Learn Penetration Testing

Now, I'm learning penetration testing by myself. I have read some books, but I found most of them are talking in very basic level - which is target to the very beginning learner or tools user. The most recent one is /Kali Linux Network Scanning Cookbook/, but I found it is just like the manual of a bundle of handy tools, and the example code is ugly to be honest. What I need is: 1. Best practise for testing purpose - what a tester does in the real development environment? 2. Theory - the deeper things behind the defensive security. What will you recommend, lainons? Thanks.

>1. Best practise for testing purpose - what a tester does in the real development environment? You may be interested in reading through some of the penetration testing methodologies and technical guides. Also, you might also want to start hitting up local groups and getting in tough with experienced red teamers. http://www.pentest-standard.org/index.php/PTES_Technical_Guidelines

>Best practice for testing purposes CTF's are helpful, they aren't necessarily all realistic but they help you learn the tools and methodologies that can be adapted to real situations. Tinkering around with virtual machines and networks is also a very good way of learning how to penetrate different machines under different scenarios. >Theory Consume everything; watch security lectures, keep with up with security news, read lots of manuals and textbooks, even if you think its too basic there will usually be at least some interesting information to be garnered from them and try not to spread yourself too thin, study a specific topic at a time. Talk to other pentesters and hackers, get involved in the various communities, find out if theres a hacker space near you and hit it up. Also take the time to learn not just how to use a tool but how a tool works on a programming level, that will help you learn to engineer your own tools which will teach you a lot about theory.