The ultimate “ how to get started in cybersecurity ” answered with TryHackMe

Nithin R
4 min readJul 9, 2021

Hello, this is Nithin here. I’m an independent security researcher and I go by the handle of @thebinarybot in most of the places online.

I vaguely started my cybersecurity journey about a couple of months back and hoped to find myself a way to becoming something. The “something” wasn’t defined, nor the path. Although I never felt short of resources, I always asked myself if this is the correct path or what is the correct path to learn cybersecurity. When I started, I did what any beginner would do. I enrolled myself in numerous paid and free courses, installed Kali Linux in hopes of magically becoming a hacker overnight, started looking out for more courses in udemy, cybrary etc. I was intimidated by the amount of resources available online, started learning things here and there and ultimately ended up at a point where I had no clue of what I was doing and what I wanted to become.

If you’re a cybersecurity enthusiast and looking for a learning path, don’t worry I got you covered. I wish I knew this when I initially got started and I don’t want you to feel the same.

In this article, I’m going to talk about TryHackMe (THM), an online platform for learning cybersecurity and how it helped me get started. Also, I’m not an ambassador of THM who’s trying to promote this platform but merely a student / learner who got benefited from THM. Read the article completely to know how to win vouchers which includes OSCP exam vouchers worth 1000$ and THM premium vouchers etc.

Checkout TryHackMe at : www.tryhackme.com

What is TryHackMe ?

TryHackMe, as I mentioned earlier, is an online platform to learn cybersecurity. It’s a freemium, meaning you get to learn a lot of things for free but you have to subscribe monthy / annually to unlock certain premium content.

What’s so compelling about TryHackMe ?

The quality and labs. Yes, the quality of content what TryHackMe produce is truly wonderful and most importantly they have hands-on practice laboratory sessions which is exactly what I wanted.

TryHackMe has clear cut learning paths such as the recently launched “Pre Security” which teach you the per-requisites of cybersecurity in order. The Pre Security learning path also tells you what paths you can explore once it is completed. This include the likes of “Cyber Defense” and “Offensive Pentesting”. Every learning path has study guides and labs which are jointly called as Rooms. They are Capture-The-Flag themed simulated machines, where one’s task is to dig into the machine provided and obtain the flag (solution). Trust me, it’s so interesting. You can find further information about machines and their access at the website once you’ve singed up for free.

What should I do now to get started ?

All you have to do to get started is visit www.tryhackme.com. Once done, enroll yourself in the Pre Security path and start learning. It’s completely free, so why not give it a shot.

The Pre Security path covers a lot of topics such as “What is Networking” , “Intro to LAN”, “DNS in detail” , “Linux Fundamentals”, “Windows Fundamentals” etc.

Checkout Pre Security learning path at : https://tryhackme.com/path/outline/presecurity
On the left side, you have the learning material and on the right side you have an attack box which can be deployed with the help of a single mouse click

Upon completion of all the paths, you’ll also earn a certificate. But certain rooms in the learning path such as “OSI Model” are only available for those who have subscribed. You can enroll for free and check out the free content initially and if you find it interesting and useful you can go ahead and subscribe.

Pre Security learning path and tickets

If you’re reading this before July 15, then you’re absolutely lucky. This is because since the Pre Security path has been recently launched, THM is giving away prizes worth $5000+ which you can avail in by collecting tickets. Upon grabbing 3 tickets of the same kind, you can redeem them. Some interesting tickets which you might not want to miss are, OSCP exam vouchers worth upto $1000 and 3 months THM premium vouchers, etc.

And to collect tickets, all you need to do is just complete the Pre Security learning path. Yes, you get gifts for learning. Upon the completion of a task in the Pre Security learning path, you’ll be awarded a ticket.

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Thank you for reading this article.

Checkout TryHackMe at : www.tryhackme.com
Checkout the Pre Security learning path at : https://tryhackme.com/path/outline/presecurity

Free free to connect with me @thebinarybot in twitter. Have a great day ahead and stay safe :)

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