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Ace Skills Consulting
CompTIA logoIntermediate

PT0-003: CompTIA PenTest+

Plan, perform and report professional penetration tests — and prepare for the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 exam in a hands-on lab.

  • 40 hours of live, lab-intensive training
  • Full test life cycle from scoping to reporting
  • Network, web, cloud and wireless attack labs
  • Mapped to the PT0-003 exam domains
  • Report writing practice for real engagements
Aligned to CompTIA exam PT0-003
Duration
5 Days | 40 Hrs
Next batch
Batches on request
Delivery
Live Online · Onsite · Corporate
Level
Intermediate
Exam
PT0-003
Language
English

Why learn PT0-003 with Ace Skills

  • Hands-on offensive skills

    Practise reconnaissance, exploitation and post-exploitation in a dedicated lab range.

  • The full engagement

    Learn scoping, rules of engagement and reporting, not just exploitation.

  • Ethics built in

    Every technique is taught with its legal and professional boundaries.

  • Vendor-neutral credential

    PenTest+ demonstrates practical testing skills across technologies.

Course overview

Penetration testers are hired to find weaknesses before attackers do, and to explain them clearly enough that they get fixed. That requires more than running tools: a good tester plans within legal and contractual limits, works methodically, chooses techniques carefully and writes reports that business and technical readers can act on. This five-day course covers that complete life cycle.

Day one covers engagement management: scoping, rules of engagement, legal and ethical considerations, testing frameworks and collaboration with the client. Day two focuses on reconnaissance and enumeration, using open-source intelligence, active scanning and service enumeration to map an attack surface. Day three addresses vulnerability discovery and analysis across networks, applications and cloud environments, including validating findings and avoiding false positives.

Day four is about attacks and exploits: network attacks, authentication and credential attacks, web application attacks, cloud and container attacks, wireless and social engineering techniques. Day five covers post-exploitation and lateral movement — persistence, privilege escalation, pivoting and clean-up — then finishes with writing a professional report and an exam-readiness session.

All practical work takes place in an isolated lab built for the course. You will only practise against systems you are authorised to test, and ethics are discussed throughout. This course is aligned to the PT0-003 exam and prepares you for it; confirm the current version on the CompTIA website before booking.

Key features

  • Isolated lab range for safe, legal practice
  • Complete engagement from scoping to report
  • Network, web, cloud and wireless attack exercises
  • Privilege escalation and lateral movement labs
  • Professional report writing workshop
  • Performance-based question practice
  • Course completion certificate from Ace Skills Consulting

Who should attend

  • Aspiring penetration testers
  • Security analysts moving into offensive security
  • Vulnerability assessment professionals
  • Network and system administrators interested in attack techniques

Prerequisites

  • Security+ or Network+ level knowledge
  • Comfortable with Linux and Windows command lines
  • Basic scripting knowledge (Bash or Python) helps

Curriculum

5 Days · 40 Hours · 14 Modules · 8 Labs

  1. Planning and scoping

    • Scope, objectives and constraints
    • Rules of engagement
    • Legal and contractual documents
    • Testing frameworks and methodologies

    Professional conduct

    • Ethics and responsible disclosure
    • Collaboration and communication
    • Handling sensitive data during a test

    Lab orientation

    • Kali Linux tooling overview
    • Lab network and targets
    • Note-taking and evidence management
    • Lab: Prepare a scoping document and rules of engagement for a sample client · 45 min

  2. Passive reconnaissance

    • Open-source intelligence
    • DNS and certificate transparency
    • Public code and data leaks
    • Lab: Gather OSINT on a fictional organisation · 40 min

    Active scanning and enumeration

    • Host discovery and port scanning
    • Service and version detection
    • SMB, LDAP and SNMP enumeration
    • Scripting reconnaissance
    • Lab: Map the lab network with Nmap and enumerate services · 60 min

  3. Discovery techniques

    • Vulnerability scanners
    • Web application scanning
    • Cloud and container misconfiguration checks
    • Lab: Scan the lab range and validate findings · 50 min

    Analysing results

    • Separating true and false positives
    • Prioritising targets
    • Choosing exploitation paths

