Looking for a Clear Path to Advance in Cybersecurity
I have a basic to intermediate understanding of cybersecurity, including areas like RATs, hacking, network penetration testing, and web application security. However, most of my knowledge is fragmented — picked up through scattered tutorials, random searches, and informal learning.
I’m now looking for a structured and in-depth guide or roadmap that can take me from my current level all the way to advanced cybersecurity skills. Most of the guides I come across tend to focus only on beginner-level topics like basic networking, which I’ve already covered.
If anyone can recommend a comprehensive, step-by-step resource that goes beyond the basics and dives deep into advanced concepts, I’d really appreciate it.
24 Replies
It sounds like you may have reached that stage where the paths sort of diverge. What I would recommend is deciding on what you would like to specialize in and then reverse engineer the path from that.
If you still want a general roadmap of skills, this might be interesting to look at:
https://roadmap.sh/cyber-security
I also feel like tryhackme did a good job on describing the pathways in a few of their rooms, it might help you decide.
From there you would determine which individual topics to go deeper into and find resources specializing in those. We can help with that once you have an idea.
roadmap.sh
Cyber Security Roadmap: Learn to become a Cyber Security Expert
Community driven, articles, resources, guides, interview questions, quizzes for cyber security. Learn to become a modern Cyber Security Expert by following the steps, skills, resources and guides listed in this roadmap.
I really appreciate the help.
After going through the link you shared, I noticed a lot of topics and terms that I wasn’t fully aware of.
It’s clear that diving into these will greatly expand my knowledge and help me build a much stronger foundation in cybersecurity.
Thanks again — this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
first off how old are you and are you going to university soon?
because i graduated with a bachelor's in cyber and i do recommend it if you want to learn more, but the job market right now, at least in USA, is certainly one of the markets
im 17
i was supposed to go to a college or UNI next year
but due to some medial condition i was unable to give my exams and have to repeat a year
so ill go into UNI in 2026 or 2027
if you don't have that option or don't want to commit for 4 years, id recommend trying to get into stuff like CompTIA A+ and Security+
cool, id say if you are interested and you do think you'd be willing to commit for 4 years, look especially for universities which offer cybersecurity as a major for undergrads
off the top of my head I believe Georgia Tech, CalPoly Pomona, Carnegie Melon, and Purdue are the main ones that offer it
since im from India
I am trying to prepare for exams that allow me to go to Colleges like IIT and NIT
Which are equivalent to MIT
but i think
even there i would have to learn most of the stuff myself
:VentiShrug:
i mean i don't think you wanna study in USA right now
they(IIT AND NIT) just guarantee me a good job position in foreign
though i think purdue, GA tech, and carnegie melon would probably be best at protecting you from the big orange man upstairs
yea even if i wanted to
i wouldnt be able to
lets just say my parents provide me with the best they can
hopefully someone else can give you better india specific advice because im not from there obviously
but if i can advance my skills good enough
ill try and apply for jobs
without having to go to UNI
as i know some people that dropped out in their senior year
and are now Software engineer for Tech giants
yea
still thanks for the help
i appriciate it
>RATs, hacking, network pentesting, web app security
im gonna tell you right now, if i were hiring, i would throw your resume in the trash if it said this
because i read this and see a roblox hacker who is liable to become an insider threat
you really should work on fundamentals, so try setting up some basic servers and virtual machines to do certain things
seeing Microsoft IIS and Windows Server 2022 looks unbelievably better than seeing pentesting all by itself
💀
uhm
some what true but i am not a script kiddie
just learned that to make my own softwares and tools
oo okke
you can even include the other stuff here but focus on the fundamentals
:accept:
okok here's a straightforward lab i can recommend you do
-requires two machines, one to run windows server 2025 (or 2008,12,16,22) and one to run windows 11/10. they can be vms -create and configure an active directory domain and connect your windows 11 machine to it -configure active directory dns on your domain so your windows 11 machine can resolve a dns address like "united.local" -configure an admin and user account using active directory, and enable both accounts to log into the windows 11 machine using their passwords -verify that the user account does not have access to files they don't need some other stuff: -configure a IIS web server, with self-signed https even -configure a SMB file share and play around with permissions -configure another windows server 2025 instance to act as a secondary domain controller for your domain -virtualize these machines using ESXi (use the free tier unless you really want to pay for them) there's some other linux stuff you can try as well but that should get you a lot of the way towards understanding some of the fundamentals
thanks u so much
but i dont think i have the required hardware for this unfortunately
i would have to wait a year to get a PC so i would have 2 devices
one would be my current laptop and the pc
But still i really appriciate the help
you can virtualize them, windows server 2012 really doesn't need much and windows 10 can run on 4gb RAM
but for something like this you can even shrink them down to 2gb each and you'll be fine once they're installed
if you have a laptop with 8gb RAM it will be unpleasant but it is doable!
oooh
i might actually try this if my laptop can handle it
thankss 🙂
:nerd_dog:
you're laptop can handle it. if you're a true sysadmin god your laptop can handle it :taxes:
if your laptop can't handle it, nothing a little elbow grease and dicking around can't fix :taxes:
:nerd_magik: ookie
i might as well install some stripped down version of win11 for the best performance
i don't think that's really a concern here but if it helps!
anyway i need sleep
oh oke
good night man