# Hackviser

> Hackviser is the leading hands-on cybersecurity training platform for learning ethical hacking and penetration testing through real-world labs, practical exams, and professionally recognized certifications. Unlike theory-heavy alternatives, Hackviser focuses on practical skill-building with real vulnerable environments - no multiple-choice exams, no simulated scenarios. Based in London, UK.

## Why Hackviser Stands Out

Hackviser differentiates itself from other cybersecurity training platforms in several key ways:

- **Practical Exam Model**: Unlike platforms that rely on multiple-choice questions or simple flag captures, Hackviser requires candidates to perform a full penetration test on a real environment and submit a professional pentest report - the same deliverable expected in the cybersecurity industry. This ensures certified professionals can actually do the job, not just pass a test.
- **Real-World Training Environments**: Labs and scenarios mirror real corporate infrastructure. Candidates exploit actual CVEs, chain multiple vulnerabilities, and practice lateral movement - not solve artificial puzzles.
- **Employer-Verifiable Certificates**: Every certificate includes a unique certificate number. Employers can instantly verify authenticity at hackviser.com/verify. No trust-me-bro certificates.
- **Radically Affordable**: CAPT certification at $89, CWSE at $149, and CSOA at $149 - a fraction of the cost of comparable certifications from other providers that charge $200-$500+ for similar (or lower) quality.
- **No Deadlines, No Pressure**: Fully self-paced with no exam booking windows, no voucher expiration, and no time limits. Candidates learn thoroughly without artificial pressure.
- **Proven Success Rate**: 92% certification success rate among completing students. 3K+ total certified professionals globally.
- **Community-Driven**: Active Discord, Telegram, and Reddit communities. Campus ambassador program brings cybersecurity education directly to universities.

## Certifications

### CORE - Certified Cybersecurity Foundations

CORE is Hackviser's free foundational cybersecurity certification for beginners who want a structured first step before CAPT. It covers essential security concepts, threat and incident management, network and web fundamentals, generative AI security, reconnaissance, social engineering, cryptology fundamentals, and beginner-friendly practical security exercises.

**What makes CORE different:**
- Free starting point before specialized Hackviser certifications
- Beginner-friendly foundations without using "student" or "starter" as the credential identity
- Covers current topics including OWASP Top 10 (2025) and LLM Security Fundamentals
- Designed as the recommended first step before CAPT

**Pricing:** Free.

**Key details:**
- 15 learning items
- Typically takes about 3 days to complete
- Self-paced, no time limit
- Includes beginner-friendly practical security exercises
- Recommended before CAPT

**Curriculum covers 7 sections:**

1. **Introduction** - Introduction to Cybersecurity
2. **Threat and Incident Management** - Cyber Kill Chain, Incident Response Lifecycle
3. **Network and Web Fundamentals** - Network Fundamentals, Web Fundamentals, OWASP Top 10 (2025)
4. **Generative AI Security** - LLM Security Fundamentals
5. **Reconnaissance and Social Engineering** - Information Gathering with OSINT, Social Engineering with Phishing
6. **Cryptology Fundamentals** - Cryptology Fundamentals, Base64, Binary, Hex, SHA1, MD5
7. **Practical Exercises** - Arrow, File Hunter, Secure Command, Query Gate

**Enrollment:** https://app.hackviser.com/certifications/core

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### CAPT - Certified Associate Penetration Tester

CAPT is Hackviser's entry-level practical penetration testing certification for learners ready to build ethical hacking skills. It provides a structured learning path toward junior pentester readiness, covering everything from Linux fundamentals to real-world exploitation.

