TryHackMe - Cyber Security 101

TryHackMe is a cybersecurity learning platform that provides hands-on challenges to practice various skills. It uses “rooms” or simulations that emulate Linux machines, networks, and hackable instances which allows users to go beyond the reading and actually see and use the topics that are taught. As part of their program, they offer several learning paths that focus on different careers within the world of cybersecurity like penetration testing and security engineering.

I am currently working towards completing the SOC (Security Operations Center) Analyst roadmap from the beginning. This goal involves completing four separate learning paths and over 100 rooms that build on each other. I plan on documenting my experience and progress with each path on this website. The first path in the sequence is the Pre Security Path, which focuses on basic pre-requisite knowledge of technology in the world of cybersecurity. I recently completed this path and I am now ready to begin working on the second path, Cyber Security 101.

Cyber Security 101 is where fundamental concepts are introduced for various areas of computer security. There is a mix of both offensive and defensive rooms that include different hands-on virtual machine practice opportunities. It gets more technical and in-depth than the Pre Security Path, but is still comprised of primarily easy level challenges and walkthroughs.

Start Your Cyber Security Journey

This first module overlaps a lot with the first module in the Pre Security Path. There was an introduction to both offensive and defensive security in addition to a rundown of several of the different careers in the world of cyber security. For more details on these rooms, check out my Pre Security post here. A new addition to this module was the Search Skills room. This was a very useful room that demonstrated several different search engines and resources that provide a ton of vulnerability information. Since completing this room, I have used it as a resource several times when trying to perform OSINT. The image above depicts Shodan, a search engine that shows all internet-connected devices and their respective servers.

Linux Fundamentals

This module is exactly what the name suggests - the fundamentals of Linux. There are three rooms that go through a bunch of different Linux commands and utilities. It went from as basic as the ls and cd commands to concepts like cron. It also touched on things like command line text editors, SSH, wget, permissions, and the /var/log directory. Most of this was a review since I learned a lot about Linux through my college course, Intro to Linux CLI, and I continue to practice my Linux skills daily.

Windows and AD Fundamentals

Similar to the previous module, this one focuses on commands and utilities in the Windows operating system. It covers the basics like the Windows file system and the GUI or graphical user interface. The bulk of the module is focused on utilities like the Control Panel, Command Prompt, Resource Manager, Registry Editor, and other similar tools. Windows security controls are also covered with Windows Updates, the Defender Firewall, and BitLocker. The final room of the module discussed Active Directory, a Windows solution for controlling and managing a domain. Through AD, administrators can control users, computers, and security policies. This is a tool that is commonly seen in corporate environments and is also a common target for attackers.

Command Line

The Command Line module touches on three different command line interfaces: Windows Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell, and Linux Bash. In the Windows Command Prompt, commands like ipconfig, tracert, and tasklist were demonstrated along with basic filesystem navigation commands. Windows PowerShell is a cool utility that was designed to automate tasks and manage configurations in Windows. PowerShell uses unique syntax, and I had no prior experience with it, so this room was very informative. The final room covered Bash or the Bourne Again Shell, which is a command line utility that is common in UNIX-like operating systems. As previously mentioned, I have strong skills in Bash, so this room was more review.

Networking

The Networking module is easily the most extensive module in the entire Cyber Security 101 learning path, with seven individual rooms. This demonstrates the importance of having a solid understanding of networking to be successful in any facet of computer security. Some of the major topics covered were concepts like the OSI and TCP/IP models, insecure and secure network protocols, and several network analysis tools. Wireshark, tcpdump, and Nmap were all covered to help demonstrate the concepts mentioned above in practice. I appreciate the fact that TryHackMe puts such an emphasis on networking because I find that it is a topic many people struggle with and, therefore, just gloss over. I believe this is a bad idea since computer networks are really at the core of cyber security in many cases. If someone doesn’t understand what they are protecting, how can they protect it?