Who doesn’t love a good budget hack, especially when it involves cookies ... They are cookies that I made entirely from Dollar Tree ingredients, and I just put them in a Crumbl box.” This content creator has previously gained attention on the platform ...

She Recreated the Famous Crumbl Cookies for Just 97 Cents

But fear not, for Instagram creator Virginia Lane has come to our rescue with an ingenious hack for fall lawn clean-up and it includes ditching the rake for a cardboard box. View the original article to see embedded media. Now, we all know by now why ...

Woman’s Ditches Her Rake for a Cardboard Box This Fall to Take Care Of Leaves

As we enter the winter months, the temperatures are set to drop. We also happen to be in the midst of a global cost of living crisis, meaning it will be more expensive to heat your homes.   To ensure you stay warm and save some money in the process,

These 8 winter warmer hacks will keep your home warm this winter

Govberg Jewelers merges with other retailers and WatchBox for a new platform that is both digital ... [+] and physical and sells both collectible secondary watches and new watches, along with jewelry. Just six years ago in 2017, a trio of watch industry ...

WatchBox, Govberg, Radcliffe, Hyde Park Jewelers Merge, Form The 1916 Company

We have the answer for Bomb at the box office, e.g. crossword clue that will help you solve the crossword puzzle you're working on!

Bomb at the box office, e.g. Crossword Clue

They also require practical problem-solving skills and out-of-the-box approaches. Today, we're shedding light on a brilliant DIY hack that'll change how you approach sanding. This handy trick comes from none other than DIY enthusiast Georgina Raine.

Woman’s Duct Tape Sanding Hack Is a Genius Time Saver

Ron Howard ’s firefighter drama/thriller Backdraft is a movie you might not think of as a #1 weekend winner at the box office by today’s standards. But the all-star drama -- starring Kurt Russell, Robert DeNiro, and Jennifer Jason Leigh -- scored those honors back when it released in 1991.

32 Forgotten Movies That Actually Won A Box Office Weekend

iRobot and Roomba are almost synonymous with robot vacuums at this point; they aren’t ideal for hacking because they lack the processor overhead to run Valetudo. The most commonly used models for installing Valetudo are from Roborock and Dreame.

The best robot vacuum for me is the one I hacked

Throw a bunch of teens into a campsite or a suburb and let an iconic villain hack them to pieces, you're making at least $10 million at the box office. John Carpenter gave way to this trend with his 1978 classic, Halloween, which popularized the genre and ...

The Halloween Movie Without Michael Myers Goes Even Darker Than the Original

Whether it's a practical hack to help you avoid having to hold your sweater in ... Pair a knit sweater on your waist with a formal two-piece suit for something out-of-the-box that'll give you a runway vibe. Add even more flair by opting for a printed ...

Tying Your Sweater Around Your Waist Is A Fashion Choice Now - Our Tips To Style The Trend

Hack The Box

hackthebox

Begin Your Ethical Hacking Journey Without Shedding a Single Rupee! Well, you're interested in PenTesting — that's Penetration Testing — and you don't know where to begin. Perhaps you're a student, a computer enthusiast, or just a career changear. The best news is that in 2025, there's never been more free information available to get you into the world of ethical hacking without breaking the bank. Here, in this blog, we're going to split up the most popular free platforms, courses, communities, and tools that provide you hands-on practice and create your ethical hacking abilities. What is PenTesting? We'll begin understanding what PenTesting is before jumping to resources. Penetration Testing is a cyberattack simulation carried out on a system, application, or network to determine vulnerabilities before hackers with ill intent. It's like a virtual "heist," but one carried out ethically to assist with better security. PenTesters (or ethical hackers) conduct different methods of testing how secure a system actually is. It's an important profession in the cybersecurity business — and acquiring the knowledge doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. TryHackMe (Free Rooms) Website: https://tryhackme.com https://tryhackme.com TryHackMe is an interactive cybersecurity training platform. It's easy to use and takes you step-by-step through hacking challenges. Most of their rooms are free, especially in beginner paths such as: Pre-Security
Complete Beginner
Jr Penetration Tester Pre-Security Complete Beginner Jr Penetration Tester Hack The Box (HTB Academy Free Tier) Website: https://academy.hackthebox.com https://academy.hackthebox.com HTB Academy offers a structured path to learn everything from basic networking to advanced exploitation techniques. The free tier includes modules like: • Linux Fundamentals • Network Enumeration • Web Requests PortSwigger Web Security Academy Website: https://portswigger.net/web-security https://portswigger.net/web-security If you’re interested in web application hacking, this platform is gold. It teaches OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities with interactive labs. INE - Free Cybersecurity Courses Website: https://ine.com https://ine.com INE has a few free cybersecurity courses and networking courses — very good for developing your basics. Free courses include: Introduction to Cybersecurity
Cyber Security Fundamentals
Ethical Hacking Basics Introduction to Cybersecurity Cyber Security Fundamentals Ethical Hacking Basics Hack The Box (Free Machines) Website: https://hackthebox.com https://hackthebox.com HTB has a free section where you can hack retired machines. These are actual systems with misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. You'll learn how to: Gain shell access
Take advantage of privilege escalation
Pivot across networks Gain shell access Take advantage of privilege escalation Pivot across networks VulnHub Website: https://vulnhub.com https://vulnhub.com VulnHub provides downloadable vulnerable machines that you can execute in VirtualBox or VMware. It's ideal for offline practice. You'll discover machines segmented by difficulty, OS, and type of vulnerability. PentesterLab (Free Badges) Website: https://pentesterlab.com https://pentesterlab.com PentesterLab offers in-depth exercises with step-by-step instruction. Some are totally free, including: Introduction to Web Hacking
Bug Bounty Hunter Lite Introduction to Web Hacking Bug Bounty Hunter Lite OWASP Website: https://owasp.org https://owasp.org OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) is an open-source community dedicated to enhancing software security. It offers: Security best practices documentation
The legendary OWASP Top 10
Cheat sheets for exploiting and testing prevalent flaws Security best practices documentation The legendary OWASP Top 10 Cheat sheets for exploiting and testing prevalent flaws Hacking Blogs & Newsletters Below are some free newsletters and blogs worth subscribing to: HackerOne Blog – Learnings from actual bug bounty reports
Red Team Village Blog
OpenExploit.in – That's us! Subscribe for easy-to-understand ethical hacking articles. HackerOne Blog – Learnings from actual bug bounty reports Red Team Village Blog OpenExploit.in – That's us! Subscribe for easy-to-understand ethical hacking articles. Free Books to Start With "The Web Application Hacker's Handbook" – Not free on paper, but older copies can be downloaded from the web to learn from.
"Hacking: The Art of Exploitation" – A must-have if you wish to dive into low-level hacking. "The Web Application Hacker's Handbook" – Not free on paper, but older copies can be downloaded from the web to learn from. "Hacking: The Art of Exploitation" – A must-have if you wish to dive into low-level hacking. Pro tip: Use resources like https://archive.org or PDF Drive to obtain free copies within the law. https://archive.org Reddit r/NetSec
r/HowToHack
r/AskNetsec
r/PenetrationTesting r/NetSec r/HowToHack r/AskNetsec r/PenetrationTesting These subreddits are wonderful places to ask questions, read stories, and post tools. Discord Servers Most platforms such as TryHackMe, HTB, and Security Blue Team have official Discord communities. You can request assistance, create teams, and learn from others. Free Tools You Should Know Begin exploring tools you'll be using as a PenTester: Nmap – Network scanning
Burp Suite Community Edition – Web app testing
Wireshark – Network analysis
Metasploit Framework – Exploitation framework
John the Ripper / Hashcat – Password cracking
Gobuster / Dirb – Directory brute-forcing Nmap – Network scanning Burp Suite Community Edition – Web app testing Wireshark – Network analysis Metasploit Framework – Exploitation framework John the Ripper / Hashcat – Password cracking Gobuster / Dirb – Directory brute-forcing All these are open-source and free! Practice Routine Daily (Just 1-2 hours/day) Here's a sample plan to get the maximum out of these resources: Monday: TryHackMe room or HTB Academy module
Tuesday: PortSwigger Web Security lab
Wednesday: Watch an INE video or read OWASP docs
Thrusday: Practice on HTB/VulnHub
Friday: Check out tools like Nmap/BurpSuite
Saturday: Solve a retired HTB machine
Sunday: Visit community chat or read a blog Monday: TryHackMe room or HTB Academy module Tuesday: PortSwigger Web Security lab Wednesday: Watch an INE video or read OWASP docs Thrusday: Practice on HTB/VulnHub Friday: Check out tools like Nmap/BurpSuite Saturday: Solve a retired HTB machine Sunday: Visit community chat or read a blog Certifications? Worry Later Don't hurry into certs like OSCP or CEH. First, master your skills using these free materials. Once you feel comfortable, then choose a cert. Last Thoughts PenTesting isn't about memorizing tools — it's about getting creative, being a problem-solver, and knowing how systems work (and fail!). Using the resources I've listed here, you can create a rock-solid foundation in ethical hacking — for free!. Regardless if you're an absolute beginner or a skill-grazer, 2025 is the perfect year to begin PenTesting.

