WEEK 08 · MIDTERM
MIDTERM + Ethical Hacking II
Operational scenario
Midterm engagement: assess the provided lab target end to end and prove every claim with evidence.
Week completion
0%
~10.5 hours this week
Assessment: Midterm written + practical (15% combined)
Deliverable: Midterm findings report
Learning objectives
- Execute controlled exploitation
- Understand privilege escalation & lateral movement concepts
- Collect evidence
Classroom topics
- Exploitation in a controlled lab
- Privilege escalation & lateral movement
- Evidence, cleanup, reporting, retest
- Midterm review
Standards · vocabulary
NIST SP 800-53 (CA/RA)MITRE ATT&CK
TTPATT&CKLateral movementPriv-esc
Open glossaryCompetency demonstrated: Runs an authorized test and documents it.
Four-mode learning matrix
~2 h
Physical hands-on lab
Midterm practical: assess a provided lab target end to end.
~2 h
Docker container lab
Lab 9 — Apply secure configuration & container hardening.
~0.5 h
AR/VR immersive scenario
Virtual evidence-collection exercise. Role: Digital forensics investigator.
No headset? Desktop evidence-log exercise. Printed and mobile versions are also available.
Individual technical assignment
Midterm written examination.
Team exercise
None (individual midterm week).
Required hardware
- Kali VM
- Vulnerable targets
- Evidence template
Required software
- Kali Linux
- Docker
Workplace application
Reproducible evidence and clean-up are what separate a professional tester from an attacker.
Docker progression step
L9 Applying secure configuration and container hardening
Open the Docker rangeApply non-root user, read-only filesystem, dropped capabilities and resource limits; prove the app still works.
Lab evidence to collect
Safety controls — confirm before starting
Controls practiced this week
Secure configuration & hardeningPenetration testing & control validation
See the full crosswalkReflection & rubric for week 8 Modes tracked: 0/5