A practical guide to launching your cyber security career — from total beginner to job-ready roles.
Inspired by TryHackMe’s learning paths, this repo outlines how to specialize in different cyber security domains.

Cyber security careers are becoming more in demand and offer high salaries. There are many different jobs within the security industry, from offensive pentesting (hacking machines and reporting on vulnerabilities) to defensive security (defending against and investigating cyberattacks).

Why get a career in cyber:

• High Pay - jobs in security have high starting salaries
• Exciting - work can include legally hacking systems or defending against cyber attacks
• Be in demand - there are over 3.5 million unfilled cyber positions
• This room helps you break into cyber security by providing information about various cyber security roles; it also links to different learning paths that you can use to start building your cyber skills.

waytobecomehacker is a roadmap-style collection of cyber security career paths, with learning resources, responsibilities, skills, and recommended TryHackMe training for each role. Whether you're starting from scratch or pivoting from IT, this is your launchpad into ethical hacking and defensive security careers.

All paths are based on TryHackMe — a hands-on cyber security platform that teaches practical skills using guided labs and virtual environments.

• Networking - Network fundamentals and tools (Nmap, Wireshark)
• Linux Fundamentals - Essential Linux commands and security
• Scripting - Bash and Python for security automation
• Web Security - Web application security fundamentals
• OWASP Top 10 - Critical web application security risks
• Cryptography - Cryptography basics for security professionals
• Exploitation Techniques - Privilege escalation and exploitation
• CTF Guide - Capture The Flag competition strategies
• Bug Bounty - Getting started with bug bounty hunting

• Nmap, Burp Suite, Wireshark
• Metasploit, Hydra, Gobuster
• OWASP ZAP, SQLMap, Nikto
• Ghidra, IDA Pro, Cuckoo Sandbox
• Autopsy, FTK Imager, Volatility
• Splunk, ELK Stack, SIEMs

This project exists to:

✅ Help beginners choose a cyber security career path
✅ Provide practical roadmaps with real-world tools
✅ Centralize the best free training content
✅ Make hacking education accessible to everyone

• Introduction to Cybersecurity
• Networking Basics
• Linux Fundamentals
• Scripting with Bash and Python
• Web Application Security
• OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities
• Cryptography Fundamentals
• Vulnerability Scanning (e.g., Nmap, Nessus)
• Exploitation Basics (Metasploit, Privilege Escalation)
• Capture The Flag (CTF) practice
• Bug Bounty Hunting

• Students and beginners in tech
• IT professionals transitioning into security
• Hobbyists and ethical hackers
• Anyone curious about how to become a hacker — the right way

Want to add your own notes, tools, or tutorials? Feel free to fork this repo and submit a pull request. Contributions are welcome!

This site includes a Jekyll-powered blog for sharing cybersecurity insights, tutorials, and career guidance. Here's how to add content:

1. Create a new file in the _posts directory with the format: YYYY-MM-DD-title.md
2. Add front matter at the top of your file:

   ---
   title: "Your Post Title"
   date: YYYY-MM-DD
   categories:
     - cybersecurity
     - tutorial
   tags:
     - penetration-testing
     - tools
   excerpt: "Brief description of your post"
   ---

3. Write your content using Markdown below the front matter
4. Commit and push - GitHub Pages will automatically build and deploy

The site uses the Minimal Mistakes Jekyll theme. Key customization files:

• _config.yml - Main site configuration, navigation, author info
• index.md - Homepage layout and content
• _pages/ - Additional site pages (about, blog index, etc.)
• assets/ - Images, CSS overrides, and other assets

To test changes locally:

1. Install Ruby and Jekyll: gem install jekyll bundler
2. Run: bundle exec jekyll serve
3. Visit: http://localhost:4000

For more customization options, see the Minimal Mistakes documentation.

This repo is for educational and ethical purposes only. Use your skills responsibly and legally.

Made with ❤️ using TryHackMe paths and Personal Experiance