Learning PenTesting Has Never Been Easier—Check Out These Free Resources for 2025

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has been one of the most useful skills I have learned. Many of the mindsets, methods, and tools it uses can be applied to a variety of tasks, like job hunting, pen-testing, or research for writing tasks. There are many great resources out there that help in learning and developing this skill, and this blog post aims to provide a repository and a structured format to guide you on your journey to learn this amazing skill. How To Read? This post should be read in full without clicking on all the cool links or trying out the stuff I am talking about. This will allow you to absorb the message of this post. Afterward, you can briefly go over it again, click all the links, and try all the stuff. OSINT? I will not spend a long time providing a definition of what is. There are plenty of discussions about this out there, and I do not think a perfect definition is of much value to someone starting to learn this skill. For the purpose of this series of blog posts, OSINT will be the activity of collecting and analyzing open-source data to answer specific questions. There is much more to this definition than meets the eye, but we will leave it at that in the meantime and come back to it later. OSINT The OSINT Mindset I hear you screaming, "Booh, give us some tools and tricks," and I will soon do so. I just want to briefly mention that a proper mindset is the foundation of being a good OSINTer. But it is the same as in martial arts: while a proper mindset is key, they still start by teaching you how to stand and throw punches before discussing when and why you want to and don’t want to hit someone. Therefore, I will show you some OSINT punches first, but I ask you to not neglect the importance of learning about an “OSINT Mindset” and hope you come back to it once you feel confident enough to throw some punches. Searching For Stuff If you want to analyze open source information to answer certain questions (aka. OSINT), you obviously have to know where to find all the information you need to answer your questions. Disclaimer: Many people view OSINT as an activity that is only about finding information. While it is crucial for OSINT just sucking up information does not do justice to the INTelligence part of OSINT. The ways of finding information are just countless, and if you follow some OSINT creators on X (which you should), you will receive new sources, hacks, and dorks almost on a daily basis. The first thing you should learn is how to google it, but do it the right way. This is so-called Google Dorking. I will not do another guide about it because there are plenty of them out there, but you can check out the great blog written by HackTheBox: , and you can use the information in it to find some more guides that will help you develop this skill. Many of the search operators detailed in this blog post work on other search engines like Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and other specialized search engines. https://www.hackthebox.com/blog/What-Is-Google-Dorking And that is the next point we want to talk about: . Specialized Search Engines Google is great and all, but sometimes you have some special thing you want to search for. At this point, it is handy to have some more niche search engines at hand, like or for internet-connected devices, or for source code, or for data leaks and breaches.
This amazing GitHub profile, , lists a lot of search engines and some more amazing stuff, so you should browse through it and take notes. shodan.io netlas.io grep.app intelx.io https://github.com/cipher387 But you don’t always need a specialized search engine; the search operator can do wonders. Sure, a specialized GitHub, Amazon S3 Bucket, or paste search engine is fun, but do not forget the good old , , or search queries. Sometimes, they have better results than custom search engines. site site:github.com site:amazonaws.com site:pastebin.com I feel like you have heard a lot of theories. It's time to give you a juicy OSINT snack. One of my favorite Google Dorks: site:amazonaws.com “Confidential” You go ahead and figure out what it does, and as a homework assignment, find some domains for the other cloud providers that you can use this dork with. Taking Notes Now, we can find quite a bit of information, but we have to keep it organized somehow. Here, you need three things: something to take notes, something to do mind maps, and (maybe) something to do free-hand sketches. Notes are obviously to save all the nice tidbits of information you have collected. You should have a certain kind of structure that works for you. Sometimes, I like to dump stuff in a large document and move it around and be a bit messy; some like their stuff in a nice and clean structure. You have to test and find out what works for you. Mind maps are great for investigations because investigations are about connecting the dots, and well, that is what mind maps do. They allow you to show how information is connected and what path your investigation follows. Free-hand sketches do not have to follow any structure; you are only limited to the things you can produce with a pen. This is really great for times when you need ideas to flow, like at the beginning of an investigation or at a pivotal point in your investigation. The question now is: What tool should I use? Technically, OneNote can do all of those things. Some people really love Notion or Obsidian. I will not recommend any tool because this is a lot about individual preferences and styles. I will just give you some considerations when choosing an application: For your main notes application, you have to use something that allows you to organize your notes in different sections and categories. So using Word or txt files is a terrible idea. Notebook format: If you work on high-profile cases and/or sensitive information, you might want to consider a solution with local notes rather than something that relies on cloud storage. Sensitivity of data: While applications like OneNote could do all the things you need, they might not do all of them well. So, you have to consider the trade-off between convenience and functionality. All-in-one vs. tailor-made: If you have that one special investigation device, you do not need to think about it. If you like to work from multiple locations on multiple devices with varying operating systems, you need to have something that syncs your notes wherever you are. See also the consideration of data sensitivity. Cross-platform/device: AI just recently emerged, but plenty of applications now allow you to interact with and enhance your notes via AI. Consider if these features are beneficial to you or if your data might be too sensitive for them. AI and other special features: Pivoting In OSINT knowing how to pivot is (caution: bad joke) pivotal. What does that mean? You need to be able to use information from source A to get better information from source B. You also need the ability to get from something like a social media profile to information like a physical address. You need to be able to correlate everything you do and uncover during your investigation. This is what real analysts do. I even wrote a whole blog about it, and you can check it out here: . This concept can only be fully understood and learned by practicing your skills. https://security-by-accident.com/unearting-sources-osint/ Asking the right questions This is something I was referring to in the section about “The OSINT Mindset,” and I did not talk more about it because I knew you were not ready for it. Even though every OSINT process MUST BEGIN with a well-defined question, the OSINT learning journey must begin with uncovering some hidden stuff, or else you will not be able to appreciate the fascinating power of OSINT. But why are questions so important in OSINT? Imagine this: You are a professional OSINT investigator. A client gives you an assignment. Your target is “Peter James van Doe.” The client sends you his LinkedIn profile. Immediately, you start investigating. You know about this great hack someone showed you that allows you to get the email he used to create his LinkedIn account. This email is amazing; he uses it everywhere, where you find passwords, social media accounts, forum posts, and all that stuff. You are having a blast, but you end up OSINTing nonstop till it is way after midnight. You send your client an email telling him how well the investigation is going. The next morning, your client calls. She says, “And? Should I hire this guy as an accountant?”. "Oh, f***ing hell.”, you think. You’ve had a fun evening by wasting some time because you did not know why you were doing all this OSINT. Sure, you have some rough idea of whether that guy is trustworthy or not. But can you give your client a high-confidence assessment? Can you bill your client for all those hours you spent? Sure, the investigation was fun, and doing OSINT investigations for fun and just pulling all the tricks and tools you have is great for sharpening your OSINT skills, but it IS NOT a PROFESSIONAL OSINT investigation. So before you start your investigation, think about the “WHY?” and “WHAT?” before you think about anything else, and only start investigating after you have clearly written down these points. And afterward you can concern yourself with the HOW? and then you may start investigating. I could write a lot more about this point, but it was done before by one of OSINT’s finest, and you can check out his article here: . Please do give it a good read. https://medium.com/secjuice/osint-as-a-mindset-7d42ad72113d Where tools? You read this article because you wanted some cool OSINT tools, right? Well, I am not going to give them to you YET. If you have read the article in the previous section, you will know why. But stay tuned for the next part of this series. There will be tools, I promise. And now? Well, you do not really have tools, but you have something far better. You are equipped with the foundational skills and concepts of a good analyst. Now, go ahead and ask some questions you want to learn more about. Use the concepts and skills from this article and answer them. On this journey, you will become a better analyst (if you do it right), and you will automatically find some tools you can use. And as a little treat, I will share with you one of my other posts that talks about one of the most fun OSINT topics that you can explore: . https://security-by-accident.com/leaks-breaches-osint/ But seriously, please do some real investigating with questions, notes, mind maps, and stuff. Also, follow me on X for some OSINT and security knowledge: and wherever you have read this blog post. https://twitter.com/Secbyaccident Homework: Follow OSINT people on social media. Join some OSINT discord servers and make some connections in the OSINT community. Understand why you want to learn OSINT. This will help you understand what skills you will need to pick up. Further Reading: Here are some OSINT fundamentals: TCM OSINT course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwA6MmbeGNo&pp=ygUWb3NpbnQgdGhlIGN5YmVyIG1lbnRvcg%3D%3D&ab_channel=TheCyberMentor Inteltechniques (one of the best in OSINT stuff): https://inteltechniques.com/ Also published . here

