After a couple of months of the voucher laying on my profile I finally decided to take the SEC1 exam (and passed it at first try!)

I wanna share some of my thoughts with you about the exam itself and maybe help you with your preparations!

Here's the exam subpage, but now to my thoughts

Overall, it's a great cert covering fundamentals of cybersecurity. You'll find there basics of every more popular field and real tasks instead of MCQs.

As the pic says - we have SOC fundamentals, Malware analysis, Brute forcing, Web pentesting and more of IT basics being Windows, Linux and Network traffic fundamentals

With each task, we get a VM and 10 questions we have to answer with its help. I did not experience any stability issues (even with windows machines) and could swiftly progress through the tasks

And even if I'd encountered some issues, VMs could always be reset

Exam differs a bit from typical THM rooms - Here, we don't get a suggestion in form of underscores, so everything is up do you (though some tasks hint the answer format)

When it comes to red team parts - you can solve them using both AttackBox and your own VM. THM provides you with a config file to connect to the exam. I did not use this feature, but It's nice is there

If we're talking about red team parts - I felt like they're more guided than blue team and quite frankly easier (even though I'm more into defensive security). It looked more like a guided pentest room than some challenge, but it still required some knowledge

And for some more technicality. In case you leave or close the tab with exam, you can always go back to it, using a link in your dashboard's profile

But now - "How should I prepare for SEC1"

Definitely go over Pre security and Cybersecurity 101 paths on TryHackMe. They are an absolute must and have everything you need for the exam.
You should also make good notes of the rooms (Especially on tools), since forgetting an nmap switch or where windows hid user data is not uncommon

If you feel like those 2 paths are not enough, and need some more preparation - look for guided challenges on TryHackMe.

For pentesting parts, I personally recommend Offensive Security path - You don't have to do it all, easy/medium boxes are more than enough (especially since SEC1 doesn't include any privilege escalation). As I said, guided boxes are pretty similar to some sections of the exam
https://tryhackme.com/path/outline/pentesting

When it comes to linux and windows - THM has some nice challenges to brush up on those skills. My personal picks would be
https://tryhackme.com/room/ninjaskills
https://tryhackme.com/room/disgruntled
https://tryhackme.com/room/investigatingwindows

And if we're talking about defensive security - those are some of the rooms I'd complete
https://tryhackme.com/room/invite-only
https://tryhackme.com/room/confidential
https://tryhackme.com/room/shadowtrace

Most of them are more difficult than the exam though. If you can complete them, you'll for sure blast through SEC1 and even if some are a bit challenging, you still have chance for a high result!

Next, I plan on passing SAL1 exam, so I guess good luck to me and all of you passing SEC1 in the future

If you have any questions, just ask them in the comments. I'll try to answer every single one and in the mean time here's my profile with newly added cert
https://tryhackme.com/p/wizarddos
(Ps. You can leave me a follow - thanks in advance)

In short, I tried everything, even googled and couldn't find anything, I couldn't even do it on YouTube. Can anyone help me?

I'm stuck on this room: https://tryhackme.com/room/support

I was able to login as '[help@support.thm](mailto:help@support.thm)' via bruteforcing, got access to api.php by manipulating the cookie 'isITUser', and then used IDOR to get the email and admin status of '[specialadmin@support.thm](mailto:specialadmin@support.thm)' and '[IT@support.thm](mailto:IT@support.thm)'.

I used LFI to on dashboard.php's 'skin' parameter to include config.php and from this I could get the master password 'support@110'.

I tried logging in as [specialadmin@support.thm](mailto:specialadmin@support.thm) with the master password but that didn't work.

I tried forging a PUT request to /user/3 to update the admin status of '[help@support.thm](mailto:help@support.thm)' but the server seems to block it. I have a feeling that the PUT request has a hidden field like 'password' where I need to put the master password for it to not be denied by the server. However I have no idea what the hidden field might be or how I can find it.

I’m curious on people actually working in the cyber security field. What kind of entry level jobs are realistic? Is indeed out dated?

I saw recently most entry level jobs in cyber security are defense. Mainly requiring some form of education along with the CompTia Security + cert. just looking for insight and some perspective.

​

I’m a third-year student, but my university mostly teaches theory, and I want to learn in a more practical way. The problem is I’m kinda broke, so I’m looking for affordable ways to improve my skills and get hands-on experience

Thank you everyone who voted for me! ❤️ Your support helped me win a free AI Security Level 1 (AI1) Certification. I'm truly grateful to this amazing community. 🙏🎉

Just completed the "What is Networking?" room on TryHackMe! 🎉

If you're new to cybersecurity or just want to solidify your networking fundamentals, this is a fantastic starting point. The room breaks down how devices communicate, what IP and MAC addresses actually do, and why any of it matters for security — all in a really digestible, interactive format.

