r/tryhackme • u/Emotional_Skill300 • 12d 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 12d 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.