In the first few pages they state "This course throws you into the deep end - very quickly" and they are not kidding. By the end of the first day I was writing shell scripts to automate tasks and by the end of the week I was writing them in Python. I'm not a programmer so this was a steep learning curve for me but what a feeling when that script runs and gives the intended result. The course does not spoon feed you the answers either like some other courses I've been on in the past so you really do have to engage brain.
So far I've been focusing on Information Gathering techniques (with the likes of Google Hacking, Whois/DNS, SNMP and SMTP Reconnaissance) and Port Scanning (mostly with Nmap). I couldn't believe how much information is out there and how much you can find out about an organisation before you even 'touch' their network. They recommend Johnny Long's "Google Hacking for Penetration Testers" for further information but the latest version is four years old now If anyone comment on whether this is still relevant or if there is something more recent that would be appreciated.
I'm only a week in but I would thoroughly recommend this course. It has definitely given me the shot in the arm I was looking for and I have learnt so much more (and more quickly) than if I had tried to do it purely "self taught". The course is a mix of lab guide and videos and while there are some inconsistencies between the two and the occasional inaccuracy (one section in both the guide and the video describes a tool called goog-mail.py which is no longer present in Backtrack, I had to download it from another site) it is not enough to hold you up for very long.
I am glad I opted for the 60 days of lab time as well. I suppose it depends on how much free time a person has but for me I don't get that much time in the evenings so I will need to spread it out and there is a LOT more to learn.
One thing I would definitely recommend is getting the lab guide printed out and bound before you start. It comes in PDF format and it is 300+ pages but I found it so much easier to read when it was printed out on a couple of trees. Sorry mother nature!