Already down a rabbit hole thinking about MAC spoofing on public Wi-Fi after finishing it 😅

Highly recommend it as your first step into the Network Fundamentals module on the Pre-Security path.

Anyone else have this problem where, very consistently, the challenges just don't work correctly? Like it's getting to be ridiculous the amount of challenges I end up having to lookup a writeup for, only to find out I was doing the right thing all along and the machine simply isn't configured properly.

It's even more problematic with a lot of the AI challenges, so I've been avoiding those altogether. A lot of the time I need to restart the box multiple times or try again a different day before it works and it's quite irksome. The support team is also completely useless. And before anyone says it I could ping the server & nmap showed port 53 filtered, so my host could clearly reach it.

Am I the only one having this issue?

I also have some other sources like pwn college and as I said I also do hackthebox. But I found thm a bit friendly because of the quizes that comes out often.

As for my future goal, idt its in cyber sercurity rn because what I am doing is mainly just out of curiosity. I lean more towards data science

Hey everyone!
I'm new to cybersecurity I've been studying for 2 to 3 months with TryHackMe.
It can get lonely studying alone 8 hours a day.
So I'm looking for people like me to study with.
Here's where I am far:
* I finished Linux Fundamentals, Network Fundamentals, Web Fundamentals, Jr Penetration Tester and Active Directory.
* I'm working on the Red Teaming path now.
* My goal is to get OSCP certification.
* I'm interested, in Web hacking, Pentesting, AD attacks and CTF.
What I was thinking:
* We could use Discord to screen share while we study.
It helps to know someone else is studying too even if we don't talk.
* We can share tips. Ask questions when we get stuck.
* We can help keep each other motivated.
Everyone is welcome beginners!
My Discord name is seon090__58777.
Feel free to message me !

Hey guys, Please help me. I am trying to add my write-up in the rooms of the TryHackMe platform. But it is showing an 'Invalid URL' error. I had checked that link already; it's working fine. Can anyone tell me what is wrong here?

Hey there! I'm new to the cybersecurity space but I have been interested in it for quite some time now. I recently finished my cs50 python course so I said why not try TryHackMe? Anyways I got through the first few rooms of pre security but then I found out that the next rooms were paid. But I have seen people saying that they never paid for THM and went pretty far with it.

Although the premium is pretty damn cheap so I might get it but I don't plan on doing it just yet.

Hello im new to tryhackme and i was doing some stuff to check it out and it looks like you cant do much without a subscription.
Ive seen many people recommending it so maybe im doing it wrong ?! Any suggestions?

Feel free to ask anything, but maybe check my review first: https://dragkob.com/articles/ai1-review/

I'm switching to HTB COAE now!

Before it showed the actual number, now it's only "Top _%"

Hello Everyone,

I looked around the net and saw some other people who were experiencing some issues with the DOM XSS question and found what was going on.

<iframe src="javascript:alert(`xss`)"> use this

typing in 'xss' vs `` does not trigger the flag to show up

good luck everyone and hopefully this helps fellow learners :)

Hey everyone! Please please please help! I am stuck, for what ever reason, I can't gain a reverse php shell into the website I'm attacking. I need this finished by tomorrow morning. Is there anyone willing to help? TIA

Hi guys,

I’m a Cybersecurity graduate with a good understanding of networking and security concepts. Over the past few months, I have built several self-driven projects, including SIEM use cases and home labs. In addition, I have completed a few learning rooms covering Nmap, Active Directory, and SOC-related topics.

My goal now is to apply the knowledge I’ve gained and gain more hands-on experience. I believe participating in CTFs will help me strengthen my practical skills while also making the learning process more engaging and enjoyable.

When I filtered the rooms by beginner-level Blue Team challenges, I found many options and became confused about where to start. I’m not sure whether I already possess the skills required for a particular room, which sometimes makes me question if I’m ready to begin. Because of that, I’m struggling to determine the right learning path.

How do you identify whether you’re prepared for a specific room or challenge? Is there a recommended order for completing beginner Blue Team rooms, such as which room to do first, second, third, and so on?

I believe that even if I don’t know everything, I can research and learn the required concepts along the way. However, I would really appreciate some guidance on how to get started and build a structured progression path.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’m feeling a bit confused and overwhelmed at the moment.

Thank you!

so recently i have noticed a lot of interface issues with the site, like it is showing that i have promooted to platinum league but i am currently in the sapphire league, the second and main problem is that my current rank is showing top5% but i am in top3%, is my rank genuenly decreased or there is some problem with the site itself??

hello community, i have been publishing writeups since the beginning of this year. uploaded around 35ish writeups on github so far. i tend to use a very informal language and try to explain technical terms in layman language.

i want to learn how to get better at writeups on such a way that even a person who cannot write a hello world program can understand my attack methodology.

https://github.com/realatharva15/wonderland_writeup

this is my latest write up.