Learn Cybersecurity From Scratch

Set up a practical hacking lab using virtualization to run multiple virtual machines, including Kali Linux and Metasploitable, isolated from your host computer with snapshots and VMware.

Learn to install Windows 11 as a virtual machine with VMware, from downloading the ISO to creating the VM, configuring memory, and completing the setup.

Install Windows 11 on Apple silicon by using VMware and an ARM-compatible image, then install VMware Tools to enable networking and proper display.

inventory scheduled tasks and startup programs in Windows using PowerShell or the Task Scheduler, identify odd task names and locations, and verify legitimacy by checking location, owner, and hash.

Master cmd and batch language for Windows security; PowerShell handles automation and threat hunting. Use whoami, net localgroup, net user, netstat -ano, and nslookup to identify admins and network activity.

Learn how Windows logs support cybersecurity by catching failed logins, using event IDs like 4624 and 4625, and configuring advanced audit policies with gpedit.msc.

Master how TCP/IP enables devices to communicate across layers, covering Wi-Fi, Ethernet, MAC addresses, IP addresses, routing, TCP vs UDP, ports, and essential command line tools for security checks.

Understand how networks connect clients to a resource via an access point or router, and how data travels as packets over wifi, potentially revealing traffic like URLs and login details.

Explore the TCP/IP and OSI models, the four layers—network access, internet, transport, and application—and how data flows between devices, highlighting their cybersecurity relevance.

Explore the network access layer, covering physical connections like Wi-Fi and Ethernet, and learn to use ipconfig, ping, and arp -a to identify MAC addresses and detect ARP spoofing.

Explore the internet layer of the tcp/ip model, where ip addresses route data from your local network to the internet, and learn how traceroute and ping test connectivity.

Explore the transport layer of the tcp/ip model, comparing tcp and udp, and learn how ports, ids, and commands like netstat reveal listening connections.

Explore how the application layer interacts with the TCP/IP and OSI models. See how apps generate messages and how lower layers deliver them, using curl to view response headers.

Explore Kali Linux, a Debian-based distribution pre-loaded with hacking and penetration testing tools, and learn to install it as a virtual machine for safe, isolated use.

Install Kali Linux as a Windows virtual machine with VMware; unzip Kali image with 7-zip, configure NAT networking, allocate memory and processors, and log in as root with password toor.

Learn to install Kali Linux as a virtual machine on macOS with VMware, decompressing the image, importing a ready Kali VM, and configuring a NAT network.

Analyze network traffic at the packet level with Wireshark to troubleshoot, prove what happened, and spot sketchy traffic, with Nmap scans from Kali Linux, ARP storms, and encryption.

Explore how ARP maps IP addresses to MAC addresses through requests and responses, demonstrated with a Kali Linux nmap scan and Wireshark analysis, including ARP tables and practical RDP considerations.

Explore network scanning with nmap and traffic analysis in wireshark, discovering devices, arp storms, and open ports like 3389, while understanding tcp handshakes and how to spot suspicious activity.

Explore how HTTP transmits data in plain text and how HTTPS with TLS encrypts it, guarding credentials and enabling HSTS to prevent downgrade attacks.

Explore reconnaissance, contrasting passive and active scans to map targets, assets, and ports. Learn the TCP three-way handshake and how nslookup and urlscan.io reveal domain data and behavior.

Split a single physical network into multiple virtual networks to prevent infection from spreading, and configure firewalls to control traffic; lock down Wi‑Fi access points to stop hackers.

Understand VLANs as isolated private IP segments that limit lateral movement, using a layer 3 switch or a router and firewall rules to enforce least privilege and segmentation.

Explore how wireless LANs use access points and SSIDs to extend networks. Compare WEP, WPA, WPA2, and WPA3, and learn enterprise certificate-based authentication.

Learn the foundations of cybersecurity through the CIA triad—confidentiality, integrity, and availability—and a practical demo of each, then explore multi-factor authentication to strengthen security.

Explore the CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and learn how encryption and decryption keys protect data, how cryptographic hashes detect tampering with SHA-256, and how redundancy ensures uptime.

Learn to verify downloaded files' integrity using SHA-256 hashes, compare them to vendor-provided hashes, and understand digital signatures and certificates to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

Explore how hashing verifies file integrity and detects tampering in enterprise environments, using sha-256 on config files, git file hash, and file integrity monitoring.

Learn how multi-factor authentication strengthens security by combining something you know, something you have, something you are, and somewhere you are, with practical setup using Google Authenticator and TOTP.

Explore symmetric and asymmetric encryption and why differences matter for confidentiality. Learn to encrypt and password-protect Windows files with AES, apply digital signatures, and review BitLocker and end-to-end email security.

Explain symmetric encryption with a secret key and its sharing challenges, and contrast it with asymmetric encryption using a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt.

Learn how public key encryption protects message confidentiality and digital signatures authenticate the sender and verify integrity by signing with the sender’s private key and verifying with the public key.

Demonstrates end-to-end email encryption using ProtonMail, showing public and private keys, and how ProtonMail-to-ProtonMail stays end-to-end encrypted while Gmail messages are only encrypted in transit with TLS.

Learn to password-protect files on Windows with 7-Zip using AES-256 encryption, encrypting file names, and understand EFS limitations for shareable data.

Understand how a keylogger runs in the background, records every keystroke, and emails reports for analysis of user activity on websites and social accounts.

Explore how social engineering exploits personal trust to hack targets, showing how a trusted email from a friend can lead to malware installation and full device access, underscoring employee education.

Identify trojans manually by checking file properties for masquerading executables, and differentiate background versus user-facing code, then use resource manager to inspect ports and remote IPs via reverse DNS.

Discover how to detect trojans by analyzing files in a sandbox, and review reports for indicators like registry changes, network connections on port 8080, and executing in a virtual machine.

Learn how command and control, or c2, servers remotely communicate with hacked computers to execute commands, access data, and pivot to additional targets.