How To: Here's Why You Need to Add Python to Your Hacking & Programming Arsenal

Choosing which programming language to learn next can be a truly daunting task. That's the case regardless of whether you're a Null Byter just beginning a career in development and cybersecurity or you're a seasoned ethical hacking and penetration tester with years of extensive coding experience under your belt. On that note, we recommend Python for anyone who hasn't mastered it yet.

Languages like Python are so universal and versatile that they've become essential tools for anyone serious about development and ethical hacking. Python, specifically, is a multipurpose language that allows you to work faster, integrate multiple systems more efficiently, bypass multilayered antivirus software in seconds, and create white-hat hacking tools, to name just a few things.

There are countless reasons why Python has stood the test of time and earned its reputation as a language that's both incredibly powerful and relatively simple to use for hackers and developers of varying levels of experience. And if you haven't already learned Python, which has been around since 1991 (and is one of Null Byte's favorites), you need to stop dragging your feet and get down to business.

Why Learn Python?

First, Python is arguably one of the most relied-upon programming tools when it comes to working in a variety of subsets of data science and cybersecurity. And data science is a field that's only going to grow as the world becomes far more dependent on data-driven tools and machine learning applications that require in-depth, large-scale analysis.

So if you're even remotely interested in landing a high-paying career for a major company that's at the forefront of AI and machine learning, you'll need to have a thorough understanding of Python and its multiple applications in the field.

Second, Python is remarkably simple to use, given what it can do, and you won't need to waste precious time wading through lines of code to see real results in your projects. As any successful white hat hacker will tell you, expediting your build process and being able to troubleshoot issues quickly is essential, and there's a massive community of Python users who can help you do just that. You'll also benefit from a wide range of resources that will help you jumpstart your projects, ranging from pre-made scripts and templates to image maps and data libraries.

Third, adding Python to your hacking toolkit is one of the best ways you can guarantee yourself higher salaries, regardless of whether you're working to safeguard networks and servers in the public or private sector. Python engineers and developers report some of the highest wages in the industry — with the average Python coder bringing in over $118,000 per year — and demand for these tech-savvy coding pros is only going to grow as world networks become more vulnerable and more reliant on data-heavy tech.

Fourth, Python is one of the most reputable tools in the overarching world of cybersecurity and digital forensics, thanks to both its intuitive layout and adaptability when it comes to working with a range of firewalls and security platforms. That means that if you're interested in either beginning or furthering a serious career in IT security and its countless subcategories, you'll need to demonstrate a solid understanding of Python and how it can help safeguard complex networks.

Finally, whether you're a total newbie or already an established white-hat hacker with experience building your own hacking tools and apps, you'd be hard-pressed to find a programming language that's more suitable for this type of work than Python. Thanks to its unique combination of power and simplicity, Python is the go-to language for working with and customizing essential hacking apps.

FinalRecon, ReconT, Photon Scanner, One-Lin3r, Scapy, and WebTech, as well as essential reconnaissance tools such as Sherlock and Dirsearch — tools we've covered here on Null Byte — all use Python as part of their primary infrastructure.

You could even build a custom brute-force tool for hashes with the right know-how. And you could write your own scripts and commands to do things like use Shodan more efficiently, bypass antivirus software, take control of IoT devices or peripherals, upgrade dumb shells, and exploit other vulnerabilities.

Where Do You Learn Python?

Frequent or even casual Null Byte readers will doubtlessly be at least somewhat familiar with the basic idea of Python already. Null Byte has plenty of helpful tutorials that can help you either get started with the language or build on a preexisting skillset.

But if you want to take your development skills and hacking career to the next level, you're going to need to invest in an education that teaches you about the more advanced and esoteric elements of this incredibly versatile language, and the Complete 2020 Python Programming Certification Bundle will get you to where you need to be for just $49.99 — a tiny fraction of what you'd pay for a more traditional in-class course that covers fewer topics.

Unlike most online Python courses that only offer either a basic introduction to the language or hand-picked modules that cover specific applications, this comprehensive bundle comes with 12 courses and over 1,000 lessons that will leave you with a thorough understanding of everything Python has to offer — regardless of your previous experience with programming, app development, or hacking.

This bundle is also unique in that it teaches you what you need to know through lessons that show you how to build and dismantle real-world apps and websites — a far more beneficial and powerful way to learn a new programming language than merely reading and memorizing lines of code.

If you've never written a line of Python in your life, start with the introductory course, which will familiarize you with the basic elements and jargon of Python while showing you how to work with strings, manipulate variables, perform basic mathematical operations, and more.

By the time you've completed your introductory courses, you'll have learned how to build essential apps that can complete simple computations and commands, and you'll also have a powerful grasp on the essentials of several automation parameters that will save you countless hours by streamlining your workflow in the future.

With the basics of the language and several go-to coding environments under your belt, you'll be ready to move on to more advanced topics that will allow you to start building your very own programs and penetration testing parameters from scratch, including large-scale data analysis, matrices of numbers, pandas, and robust data visualization techniques.

This bundle also comes packed with lessons that focus exclusively on the multiple ways in which Python is being used outside of ethical hacking at the forefront of data science, AI, and machine learning — three interconnected fields that are behind some of the world's most exciting and important innovations. You'll learn how to work within Keras (Google's powerful Deep Learning framework that's written entirely in Python) to implement techniques that allow you to gain important insights from massive data sets, and a separate module on neural networks will get you up to speed with how Python can be used to build endlessly powerful algorithms in any environment.

Begin or further a high-paying career that combines mainstream development with white-hat hacking by grabbing the Complete 2020 Python Programming Certification Bundle while it's available for just $49.99 — over 95% off its usual price of $2,385 right now.