Your OSINT Study Plan (Part 1): Sharpening Up The Basics

In this guide, we'll explore the process of creating a cheat for the popular game . The intention behind this guide is purely educational, and I do not endorse cheating for malicious purposes. With that out of the way, let's dive in. Dead Cells First, I wanted to create a guide on creating a cheat for , but I found that somebody has already done it and described it in this excellent learning resource[1]. Wesnoth Source code: https://github.com/matejsmycka/cell-generator Approach The Dead Cells game uses cells as currency for unlocking new items. With each run, you start with 0 cells. I will try to change the cell value to some arbitrary number. We have multiple possible approaches to changing cell value: Code Caves DLL injection External cheat I chose an external memory manipulation cheat because it does not require changes in the original binary, which Steam could recognize.
Now that we have chosen the approach, we need to define the necessary steps to perform to get a persistent cheat. Find the dynamic address of a cell counter. Get static values that point to our dynamic address. Create a program in that automates the process. Rust Finding a dynamic address using Cheat Engine "Cheat Engine is by far the de facto "industry standard" for . It bundles together essentially every possible tool that could be required into one neat little package."[2] - GamePwn PandaSt0rm We can attach to our running game. To get relevant dynamic addresses, you need to play the game, get some cells, and then scan for new values in memory. We don't know the type of value we are looking for, but it will likely be a number. After a few scans, you are left with multiple addresses that seem relevant. CheatEngine DeadCells Try modifying values to see if it changes in-game value. However, to update the game GUI, you need to play and get or spend some cells; changing its memory doesn't update the game GUI counter. And voila, the cell counterchanged. But this is not persistent. We need to perform a pointer scan to get reliable pointers. Defeating dynamic memory allocation (DMA) Because modern operating systems use DMA, we have to find a location that doesn't disappear after restarting the process. We will use another feature, to get a static pointer. CheatEngine pointerscanner A good resource on how to use is here . pointerscanner unknowncheats.me In order to find out static clues to dynamic location, you need to: locate dynamic address perform pointerscan close game open game load the last pointerscan and look for the value of the cell counter. repeat steps 3-5 until you get a reliable multilevel pointer. It consists of the base address of some modules, for example, and multiple static values called offsets. Now, we have multiple values which point to our dynamic memory location. game Kernel32.dll+0x00048184 Unsafe rust I chose Rust language because a lot of resources are written in C++, which is similar. However, I consider writing Rust more fun than writing it in C++. Python is also a solid option. After trying multiple libraries, I chose to go with a library named [3]. toy-arms This lib is sort of a wrapper around low-level memory and process functions, so I don't have to use Windows Foreign Function Interface ( ) directly. I ended up with the following script. FFI The code can be found . here Here is pseudocode, which explains individual steps. function main():
    proc = getProcessByName("deadcells.exe")
    client = proc.getModuleInfo("libhl.dll")
    moduleAddr = client.baseAddress + 0x00048184
    offsets = [0x6B8, 0x4, 0x18, 0x68, 0x480, 0xC, 0x358]

    cellCounterPtr = followPointerChain(moduleAddr, offsets)
    cellCounterValue = readMemory(cellCounterPtr)
    newValue = 99999
    writeMemory(cellCounterPtr, newValue) And below is the actual code of . main fn main() {
    let proc;
    match Process::from_process_name("deadcells.exe") {
        Ok(p) => proc = p,
        Err(e) => {
            println!("{}", e);
            return;
        }
    }
    let client: Module;
    match proc.get_module_info("libhl.dll") {
        Ok(m) => client = m,
        Err(e) => {
            println!("{}", e);
            return;
        }
    }