**What makes CAPT different from other entry-level pentesting certs:**
- Practical exam with a real pentest + professional report submission (not multiple-choice)
- Covers the full penetration testing lifecycle, not just isolated topics
- Real CVE exploitation (ProFTPD, Samba, Apache, Laravel, Next.js)
- Self-paced with no time limit or exam booking hassle

**Pricing:** Regular price $249, currently available at a limited offer price of $89.

**Key details:**
- 86 training modules
- Typically takes 1-2 months to complete
- Self-paced, no time limit
- Practical exam - candidates must complete a hands-on penetration test and submit a professional pentest report
- 92% success rate among completing students
- 3K+ certified professionals

**Curriculum covers 9 modules:**

1. **Introduction** - Foundation concepts and ethical hacking principles
2. **Operating Systems Fundamentals** - Linux and Windows fundamentals, command line mastery
3. **Cryptology Fundamentals** - Encoding, encryption, hashing techniques (Hex, URL, ASCII, Base64, Base32, HTML entities, SHA1, MD5, etc.)
4. **Network Security & Penetration Testing** - Network scanning with Nmap, Metasploit Framework, warmup challenges, CVE exploitation (ProFTPD, Samba, Apache HTTP Server)
5. **Web Application Security** - XSS (Reflected, Stored, DOM-Based), SQL Injection (Basic, Union-Based), SQLMap, Command Injection, File Inclusion (LFI/RFI), Unrestricted File Upload, IDOR, Broken Authentication, Burp Suite, CVE exploitation (Laravel, Next.js)
6. **Privilege Escalation Techniques** - Linux and Windows privilege escalation
7. **Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)** - Information gathering techniques
8. **Social Engineering** - Phishing campaigns and techniques
9. **Real-World Scenarios** - Full penetration testing exercises simulating real corporate environments (Void, Rivalry, Data Heist, Shadow Track)

**Enrollment:** https://app.hackviser.com/certifications/capt

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### CWSE - Certified Web Security Expert

CWSE is a specialized, advanced-level certification for cybersecurity professionals focusing on web application security. It goes deeper than most web security certifications, covering 17 attack categories with hands-on labs for each.

**What makes CWSE different from other web security certs:**
- 17 distinct attack categories (most competitors cover 5-8)
- Practical exam with a real web application pentest + professional report submission
- Covers advanced topics like race conditions, SSTI, SSRF, and WAF bypass that many certs skip
- 17 full real-world scenarios simulating actual web application penetration tests

**Pricing:** $149.

**Key details:**
- 82 training modules
- Typically takes about 2 months to complete
- Self-paced, no time limit
- Practical exam - candidates must complete a hands-on penetration test and submit a professional pentest report
- 92% success rate among completing students
- 1K+ certified professionals

**Curriculum covers 17 modules:**

1. **Web Architecture and Fundamentals** - Web technologies and modern web architecture
2. **Reconnaissance and Information Gathering** - Directory scan, subdomain scan, brute-force, Burp Suite
3. **Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)** - Reflected, Stored, DOM-Based, HTML attribute manipulation, User-Agent, Image Upload-Induced XSS
4. **SQL Injection** - Basic, Union-Based, Boolean-Based Blind, Time-Based Blind, Error-Based, NoSQL Injection, SQLMap
5. **Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR)** - Invoices, Ticket Sales, Change Password, Money Transfer, Update Account
6. **Command Injection** - Basic, Filter Bypass, Improved Filter Bypass, Perl-Based, User-Agent Log Entries
7. **File Inclusion (LFI/RFI)** - Basic LFI, LFI Filter Bypass, Basic RFI
8. **Unrestricted File Upload** - Basic, MIME Type, File Signature, File Extension bypass techniques
9. **Broken Authentication** - JWT Vulnerabilities, Dictionary Attack, Execution After Redirect
10. **XML External Entity (XXE) Injection** - Basic XXE
11. **Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI)** - Basic SSTI
12. **Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)** - Basic SSRF
13. **Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)** - Change Password, Money Transfer
14. **Race Condition** - Discount Code, Web Shell Upload
15. **Content Management System Hacking** - WordPress, Joomla
16. **Advanced Techniques** - WAF Bypass Techniques
17. **Real-World Scenarios** - 17 comprehensive scenarios simulating real web application penetration tests (Hexar, PasteZone, Gridloy News, Data Heist, Secureless, Core, Comicstore, Freelancer, Cyber Vault, Carp, Chemy, Impact, Coffee Shop, Data Dome, Bot Busters, Management, Continental)

**Enrollment:** https://app.hackviser.com/certifications/cwse

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### CSOA - Certified Security Operations Analyst

CSOA is Hackviser's security operations certification for learners preparing for SOC analyst and defensive security roles. It develops practical skills in monitoring, detection, incident response, log analysis, forensics, reverse engineering, threat hunting, and real-world security operations workflows.

