About the Author
Rob Shimonski (www.shimonski.com) is an experienced entrepreneur and an active participant in the business community. Rob is a bestselling author and editor with over 25 years’ experience developing, producing, and distributing print media in the form of books, magazines, and periodicals. To date, Rob has successfully contributed to over 100 books that are currently in circulation. Rob has written over 25 of those books specializing on security covering intricate topics such as penetration testing, incident handling, cyberwarfare, and the deployment of advanced network and security tools and technologies. Rob has worked for many large-scale global companies including the US Military, Microsoft, Cisco, the National Security Agency (NSA), and Northwell Health. Rob also served as a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
As a leader, technologist, security practitioner, penetration tester, incident responder/handler and network architect, Rob has led numerous efforts to architect, design, strategize, and implement enterprise solutions that must be and remain secure. Working for government, military, health, and technology entities has shown Rob not only the importance of responding to protecting assets, testing for and finding issues as well as handling critical incidents, but what is at risk. Rob has spent over two decades taking what he has learned in real-world scenarios and teach others through his published books, videos, and articles.
Rob is also a well-known expert in the analysis of protocols with tools such as Wireshark and has written multiple books on protocol analysis, capture, and decoding. As a technology, crisis, and security expert, Rob has helped companies find weaknesses and how to secure them correctly, respond to incidents, and be proactive in monitoring for them as well as preventing and stopping them.
One of the more interesting contracts Rob has taken as a penetration tester (and able to disclose) is when he was featured in Men’s Health Magazine having been hired by the parent company to infiltrate and exfiltrate the corporate network and remain undetected (https://www.menshealth.com/technology-gear/a19528048/protect-yourself-online/).
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Dylan and Vienna. Watching you grow and being a part of your life has forever defined mine. I love being your Dad. Love always and forever.
Acknowledgements
Writing a book is a team sport. Unless you have embarked on a project of this magnitude, it’s hard to put into words how 8-10 months fly by and how many people are involved in that year to make a book even better than you imagined it. Having been officially writing books since 1998 (my first), I cannot believe it’s now 2020 and to look back at all of the connections I have made, the friends, family, and partnerships… it’s truly amazing.
I can’t thank the team who helped me put Penetration Testing For Dummies together enough for their belief, support, guidance, and efforts throughout the process.
Nicole, Rebecca, Katie, Ashley, and Teddy — thank you for helping me make a better book. I am grateful. The team assembled to write a Dummies book is by far some of the best in the business! Thank you for the opportunity to shine.
I also want to thank all those who have mentored me, worked with me, spent time either leading me or being led by me. It truly is gratifying to have come across the paths of so many great people in my time in business and IT. An extra special thank you to those at Northwell who have believed in my abilities and to all those who I have had the honor and privilege to work with.
Lastly (and most importantly), thank you to my family. Without you, I would not have the support needed to write a book in my free time (if there is such a thing) and be supportive and motivating me when things conflicted and time was tough to come by. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Executive Editor: Lindsay Lefevere
Development Editor: Rebecca Senninger
Technical Editor: Teddy Guzek
Production Editor: Mohammed Zafar Ali
Cover Image: © bygermina/Shutterstock