From zero to seasoned

You cannot break what you do not understand. Build the base everyone skips.

• Build an isolated home lab
• Get fluent in the Linux shell
• Finish OverTheWire Bandit 0 to 15
• Learn TCP/IP, DNS, and HTTP at the packet level
• Write small Python or Bash scripts to automate tasks

Learn the core tools and the attacker workflow on guided, legal targets.

• Scan and enumerate lab machines with Nmap
• Proxy and manipulate web traffic in Burp
• Complete PortSwigger Apprentice labs
• Play your first CTF
• Finish a TryHackMe learning path

Work without hand-holding, chain findings, and start acting like a professional.

• Root 20 retired Hack The Box machines
• Attack an Active Directory lab such as GOAD
• Adopt professional tradecraft
• Submit your first valid bug bounty report
• Earn a practical cert: PNPT, CPTS, or OSCP

Specialize, understand the defender, and contribute back to the community.

• Write reports clients act on
• Learn how blue teams see you
• Go deep on exploit dev with pwn.college
• Pick a specialty: cloud, mobile, hardware, AI, or red team
• Publish research, a tool, or writeups