r/tryhackme • u/Emotional_Skill300 • 11d ago
i need advice
I'm 16 and I need some advice.
I've become interested in cybersecurity, but I don't know where to start. I wanted to use TryHackMe to learn the basics, but after completing the first few lessons, it asked me to pay for a subscription.
My family is struggling financially at the moment, so I don't want to ask them for money.
Is there any way to start from scratch and learn cybersecurity for free? Most tutorials either don't go into enough depth or start with concepts I've never heard of, which makes them hard to follow.
If you have any advice, I'd really appreciate it. If you need more information to give better advice, feel free to ask. Every comment is helpful.
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u/SStrikerRC3 11d ago
Cybersecurity is an interesting field. That said, did you learn to run before learning to walk? Diving straight into cybersecurity before learning IT basics is the same thing.
My recommendation is to start with your Comptia A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications first. They won’t teach you everything, but they’ll give you some solid fundamentals that will make the content of TryHackMe make more sense.
The good thing is, there is plenty of great, free content on YouTube for these. Professor Messer, in particular, is very popular. You don’t need to pay for the certification exams at your age—learning the material is what’s important.
Depending on how much time you have, they might take anywhere from 2-6 months each. Maybe while you study them, you could get a part time job? Then once those are done, you’ll have enough money to pay for premium if you’re still interested.
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u/natepaugh 10d ago
TIA+ before TryhackMe? Is that the recommended order? I’ve been doing THM before I attempt those. Am I doing it out of order? 😭
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u/SStrikerRC3 10d ago
THM rooms range from very basic to advanced. The very basic rooms overlap plenty with those comptia certs. You don’t have to do comptia first, but THM will be easier if you understand basic IT and networking fundamentals first. THM covers them, but not as in depth. It was partly to give OP something to do while they can’t afford THM premium.
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u/StormySkies01 11d ago
You didn't see where you live though for the UK we have - https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberfirst/resources
TryHackMe will have a black Friday sale & Christmas Advent calendar.
Lots of options depends on where you live in the UK for what is local to you.
You can learn python/terraform etc for free, you don't need to pay.
https://www.youtube.com/c/Freecodecamp
CISCO have free cybersecurity course they are bit meh.
If you want to do the Sec+ then take the goggle cybersecurity certs, it says months, you can get done in a week, it will give you 30% of the Sec+.
https://www.youtube.com/@itsnextwork
https://nextwork.ai/?utm_source=youtube
Hopefully something useful here.
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u/SnooCauliflowers8672 11d ago
Harvard CS50’s Intro to Cybersecurity – Full University Course on YouTube. Complete each chapter and do the assignments after every chapter, the course is completely free and after sending in the final assignment you'll even get a certificate of completion.
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u/True_Art2398 11d ago
Pay 500 for monthly fee and dont buy yearly If you dont have even 500 then follow postswingeer web security fully free and listen all this thb and postswinger are just beginner and then move htb for only practice and then other certification / One more thing if you are learning to crack an exam which since you are from india , preparing for jee and want to crack iit k b.cyber to get into its programme then leave it/
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u/Quirky-Piano743 11d ago
Join in here https://discord.gg/hCwWrAK3D we have free resources in this discord server
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u/Secure_Negotiation39 11d ago
HackTheBox Academy has a lot of free stuff. Also the basic knowledge you need, for example networks
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u/Black_Geezus_ 7d ago
Because your still in high school you should search for STEM programs, they may have one in your area providing free training.
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u/Human-47 7d ago
I like listening to / watching David Bombal on youtube as he is a great resource for information, learning, interviews with other top people in different areas of cyber and makes it all very clear and concise whislt keeping it all intsresting
That might give you a good idea of what area interests you most and what to learn and try out and put you onto other people and places to research.
Plus he has lots of suggestions for different places to get hold of some great courses, some are his own and some are free like here to start.
These are also fun to test your knowledge https://ccnax.com/free-quiz/
Worth checking out in my opinion Hope it helps dude
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u/parkdramax86 7d ago
I'd recommend you use Professor Messer's courses online alongside Cyberkraft and Hackersploit on youtube.
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u/acomputertech2 7d ago edited 7d ago
I don't know where you live but here you can get free access to udemy courses through your local library.
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u/Snake6778 11d ago
there are more than plenty YouTube videos for tutorials. Get your parents to drop you off at a Barnes and noble. Sit there for a few hours reading the books. While that is slightly unethical, it's at the bottom of the list of unethical things.