Tabla de contenidos para January 2026 en Hackercool Magazine

Pentesting Has Changed, Quietly For years, ethical hacking meant scanning IP ranges, exploiting servers and popping shells on on-premises systems. That world still exists but it’s no longer where most real attacks are beginning now. Today, most organizations run on cloud platforms. Identities are replacing IP addresses. APIs are replacing open ports and Misconfigurations are replacing exploits. So, traditional pentesting is itself not enough. The need of the time is Cloud pentesting. For beginners entering ethical hacking or red teaming, understanding the difference between traditional pentesting and cloud pentesting is critical. Treating cloud environments like on-prem networks is one of the fastest ways to miss real risks. In this article feature of our latest Issue, we explain to you both approaches in simple terms, highlight the key differences between them…

Red Teaming Is No Longer Just “Hacking” In the early days, red teamers were often seen as elite hackers who lived in terminals and exploited obscure bugs. As we are in year 2026, that image has become outdated. Modern red teaming is about: • Simulating real-world attackers • Testing detection and response • Understanding identity, cloud and human behavior • Working closely with blue and purple teams If you are a beginner, this is good news. You no longer need to be a zero-day wizard to build a red team career. You need strong fundamentals, structured thinking and ethical discipline. In this guide, we will explain you: • What red teamers actually do in 2026 • The different roles you can grow into as a red teamer • The skills…

Why Tools Matter and Why Beginners Often Learn the Wrong Ones Red teaming isn’t just about collecting tools. It’s about understanding attacker behavior and using the right tools to simulate it safely and responsibly. In 2026, real-world attackers rely less on exotic zero-days and more on: • Misconfigurations • Identity abuse • Automation • Living-off-the-land techniques • Cloud and hybrid environments Open-source tools remain the backbone of red team operations because they are: • Transparent • Community-vetted • Widely used in real engagements • Ideal for learning fundamentals In this article, we highlight the most important open-source red team tools beginners should learn in 2026, grouped by what they teach you, not just what they do. So, let’s begin. 1. Nmap: Still the Foundation of Reconnaissance If red teaming has…

Why BloodHound Is Our Tool of the Month If you ask beginners what “hacking” looks like, they often imagine something like this. • Exploiting a vulnerable server • Running payloads • Popping shells But when you look at real-world breaches, a different picture emerges. Most successful attacks today don’t begin with exploits. They begin with identity abuse. That’s the reason why BloodHound is our Tool of the Month for January 2026. Not because it is flashy. Not because it is “powerful.” But because it teaches how attackers actually think. What BloodHound Really Does (In Simple Terms) If you are a novice and have no idea what Bloodhound does, let me give you its proper introduction. BloodHound does not: • Crack passwords • Exploit vulnerabilities • Drop malware Instead, it answers…

Hackers Are No Longer Knocking on the Front Door For years, attackers focused on endpoint devices like laptops, desktops, servers and applications. In 2025, that focus shifted outward, to the edge. Edge devices are those devices that sit at the boundary between internal networks and the internet. They include routers, firewalls, VPN gateways, load balancers and remote-access appliances. These devices are designed to protect networks but when misconfigured, they become silent yet powerful entry points. For beginner red teamers and pen testers, this trend is critical. Many modern breaches don’t start with phishing or malware anymore. They start with an exposed management interface, a forgotten admin account or a default configuration on an edge device. In this feature of our latest Issue, we explain why edge devices are being targeted,…

MITRE ATT&CK Is Not Just for Blue Teams If you’re new to red teaming, chances are you’ve heard of MITRE ATT&-CK framework and immediately you felt overwhelmed. Why not? It has hundreds of techniques, endless tables, strange IDs like T-1059 or T1027. For many beginners, ATT&CK framework feels like a documentation problem, not a hacking tool. You are not wrong for feeling so but here’s the truth: MITRE ATT&CK framework is one of the most practical frameworks a red teamer can use, if you approach it the right way. In this article made for beginners, we strip away the complexity of MITRE ATT&CK Framework and show you how beginners can use it to: • Plan realistic attacks • Understand attacker behavior • Avoid random “tool running” • Write better reports…

Why This Skill Matters (Read This First) If you want to learn one skill this month, make it “Identity & Access fundamentals.” Let me tell you why? In 2026, most real-world breaches do not begin with: • Zero-day exploits • Advanced malware or • Fancy hacking tools They will begin with: • Stolen credentials • Over-privileged accounts • Weak access controls • Misconfigured identity systems In simple words, attackers will not break in. They will log in. What “Identity & Access” Means (In Plain English) That’s all good but what exactly does “Identity & Access” mean. Let me explain. Identity answers a simple question: Who are you? Examples: • User accounts • Service accounts • Admin accounts • Cloud roles “Active Directory attacks are about abusing trust relationships and permissions,…