As a self-considered security newb (there’s just always so much to learn!), it only made sense to continue diving into TryHackMe’s rooms to grow my particular set of skills.
In this post (my first ever…?), I will be reviewing the ‘Pre-Security’ learning path (this is not a walkthrough).
So, to begin, I would like to say that this made me brush up on my basic tech knowledge from networking all the way to working on an operating system (Windows and Linux). I missed it because those are the fundamentals and it’s what you learn when you first start out in Cyber Security or in IT (Tech) in general. So, if you’re a complete beginner…like, studying for your A+ or you want to switch your career into tech type of beginner, then I would recommend this learning path 1000/10!
Ok, so, with TryHackMe, there are many learning paths. For the Pre-Security path, it got my attention more so than other learning paths. Why? Because it was awesome and I think it has a solid repertoire of rooms and I love it! I have a background in IT so this was fairly well received in the difficulty level. I felt pretty comfortable albeit the difficulty level may vary for some. I would definitely use the rooms as a reference point in case I forget some details.
Below, you will see the entire path or courses (categories) that are included in this learning path. They are crucial to understanding the basics of Cyber Security.
First room: ‘Cyber Security Introduction’
This room essentially gives a high-level overview of how web attacks are done if you look for the proper vulnerabilities. It even touches on the infamous 2013 Target hack. It then follows with the learning roadmaps available; whether you want to dive into offensive pen-testing or blue-teaming. This got me excited as it reminded me why I’m working towards becoming a pen-tester ;).
Second room: ‘Network Fundamentals’
The second room is all about networking! From the very basics of the OSI model to how the entire internet works. In my opinion, I think that learning networking is absolutely crucial if you’re looking to get into Cyber Security or into tech in general. You don’t have to be a network engineer to understand this stuff but if you can learn the basics of how packets traverse through the network, the OSI model, different networking technologies, and the physical pieces of equipment that make it all work, then you will have no problem advancing your career; granted you stay on top of it. I feel like this portion was a great refresher for me and felt like I was back in college again (It reminded me of the class that taught me this. Of course it was my favorite one) Yes, I am a total nerd LOL.
Third room: ‘How The Web Works’
This room introduced the World Wide Web (WWW) and of course, how it works. I am more of a visual learner and the images and diagrams that were provided in these rooms really gauged my attention. When I go learn something, I usually watch a video on it to grasp it quickly. After reading the ‘DNS in Detail’ part, I totally visualized it like a similar video I saw on YouTube on DNS. After that, you dive deeper into the HTTP protocol (port 80) and you get to learn about headers, cookies, different status codes (it’s good to know). Also, you even get to code basic HTML! It’s cool because that’s how the web is rendered and you get to see it happen before your eyes. Towards the end, (probably my fav), you get to start looking for FLAGS! xD It was a bit confusing at first but I like that the flags are consistent so I was able to pick it up quickly after that.
Fourth room: ‘Linux Fundamentals’
The fourth room is all about my beloved Linux (Linux Fundamentals). I think that this was probably my favorite room; simply because I got to start up a machine and actually go into the terminal through VPN on my local machine; that is top-tier tech geek stuff! It covers everything from running basic commands such as “echo” and a few shell operators (which I actually learned something new from (&)). It also covered changing permissions for files using chmod and how that was structured and finally, it covered processes, automation (cron), and how to read your system logs (/var/log) ;). Overall, this is a must-know for Cyber Security. You need to learn the bare-bone basics and the Linux Fundamentals really hit the nail on the head. I would do it all over again if I could…actually, I think I’ll do just that!
Fifth and final room: ‘Windows Fundamentals’
The last (but not least) room was all about the Windows Operating System (Windows Fundamentals (Windows 10 at time of writing)). For me, this was actually the most challenging one because of how the questions were worded. My first computers/laptops were all Windows-based so I thought I would have no problem….little did I know I got confused in the very first shot LOL. But I did my research from the resources that were given within the activities; I found that really helpful. Here’s a resource link that was provided for reference (env_variables). I really enjoyed this room because not only was it the most challenging, it pushed me to do research further on my own; which I appreciate. It also goes really deep into the OS covering everything from the history of windows to the file system, user accounts (I learned a few things from this such as the ‘lusrmgr.msc’ command executed from that ran from the ‘run’ menu. What that enables you to do is simply view your User Accounts, Profiles, and Permissions; which is super useful when setting up local accounts on Windows machines. OH! and you also get to learn about HKEYS and more about the command prompt (humble beginnings :’) ).
Overall, if you’re trying to learn more about tech, cyber, Linux, or anything in between, I highly recommend taking this learning path. It may be a bit challenging for true beginners but my message to you is to keep trying and try harder because it is possible. This is only the beginning of your hacking career ;). Push forward and you will achieve this and beyond. I also want to thank TryHackMe for coming across my radar over a year ago. Ever since I discovered them, my knowledge within Cyber Security has increased exponentially and I will continue to use them as a valuable resource to become a Pen-Tester in the future as that is my goal.
FYI — If you would like to enroll and partake in these hacktivities, click here. If you’re interested in learning more about the platform and what other learning paths and rooms TryHackMe has to offer, (spoiler alert, a TON!), then click here.
I hope this was sufficient for a quick review of the ‘Pre-Security’ learning path. I think I did okay for my first ever published review or ‘blog’ post. Anywho, thanks for reading this far!
Happy hacking, friend ;)
