Hey. I go by hyd3. I’m working towards getting into penetration testing and cybersecurity. As I begin my journey in this path, I wanted somewhere to document all my thoughts, insights, learning, and frustrations.

We strive to learn from each other… that’s the name of the game here, isn’t it?

I’ve always had a passion for cybersecurity and actually stumbled upon penetration testing on accident. I was a guest at a local ISSA chapter meeting and before sitting down for the chapter meeting, someone pulled me and a few friends aside to a side conference room. They were a penetration testing company and wanted to bring people in to teach them how to do CTF stuff. I was intrigued.

I decided I was gonna put grad school on hold and get some IT certs, so I got Network+ and Security+… now what? Off a whim, I bought my first book related to pen testing: The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing by Patrick Engebretson. I was hooked (I’ll review this book in one of my posts). I couldn’t put the book down. I found myself waking up by 4, 3 hours before I needed to be up, and not stopping until midnight or so until I finished the book.

What next? I found @thecybermentor’s youtube channel and was hooked. I started with his 11 episode zero-to-hero penetration testing and continued to find myself sacrificing sleep and free time to quench my thirst to know more.

So here I am, writing a blog. I wanted to share my thoughts with others that are up and coming penetration testers too… because I know I’m not the only one who wonders things like what to focus on to progress and what’s worth it and what isn’t…

6/18/2020 – I guess it’s time for an update. Since December, I’ve also obtained eLearnSecurity’s eJPT, eCPPT, and OSCP. I’m addicted to hackthebox and think I’m finally grasping a strong foundation of the hacker mindset.