How to Hack Like a Ghost
Breaching the Cloud
A narrated, real-time breach of a fictional data-driven political consulting firm's AWS and Kubernetes environment, written by a working penetration tester who presents at Black Hat and DEF CON.
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- Authors
- Sparc Flow
- Published
- 2021
- Publisher
- No Starch Press
- Pages
- 264
- Language
- English
Read this if
Pentesters and red teamers who want cloud-specific tradecraft (AWS, Kubernetes, anonymous attacker infrastructure, OPSEC) delivered as a readable narrative rather than a reference manual. The target is fictional; the vulnerabilities it exploits are patterns seen in real cloud environments.
Skip this if
Readers wanting a structured, chapter-by-chapter reference they can jump around in; the book is a continuous narrative from recon to full compromise, better read start to finish than dipped into. Beginners with no cloud or Linux fundamentals will struggle to keep pace.
Key takeaways
- Treats attacker OPSEC and anonymous infrastructure as seriously as the exploitation itself, which most cloud-pentest material skips.
- Walks a complete, realistic AWS and Kubernetes attack chain end to end rather than isolated techniques.
- The narrative format keeps the tradecraft memorable in a way a reference manual rarely does — closer to Mr. Robot than to a lab manual.
Notes
Pairs naturally with this catalog's narrative-driven entries (Mr. Robot, Kingpin) for readers who learn best from story, and with Hacking Kubernetes or Container Security for the reference-manual depth this book intentionally trades away for pace. Part of Sparc Flow's wider "How to Hack Like a..." series.
What to read before
What to read before How to Hack Like a Ghost →Intermediate · 2011
A Bug Hunter's Diary
Tobias Klein walks through seven real vulnerabilities he found and exploited, in the form of personal lab notes, what he tried, what failed, and what eventually shipped to vendors.
Intermediate · 2021
Hacking Kubernetes
A threat-modeling tour of a Kubernetes cluster, component by component, that teaches you to harden defaults by first showing you how each one gets broken.
Intermediate · 2018
Pentesting Azure Applications
Matt Burrough on attacker behaviour against Azure tenants: identity, storage, VMs, key material handling, and the recon paths that work against real subscriptions.
What to read next
What to read after How to Hack Like a Ghost →Intermediate · 2011
A Bug Hunter's Diary
Tobias Klein walks through seven real vulnerabilities he found and exploited, in the form of personal lab notes, what he tried, what failed, and what eventually shipped to vendors.
Intermediate · 2021
Hacking Kubernetes
A threat-modeling tour of a Kubernetes cluster, component by component, that teaches you to harden defaults by first showing you how each one gets broken.
Intermediate · 2018
Pentesting Azure Applications
Matt Burrough on attacker behaviour against Azure tenants: identity, storage, VMs, key material handling, and the recon paths that work against real subscriptions.
Explore similar books
Alternatives to How to Hack Like a Ghost →Intermediate · 2021
Hacking Kubernetes
A threat-modeling tour of a Kubernetes cluster, component by component, that teaches you to harden defaults by first showing you how each one gets broken.
Intermediate · 2011
A Bug Hunter's Diary
Tobias Klein walks through seven real vulnerabilities he found and exploited, in the form of personal lab notes, what he tried, what failed, and what eventually shipped to vendors.
Intermediate · 2018
Pentesting Azure Applications
Matt Burrough on attacker behaviour against Azure tenants: identity, storage, VMs, key material handling, and the recon paths that work against real subscriptions.