Total System Compromise (TSC) takes participants with no or little previous offensive security (hacking) skills and turns them into competent ethical hackers to target networks, web applications, software packages, and end users. The course focuses on the proper use of tools and techniques that provide the student with a comprehensive overview of offensive security. The class make no assumption of prior knowledge but moves quickly from the proper use of fundamental tools to advanced hacking techniques including fuzzing, shellcode creation, and manual exploitation through discovery and weaponization of buffer overflows.

TSC teaches current hacking techniques through a series of intense hands-on exercises, group discussions, tool exploration, and guided walk-throughs. The class covers modern attacks for both network and web systems. Given the "zero entry" starting point and amount of material covered, TSC can be taken as a comprehensive stand-alone course or utilized as a solid foundation for any advanced security training.

TSC utilizes a structured approach to assessing the security by employing a three phase, tool-driven methodology composed of: 1) Information Gathering; 2) Scanning; and 3) Exploitation. Each phase will include best practices and detailed instructions covering the seminal tools required to complete the attack. Utilizing this methodology to explore both network and web-based attacks students are armed with the knowledge required for Total System Compromise.