So I just started learning Linux and Kali Linux. But the thing is I’m so lost. I don’t know where to start or what to learn. I’m struggling with understanding the terminal. I believe understanding the codes and terminals is the only best way to learn.
I’m a 17-year-old teenager so eager about programming, network security, hacking. But I don’t know if I need any knowledge about IT or anything else before I start. I’m not even sure if I’m gonna study IT in the future.
I’ll appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
@PandaGaminG said:
So I just started learning Linux and Kali Linux. But the thing is I’m so lost. I don’t know where to start or what to learn. I’m struggling with understanding the terminal. I believe understanding the codes and terminals is the only best way to learn.
I’m a 17-year-old teenager so eager about programming, network security, hacking. But I don’t know if I need any knowledge about IT or anything else before I start. I’m not even sure if I’m gonna study IT in the future.
I’ll appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
This is a difficult thing to help with - it really does depend on how interested you are in this type of thing and what you already know.
Some basics.
- You do need to learn about IT (and, especially networking) before you can become good at security. You may not need it initially, but if you don’t understand basic concepts then it will make your life difficult quickly.
- HTB boxes themselves are not an ideal place for complete beginners. The HTB concept is basically the “Black Box” pentest approach. You are only given an IP address and you have work everything else out yourself. If you know about the phases (enumeration, exploitation etc), then you have an idea where to start. If you don’t, this is an impossible task.
- Security (Info-, Cyber-, IT- or whatever) is a really interesting area to be in. But lots of people working as professionals struggle with CTFs. If you don’t enjoy it here or find it too difficult, don’t let that put you off working in security and learning more about it.
- You don’t need to study IT to be a security professional. Lots of people who are very successful in security come from non-IT educations.
Ok with that out of the way, how do you start to learn?
First off you need some way to learn things. HTB will not really teach you stuff, rather it will let you practice what you’ve learned. YouTube (such as Ippsec’s channel) is an excellent resource but there are loads of places to find things out. This can be quite personal, so you really need to research it yourself.
Next, find a gradual way in. HTB’s black-box approach is one of the hardest learning curves. Starting here with no background is possibly a mistake.
Away from HTB:
- TryHackMe has guided rooms where you can learn specific techniques which is good for learning.
- OverTheWire Wargames provide a gradual progression where each lab builds on the previous lab. (Start with Bandit)
- Rangeforce.com gives you an opportunity to try out lots of attack and defence type activities
Really though, it all boils down to finding some good resources to learn in a style that you are comfortable with.
Type your comment> @TazWake said:
@PandaGaminG said:
So I just started learning Linux and Kali Linux. But the thing is I’m so lost. I don’t know where to start or what to learn. I’m struggling with understanding the terminal. I believe understanding the codes and terminals is the only best way to learn.
I’m a 17-year-old teenager so eager about programming, network security, hacking. But I don’t know if I need any knowledge about IT or anything else before I start. I’m not even sure if I’m gonna study IT in the future.
I’ll appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
This is a difficult thing to help with - it really does depend on how interested you are in this type of thing and what you already know.
Some basics.
- You do need to learn about IT (and, especially networking) before you can become good at security. You may not need it initially, but if you don’t understand basic concepts then it will make your life difficult quickly.
- HTB boxes themselves are not an ideal place for complete beginners. The HTB concept is basically the “Black Box” pentest approach. You are only given an IP address and you have work everything else out yourself. If you know about the phases (enumeration, exploitation etc), then you have an idea where to start. If you don’t, this is an impossible task.
- Security (Info-, Cyber-, IT- or whatever) is a really interesting area to be in. But lots of people working as professionals struggle with CTFs. If you don’t enjoy it here or find it too difficult, don’t let that put you off working in security and learning more about it.
- You don’t need to study IT to be a security professional. Lots of people who are very successful in security come from non-IT educations.
Ok with that out of the way, how do you start to learn?
First off you need some way to learn things. HTB will not really teach you stuff, rather it will let you practice what you’ve learned. YouTube (such as Ippsec’s channel) is an excellent resource but there are loads of places to find things out. This can be quite personal, so you really need to research it yourself.
Next, find a gradual way in. HTB’s black-box approach is one of the hardest learning curves. Starting here with no background is possibly a mistake.
