Linux Command Line for Hackers — grep, curl, jq, sed & awk for Recon (2026)
You already have the fastest recon weapon there is — the terminal. Most beginners avoid it; that's a mistake. This is Episode 13 of the Web Penetration Testing series (Module 2: Core Tooling Mastery), and it's the handful of Linux commands that do 90% of the work, plus the one trick that makes them 10× more powerful together.
You'll see every command run in a real terminal on screen.
🧠 What you'll learn:
• The basics — ls, cd, cat, and man (30 seconds, just enough)
• grep — search & filter text: -i, -r, -v, -o, and -P for full regex
• grep for recon — pull every URL, email & hidden endpoint out of files
• curl — web requests from the terminal: -I headers, -L, -s -o, -X POST -d -H
• jq — parse JSON API responses and carve out exactly the field you want
• sed & awk — find-and-replace and grab columns
• Pipes (|) — chain small sharp tools into one assembly line
• Copy-paste recon one-liners worth stealing
⚖️ For AUTHORIZED testing only — your own systems or targets you have written permission to test.
🔔 Subscribe for the full 100-episode roadmap from beginner to advanced.
▶️ NEXT: Proxying everything — routing mobile apps, thick clients & API tools through Burp.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro — the fastest recon weapon
0:21 The basics — ls, cd, cat, man
0:51 grep — search & filter
1:24 grep for recon — URLs, emails, endpoints
1:54 curl — requests from the terminal
2:29 jq — carve up JSON
3:04 sed & awk — transform text
3:36 Pipes — the assembly line
4:07 Recon one-liners to steal
4:32 Four pro tips
5:00 Why this matters
5:26 Recap — your starter kit
5:45 What's next — Episode 14
#Linux #CommandLine #BugBounty #EthicalHacking #WebPentesting #grep #curl #jq #CyberSecurity #AshketchumSecurity
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