My Experience with the Free eJPTv2 Exam
The eJPTv2 exam and PTS2 content experience. Some Useful Advice To Pass The Exam.
Table Of Content:
🔴 My Story about the eJPTv2 Beta Testing
◾️How did I get a free eJPTv2 exam voucher and PTSv2 content access?
◾️How did I cover the 144 hours of PTSv2 content in 20 days?
🔴 My Experience & Feedback about eJPTv2
🔴 Updated after Getting the Certificate (22-Nov)
◾️Passed the eJPTv2 exams
◾Doubt Cleared about Dynamic Flags
◾️My Exam Notes Format
🔴 My Guidance and Suggestion to Pass the Exam
◾️Simple Suggestion
◾️My eJPTv2 Notes
◾️Pre-Requisites
◾️TryHackMe Rooms to Prepare
◾️Credits
My Story about the eJPTv2 Beta Testing
You can skip this part and directly jump on to My Guidance and Suggestions to Pass the Exam!
How did I get a free eJPTv2 exam voucher and PTSv2 content access?
I came to know that INE is launching eJPTv2 certification and they are gonna select some people for the beta testing so for the first time, I registered myself in the INE platform after that just gave my email for the beta testing. I wasn’t expecting that I will be selected for the Beta testing. On Aug 08, when beta testing started, I got an email.
For the first few days, I wasn’t believing that how is it possible but when I saw on my INE account that I have an exam voucher and got a free subscription to INE Fundamentals monthly then I decided to prepare myself for this exam within 20 days because already wasted 5 days and remaining 5 days will be utilized for the exam attempt.
How did I cover the 144 hours of PTSv2 content in 20 days?
I simply divided this course into 20 days which means I should cover 5% per day which means approx. 7–8 hours of content on PTSv2. I already learned many things from TryHackMe so it wasn’t hard for me to cover it fast otherwise 144 hours of content might take double the time to grab the concepts. After completing the content I came to know from the eJPTv2 FAQ section that I am also able to get official ejptv2 certification after completing the exams till that thing I was thinking I won’t get any certificate after completing the exam because it was free.
I simply started my exam and at the start of just a few minutes, I was having some pressure on me. But gradually I felt comfortable and had fun attempting this exam. I took approx. 12 hours to complete this exam not because it was lengthy or hard just because I was playing with other ways to hack too. This was in beta testing that’s why I didn't get the results at the time of submission. Results will be reviewed with feedback and max 2 months can be taken to announce it. I hacked all the machines and gave all the answers. There is a doubt about dynamic flags.
I mentioned about Beta Testing because INE in their Live stream mentioned that they will also launch other Beta Testing Certifications so be ready to join it.
My Experience & Feedback about eJPTv2
Penetration Testing Student v2 (PTSv2) content is amazing. This learning path clears everything from Enumeration to Post-Exploitation.
There is no doubt that there Penetration Testing Student v2 (PTSv2) is way more improved than PTSv1.
- PTSv2 has 144 hrs of content whereas PTSv1 has only 46 hrs.
- PTSv2 has more detailed content than PTSv1.
- PTSv2 has one of the great instructors, a well-known info-sec guy & a YouTuber HackerSploit (Alexis Ahmed).
The eJPTv2 exam has changed a lot. It has free text answers with MCQs and Dynamic flags too that change for every attempt. Browser-Based Lab restricts the user to use the limited environment that’s given on the exam which is great because we have to do manual testing rather than downloading any tool from the internet. We are limited to using pre-packaged Kali tools only. I hadn’t even the feature of pasting anything from outside the lab. It might be the bug but I think it’s a feature because it restricts people to do manual testing. eJPTv2 gives 48 hours to answer all the questions which is pretty much for any beginners to easily pass it.
For more Details about eJPTv2 check out the INE’e website: https://ine.com/blog/new-ejpt-coming-soon
https://info.ine.com/ejptv2-beta/
Updated after Getting the Certificate (22-Nov)
Passed the eJPTv2 exams
Today(22-Nov-2022), I got an email that I passed the eJPTv2 exams with a 97% score. Only one question was wrong.
Doubt Cleared about Dynamic Flags
As you read above, I was confused about dynamic flag marking. I got an email after 2 days after the exam’s attempt but forget to write here.