    let module_addr = client.base_address + 0x00048184;
    let offsets = [0x6B8, 0x4, 0x18, 0x68, 0x480, 0xC, 0x358].to_vec();

    let cell_counter_ptr: usize = follow_ptr_chain_u32(&proc, module_addr, &offsets);
    let mut cell_counter_value: u32 = 0;
    let _ = read(
        &proc.handle,
        cell_counter_ptr as usize,
        size_of::<u32>(),
        &mut cell_counter_value as *mut u32,
    );

    println!("Current cell counter value: {:?}", cell_counter_value);
    println!("Enter a new value:");
    let mut input = String::new();
    io::stdin()
        .read_line(&mut input)
        .expect("Failed to read line");
    let mut new_value: u32 = input.trim().parse().unwrap();
    let new_value_ptr = &mut new_value;
    let _ = write(&proc.handle, cell_counter_ptr, new_value_ptr);
    println!("Cell counter UI will be updated after sub/add cell ingame event.")
} Due to endianness, reverse your offsets found by CheatEngine. NOTE: After compiling and running the Rust binary, the Powershell window will pop up. Possible improvements: Some nice GUI could be implemented (for easier usage), or other in-game values could be changed, like the freezing value of health, but these are rather simple implementations, considering that the main logic was implemented. Wrap-up Writing in Python with libraries like [4] would be easier, but Rust libraries' low-level and non-mature nature made me understand it in more detail. Game hacking is a great intro to As , I recommend trying something similar for everybody. pyMeow Windows API. a Linux guy [1]: - Game hacking academy https://gamehacking.academy/about [2]: - Intro to game hacking https://www.hackthebox.com/blog/intro-to-gamepwn-aka-game-hacking [3]: - Rust game hacking library https://github.com/pseuxide/toy-arms [4]: - Python game hacking library https://github.com/qb-0/pyMeow

