To start/advance your career in Cyber Security you need to have decent knowledge of 5 building blocks of hacking :
1. General Computer Knowledge.
2. Macos / Windows.
3. Computer Networking.
4. Programming.
5. Linux and Bash.
6. Critical Thinking and a urge to learn.
Now you don’t need to master everything right away , basics should suffice for the time being but you need to keep working on the skills as you go
The recommended order to learn these skills if from 1–5 (6th being a passive skill) , but you can do basically what suits you
IMPORTANT TOPICS IN EACH SKILL :
1. General Computing : CPU, RAM, SSD/HDD, Threads, Processes, Caching, Buffers.
2. Computer Networking : OSI Model, TCP/IP Model, TCP v/s UDP, Packet capture and analysis, DNS, ARP, Subnets, VLANS.
3. Computer Programming : Python/C , Bash, PowerShell, C++, Basic CMD Commands.
4. Windows : You probably have been using windows for a long time now , but still you need to learn some major topics like, DLL, .msi, .ps1, Tokens, Memory Paging.
5. Linux : CLI Navigation, FTP, SSH, telnet, repositories, GitHub, familiarity with more than one Linux distro and lastly Linux commands and bash scripting.
6. Critical Thinking and a urge to Learn : This point is kind of self explanatory , but I will add somethings here anyway.
No doubt you will earn a lot, but money should not be the motivation to join this field also you need to learn daily in this field , keep taking notes and revisiting to make concepts solid. That is up to you how much efforts you are putting. There is a huge demand for hackers, programmers and other IT Professionals and dedicated person are very less, you give your best.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL NECESSITY OF EXPENSIVE CERTIFICATES ?
Certifications are a necessity in this industry. They are far more valuable than a college degree. That said, you don’t have to be that person that just keeps collecting certificates but actually have no idea what is going on.
There will be certs listed in this document at times. For general studies understand that most of the certs mentioned are mostly for knowledge rather that being a necessity.
HOW TO LEARN AND GET RESOURCES TO LEARN ?
Maybe one of the most difficult thing is to actually find good stuff to follow and learn from. Now there is a general approach you should follow then I will mention some dedicated resources.
• Start with free and cheap courses. If you are confident you like that, follow through with advance ones.
• Keep taking notes, and referring back to them. Also don’t just watch the video on read the book, try to implement it too on you system. You can learn the skills from 1–5 in serial order or you can keep rotating b/w them.
• Just be yourself and enjoy. This should not feel like a burden, if it feels like it, STOP pursuing this field.
DEDICATED RESOURCES
1. Google : Yeah not joking, it is the best way to learn something. Just try googling anything you need to learn.
2. edX, Coursera, YouTube : Pretty straightforward, free and open source ways to learn something.
3. Udemy : As I mentioned, start with free and cheap low level courses, so Udemy is a good option.
4. GitHub : This is not a proper resource but people have compiled learning resources for everything here, so start search for what you need like this :
learn python Github, learn windows Github, learn anything Github.
That is the official end of this guide on how to become a hacker from starting ! Now I will provide some recommended ways to learn basics in each skill ( you will master them later as you go) .
1.COMPUTER BASICS : Figure it out yourself.
2.MAC & WINDOWS : This for basic OS/Windows & This for macOS.
3.COMPUTER NETWORKING : Start with this course, it is enough to get you started. You can take Network+ or something later on , but you don’t have to take something complicated like CCNA , unless you want to become a network admin.
4.PROGRAMMING : Python, C, C++, PowerShell.
5.LINUX & BASH : Linux, BASH for basic skills. If you need more skills and certs, you can get PWK and CTP.
THESE are only to get you started in the field, keep learning and exploring more and more by yourself .
Now the dependencies are all clear, you can start your cybersecurity career. You can not take courses in this order.
CEH > LPT >AWE > OSCP.
Of course if you are not ready yet and want to explore, you can take freely available perp courses for these certification rather then the actual certifications . When you are ready, go for them .