My Exam Notes Format
I used Notion to take my Notes during exams. I wrote notes during exams in the given format. First, I created a table of contents for my all headings to easily navigate through all the data.
and then I wrote or copied all the questions from the eJPTv2 exams in one place to easily check what I have to answer. After that, I tried to find all the available IP addresses and wrote them as a heading so that I can divide all the information according to IP addresses. I used triangular flag emoji to indicate the completely hacked machine.
I preferred to write OS type along with the IP after finding it so that I can work and create attacks according to that target OS.
I used red background color for a question that are completed. You can first select a background color manually for the first time, after that you can use CTRL+SHIFT+H to directly apply to the previous background color.
My Guidance and Suggestion to Pass the Exam
If you are taking Penetration Testing Student v2 (PTSv2) Learning Path then it’s enough for you to pass the exam. But keep in mind Hacking is all about research which means a few things won’t be mentioned in the course but it’s related to the course so if you know how to find what you want on the internet then you are good to go.
I already played a lot of CTF on TryHackMe so it was easy for me to cover this PTSv2 content quickly otherwise you might need more than a month to complete this learning path.
Simple Suggestion
Just a simple piece of advice from my side, maintain your notes during your pentesting in the exam. First, write all the questions in the notes and then look at them to start your pentesting. If you will be able to manage your findings in the notes then you can easily pass this exam. Keep your notes simple and well-managed so that you can easily find what you want. This exam is not a CTF which means it has a realistic approach, not a gamified approach just like solving some mysterious puzzle to get the flag. Don’t take any tension or burden on your mind, enjoy this exam and have fun. It’s an open-book exam, feel free to do google.
You can check out my short and condensed notes on GitHub: https://github.com/PakCyberbot/eJPTv2-Notes
Pre-Requisites
Now let’s come on to the pre-requisite for the PTSv2. There aren’t any pre-requisite but I think it’s better to have at least basic knowledge of networking and Linux.
You can check out TryHackMe Networking Fundamentals Modules & TryHackMe Linux Fundamentals Modules to clear the fundamentals of Networking & Linux.
TryHackMe Rooms to Prepare
If you wanna prepare for the eJPTv2 exams for completely free then I mentioned some TryHackMe Free rooms to prepare for the exams!
I arranged the list from fundamentals to post-exploitation.
- Linux Fundamentals Module
- Windows Fundamentals Module
- What is Networking
- Intro To Networking
- Intro To LAN
- HTTP in Detail
- DNS in Detail
- Intro To Offensive Security
- Pentesting Fundamentals
- Passive Recon
- Intro to Research
- Google Dorking
- Nmap Live Host Discovery
- Nmap
- Metasploit: Introduction
- BurpSuite: The Basics
- BurpSuite: Repeater
- Web Application Security
- Active Recon
- WireShark The Basics
- TShark
- Hydra
- Python Basics (to understand the working of exploit)
- Vulnerabilities 101
- Nessus
- Reverse Shell & Bind Shell (Article)
- More Detailed Tutorial of Metasploit (Article)
- Linux Privilege Escalation
- Windows Privilege Escalation (Article)
- Bypass UAC
- Post Exploitation Basics
- Pivoting using Metasploit (Article)
You can do some Challenge room to practice your skills.
It is recommended to subscribe to TryHackMe premium for at least one month to learn from premium rooms!
♦️ PTSv2 Learning Path is recommended because this time there are so many more things to learn from it than PTSv1.
Credits
Most people do THM premium giveaways on Twitter so try to participate in them. One of them gave me the THM voucher that change the direction of my CyberSec journey. All the Thanks go to Aaditya Sir who gave me the voucher for THM premium through which I was able to learn a lot about cyber security and at last, passed my eJPTv2 exams easily. You can participate in his monthly THM/HTB giveaway on his Twitter: https://twitter.com/TipsyTux
You can follow me for more informative material on:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PakCyberbot
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pakcyberbot/
- Medium: https://pakcyberbot.medium.com/
- GitHub: https://github.com/PakCyberbot
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pakcyberbot/
You can check out my other article on the topic: How to Get Started with Ethical Hacking