Creating Cheats for Dead Cells Using Unsafe Rust

Working in cybersecurity can be a very fulfilling career, but most jobs require some amount of experience or formal training. While there are many great courses and certifications for learning pen-testing out there, it might be the case that they are simply above your budget. But that is totally fine. I think it is still possible to get job-ready knowledge about and pen-testing from free resources. cybersecurity A little warning: While I feel like it is possible to spend no money on your way to the first pen-testing job, it is the case that some paid resources provide knowledge in a condensed and easy-to-digest form. Having access to those resources might accelerate your learning journey. So I will provide some recommendations on which of them are worth it and which are not. I also created a GitHub repo with free cybersecurity resources. Check it out, and feel free to add some: https://github.com/her0marodeur/awesome-free-cybersecurity A few words about my own career I got really lucky in terms of getting a job. My first contact with cybersecurity was back in my teenage years when I Googled “ .” That was back when there were no such resources as HackTheBox and TryHackme. So, a lot of the learning was more theoretical and, in general, kinda slow. How to become a hacker After I finished school, it was time to look for a job. I started out with a student job for a big software company. There, I had the opportunity to work with different security teams. During this time, I did my eJPT certification and got in contact with the internal pen-testing team. They provided me with the opportunity to do an internship and paid for my OSCP. After I finished my Bachelor’s degree, I got offered a full-time job as a pentester. As I mentioned, I got lucky, but I think there are a couple of takeaways from my own story: The demand for pen-testers is currently very high, so many companies are willing to train existing employees. So if you are already working for a company, see if they have an internal pen-testing or security team. The most important characteristics of a pentester (hacker) are willingness to learn and curiosity. Getting them does not cost a penny. One of the mistakes I made was focusing too much on the theory and not getting enough hands-on experience. This is really important, and you should try to get as much practice as possible. The role of certifications and degrees I know you probably want to get into learning right away, but I think we should have a brief discussion about this topic. There is a decade-long ongoing discussion about the difference between and which is better and a lot more. I don’t want to dive into all that stuff. certifications and degrees Generally speaking, a degree or a certification is a verifiable and easy way for employers to assess the skills of an applicant. The OSCP or a computer science degree does show that the candidate has skills and knowledge in a certain area. If you have to filter through hundreds of applications, they give a good orientation. But there are two big things to take into consideration: There are other ways of getting experience and knowledge. I have friends who have maintained Minecraft servers since they were twelve years old, and they have extremely good programming skills, even without having a degree. And their salaries are comparable to some seniors in the industry. Even tho there has been a huge interest in pen-testing in the last couple of years, the demand has skyrocketed as well. That means employers are not getting hundreds of applications. Many times, it is actually the case that pen-testers are getting many job offers just because they have a LinkedIn profile. Paid Certifications to avoid: For some reason, this is still seen as a good certification, but from everything I have heard, they provide a really dry course, and the exam requires you to memorize a lot of stuff. So you can save your money. Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH): I did this one myself, and it was fun; the exam was really hands-on and enjoyable. The reason I don’t recommend it is that I don’t think it is really beneficial in terms of getting a job because I don’t feel like employers are valuing it. eLearning Security Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT): Paid Certifications you can do (if you have the money): I don’t hold this certification myself, but I did Heath Adams courses back in the day. The content is just great and really well explained. It covers a lot of topics. The exam is more relaxed than the OSCP, and it has industry recognition at the lowest price. Practical Network Penetration Tester (PNPT): The OSCP has its pros and cons, and I wouldn’t recommend that you take a loan to do it or bust your bank account. But in a situation where you can really afford to do it (considering money AND time), I have to admit it has a great course, and it is basically a job guarantee. If you want to learn more about it, check out my blog here: Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP): https://infosecwriteups.com/methodology-and-mindset-for-passing-the-oscp-d609592a7dcb Getting the knowledge To know where you should start, you have to know where you stand. It is a big difference if you already have fundamental IT knowledge or if you are coming from a different profession because it is absolutely necessary to understand basic computer science concepts like networking and how programs, web pages, and computers are built and running. Since I suspect that many readers of this article will have this knowledge, I will not talk too much about learning all that stuff. has some really cool courses to learn the basics, and I think installing your own web server and learning the basics of Python really helps a lot. There are also basic computer science courses on sites like . TryHackMe Coursera TryHackMe and HackTheBox As well as for basic knowledge, I think you should really start with for learning the basics of pen-testing; they have some really good paths for this. Sadly, some of them might be only accessible via a paid membership. I think the paid membership is really one of the best investments you can make because it is quite cheap and provides access to a lot of knowledge. TryHackMe If you are thinking about what kind of pen-testing (mobile, web, network, Red Teaming, etc…) to learn first, I suggest you go with web pen-testing because there are many resources about it, and when we talk about Bug Bounty later, most of the targets are available in this area. But if you feel like doing something else, do it; all of this is just my opinion. Additionally, to do the learning path, you should also do some of their boxes that don’t give you any hints about how to solve them. Also, check out for this; they also have some great boxes, but beware of their rating system. I recommend you really start with easy boxes. HackTheBox When solving boxes, I recommend you give yourself a time limit. I recommend something like this: If you don’t have the initial foothold after 30 minutes, you should check a writeup. Afterward, you try 30 mins for privilege escalation, and if you don’t get it, check the writeup again. It might be true that there is no writeup in a real pentest, but doing boxes is about getting as much knowledge as possible. Also, start pushing yourself as soon as possible and increase the difficulty. It may mean that you might need a write-up for almost every step, but it also means you learn something new with every box. Free certifications: This one is a must-have. It is just the right mix between great course content and realistic and challenging exercises. APISec University: This one is not really about pen-testing but covers a lot of the basics of cybersecurity. But these topics are important for pen-testers as well because they always have to see the bigger picture of cybersecurity. The course and exam are free, but it requires an annual maintenance fee. ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC): : Another one that is not directly about pen-testing. It explains one of the essential policies of cybersecurity, and employers would like knowledge about this one. Skillfront ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Associate™ If you love certifications as I do and want some more for free, please check out my GitHub Repo over here: https://github.com/her0marodeur/awesome-free-cybersecurity Getting the experience By now, you already hacked some machines and websites, but all of them were in a simulated environment and left vulnerable by design. While this provides valuable experience and gives you the ability to learn how to exploit vulnerabilities, it is not necessarily the experience employers are looking for. Therefore, I recommend you try your skills against some real-world targets (in a legal way). Luckily, Bug Bounty platforms allow you to do this and maybe earn some money. Bug Bounty Platforms You can check out the following platforms: https://www.bugcrowd.com/ https://www.hackerone.com/ https://www.intigriti.com/ https://yeswehack.com/ Look at their programs and get familiar with the general topic of Bug Bounty (try to avoid the Twitter and Medium hustler bubble; there is some really bad stuff out there). I suggest you start by looking at Katie Paxton-Fear’s stuff ( ). She has some great videos that are really for beginners. But don’t stress too much about all of it; sign up for a platform, pick a program, and hunt. This is what life as a pentester is going to be like. Also, be careful and don’t bother too much about all of the tools, oneliners, and scanners. Learn about the recon fundamentals ( ) and start hunting. https://insiderphd.dev/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krCsMZfbuB4 If you get one or the other bug, it is great for your CV because it shows you know how to apply your pen-testing knowledge to real-world targets. Synack Red Team https://www.synack.com/red-team/ This one really depends on how much time you want to spend before getting a job as a pentester. I am not part of it, but I heard really good stuff about it. It basically is a closed Bug Bounty platform, but they additionally offer some fixed pay jobs like checking default credentials or OWASP Top 10. However, you have to apply to them, and this process can take a while. But it gives you the chance to have some experience with a real-world job application. It offers great hands-on experience and looks good on your CV. So check it out and see if it is for you. Getting the job If you are following this blog (btw. please read more resources than just this one; there is a lot of great career advice out there), I hope you don’t think of it as something that has to be done in chronological order. You can skip things and do them in parallel, or however it feels right for you. Writing a CV Before you go out and look for a job, you should write a CV. This really should focus on showcasing skills that you can apply to your pen-testing job. So if you have worked in another job, think about how you can translate the skills you gained to pen-testing. If you are a programmer, tell them you have a deep understanding of technology and for sure you had to implement security measures in your code, and probably you know how developers think and fail. If you have worked as an executive assistant, you have probably done a lot of writing and have clear communication skills, which is also really beneficial for pen-testing. By now, you have done at least some certifications and courses, but be careful what you include in your CV. I think, if you have done the three free certs I mentioned, you should include all of them, as they really showcase skills and knowledge needed for your job. But you want to be careful not to include every little thing. Rather than including the certificate of completion for every TryHackMe track you did, you should just include your TryHackMe profile. And for bug bounty profiles, you only want to mention the sites where you have at least one accepted submission. If you put too much basic stuff in there, it probably seems desperate. For writing the actual CV, you should not get too creative. It is best to either download a Word template and fill it in with your experience and skills or use one of the online generators (consider privacy implications). Be aware that your CV is often times read by machines, so make it “machine-readable.” Getting yourself out there Being visible can be really helpful if you want to get a job. I think having a is crucial. So create one, put a nice photo and some experience on it, and maybe include “aspiring pentester” in your bio to make yourself visible when recruiters search for possible candidates in this area. well-maintained LinkedIn profile You can also do a little bit more to increase visibility. A nice thing to do is to start a blog. Like this one, you are just reading. Even tho you might not have a lot of expert knowledge; you can talk about your journey and experiences or write a tutorial for a tool or a writeup for a box you did. But please don’t go down 1337 Hacker Road. I don’t think that blogs like “Hack a webcam with only three steps,” “Hacking Instagram password,” and other clickbait help find employment. Other things you can do are contribute to GitHub projects (for example, Nuclei and Spiderfoot allow you to contribute new rules and templates), create your own tools, or speak at a conference. All of these things will increase your network and look great on a CV. Applying for jobs Go for quality over quantity. The job has to be a match for you as much as you have to be a match for the job. So, really try to find jobs that match your expectations. While I say that, it is also true that it is probably easier to pivot from one pen-testing job to another than getting into the industry, but I feel bad advising anyone to take a job they don’t enjoy. I highly recommend you reach out to recruiters/headhunters. You can easily find them on LinkedIn, add them to your network, and ask if they have a role that fits your profile. It will not cost you a penny because the employers are paying them. They will also be a big help with streamlining a lot of the process. They know their clients and where you have a good chance of getting hired and, most of the time, allow you to skip steps like writing a cover letter. Even if they are not able to offer you something right away, they will add you to their contact list and reach out in the future. Interviews There are just better resources than I am, so I will link to them: The Cyber Mentor- Mock Job Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDpjaS6OYPU The Cyber Mentor — What to Expect in an Ethical Hacking Job Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrewE1mLlaU Security Interview Questions: https://github.com/justinltodd/security-interview-questions Conclusion While it should be entirely possible to get a pen-testing job without spending a dollar, it will still require a lot of work. Spending at least some money can make the process if you spend it right. I also have to mention that all of this is just my personal experience and perspective. Your mileage may vary. If you liked this blog post, you can follow me on Twitter @Secbyaccident or read my other stuff over at . https://security-by-accident.com/ And if you have read this far, I want to offer you a little Thank You. My DMs on Twitter are open, and you can reach out to me if you want me to review your CV, help you with some studying, or set you up with some recruiters. I will do all of this for free, but expect a little delay in response time. Also published here.

