🔐 6-Month Cybersecurity Learning
Roadmap
Week 1: Intro to Cybersecurity & Domains
📘 Topics: Cybersecurity basics, CIA triad, OWASP Top 10, roles
✅ Tasks: Draw Cyber Career Map
🧰 Tools: Burp Suite, OWASP
💬 Motivation: “Security is not a product, but a process.”
Week 2: Networking Basics
📘 Topics: OSI, TCP/IP, protocols, IP/DNS, Wireshark
✅ Tasks: Analyze packets in Wireshark
🧰 Tools: Wireshark
💬 Motivation: “Hack the planet, responsibly.”
Week 3: Linux for Hackers
📘 Topics: Linux commands, file permissions, scripting
✅ Tasks: Secure a Linux VM
🧰 Tools: Bash, Linux
💬 Motivation: “Every system is hackable. Your job is to make it hard.”
Week 4: Web & HTTP
📘 Topics: HTTP methods, cookies, status codes, Burp Suite
✅ Tasks: Build a vulnerable login page
🧰 Tools: Burp Suite
💬 Motivation: “Hack with purpose. Defend with honor.”
Week 5: Hacking Lab Setup
📘 Topics: Install Kali/Parrot, DVWA, Metasploitable
✅ Tasks: Create local hack lab
🧰 Tools: Kali, Metasploitable
💬 Motivation: “Defenders think in lists. Attackers think in graphs.”
Week 6: Reconnaissance & Scanning
📘 Topics: Recon types, nmap, whois, theHarvester
✅ Tasks: Generate network map with nmap
🧰 Tools: nmap, theHarvester
💬 Motivation: “Security through visibility.”
Week 7: Exploitation Basics
📘 Topics: Vuln scanning, Metasploit, DVWA exploitation
✅ Tasks: Exploit DVWA flaws
🧰 Tools: Metasploit, DVWA
💬 Motivation: “Persistence beats resistance.”
Week 8: Web App Attacks I
📘 Topics: SQLi, XSS, PortSwigger Labs
✅ Tasks: Try PortSwigger XSS labs
🧰 Tools: PortSwigger Academy
💬 Motivation: “There is no patch for human stupidity.”
Week 9: Web App Attacks II
📘 Topics: CSRF, SSRF, IDOR, Cookie attacks
✅ Tasks: Exploit cookies in DVWA
🧰 Tools: Burp Suite, DVWA
💬 Motivation: “Enumeration is key.”
Week 10: Passwords & Cracking
📘 Topics: Hashing, brute-force, Hydra, JtR
✅ Tasks: Crack Linux password hash
🧰 Tools: JohnTheRipper, Hydra
💬 Motivation: “If it’s encrypted, break the key.”
Week 11: Wi-Fi & MITM
📘 Topics: Wi-Fi basics, Evil Twin, MITM attacks
✅ Tasks: Capture Wi-Fi handshakes (lab)
🧰 Tools: aircrack-ng, ettercap
💬 Motivation: “Trust but verify.”
Week 12: Intro to Blue Team
📘 Topics: Logs, Sysinternals, Splunk basics
✅ Tasks: Monitor logs for brute-force
🧰 Tools: Splunk, Event Viewer
💬 Motivation: “Defense is strategy, not just tools.”
Week 13: SIEM & Log Analysis
📘 Topics: SIEM, alert rules, build mini-SOC
✅ Tasks: Build Splunk dashboard
🧰 Tools: Splunk, ELK
💬 Motivation: “Logs never lie.”
Week 14: Malware & Reverse Engineering (Intro)
📘 Topics: Static/Dynamic analysis, PEStudio, Ghidra
✅ Tasks: Analyze benign exe with Ghidra
🧰 Tools: Ghidra, x64dbg
💬 Motivation: “Reverse it till you own it.”
Week 15: Cryptography Basics
📘 Topics: RSA, AES, SHA-256, encrypt/decrypt files
✅ Tasks: Encrypt files in Python
🧰 Tools: Python
💬 Motivation: “Encrypt everything. Assume compromise.”
Week 16: CTF Week (Skill Test)
📘 Topics: TryHackMe CTFs (Mr. Robot, OWASP)
✅ Tasks: Finish 2 CTF rooms
🧰 Tools: TryHackMe
💬 Motivation: “Flags are the new trophies.”
Week 17: Red Team Track
📘 Topics: Phishing, Red Team tools
✅ Tasks: Build phishing page
🧰 Tools: Empire, Veil
💬 Motivation: “Red teams reveal. Blue teams heal.”
Week 18: Blue Team Track
📘 Topics: Threat hunting, MITRE ATT&CK
✅ Tasks: Detect PowerShell abuse
🧰 Tools: Sysmon, MITRE
💬 Motivation: “Threats evolve. So should you.”
Week 19: Cloud Security (AWS)
📘 Topics: IAM, S3, CloudTrail, AWS GuardDuty
✅ Tasks: Harden AWS IAM/S3
🧰 Tools: AWS Console
💬 Motivation: “Clouds leak when IAM fails.”
Week 20: Advanced Specialization Labs
📘 Topics: Specialization CTFs and labs
✅ Tasks: Red/Blue/Cloud team mini projects
🧰 Tools: TryHackMe, HackTheBox
💬 Motivation: “Depth beats surface.”
Week 21: Bug Bounty & Real-World Pentesting
📘 Topics: Bug Bounties, HackerOne, recon-ng
✅ Tasks: Recon and submit 1 bug report
🧰 Tools: HackerOne, recon-ng
💬 Motivation: “Hack legally. Learn infinitely.”
Week 22: GitHub Portfolio & Resume
📘 Topics: Writeups, GitHub portfolio, CV
✅ Tasks: Update GitHub, write project readme
🧰 Tools: GitHub, Canva
💬 Motivation: “Your GitHub is your resume.”
Week 23: Certification Readiness
📘 Topics: CEH/Sec+/eJPT mock exams
✅ Tasks: Take 1 mock exam
🧰 Tools: TryHackMe Practice
💬 Motivation: “Certify your knowledge.”
Week 24: Final Capstone
📘 Topics: Real-world CTF walkthrough project
✅ Tasks: CTF walkthrough + video
🧰 Tools: OBS, GitHub, CTF site
💬 Motivation: “Document your dominance.”
