Top Cybersecurity books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteCybersecurity books – and here are the answers.

  • Curated by industry experts
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Top Cybersecurity books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of Cybersecurity

Understanding the concepts of Cybersecurity starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking

Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking

Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking reveals the craftier side of the hacker's repertoire—why hack into something when you could just ask for access? Undetectable by firewalls and antivirus software, social engineering relies on human fault to gain access to sensitive spaces; in this…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Eat Sleep Cyber Security Repeat: Cyber Security Analyst Notebook

Eat Sleep Cyber Security Repeat: Cyber Security Analyst Notebook

This lined notebook makes a funny cyber security gift for cyber security analyst.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking

Penetration Testing: A Hands-On Introduction to Hacking

In Penetration Testing, security expert, researcher, and trainer Georgia Weidman introduces you to the core skills and techniques that every pentester needs. Using a virtual machine–based lab that includes Kali Linux and vulnerable operating systems, you’ll run through a series of practical less…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Hacker Playbook 3: Practical Guide to Penetration Testing

The Hacker Playbook 3: Practical Guide to Penetration Testing

THP3 will take your offensive hacking skills, thought processes, and attack paths to the next level. This book focuses on real-world campaigns and attacks, exposing you to different initial entry points, exploitation, custom malware, persistence, and lateral movement--all without getting caught!…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Cyber Wars: Hacks that Shocked the Business World

Cyber Wars: Hacks that Shocked the Business World

Cyber Wars gives you the dramatic inside stories of some of the world's biggest cyber attacks. These are the game changing hacks that make organizations around the world tremble and leaders stop and consider just how safe they really are.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide with over 500 Practice Test Questions: Exam SY0-701 (9th Edition)

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide with over 500 Practice Test Questions: Exam SY0-701 (9th Edition)

In the newly revised ninth edition of CompTIA Security+ Study Guide: Exam SY0-701, veteran cybersecurity professionals and educators Mike Chapple and David Seidl deliver easy-to-follow coverage of the security fundamentals tested by the challenging CompTIA SY0-701 exam. You'll explore general se…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Cybersecurity Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Cybersecurity, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Broken Money: Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better

Broken Money: Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better

Broken Money explores the history of money through the lens of technology. Politics can affect things temporarily and locally, but technology is what drives things forward globally and permanently.
The book's goal is for the listener to walk away with a deep understanding of money and monetar…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever

Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever

The inside story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever, in which the FBI made its own tech start-up to wiretap the world, shows how cunning both the authorities and drug traffickers have become, with privacy implications for everyone.
In 2018, a powerful app for secure communica…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

A top cybersecurity journalist tells the story behind the virus that sabotaged Iran's nuclear efforts and shows how its existence has ushered in a new age of warfare—one in which a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Finding and Exploiting Security Flaws

The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Finding and Exploiting Security Flaws

The highly successful security book returns with a new edition, completely updated. Web applications are the front door to most organizations, exposing them to attacks that may disclose personal information, execute fraudulent transactions, or compromise ordinary users. This practical book has b…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters

Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters

In Black Hat Python, the latest from Justin Seitz (author of the best-selling Gray Hat Python), you'll explore the darker side of Python's capabilities—writing network sniffers, manipulating packets, infecting virtual machines, creating stealthy trojans, and more.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

How Cybersecurity Really Works: A Hands-On Guide for Total Beginners

How Cybersecurity Really Works: A Hands-On Guide for Total Beginners

How Cybersecurity Really Works is an engaging introduction to the field of cybersecurity. You'll learn how attackers operate, as well as how to defend yourself and organizations against online attacks

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Specializations and Deeper Cybersecurity Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Cybersecurity is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Advanced Penetration Testing: Hacking the World's Most Secure Networks

Advanced Penetration Testing: Hacking the World's Most Secure Networks

Featuring techniques not taught in any certification prep or covered by common defensive scanners, this book integrates social engineering, programming, and vulnerability exploits into a multidisciplinary approach for targeting and compromising high security environments.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Cybersecurity Incident Management: Master Guide

Cybersecurity Incident Management: Master Guide

Successfully responding to modern cybersecurity threats requires a well-planned, organized, and tested incident management program based on a formal incident management framework. It must be comprised of technical and non-technical requirements and planning for all aspects of people, process, an…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan: Proven Techniques and Effective Tips to Help You Advance in Your Cybersecurity Career

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan: Proven Techniques and Effective Tips to Help You Advance in Your Cybersecurity Career

The book starts by helping you gain a foundational understanding of cybersecurity, covering cyber law, cyber policy, and frameworks. Next, you'll focus on how to choose the career field best suited to you from options such as security operations, penetration testing, and risk analysis.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The CERT Guide to Insider Threats: How to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Information Technology Crimes (theft, Sabotage, Fraud)

The CERT Guide to Insider Threats: How to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Information Technology Crimes (theft, Sabotage, Fraud)

Since 2001, the CERT® Insider Threat Center at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has collected and analyzed information about more than seven hundred insider cyber crimes, ranging from national security espionage to theft of trade secrets. The CERT® Guide to Insid…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) Cert Guide

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) Cert Guide

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CSA+) Cert Guide is a best-of-breed exam study guide. Expert technology instructor and certification author Troy McMillan shares preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on s…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan: Proven techniques and effective tips to help you advance in your cybersecurity career

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan: Proven techniques and effective tips to help you advance in your cybersecurity career

Cybersecurity is an emerging career trend and will continue to become increasingly important. Despite the lucrative pay and significant career growth opportunities, many people are unsure of how to get started. This book is designed by leading industry experts to help you enter the world of cybe…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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