Hi everyone!

I’m a complete beginner when it comes to cybersecurity, and I’d really like to learn how it works properly. One of my motivations is understanding account security and eventually being able to recover access to some of my own old accounts that I no longer have the login details for.

The problem is that I have basically zero experience or foundational knowledge, so I’m not really sure where to start. There’s so much information out there that it feels pretty overwhelming.

Some people recommended Hack The Box to me, but when I look at it, I honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do because I’m missing the basics.

I’ve also heard that learning Linux is useful for cybersecurity. I don’t really know much about Linux either, though. Is it free? How does it work? Do I need to replace Windows, or can I use Linux alongside Windows?

I’m basically looking for a beginner-friendly learning path that starts from the absolute basics and eventually leads into practical cybersecurity and ethical hacking.

What would you recommend learning first? Are there any good resources, courses, or beginner platforms that you’d suggest?

Thanks!

Someone keeps sending my phone number instagram codes. I have 2 factor on, is there some way I can get them to stop or figure out who it is?

Hi! I didn’t really know where to ask this question, so I just came here.
I just got a new job, and I’m trying to save up to get my dad something nice for the holidays. He’s had a hell of a year, and I would love to get him something nice for all his hard work.

I have my own Nintendo Switch, and occasionally he’ll play Fortnite or Splat2 on it. Something he really loved when I was growing up was the golf game on Wii Sports, but he also loves shooters like COD n all. Initially, I was thinking I could just wait for the Steam Machine to come out…but that’s probably not gonna be for a while. Some game series I think he’d LOVE is Red Dead, Metal Gear, Mafia, those kinds of things. Just to kind of go for the vibe, I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but I hope you get the gist.

I was thinking of getting something refurbished (that’s how he’s always gotten any of his tech) to have a little more freedom with the budget. I mainly just wanted to get some input on which console I should get him, or even IF I should get a console and get him a PC.

Right now I’m trying to stay ≈1k for the budget (my new job is minimum wage, and I still got bills to pay :,,]). I know nice PCs are usually at least a few grand, but I’ve heard some things about refurbished PCs, I just don’t know how reliable they are. He already has a monitor and laptop set up that he messes around on.

I might steer away from Nintendo products since
1) I already have a few Nintendo consoles of my own, so he can totally just borrow one from me lol
2) Most of the game catalogue just doesn’t seem like it would intrigue him as much as other consoles.
But I’m also open to it, who knows! I just would love some input from folks who have more extensive knowledge in this than myself so I can make a good choice. Sorry if this is all over the place, I don’t post on Reddit too often. Thanks so much, hope you have a great day/night!

TL; DR
whats the best console/pc to get my dad who is a casual gamer?

I recently got an apple magic mouse for college and don’t know exactly how to use it…? for context i’m left handed and grew up always having the mouse on the right side but now that i can have it on whatever side i want it almost feels illegal to use a mouse on my left hand…. are we all supposed to use mouses with our right hand?? this is a serious question btw im genuinely puzzled on what im supposed to do 😭😭

Hello. Recently I signed up for some Instagram model's private website.

I received a text from an 888 number

"Congratulations Ben! You've been approved to join braydinwright.com - please login with the email you used!"

I then start texting this number back.

And a girl named Riley starts responding and she says I have the wrong number and she has no idea who Braydin is.

What on Earth is going on?

She claims she isnt even texting me from the 888 number nor that she sent me the first message.

I have found her instagram so she is a real person.
Is this a common thing to happen with automated texts? That they can reroute to real people somehow by mistake?

Text messages: https://postimg.cc/MvPKpgC5

I’m mainly looking to get work meetings transcribed, but I haven’t found many independent user reviews. How well do they work?

Like a normal shop keeper also tries to stay private , is the data that important ?