Cybersecurity Job Hunting, Pen-Testing Study Plans, and Certifications on a Budget

Over the years and regardless of their specialization, I have met only a couple of people that didn’t like offensive security operations. But most people, have no idea how such an engagement happens. N.B: In this article (and the subsequent ones in the series) we are only talking about legal engagements, where you have permission to attack a system (or for fun, in your own local vulnerable VMs). Don’t forget that you can be prosecuted if acted against those common sense guidelines. What Is an Offensive Security Engineer? An offensive security engineer is a professional who is responsible for identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in networks, systems, and applications. They conduct penetration testing and other security assessments to find weaknesses in a company’s defenses and provide recommendations for improvement. Also, offensive security engineers work on “ethical hacking projects”, performing simulated attacks to test the security of a company’s systems and networks. They use their skills and knowledge to mimic the actions of real-world attackers and identify potential entry points that could be exploited by malicious actors. High-level Engagement Steps A team of offensive engineers (usually called red team), use a set of steps like the ones below, to perform their engagement. : Determine the scope of the engagement, including what systems and networks are in scope and what types of attacks will be simulated. Scope : Conduct reconnaissance to gather information about the target systems and networks, such as IP addresses, network topology, and software versions. Reconnaissance can be either passive or active. Gather information By passive we mean, searching public information or semi-private ones like social media. Two known tools in the passive recon realm are the Shodan search engine and theHarvester. By active we mean directly probing a system with tools like Nmap or Amass. : Use tools and techniques to identify vulnerabilities in the target systems and networks. This can include scanning for open ports, testing for weak passwords, and looking for unpatched software. Known tools here are Nessus and OpenVAS. Identify vulnerabilities : Attempt to exploit the identified vulnerabilities to gain access to the target systems and networks. Metasploit anyone? Exploit vulnerabilities : Record all findings, including vulnerabilities that were successfully exploited and those that were not, as well as any recommendations for remediating the issue. You thought you will only break machines and go home? 🙂 Document findings and report Who Decides the Minutiae? A company might have an internal or an external red team. An engagement process is usually proposed by cybersecurity organizations like and might be adapted to the team’s needs. An internal team might be affected more by the decision of senior leadership (e.g., the ) than an external team. MITRE CISO Regardless of whether the red team is internal or external, the engagement process should be well-defined and documented to ensure that all parties understand the scope and objectives of the engagement. How Do You Become a Red Team Member? I think the right question is, how to increase your offensive engineering mindset. Becoming a red team member is a by-product of that. In my humble opinion, even though there is a shortage of people with proper cybersecurity skills, the red team area is a bit congested. To start building your offensive mindset, I would suggest the following process: . Yeah, there is no shortcut to that. A good starting point is Coursera’s on the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Learn about cybersecurity foundations course Confidence with programming. Not a deal breaker, but you will need to write your exploit or automate a process, sooner rather than later. . Same as above, not a deal breaker, it will level up your game faster if you do. Confidence with networking . You need to be able to construct an attack route, given a vulnerability. Most of the time, you will have seen something similar before, but sometimes not. And this is where you truly need that skill. Analytical thinking . No escape here either. You can use platforms like and or build your own lab with vulnerable images like Practice, practice, practice tryhackme hackthebox vulnhub . Attend , read industry , and participate in online communities to stay informed. Stay up-to-date conferences publications Conclusion Becoming an offensive security engineer is a challenging but rewarding career path. It requires a combination of education, work experience, certifications, and ongoing learning to stay up to date with the latest security tools and techniques. With the right skills, knowledge, and experience, offensive security engineers play a critical role in protecting organizations from cyber and helping them stay one step of attackers. threats ahead

How to Join the Offensive Security Highs (Part 1 of the Journey)

This story is a part of Hacker Noon’s ** **initiative. The series is intended for tech professionals in any field to share their experience of building a career in tech and help bust the common myths beginner techies are facing. How to get a job in tech If you too would like to share your experience, . you can do so here What is your current position? Running my own company doing bits of consultancy, bits of training and teaching, bits of speaking, bits of writing, a lot of learning. These days it’s hard to define under one label as it’s the overlap between whatever I find interesting and whatever provides value to clients. It certainly brings challenges when people ask me what it is I do. How long have you been working in tech? Over two decades now, so it’s been a while. Up until the last couple of years it was always as an employee, until I sensibly went independent shortly after lockdown came in through the UK. Just as a note, I would not recommend voluntarily leaving stable, secure, and enjoyable employment in the middle of a global crisis to try taking over and running your own business. It worked for me, but I’ve had plenty of anxious nights thinking what could go wrong. Over the time I’ve been in tech, I’ve done tech support, field laptop repair, development, architecture, SOC monitoring, engineering, management, risk, compliance, and a number of other things. There’s been no career plan or carefully plotted path, simply eagerly grabbing onto the next opportunity when I felt the time was right - even if it meant I had to sprint to catch up. What is your educational background and how did you end up in cyber security? University dropout originally, with a smattering of A-levels. I did end up going back to university to earn a masters in 2017, but for most of my career my education was more based around professional certificates and self-education - or support from people I’d count as mentors. My journey into security is really difficult to judge. Arguably I was involved in it way back at the start of my career, managing school networks shortly after the second UK Data Protection Act had come in - so information security was fresh in everyone’s minds. At that point, information security was still the new buzzword and cyber was a long way over the horizon. Nowadays I usually say that I’m in security, not narrowing it down to a specific domain like information or cyber, but up until a few years ago I still described myself as in cyber security. Pointing to a specific point where that happened is more of a challenge. It’s one thing I strongly suggest now to those trying to get into security, it’s easier to break in by accident than on purpose. If you’re in something even peripherally related and can get involved with the security team in an organisation you can find yourself in the field before you even know it. We’d love to know a bit more about the mentors, was it a format arrangement? Very much not formal - the best mentor/mentee relationships often aren’t. There are two people I’d point to as mentors throughout my career though, and working with them corresponds to my two longest tenures in roles. The first was in one of my earliest roles, a guy who saw potential in me to do more than sit on the helpdesk and brought me in to help with architecture and virtualisation, which gave me a huge boost at the beginning. The second was much later, a few years before going independent, and really filled in the missing pieces. She had worked with my employer at the time for 17 years, and her guidance on how to operate through organisations, juggle with the politics, and engage people’s self-interest where needed has been hugely effective ever since. What was the best piece of advice you got over the course of your career? “Remember it's only a model." There's various forms of this, but it's been vital through the years. Far too often in this field we slip into the trap of thinking we have the answers because we've decided one model or another is the 'truth'. This soundbite is a reminder that no matter what model we're using we shouldn't get too attached - it's only a guide to thinking and understanding, not a rulebook. I’ve come across people far too often who’ve latched onto one idea as the and cannot let go of it. Whether that’s the CIA triad, out of date password advice, particular risk models, approaches to testing, or anything else it is vitally important to be able to let go and rethink things through a different lens. truth One thing I keep telling my own students, to the point where it’s become an in-joke (although nowadays there’s enough of them it’s not really in so much as just a joke) is that there are no right answers, just ones that are less wrong. It’s flippant, but in security it’s true, there is no end goal or perfect answer - we work on a mix of aiming for and continuous improvement. Stopping and deciding any one answer is is where problems start. good enough right The Importance of Self-Learning in Cybersecurity Mixed. I’ve gone through professional training, academic training, and a lot of self-learning. I wouldn’t say any one of those was more or less important than the others, it’s the blend that’s been valuable and got me to where I am. Mix and match, don’t devote yourself to one way of learning. You will get a lot of advice about platforms like and , and they are incredibly useful . Where this goes wrong is that penetration testing is a tiny subset of the cybersecurity field, and it’s one of the most competitive to get into since it’s seen as the ‘sexy’ pathway. Going down those paths to the exclusion of all else will not help you with GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), security architecture, cryptography, architecture, forensics, or any of the other dozens of options that are available to you. HacktheBox TryHackMe if you want to get into penetration testing and are two organisations who provide a measure of blue team self-training materials, and there are plenty of YouTube videos available on technical areas such as incident response and forensics that you can find. Security Blue Team Immersive Labs It’s when you step outside the technical that things can become challenging, and the best advice here is to turn to books and advice from those already in the field. Given the vast range, I’m not going to provide a complete list of books I’d recommend (it would be far too long, maybe another article), but many of us in the industry are always happy to talk to those looking to break in and provide some recommendations. I will provide a few I always suggest though. by Cliff Stoll The Cuckoo’s Egg One of the earliest narratives of cyber espionage, this tracks an investigation and illustrates the foundations of modern digital forensics and investigations. by Eliyaho M. Goldratt The Goal While nowadays The Phoenix Project may be better known, The Goal is the work it is based on and there is something about the much more concrete examples of manufacturing that I find make it more relatable and grokky. by Robert Cialdini Influence Often recommended by social engineers, Cialdini’s work is worth reading for everyone as you will come across many situations in your career where it’s relevant - it’s also a great work for recognising the principles being used against you. by Stephen R. Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People One of those books that people can be a little cynical about, 7 Habits is a classic for a reason and still has a lot to add. Definitely worth a read. by James V Stone Information Theory: A Tutorial Introduction While everyone knows a little about cryptography, Shannon’s work on information theory is often overlooked. While most people in security will never use it directly, taking some time to understand it can give you a completely different view on things that will make a difference throughout your career. Knowing what you do now, where do you think one should start learning if they want to work in your position one day? Wherever you can. Having said that, I still say that schools are a great place to start - not studying, but managing systems. Schools are often under-funded, have a huge range of technologies, take security seriously at a management level, and are a brilliant way to dive into the deep end and learn really fast. Certificates are a difficult topic - there’s a lot of marketing and snake oil around them, and many are ultimately only assessed by multiple choice tests which makes them less-than-useful as a way of measuring ability, and far too easy for people to abuse. Some have useful knowledge in their curriculum, but you don’t need the certificate for that, so it’s often best to treat them as keys to unlock roles where they’re required - but not go credential-chasing unless you have to (ideally once you’re in and a company is paying for your training and exam). A few things I would suggest are trying to learn to let go of pride - that took me a good few years and cost me plenty in that time - and always reserve the right to be completely wrong about things. Also be ready and willing to fail, learn, and try something different - don’t hold on to failing situations, it’s perfectly fine to give up when something isn’t working. What is the work-related achievement you’re the most proud of? That the family company I took over is still going from strength to strength after two years of me running it. It's even growing, despite (or possibly due to) our rather unique way of working. Just keeping it going would have been a triumph, but the way we’ve developed since I took over is something I’m truly proud of. What do you think is the biggest myth about starting a career in cybersecurity? That application forms are the way to go. While the whole idea of the ATS system that looks at keywords is a bit of a myth, the sheer number of applications you’re going up against for the advertised entry level roles puts you at bad odds. It’s far better to network and bypass the system by getting dropped in with a personal word for someone. On a less serious note: What do you listen to while working? It’s fairly eclectic - a lot of instrumental stuff when I’m doing anything that requires a lot of thinking as I find that vocals distract me. Otherwise it ranges through country, jazz, trance, and whatever else pops up. Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us more about your career path. Any words of wisdom for aspiring techies? Forget following your passion. When most people talk about following your passion in a career, they’re looking at it backwards. The passions you have at the start will not be the same as later on, they are changeable whims and trying to strictly adhere to one - or worse, believing there is something wrong if you don’t have one - is a good way to kill them dead, fast. Instead, indulge your curiosity. Follow what interests you, and don’t hold yourself bound to those interests as and when they change. True passion follows curiosity and effort to satisfy it, not the other way around.

