Hacking Your Way Into Cybersecurity

John_Rosebud

Member

Jun 17, 2023

Hey there, folks! Ready to switch gears and dive into the crazy, chaotic, yet thrilling universe of cybersecurity? Awesome! You don't need a degree to be a cyber whiz. Nope, not even a smidge. All you need is a spark of curiosity, a dab of persistence, and the knack to think like the bad guys – only to stop them, of course! These are basically the steps I took to get from a boring accounting desk job to a Mr Robot life. I was already kind of insane, so all I had to do was to get good at hacking, so here's the roadmap:

Step 1: Begin with the ABCs

The journey to cybersecurity starts with some hardcore basics. You gotta know your stuff about computer networks, operating systems, and scripting languages. Yeah, yeah, it sounds boring, but it's super crucial. So, roll up your sleeves, dig up the free resources online (we're talking YouTube, MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera) and dive into those digital trenches!

Step 2: Stack Up Those Badges

Now, let's talk about the shiny badges that will make your profile glitter like a diamond in the rough. We're talking certifications, people! Look for beginner-friendly certs like CompTIA Security+, CEH, and Cisco's CCNA. These are like your Hogwarts letter into the cybersecurity wizarding world, and they prove you've got the chops to take on the bad guys.

Step 3: Get Your Hands Dirty

The fun part begins! Real-world, hands-on experience is where the action is. Platforms like Hack The Box, TryHackMe, and CTF challenges are your playground. These are like interactive video games where you practice your skills, only instead of saving princesses, you're stopping cyberattacks. Pretty cool, huh?

Step 4: Find Your Tribe

No hacker is an island, right? So, get out there and mingle (virtually, of course). Make friends in cybersecurity forums, crash a few webinars, hang out with the pro hackers. Online havens like GitHub, Reddit’s r/netsec, and Stack Exchange are treasure troves of latest trends, tricks, and tips.

Step 5: Real-world Missions

After flexing your skills in a simulated world, it's time for some real-life action. Hunt for internships, part-time gigs, or volunteering ops in cybersecurity. These real-world missions not only give you a taste of the thrill but also make your profile irresistible to future employers.

Step 6: Keep Leveling Up

The game's never over in cybersecurity. It's a never-ending quest of learning and upgrading. Think about nabbing advanced badges like CISSP or OSCP. These will help you stand out in the horde of hackers and make you the most wanted – by employers, not law enforcement (hopefully)!

That's it, folks! That's your no-degree-needed, practical, and fun roadmap to becoming a cybersecurity boss. Always remember, every pro hacker started as a noob. So get started today, and who knows, tomorrow you might be the cybersecurity superstar saving the digital world! Rock on!
PS: Please remember that this is the path that I personally took and it might not be perfect. However, I'd love to hear from you if you do have any comments or personnal experience you'd like to share

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Hacking Your Way Into Cybersecurity (1 Viewer)

Currently reading: Hacking Your Way Into Cybersecurity (1 Viewer)

John_Rosebud

Step 1: Begin with the ABCs​

Step 2: Stack Up Those Badges​

Step 3: Get Your Hands Dirty​

Step 4: Find Your Tribe​

Step 5: Real-world Missions​

Step 6: Keep Leveling Up​

"S'all Good, Man."​

"Perfection Is The Enemy Of Perfectly Adequate."​

"Money Is The Point!"​

"I Travel In Worlds You Can't Even Imagine."​

"Say Nothing, You Understand? Get A Lawyer!"​

“Confidence is good. Facts on your side, better.” ​

“Facts are facts.”​

“Sometimes the good guys win.”​

“I’m not good at building shit, you know? I’m excellent at tearing it down.”​

“Money is not beside the point… Money is the point.”​

“Whoa, whoa. Hold up. What the hell happened to you? I get it, the first rule of Fight Club, right?”​