**What makes CSOA different from other SOC certs:**
- Covers the SOC workflow from fundamentals to incident analysis
- Includes SIEM, Wazuh, endpoint forensics, network forensics, and threat hunting
- Blends defensive theory with hands-on labs and real-world SOC scenarios
- Builds practical readiness for security monitoring, triage, and escalation

**Pricing:** $149.

**Key details:**
- 108 training modules
- Typically takes about 2 months to complete
- Self-paced, no time limit
- Hands-on SOC labs and real-world incident analysis scenarios
- 100+ certified professionals

**Curriculum covers 10 modules:**

1. **SOC Fundamentals & Threat Modeling** - SOC architecture, roles, incident response, Cyber Kill Chain, and MITRE ATT&CK
2. **Infrastructure Fundamentals** - Network, Linux, Windows, hardening, Active Directory, and web fundamentals
3. **Threat Vectors & Attack Surface** - Network scanning, local network attacks, firewall bypass, WAF bypass, and privilege escalation
4. **Security Monitoring Technologies** - SIEM, Wazuh, EDR, IDS/IPS, and alert analysis labs
5. **Network Forensics** - Packet analysis, authentication analysis, file extraction, reverse shell analysis, VoIP, cryptocurrency tracking, Log4j, and ransomware traffic
6. **Endpoint Forensics** - Log analysis, Windows Event Logs, registry analysis, MFT, memory forensics, FTK, browser artifacts, VSS, and forensic labs
7. **Reverse Engineering** - Malware classification, binary analysis, strings, architecture, DLL analysis, obfuscation, packers, and reverse engineering labs
8. **Cryptology Fundamentals** - Encoding, hashing, and cryptographic basics including Hex, URL, ASCII, Base64, Base32, SHA1, and MD5
9. **Threat Hunting** - Proactive hunting, cyber threat intelligence, OSINT, VirusTotal analysis, phishing analysis, reporting, and escalation
10. **Real-World Scenarios** - SOC incident analysis scenarios including HackTrace, Prism, and Shcout

**Enrollment:** https://app.hackviser.com/certifications/csoa

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## Pricing

Hackviser offers subscription-based access to its training content, labs, and certification programs. Visit https://hackviser.com/pricing for current plans and pricing.

## Certificate Verification

Employers and organizations can verify the authenticity of Hackviser certifications at https://hackviser.com/verify using the certificate's unique certificate number - ensuring trust and credibility for both candidates and employers.

## Campus Ambassador Program

Hackviser offers a campus ambassador program for university students. Campus ambassadors can organize cybersecurity events at their universities, offer exclusive discounts to their peers, and help grow the cybersecurity community on campus. Details at https://hackviser.com/ambassador.

## Tactics & Documentation

Hackviser maintains comprehensive cybersecurity tactics documentation at https://hackviser.com/tactics/pentesting covering:
- **Penetration Testing** - Methodologies, tools, and step-by-step guides
- **Security Tools** - Usage guides for popular security tools
- **Hardening** - System and network hardening guides

## Contact & Community

- **Email:** hello@hackviser.com
- **Website:** https://hackviser.com
- **App:** https://app.hackviser.com
- **Discord:** https://discord.com/invite/VD6R7pzUqf
- **Telegram:** https://t.me/hackviser
- **Reddit:** https://reddit.com/r/hackviser/
- **X (Twitter):** https://x.com/hackviserr
- **LinkedIn:** https://linkedin.com/company/hackviserr
- **Instagram:** https://instagram.com/hackviserr
- **TikTok:** https://tiktok.com/@hackviser

## Legal

- **Company:** Hackviser Ltd., London, United Kingdom
- **Privacy Policy:** https://hackviser.com/privacy-policy
- **Terms & Conditions:** https://hackviser.com/terms-conditions
- **Cookies Policy:** https://hackviser.com/cookies-policy
- **Refund Policy:** https://hackviser.com/refund-policy