r/Cybersecurity101

I've been looking into data broker removal services lately because I found way more of my personal information online than I expected. The part I'm confused about is what happens after they actually remove it. From what I've read, some data brokers can eventually get your information again from another source, so it seems like removal isn't necessarily permanent.

That makes me wonder whether paying for one of these services actually keeps your information down long term or if you're basically paying for someone to repeatedly remove the same stuff. For anyone who's been using one for a while, have you checked your results months later? Did your information stay gone or does it just keep coming back?

I've noticed that networking fundamentals are mentioned frequently when people discuss cybersecurity careers. How important are concepts like TCP/IP, DNS, routing, and firewalls in real cybersecurity jobs?

I would like to share my Linux Syscall Monitor project with you. It's a Linux process monitoring tool written in C that uses "ptrace" to observe system calls and generate behavioral reports.

Repo .

I welcome any feedback or criticism—whether it's about the code .

Hey. I'm looking at getting into cybersecurity/ethical hacking. 1 thing for sure before I even start is I feel like I need to upgrade my current laptop. Is there any budget and beginner friendly options that y'all recommend. I'm currently looking at the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3, but if there is something better that is sub - 1000 then feel free to comment. Thanks guys!

Been thinking about this with work messaging apps. Companies need audit logs for compliance and to figure out what happened when something goes wrong. But keeping those records seems to work against having truly private conversations.

End-to-end encryption sounds great until the company also needs oversight. Then you either give someone access or start storing more data somewhere. Is there a realistic way to have strong privacy while still keeping a useful audit trail? Or does one always have to give a little for the other?

I want to set up a Windows 10 VM using QEMU in linux. How to setup securely help me out please 🥺

 Cybersecurity covers so many areas—networking, Linux, cloud security, penetration testing, incident response, and more. For someone starting out, which skill took you the longest to understand, and what helped you finally get comfortable with it?

I revisited this malware variant that I came across in the wild to demonstrate to everyone how it works. Stay safe and I hope this helps someone learn something!

Hi, Im very interested in trying to either get to a point where I can work in cyber security. Ive had 8 years of experience being a IT Technician at a local IT store. I worked on mostly windows OS from windows 2000 up to around the start of Windows 10, and a small amount of linux.

I had to leave the IT industry for personal/money reasons. Its been about 10 years since ive worked in IT.

Im okay knowing I need to study and work my way up. Im excited and about to start learning python as almost every IT job I see advertised wants experience with it + id like to know at least 1 language of code.

What Certs should I learn to help me get a beginner cyber security job.

For people working in cybersecurity, what skill initially felt confusing but eventually became much easier with practice?

For me, cybersecurity seems like one of those fields where knowing the theory isn't enough—you need to repeatedly work through real scenarios.

Was it networking, Linux, SIEM tools, incident response, scripting, cloud security, or something else?

There are so many topics in cybersecurity that beginners can easily focus on the flashy stuff and overlook the fundamentals. What concept do you think deserves much more attention from someone starting out? Networking? Authentication? Operating systems? Logging? Social engineering? Basic scripting? Curious to hear what experienced people wish they had learned earlier.

I’m curious what experienced cybersecurity professionals think about this. If someone is starting from scratch, should they prioritize certifications first, or spend most of their time building hands-on projects and labs? I can see the value in certifications for structured learning, but practical experience seems difficult to replace.

Has anyone done this BS essentially from scratch? In the sense that they had previous knowledge but didn’t have a job in IT not even a help desk job. Did it help you break into the field or are you still trying to figure it out since the job market is abysmal.

I’m just asking because I have a Network +, Security +, CySA +. But i haven’t been lucky enough to get a job not even a help desk 1 position at a MSP. So im thinking about doing WGU to either get my degree and get a couple more certs under my belt while doing school and getting a BS degree. Or just going the traditional route of going to a University. But at the University i’ll be studying comp sci. But i ultimately am 100% sure I want to be in IT. My progression wants to look like this. IT Help Desk > System Admin > Network Engineer > SOC Analyst > Cybersecurity

I want to be able to outweigh my pros and my cons before actually committing and I need some help from people that actually have done the program and or are currently in the thick of it.

Hi everyone,

I’ve decided to make a hard pivot into cybersecurity and just started with TryHackMe. I’m 25, and while I have basic computer skills, I’m essentially starting from scratch. I’ve just hit my first "real" task involving Linux and Red Teaming, and honestly, the terminal alone is a bit overwhelming.

I’m looking for the "extreme" way to speed up this process. I don’t want to just stare at theory for months; I want to be hands-on.

A few questions for the pros here:

1. What are the most common mistakes beginners make on THM that slow them down?
2. Are there any specific "side resources" (YouTube channels, cheat sheets, or labs) that helped you "click" with Linux and networking faster than just following THM paths?
3. How can I build a solid foundation for Red Teaming without getting bogged down in "white-hat" academic stuff I'll never use?

I’m ready to put in the hours, just want to make sure I’m not running in the wrong direction.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for good free resources to build a strong foundation in the following areas:

• Networking

- Operating Systems

- Databases

- Linux — preferably a complete course

- Windows — preferably a complete course

- Bash scripting

- Python programming

- Virtualisation

If there are free certifications, structured courses, or well-known learning paths, I would prefer those over random YouTube videos.

My goal is to learn these properly from the fundamentals and eventually use them for cybersecurity, so resources with practical labs/exercises would be especially useful.

Please share any resources you personally found useful. Thanks!

I'm a cybersecurity student and I want to specialize in Cloud Security long-term. I already know it's not an entry-level field, so I'm not asking how to skip the line.

My question is: what's the best route to get there? Which first job actually builds toward it — help desk, SOC, sysadmin, DevOps, backend dev?

If you work in cloud security: what path did YOU take, and what would you do differently if you started today?

I keep seeing people recommend learning networking before going deep into cybersecurity. The more I explore security, the more sense it makes. Understanding IP addresses, DNS, ports, protocols, routing, and traffic seems to make security incidents much easier to understand. But I'm curious about people who entered cybersecurity from a different background. How important was networking for you? Would you recommend learning networking fundamentals first, or learning security concepts alongside networking?

One thing I've noticed while learning cybersecurity is that there is a huge difference between knowing a security term and actually understanding how it works. Beginners can easily get caught up in tools and certifications without understanding the fundamentals underneath them. If you could give someone starting cybersecurity one piece of advice that you wish you had received earlier, what would it be? Especially interested in advice from people who have already worked in the field.