Best Cyber Security Books and Ethical Hacking Books

For an upcoming ethical hacking and cybersecurity, it is important to be updated with the latest knowledge and techniques. For both newbies and those who have been in this field for long, the right resources can make all the difference in your skills and understanding. Below is a list of top 20 Ethical Hacking Books that every aspiring hacker and cyber security professional should read.

1. Web Application Hacker’s Handbook

Written by Dafydd Stuttard and Marcus Pinto, this book covers everything about web application security. It delves into different online vulnerabilities while providing you with practical ways to test and secure web applications.

2. The Hacker's Playbook 2

Designed as an extension of his first book, Peter Kim’s second edition explores the strategies, techniques, and methodologies that real-world hackers employ. There are also practical demonstrations and tools to help you build up your penetration testing skills.

3. Hacking: The Art of Exploitation

This book is written by Jon Erickson goes beyond fundamental hacking techniques; it gives a more detailed insight into how hackers operate using step-by-step examples as well as hands-on exercises.

4. Ghost in the Wires

Ghost in the wires is an autobiography by Kevin Mitnick – one of the most renowned hackers on earth – that provides an interesting perspective into his life as a hacker. It's both an entertaining and educational read.

5. Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking

Psychological aspects of hacking are dealt with in Christopher Hadnagy’s book, which shows how social engineering techniques can be used to deceive individuals into revealing confidential information.

6. Computer Hacking Beginners Guide

This is the perfect book for anyone who is stepping foot into the world of hacking. It has an introduction on computer hacking, ethical hacking and the normal tools and techniques that hackers use.

7. Mastering Pen Testing Distribution: Kali Linux Revealed

Written by Raphaël Hertzog and Jim O’Gorman, this book takes you step by step through using Kali Linux for penetration testing. It gives a detailed coverage of installation, configuration and advanced usage of the powerful security tool.

8. The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing

Patrick Engebretson provides a simple guide to understanding some of the common things that hackers do, as well as penetration testing in his book. Just at the start of your journey regarding ethical hacking it features practical examples and exercises which will get you going.

9. Nmap Network Scanning

This book written by Gordon Fyodor Lyon who created Nmap serves as a comprehensive reference guide for network scanning using Nmap. Starting from easy scanning to advanced scripting and technique everything is discussed here.

10. Practical Malware Analysis: The Hands-on Guide

In this book, malware analysis is presented in a practical way by Michael Sikorski and Andrew Honig. On the other hand, it introduces some tools and methods that are used to analyze and understand how malware behaves.

11. RTFM: Red Team Field Manual

Ben Clark’s field manual is indispensable for all red teamers as it provides concise references on penetration testing and red teaming. It has command-line tips, scripts, and techniques for different operating systems.

12. Hash Crack: Password Cracking Manual

Joshua Picolet’s book explores password cracking techniques comprehensively. It covers several ways of cracking passwords using various tools with practical examples and exercises given.

13. Mastering Metasploit

Nipun Jaswal goes into detail about the use of Metasploit, a famous penetration testing framework among other things. It spans from basic usage to advanced exploitation techniques.

14. Advanced Penetration Testing: Hacking the World's Most Secure Networks

Wil Allsopp brings to life advanced penetration testing methodologies employed in hacking highly protected networks where he also uses actual situations as well as case studies concerning them.

15. Hacking: A Beginners Guide to Your First Computer Hack

This book, written by John Slavio, is a beginner-friendly guide to hacking that discusses the basics of computer hacking and provides you with step-by-step instructions for your first hack.

16. CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide

It is authored by Shon Harris, and it is a complete guide for those preparing for the CISSP certification examination. It covers all the ten domains and has practice tests as well as test taking tips.

17. Web Hacking 101

Peter Yaworski wrote this book as an introduction to web hacking and bug bounty hunting aimed at beginners. It contains real-world examples and case studies from successful bug hunters.

18. Blue Team Handbook: Incident Response Edition

Don Murdoch’s book is a must-have manual for blue teamers dealing with incident response techniques, tactics, and tools used in identifying security incidents.

19. Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters

The author of this book Justin Seitz has built it around python programming language, looking at its uses in both hacking and penetration testing. It introduces different libraries as well as tools needed in making custom scripts and exploits

20. Gray Hat Hacking: The Ethical Hacker’s Handbook

This is an extensive book by Allen Harper, Daniel Regalado and others that deals with different aspects of ethical hacking. It is filled with real-world instances, case studies and practical exercises that can help you improve your hacking abilities.

Where to Download FREE Cybersecurity Books:

Here are some great places where you can get free cybersecurity books to add to your library without having to spend any money:

 PDF Drive has a huge collection of free books in various formats including PDFs.

Heimdal Security offers e-books and resources on cybersecurity for free.

At CollegeLearners you can access a range of academic books and resources free.

Edureka is a perfect destination for educational materials like books among other things that come at no cost.

Freetechbooks, a website dedicated to free technical books and textbooks.

Simplilearn gives out free resources and eBooks concerning cyber security as well as other IT related topics.