“A good magician never reveals his secrets.”​

“Got to look successful to be successful.”​

“The lesson is, if you’re gonna be a criminal, do your homework.” ​

“If I had to do it all over again, I would maybe do some things differently. I just thought you should know that.”​

“Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”​

"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part."​

“There’s no better way to destroy someone’s life than to uncover their secrets.”​

“Hackers are breaking the systems for profit. Before, it was about intellectual curiosity and pursuit of knowledge and thrill, and now hacking is big business.”​

“Hackers often describe what they do as playfully creative problem-solving.”​

“Computer hackers do not need to know each other’s real names, or even live on the same continent, to steal millions in mere hours."​

“While many hackers have the knowledge, skills, and tools to attack computer systems, they generally lack the motivation to cause violence or severe economic or social harm.”​

“Very smart people are often tricked by hackers, by phishing. I don’t exclude myself from that. It’s about being smarter than a hacker. Not about being smart.”​

“At the end of the day, my goal was to be the best hacker.”​

“Humiliation is the favorite currency of the hacker.”​

“The hacker didn’t succeed through sophistication. Rather he poked at obvious places, trying to enter through unlocked doors. Persistence, not wizardry, let him through.”​

"Rules. Without Them We Live With The Animals.”​

“Consider This A Professional Courtesy.”​

"I've Lived My Life My Way, And I'll Die My Way."​

"You stabbed the devil in the back, and forced him back into the life that he had just left."​

"You Want A War, Or Do You Want To Just Give Me A Gun?"​

"Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe."​

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."​

"It's not easy to see something that’s never been before: A good world."​

"I believe in second chances. I don't believe in third chances."​

"If you only trust the people you grew up with, you won't make many allies."​

"A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. Always keep your foes confused: If they don't know who you are, what you want—they can't know what you plan to do next."​

"Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you."​

"I try to know as many people as I can. You never know which one you'll need."​

"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on its head."​

“Everything before the word ‘but’ is horseshit.”​

“A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.”​

“Nothing FUCKS you harder than time.”​

“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.”​

“I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given.”​

“Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.”​

“If you have an enemy, then learn and know your enemy, don’t just be mad at him or her.”​

“Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.”​

When you work on a computer your hands travel 20 kilometres a day!​

Fugaku supercomputer is the world’s fastest computer. The $1-billion supercomputer has 7,630,848 cores, requires 29,899 kilowatts of electricity, and can execute 442,010 teraFLOPs.​

“Every day, about 317 million new viruses are discovered.​

“Microsoft’s founder, the infamous Bill Gates, was actually a college dropout."​

Did you know?​

“On average, a human blinks 20 times per minute, but using a computer reduces it to 7."​

Did you know?​

“The most common password for a computer and social media platforms is 123456."​

Did you know?​

“There are eight varieties of computers: mainframe, supercomputer, workstation, personal computer, Apple Macintosh, laptop, tablet, and smartphone."​

Did you know?​

“Linux leads the industry as it is used by Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon."​

Did you know?​

“NASA computers were hijacked by a 15-year-old, resulting in a 21-day halt."​

Did you know?​

“You may heat a room with Gaming PCs more effectively than a heater."​

Did you know?​

“Physical money accounts for just around 10% of global cash, while the rest is stored on computers."​

Did you know?​

“YouTube actually started as a dating website." (Oh crap xD)​

Did you know?​

“Before they could progress as stable brands, Microsoft, HP, and Apple began manufacturing computers in their Garages."​

Did you know?​

Currently reading:
Hacking Your Way Into Cybersecurity (1 Viewer)

Step 1: Begin with the ABCs

Step 2: Stack Up Those Badges

Step 3: Get Your Hands Dirty

Step 4: Find Your Tribe

Step 5: Real-world Missions

Step 6: Keep Leveling Up

"S'all Good, Man."

"Perfection Is The Enemy Of Perfectly Adequate."

"Money Is The Point!"