How to Get a Job in Cybersecurity 

Cómo conseguir un trabajo en ciberseguridad

Comment obtenir un emploi en cybersécurité

साइबर सुरक्षा में नौकरी कैसे प्राप्त करें

サイバーセキュリティで仕事を得る方法

Como conseguir um emprego em segurança cibernética

Làm thế nào để có được một công việc trong an ninh mạng

如何在网络安全领域找到工作

Created a Github page with useful materials for those who want to start to learn pentesting/hacking. GitHub - creotiv/start-learn-pentesting-red-team !!! Always do all work from VM or dedicated machine for that, remember that all tools that you install may have some malware(mostly not but the risk exists). 
So you should prevent access to your real machine. Also dont forget to use VPN, even when using training VM from hackthebox (because you will be sharing same network with many people) BOOKS & ARTICLES — Course for beginners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnN6dbos5u8&ab_channel=TheCyberMentor Staring Point course from https://www.hackthebox.com/ — How to pawn Juice Shop guide https://pwning.owasp-juice.shop/ — many tutorials and howtos https://book.hacktricks.xyz/ — exsploits & reverse engineering course https://guyinatuxedo.github.io/index.html — buffer overflow for beginers https://medium.com/purple-team/buffer-overflow-c36dd9f2be6f — buffer overflow, how to pass ASLR & PIE & NO-STACK-EXECUTION protection https://medium.com/cyber-unbound/buffer-overflows-ret2libc-ret2plt-and-rop-e2695c103c4c — OWASP testing checklist. Help to not forget something https://github.com/tanprathan/OWASP-Testing-Checklist — OWASP testing guide for checklist above ^ https://owasp.org/www-project-web-security-testing-guide/v41/ TOOLS — VM player to run Kali https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html — Kali linux for pentesters. Base Tool https://www.kali.org/ — web site vulnerability scanner. https://github.com/sullo/nikto — wordpress vulnrability scanner. https://wpscan.com/wordpress-security-scanner — NMAP port, script, vulnerability scanner. Base tool https://www.kali.org/tools/nmap/ — Login cracker for different protocols https://www.kali.org/tools/hydra/ — Dir,Subdomains enumerator for websites https://www.kali.org/tools/gobuster/ — Pentesting framework. Base Tool https://www.metasploit.com/ — Privilege escalation for Win. Base Tool https://github.com/carlospolop/PEASS-ng/tree/master/winPEAS — Privilege escalation for Linux. Base Tool https://github.com/carlospolop/PEASS-ng/tree/master/linPEAS — console debugger https://www.kali.org/tools/gdb/ — edb debugger with ui https://www.kali.org/tools/edb-debugger/ SERVICES Data arvesting — find emails on domain https://hunter.io/ — find if email was leaked https://haveibeenpwned.com/ — subdomain search https://crt.sh/ — technology stack info https://builtwith.com/ — servers search engine https://search.censys.io/ — servers search engine https://www.shodan.io/ DATA LEAKS — how passwords changes with time + 1.4B email:pass https://github.com/philipperemy/tensorflow-1.4-billion-password-analysis TRAINING — Platform with VMs that you can try to hack https://www.hackthebox.com/ — training site https://tryhackme.com/ — Training app for web pentesters https://github.com/juice-shop/juice-shop — excercices for hackers (not free) https://pentesterlab.com/ EXPLOIT DBs https://exploit-db.com https://www.seebug.org/ WORDLISTS — many different https://github.com/danielmiessler/SecLists/ — SQL inj payloads https://github.com/payloadbox/sql-injection-payload-list — web payloads https://github.com/foospidy/payloads