Away from HTB:
- TryHackMe has guided rooms where you can learn specific techniques which is good for learning.
- OverTheWire Wargames provide a gradual progression where each lab builds on the previous lab. (Start with Bandit)
- Rangeforce.com gives you an opportunity to try out lots of attack and defence type activities
Really though, it all boils down to finding some good resources to learn in a style that you are comfortable with.
Thanks for the support
Type your comment> @PandaGaminG said:
So I just started learning Linux and Kali Linux. But the thing is I’m so lost. I don’t know where to start or what to learn. I’m struggling with understanding the terminal. I believe understanding the codes and terminals is the only best way to learn.
I’m a 17-year-old teenager so eager about programming, network security, hacking. But I don’t know if I need any knowledge about IT or anything else before I start. I’m not even sure if I’m gonna study IT in the future.
I’ll appreciate it if someone could push me in the right direction.
Bro, I was in the same spot as you not too long ago. The comment above had some great resources.
I would also recommend trying out INE’s Cyber Security Student path. In my opinion the base knowledge is taught horribly (so get that from somewhere else), but the interactive labs do help you gain knowledge about the different stages of an attack.
The more you do something the better you can become at it so keep on being curious my friend 
Hey broski, hit up the link in my sig.
Tons of us willing to help you grow and a place to ask questions anytime.
This field is crazy. It’s MASSSSSSSSIVE.
So much to learn and the more you learn the more you know you don’t know ■■■■!
It helps to have people to learn from for sure.
My best bit of advice is don’t try to run when you don’t know how to crawl. Pick a place and just start there. Stick with it. You’ll want to jump around learning all this new cool stuff but man just suck it up. Stick with it and get a really solid understanding then move to another.
Rinse and repeat this with topic after topic. Some cross over so when you know one the next one is easier to pick up.
This, isn’t a finish line kind of path, it’s a endless mountain so it’s not about the destination it’s about the trip.
Hit me up.
I was in the same position as you were about 6 months ago. I started HTB knowing only the very basics of Linux, so not exactly from zero knowledge, but pretty close to nothing. HTB isn’t a super great place to start out, but here’s how I did it. To learn the very basics I watched some of Hackersploit’s videos about the basics of Linux, nmap, metasploit and a few other tools. I also watched some videos about basic networking concepts and learned the very basics of python scripting. After I felt like I understood enough to attempt my first box, I picked the easiest machine on HTB and just went at it. I failed miserably, didn’t even root it, and that was with a lot of hand-holding too. But I kept attempting more boxes, and I got better over time. In the beginning, I did rely a lot on the amazing, and very helpful discord community, and I found that for me that was the best way to learn. So my advice to you is to just start, and if you’re stuck, google is your best friend, and if you don’t know what to google, ask for help.
I’ve been re-starting all this after many years off myself. This site is a bit discouraging but I use it to “toughen” myself up with things that just flat out are not explained or assisted. Even the so-called “fundamental” courses are not taught well. But they teach you to dig for obscure things, google search, etc which is maybe their point.
There are MUCH BETTER Linux tutorials out there though and so don’t get discouraged if you’re hitting walls in courses like Linux fundamentals for example.
Most of this just comes down to experience, repetition, and research.
At first you won’t know what to do, but after time and persistence, researching things you don’t know you’ll learn about them. This will continue over and over and before you know it when you look back you swill see the enormous distance from where you started.
I started hacking about 2 years ago now. Started with Wifi and didn’t really know much. Learned most of it with google and practice. Today though lol I’m doing pretty good and still learning much. I mean, then and now… I could have never foreseen the changes.
If you want to learn it nose down and focus. Repetition, repetition, repetition.
Focus on learning right. Building good habits and doing your best to avoid the bad.
Get comfortable sitting in the seat of not knowing and the struggle of looking at something you don’t even know where to start at… where you start doesn’t always matter in that case but the fact that you just breath deep and start digging in does.
Hackthebox probably isn’t your best resource but that depends on your learning style. If you’re very independent and are comfortable doing research then it’s a great place, but if you want a little more guidance there are other resources that will be a bit better for you.
Like someone said before, it’s a great place to test those skills or see just how far you can push yourself.
Thank you for all your supports guys! Appreciate that