    Physical and social vectors

    • Physical security assessment
    • Social engineering techniques
    • Phishing campaign design

  4. Network and authentication attacks

    • Exploiting vulnerable services
    • Credential attacks and password cracking
    • Man-in-the-middle techniques
    • Active Directory attacks
    • Lab: Exploit a vulnerable service and crack captured hashes · 60 min

    Application attacks

    • Injection attacks
    • Authentication and session flaws
    • Server-side request forgery
    • API testing
    • Lab: Exploit common web vulnerabilities with Burp Suite · 60 min

    Cloud, wireless and specialised systems

    • Cloud identity and storage attacks
    • Wireless attacks
    • IoT and mobile considerations

  5. Post-exploitation and lateral movement

    • Privilege escalation on Windows and Linux
    • Persistence techniques
    • Pivoting and lateral movement
    • Clean-up and restoring systems
    • Lab: Escalate privileges and pivot to a second network · 60 min

    Reporting

    • Report structure and executive summary
    • Writing findings and remediation advice
    • Debriefing the client
    • Lab: Write the final report for the lab engagement · 40 min

    Exam readiness

    • Performance-based question strategy
    • Practice test and review
Download full syllabus (PDF)

Skills you will gain

  • Penetration testing
  • Scoping and rules of engagement
  • OSINT
  • Network enumeration
  • Vulnerability analysis
  • Exploitation
  • Web application testing
  • Active Directory attacks
  • Privilege escalation
  • Lateral movement
  • Report writing

Tools & technologies

  • Kali Linux
  • Nmap
  • Metasploit
  • Burp Suite
  • Hashcat
  • John the Ripper
  • Wireshark
  • Responder
  • Impacket

Certification exam

Exam details
Exam nameCompTIA PenTest+
Exam codePT0-003
Number of questionsMaximum 90
Duration165 minutes
Passing score750 (on a scale of 100–900)
Voucher includedNo — book directly with the vendor
Question formatMultiple choice, Multiple response, Performance-based lab
DeliveryOnline proctored or Test centre
Validity & renewal3 years (renewable through CompTIA continuing education)

Skill areas measured

  1. Engagement Management
  2. Reconnaissance and Enumeration
  3. Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis
  4. Attacks and Exploits
  5. Post-exploitation and Lateral Movement

Exam details are pending verification. Vendors change exams; confirm on the official vendor page before booking. Official exam page (opens in a new tab)

Schedule & Pricing

Live Online

Individual

Price on request

  • 40 hours of live, trainer-led sessions
  • 8 hands-on labs
  • Ace Skills course completion certificate

Onsite

At your office or our centre

Pricing depends on location, group size and dates.

  • Delivered at your premises or an Ace centre
  • Same curriculum and labs as live online
  • Dates planned around your team

Corporate / Team

Private batch for your organisation

A private batch with content adapted to your environment and goals.

  • Customised curriculum
  • Private batch, online or onsite
  • Progress and assessment reports
  • GST invoice and PO-based billing

No public batches scheduled — Talk to an Advisor for a private batch.

Projects & labs you will build

  • Day 2 · 60 min

    Map the lab network with Nmap and enumerate services

  • Day 4 · 60 min

    Exploit common web vulnerabilities with Burp Suite

Your certificate

Certificate of Completion — Ace Skills Consulting

Awarded on completing the course. It records the course title and training hours, and you can share it on your LinkedIn profile.

The CompTIA certification itself is awarded by CompTIA when you pass exam PT0-003.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to practise these techniques?

Only on systems you are authorised to test. All course practice happens in an isolated lab, and we cover the legal boundaries in detail.

How does PenTest+ compare with CEH?

Both cover offensive security. PenTest+ places more weight on the full engagement, including scoping and reporting, and uses performance-based questions.

Do I need programming skills?

Basic scripting helps, but it is not required. The course explains the scripts used in labs.

Can I practise after the course?

Yes. We share guidance on legal practice platforms and lab setups you can build at home.

Is PT0-003 the current version?

The course is mapped to PT0-003. Confirm the current exam version on the CompTIA website before booking.

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Train your team on PT0-003

Private batches online or at your office in India and the GCC, with a curriculum adapted to your environment.