The Art of the Attack: Advanced Phishing, Social Engineering, and Post-Exploitation

Move beyond basic phishing emails and dive into the sophisticated world of modern social engineering. This advanced, hands-on course is designed for cybersecurity professionals, penetration testers, and red team members who want to master the full attack chain—from initial manipulation to post-exploitation dominance.

You will not just learn theories; you will build and deploy real-world attacks in a controlled lab environment. We cover advanced techniques like crafting irresistible lures, weaponizing custom tools and scripts, bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA), and moving laterally through a network after a successful breach. This course provides the offensive skills necessary to truly understand and defend against today’s most pervasive threats.

 

What You Will Learn (Detailed Curriculum)

 

Module 1: The Psychology of Persuasion & Advanced Pretexting

• Learn the principles of influence (Cialdini’s 6 principles) and how to weaponize them.

• Master Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to build highly credible and personalized pretexts.

• Create detailed target dossiers using social media, company websites, and data breaches.

• Develop multi-channel engagement strategies (Email, SMS, Phone, Social Media).

Module 2: Weaponizing the Attack: Infrastructure & Tools

• Set up a professional-looking phishing infrastructure.

  • Acquiring and configuring domains that look legitimate (typosquatting, homoglyphs).

  • Setting up SMTP relays, bulletproof hosting, and redirectors to hide your true infrastructure.

• Master advanced phishing frameworks:

  • GoPhish: For large-scale, automated campaign management.

  • SET (Social-Engineer Toolkit): For creating complex attack vectors.

  • King Phisher: For highly customizable and realistic campaigns.

Module 3: Advanced Phishing Vector Creation

• Craft convincing clone attacks:

  • Perfect replicas of Microsoft 365, Google G-Suite, VPN portals, and internal corporate sites.

• Implement credential harvesting forms that bypass basic security checks.

• Build malicious document attacks:

  • Weaponizing Microsoft Office Macros.

  • DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) exploits.

  • Weaponized PDFs with embedded forms and JavaScript.

• Create template injection attacks (like MonikerLink) to pull in remote templates.

Module 4: Beyond Credentials: Session & Cookie Attacks

• Understand the critical role of session cookies in authentication.

• Deploy cookie-stealing payloads:

  • Crafting JavaScript payloads to capture cookies and exfiltrate them to a server you control.

• Perform Session Hijacking in real-time using stolen cookies.

• Utilize browser extension attacks to passively harvest sessions.

• Exploit vulnerabilities like Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) to steal session cookies from other users.

Module 5: Bypassing Modern Defenses (MFA & Email Security)

• Execute real-time MFA Fatigue attacks by spamming push notifications.

• Deploy Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) phishing kits that proxy traffic between the victim and the real service, capturing credentials and the session cookie after MFA is completed.

• Utilize tools like Evilginx2 or Muraena to set up sophisticated AiTM proxies.

• Learn techniques to evade secure email gateways (SEG) and email filters through obfuscation and encoding.

Module 6: The Human Interface: Vishing & Smishing

• Plan and execute effective Vishing (voice phishing) attacks.

  • Spoofing caller ID.

  • Creating a believable call center environment.

  • Using voice AI and deepfakes for advanced pretexting.

• Design convincing Smishing (SMS phishing) campaigns to deliver links or initiate two-factor conversations.

Module 7: Post-Exploitation Fundamentals

• Establish a foothold on a compromised machine.

• Learn basic payload delivery and execution using scripts and living-off-the-land binaries (LOLBAS).

• Introduction to Command and Control (C2) frameworks like Cobalt Strike or Sliver for managing compromised systems.

Module 8: Capstone Project: The Full Kill Chain

• Apply all learned skills in a comprehensive, scenario-based capstone.

• Task: From a single email address, you will OSINT a target, craft a personalized phishing email with a weaponized document, steal a session cookie, bypass MFA, establish a C2 beacon, and perform a simple lateral movement.

• Document your entire methodology from initial recon to final proof of compromise.