"I Travel In Worlds You Can't Even Imagine."

"Say Nothing, You Understand? Get A Lawyer!"

“Confidence is good. Facts on your side, better.”

“Facts are facts.”

“Sometimes the good guys win.”

“I’m not good at building shit, you know? I’m excellent at tearing it down.”

“Money is not beside the point… Money is the point.”

“Whoa, whoa. Hold up. What the hell happened to you? I get it, the first rule of Fight Club, right?”

“A good magician never reveals his secrets.”

“Got to look successful to be successful.”

“The lesson is, if you’re gonna be a criminal, do your homework.”

“If I had to do it all over again, I would maybe do some things differently. I just thought you should know that.”

“Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part."

“There’s no better way to destroy someone’s life than to uncover their secrets.”

“Hackers are breaking the systems for profit. Before, it was about intellectual curiosity and pursuit of knowledge and thrill, and now hacking is big business.”

“Hackers often describe what they do as playfully creative problem-solving.”

“Computer hackers do not need to know each other’s real names, or even live on the same continent, to steal millions in mere hours."

“While many hackers have the knowledge, skills, and tools to attack computer systems, they generally lack the motivation to cause violence or severe economic or social harm.”

“Very smart people are often tricked by hackers, by phishing. I don’t exclude myself from that. It’s about being smarter than a hacker. Not about being smart.”

“At the end of the day, my goal was to be the best hacker.”

“Humiliation is the favorite currency of the hacker.”

“The hacker didn’t succeed through sophistication. Rather he poked at obvious places, trying to enter through unlocked doors. Persistence, not wizardry, let him through.”

"Rules. Without Them We Live With The Animals.”

“Consider This A Professional Courtesy.”

"I've Lived My Life My Way, And I'll Die My Way."

"You stabbed the devil in the back, and forced him back into the life that he had just left."

"You Want A War, Or Do You Want To Just Give Me A Gun?"

"Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe."

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."

"It's not easy to see something that’s never been before: A good world."

"I believe in second chances. I don't believe in third chances."

"If you only trust the people you grew up with, you won't make many allies."

"A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. Always keep your foes confused: If they don't know who you are, what you want—they can't know what you plan to do next."

"Never forget what you are, the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you."

"I try to know as many people as I can. You never know which one you'll need."

"It's hard to put a leash on a dog once you've put a crown on its head."

“Everything before the word ‘but’ is horseshit.”

“A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.”

“Nothing FUCKS you harder than time.”

“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.”

“I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given.”

“Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.”

“If you have an enemy, then learn and know your enemy, don’t just be mad at him or her.”

“Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.”

When you work on a computer your hands travel 20 kilometres a day!

Fugaku supercomputer is the world’s fastest computer. The $1-billion supercomputer has 7,630,848 cores, requires 29,899 kilowatts of electricity, and can execute 442,010 teraFLOPs.

“Every day, about 317 million new viruses are discovered.

“Microsoft’s founder, the infamous Bill Gates, was actually a college dropout."

Did you know?

“On average, a human blinks 20 times per minute, but using a computer reduces it to 7."

Did you know?

“The most common password for a computer and social media platforms is 123456."

Did you know?

“There are eight varieties of computers: mainframe, supercomputer, workstation, personal computer, Apple Macintosh, laptop, tablet, and smartphone."

Did you know?

“Linux leads the industry as it is used by Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon."

Did you know?

“NASA computers were hijacked by a 15-year-old, resulting in a 21-day halt."

Did you know?

“You may heat a room with Gaming PCs more effectively than a heater."

Did you know?

“Physical money accounts for just around 10% of global cash, while the rest is stored on computers."

Did you know?

“YouTube actually started as a dating website." (Oh crap xD)

Did you know?

“Before they could progress as stable brands, Microsoft, HP, and Apple began manufacturing computers in their Garages."

Did you know?

“For every 12 million email spams, only one gets a reply."

Did you know?