This was the first question I ever asked myself, How to Study Cyber Security? After months of studying, deep analysis, and research, I concluded that everything is free these days. You have to want to learn and get better.
People will ask you to teach them how to hack, but when you start with the important basics, they will say no because it’s boring. This is not what we want to know. We want to learn how to hack. There, we need to make sure they understand what hacking is really about. It’s not about writing fancy lines of code on a black and green screen. It’s about understanding how things work and figuring out how to break them. Know the ideas and how they work.
Everyone would have done that if it were easy. A baby doesn’t start walking right away. Instead, he learns to crawl, walk, and run. So, do things in the right order.
Hacking is about having the right mindset, which a person gets by practicing a lot, getting real-world experience, and building a solid base.
How to Study Cyber Security? Cybersecurity Study Tips
Several helpful hints to build a solid basis:
- Learn basic computer skills: Understand computers and the internet.
- Learn Networking: What is an OSI model, how does data travel, how to deploy your network, etc.
- Knowledge of the Linux Operating System: Choose your distro if you’ve worked with it; otherwise, use Kali Linux and learn the commands, Bash scripting, etc.
- Coding: Cybersecurity doesn’t require programming or coding skills. Everyone in this industry recommends Python. YouTube has tons of free resources. Choose whichever you understand and prefer.
Now, let’s move on to the basics of hacking. TryHackMe, HackTheBox, and PentesterLab are three of the best free tools out there. Now that you’ve finished all the basics, a few rooms on THM, and a few machines on HTB, you’re ready for an analyst job, but why stop here? It would be best if you moved up to the next level.
Now, at this point, you should already know what area you want to work in. Is it red team or blue team when it says offensive security or defensive security? Please find out more about it. It’s up to you which way you want to go. Now is the time to write your blogs and walkthroughs. Sharing your experience and knowledge with others will also help you learn more.
Solving CTFs (Capture the flag) is free and fun; you can learn a lot from them. If you learn to solve them well, you can make money from them. They are the same as Competitive programming, but you must find the hidden flags here. Some websites are picoCTF, CTFtime, Hacker 101 CTF, and OverTheWire. These are both easy and hard games, and it’s easy to find walkthroughs for them online.
Make projects like keyloggers, password managers, and ransomware, and then put them to use in a VM or VirtualBox. How should they be made? Just put your research and thinking skills to use right now. Do internships at the beginning of your career to build a great resume.
Now, let’s move on to bug bounty. A bug bounty is breaking into an organization with permission as part of its bug bounty program and getting paid for finding vulnerabilities. A bug bounty program is run by every big company and some small ones. Here you just get paid for your skills.
You can work on your bug-hunting skills at:
- HackThisSite
- HackTheBox
- HellBound Hackers
- PortSwigger
- intigriti
- bWAPP
Vulnerability-hunting websites:
- Bugcrowd
- HackerOne
- intigriti
I’m glad you read it. If you liked the article, please tell your friends, stay in touch, and don’t forget: Never stop learning.
