I’ve known about TryHackMe (THM) for a while, but it wasn’t until recently I realized how good it is. Here’s how I was convinced, in a mere 2 weeks, that TryHackMe is the best website for learning and practicing penetration testing and cybersecurity.
It all started with some curiosity. My main job is reverse engineering, and I do penetration testing style CTFs in my free time. I find it quite fun, but I do find many CTF sites a bit dull. Because of this, I was always looking around for something new, something different. One day I stumbled across TryHackMe. It had great reviews, and I saw many well-known security researchers and content creators had used it in the past. I thought, well I might as well try it out. After completing a couple of free rooms I was hooked. I was having more fun than I ever had before doing these kinds of CTFs. It wasn’t long until I bought a subscription, and it’s now part of my daily schedule.
To further add to the amazingness, I recently discovered I could make my own rooms. After contacting someone on Discord about it, I’m currently working on making rooms for reverse engineering. I’m super excited about it! Anyways…
TryHackMe is wonderful for beginners. They have everything a beginner needs, it’s truly fantastic. They have content that teaches you Linux, Windows, networking, web, privilege escalation, shells, and everything else you could need. They have several “Paths” which focus on a field, such as the “Cyber Defense”, which are all phenomenal introductions into those fields. What I love is that they aren’t vague, and they don’t skip out on detail. They genuinely are fantastic.
Their newest path, “Pre Security” aka Cyber Fundamentals, is also an absolute joy. As you could guess it takes you through the absolute basics of cybersecurity, networking, web, Linux, and Windows. I can’t express how good it is, you’d have to try it yourself. I LOVE this website, and the content it pushes out.
Check out “Pre Security” Here: https://tryhackme.com/path/outline/presecurity
Sign up for TryHackMe here: https://tryhackme.com/signup
What makes “Pre Security” So Good?
So I’ve been gushing over this site, what makes it good? First of all, the site looks amazing and is super easy to use. Secondly, and what I think is the main attraction, is how interactive it is. How it works is this, you’re taught a concept then asked a series of questions about what you were just taught. Then you launch and access a machine and put what you learned into practice. This combined with the material being really good is a perfect recipe for success.
What does “Pre Security” teach?
“Pre Security” starts with the fundamentals of cybersecurity. What it is, how it works, and even introduces a brute force attack against a website.
Following that “Network Fundamentals”. Here it teaches you the OSI model, what works at what layer, what’s contained in certain packets, DHCP, firewalls, and much much more. As I said, it’s fantastic.
Next up is “How The Web Works”. You learn how DNS, HTTP, and HTTPS work. You also learn how websites are made, and how you can use all of that to attack websites. The mock websites it provides for this portion are amazing. The animations are fantastic and the concepts are super fun and clear.
Then it’s on to “Linux Fundamentals”. It starts with some basic commands doing things such as reading files, finding files, and various shell operators. Then it moves on to the file system, permissions, processes, and more. As usual, it’s all hands-on and it’s super fun to do.
Last up is “Windows Fundamentals”! As a Windows nerd myself, I thoroughly enjoyed this part. Starts super basic with the GUI, and moves to the file system, permissions, task manager, and UAC. It then dives into configuring, modifying, and observing the OS. I enjoyed it, and yes, it was fully interactive!
Conclusion
I love this website. It’s fantastic and I’m excited every day to log on and get something done. The content is phenomenal, concise, and unbelievably fun. I strongly encourage you to sign up, it will be one of your best decisions.
TryHackMe: https://tryhackme.com/
Pre Security: https://tryhackme.com/path/outline/presecurity
