Karl Fosaaen and David Okeyode are the authors of Penetration Testing Azure for Ethical Hackers, we got the chance to sit down with Karl and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Karl: Azure Security
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Karl: I was brought on as a co-author to write with David on the Azure Pentesting book. David and I had previously connected through some Azure security communities and he invited me to work with him on the book.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Karl: Through my current job, I have mainly been doing Azure security research for the last 5+ years, so most of that research was condensed into content for the book.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Karl: I think our biggest challenge writing the book was dealing with multiple time zones. Between the authors having US and UK time zones, and the editing team being in India, we had a fair number of “send an email, wait a day” type issues with communications.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Karl: I really enjoy working with Azure security research topics and I see these topics being more important in the future. With everything moving to the cloud, these topics will continue to grow in importance over time.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Karl: There are not many books that currently cover penetration testing in Azure cloud environments. Given the day-to-day work and research experience that David and I bring to this book, we hope that it sets our content apart from the existing books on the market.
Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?
Karl: It is easy to misconfigure services and resources in the cloud. This book should give readers a solid understanding of how the can exploit these common misconfigurations in the context of an (authorized) Azure penetration test.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Karl: Follow the lab exercises in the book to gain a better “hands on the keyboard” experience. Additionally, make use of the free trials offered by Microsoft. It’s a great way to learn the platform.
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Karl: https://www.netspi.com/blog/technical/
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Karl: Make your initial outline as detailed as possible. It will help prevent structural problems as you progress in your writing.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share
Karl: Twitter – @kfosaaen
You can find Karl’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
