// Comparison

Linux Basics for Hackers vs Sécurité informatique - Ethical Hacking: Which Should You Read?

Two cybersecurity books on Pentesting, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.

Beginner

4/52025

Linux Basics for Hackers

Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali

OccupyTheWeb

OccupyTheWeb's introduction to Linux from the angle that hackers and pentesters actually need it: shells, networking, scripting, and Kali tooling.

Intermediate

4/52022

Sécurité informatique - Ethical Hacking

Apprendre l'attaque pour mieux se défendre

ACISSI

The French-language reference for offensive security: a thick, lab-heavy tour of the attacker's toolkit, maintained across editions by the ACISSI collective under the motto “learn the attack to better defend.”

Read this if

Beginners with no Linux background who need just enough fluency to follow security tutorials, run security tools, and not get lost. Required prerequisite for most pentest, OSCP, and CTF starting paths.

French-speaking students and aspiring pentesters who want one comprehensive offensive-security manual: reconnaissance, network and web attacks, social engineering, forensics and Metasploit, all hands-on. The closest French equivalent to the English pentest canon.

Skip this if

Anyone who already uses Linux daily. The book is intentionally introductory; experienced users will find every chapter familiar.

Advanced practitioners who already work in English and live in PortSwigger Academy and current tooling. The breadth means each topic is an introduction rather than a deep dive, and editions lag the fastest-moving tradecraft.

Key takeaways

Linux fluency for security work is a small, finite skill: shell, file ops, services, networking commands, basic scripting. The book covers exactly that and nothing more.
Type every command. The book is muscle-memory training disguised as a reference; passive reading wastes the time.
Kali is a defaults-and-tooling distro, not a different OS; understanding base Linux means you'll never be confused when the tool isn't pre-installed.

The single most complete offensive-security book in French — breadth is the selling point, covering recon through forensics in one volume.
Every chapter is exercise-driven; treated as a workbook with a lab VM it teaches well, read passively it teaches little.
Multi-author and re-edited regularly, so quality is uneven chapter to chapter but currency beats most French tech books.

How they compare

Linux Basics for Hackers and Sécurité informatique - Ethical Hacking are both rated 4/5 in our catalog. Pick by topic preference and reading style rather than by rating.

Linux Basics for Hackers is pitched at beginner level. Sécurité informatique - Ethical Hacking is pitched at intermediate level. Read the easier one first if you're not yet comfortable with the topic.

Linux Basics for Hackers and Sécurité informatique - Ethical Hacking both cover Pentesting, Foundations, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.

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