Learn Pentesting/Hacking - The Red Team

Photo by on Nahel Abdul Hadi Unsplash When you hear the word 'hacking', the first thing that pops in your head is how cool they look in the movies—I mean, they are cool in real life as well, but it is not the same. Hackers are not only there to break into your websites or accounts; they are there to provide security and improve it as well. They do it by finding different ways to break into an application—these are called vulnerabilities, and they report them to the company that owns the application. The company then sees to it that it does not happen again by improving their security. In this blog, I am going to be sharing the roadmap and the resources that you can use to become an ethical hacker. RESOURCES: Programming : Python https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NQ2aMxBYNE Database: : SQL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nXOxLpeu80 Terminal: : CLI, Bash terminal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGVHUBGZm3E Networking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kq1MIfTWCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4eRbHgRawI Useful Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kq1MIfTWCE&list=PLWKjhJtqVAbnklGh3FNRLECx_2D_vK3mu https://www.udemy.com/course/complete-ethical-hacking-bootcamp-zero-to-mastery/ https://www.udemy.com/user/zaidsabih/ https://www.udemy.com/user/nathan-house/ https://www.coursera.org/specializations/intro-cyber-security https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNzpcB7ODxQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1szFCBUWXY3ESff8dJjjzw https://www.youtube.com/c/InsiderPhD/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/STOKfredrik/videos https://owasp.org/www-project-web-security-testing-guide/latest/ https://null-byte.wonderhowto.com https://www.hackingloops.com http://www.securitytube.net https://www.hackthissite.org http://www.enigmagroup.org Other useful websites for free and paid courses: https://www.guvi.in/mlp/master-cyber-security https://intellipaat.com/cyber-security-course-certification/ https://portswigger.net/web-security https://pentesterlab.com https://www.pentesteracademy.com (best) https://www.cybrary.it https://www.udacity.com/school-of-cybersecurity https://cyberstart.com https://www.offensive-security.com https://www.hackthebox.com (bug bounty) https://www.hackerone.com https://tryhackme.com https://my.ine.com/learning-paths https://www.virtualhackinglabs.com https://hackersacademy.com If I missed any topics, please include them in a comment below. If you know any other resources please share them. It will be very helpful for others who want to learn. Follow me on if you liked what you’ve read. LinkedIn Also published here

Roadmap and Resources to Become an Ethical Hacker

Introduction Ethical hacking's main goal is to find a system's flaws or vulnerabilities and secure it against hackers. Hackers are always attempting to get unauthorized access to an organization's resources to gain undeserved profits. When a company wishes to do offensive testing to uncover system flaws, they call it " ." The individual doing the testing is known as an ethical hacker. They carry out the same operation on the system as a hacker, but in a more ethical manner. Nowadays, ethical hacking is a thriving profession. ethical hacking It can apply to a variety of organizational domains, including networks, network devices, network protocols, online applications, web technology, and cloud computing. To understand ethical hacking, researchers must master all of the domains listed above. Thereafter, the ethical hacker needs to focus on the domain in which they want to specialize. For example, if someone wants to test a web application, they must learn everything about it. Basics Needed to Be an Ethical Hacker: HyperText Markup Language/ HTML It's used to show pages in a web browser. Most websites utilize HTML as their frontend, so understanding how content is rendered is critical. This is why it is crucial to learn HTML when you first begin. Script Scripting is a code snippet used to make a website more user-friendly. The script plays an important part in the development of web applications for automation and validation. Mostly, Javascript is used. It's critical to understand how the scripts are put into action. Networking Ethical hackers must understand basic network topology — how network devices work, what hazards they may contain, what a device's job is, and how to use it effectively. A person who understands how a product works can try to secure the devices in the same way. Linux Most tasks are very easy on Linux instead of Windows, and most servers run on Linux as well. This makes this OS a piece of essential knowledge for ethical hackers. You should be familiar with the Command Line Interface of the OS as well as basic commands like listing, deleting, or modifying files in the Linux CLI environment. You can easily move on to learning more about the vulnerabilities that an application may have once you've gathered the basic knowledge. The (OWASP) is an online community that offers security-related principles, approaches, documentation, tools, and articles. Open Web Application Security Project It develops a fundamental understanding of security, and many organizations use it as a guide to implementing security in their own operations. Injection, broken authentication, sensitive data exposure, XML external entities, broken access control, and so on are among the list of vulnerabilities maintained by this project, with severity ranging from 1 to 10. You will find a lot of vulnerabilities, their detection, and remediation in the OWASP list. They also have some examples of vulnerable applications you can use to test your skills and knowledge. You can follow their to learn more about the testing and exploitation of the vulnerability. OWASP Top 10 cheatsheet How to Keep Yourself Regularly Updated Cyber security and ethical hacking is a daily moving field, so it is very important for a person to actually keep himself/herself updated. There are a couple of ways that anyone can use to keep them up-to-date with the vulnerabilities research and other stuff that may be disclosed in the field of cybersecurity or ethical hacking. Read Research by Other Hackers Nowadays, every researcher publishes a blog about their research. Additionally, some bug bounty platforms make their reports public so that they can be used as a reference to find other vulnerabilities in the system. These two avenues provide much information about the latest trends and updates in the sphere. Be Knowledgeable About Vulnerabilities and How to Test Them It distinguishes you from the competition when it comes to exploiting targets. You can do so by participating in company-sponsored CTFs, solving boxes, and much more. Hackthebox Exploitation Methods Make your exploitation methods by using best practices as a foundation. Think outside the box to successfully bypass the logic implemented in the code and hunt for business logic vulnerabilities. Inspect the Target Always properly inspect the target before moving on to the vulnerability. As you grow more familiar with the system's features, it will become easier for you to take advantage of it. Collect Information Collect as much information as possible, whether active or passive. Some main domains are limited while others are not. Also, by reading security-related news on a dedicated platform, users may learn how hackers exploit real-time vulnerabilities and what enterprises need to do to defend their infrastructure. Bug Bounties Participate in bug bounty programs like , Syanck, or Cobalt. Many organizations offer their bug bounty programs on platforms, making it simple to practice and try to find vulnerabilities there. HackerOne Conclusion "Practice makes perfect,” as we all know, and as we are practicing to learn and acquire new abilities in the field of ethical hacking, we need to put in the work. Second, always hack ethically. Otherwise, you're committing a legal offense against the law and the company. Be a hacker with a conscience. Third, all of the above measures will undoubtedly aid in the acquisition of information. However, a good or pro user is one who combines programming and security. So, while you're learning to program, attempt to learn something else at the same time. Programming is not required, but it enhances your abilities. Cover Photo by on . Ilya Pavlov Unsplash

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