more. You’ll start with the basics of file manipulation, progressing to more complex tasks like hacking servers, exploiting vulnerabilities, and escalating privileges. Each video is designed to build on the previous one, ensuring a smooth and comprehensive learning curve. By the end of the course, you will have gained in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience in various pentesting techniques and privilege escalation methods. The course concludes with advanced Linux and Windows privilege escalation tactics, ensuring you have a well-rounded skill set. This course is designed for cybersecurity enthusiasts, ethical hackers, IT professionals, and anyone interested in learning pentesting and privilege escalation. No prior knowledge is required, but a basic understanding of networking and operating systems is beneficial.