I first needed to understand how the web worked, how a client and a server communicate, and how everything else worked. That was the moment everything came together.

First of all, I have to tell you. Professionally, I haven’t started in Cybersecurity yet. But I can tell you how have I got to where I am now.

Almost two years ago, I was working in my woodshop and making a living out of it. But after several years of doing just that, I was feeling bored and without a life’s purpose. That moment was when I decided I wanted to become a developer. Computers were always a passion of mine and I’ve always been tinkering with them. But I never thought of working or dedicating my time in the field.

A couple of weeks after deciding that I realized I didn’t like coding that much (or I thought I didn’t). And after that realization, I was back again in the wild wondering what should I study next. That’s when I found bug bounties. Something that blew my mind! How can someone be earning money just by trying to hack stuff? That was awesome! I decided right there that I wanted to become a hacker.

I started wandering in cyberspace for information on how to become a hacker. Nothing was that useful and also I didn’t understand most of the information I was reading. I knew pretty much anything about computers back then (apart from the basic stuff). But that didn’t stop me. So I started learning as much as I could about whatever was coming my way.

After a couple of months of reading about web vulnerabilities and working on many Web Security Academy labs without many results, I realized I was working in the wrong direction. I first needed to understand how the web worked, how a client and a server communicate, and how everything else worked. That was the moment everything came together. By understanding the basics, I was able to understand how vulnerabilities arise. What was the purpose of coding and scripting and why should I learn a scripting language. And that’s when a path began to present itself in front of me.

The path was something like this. First I started by installing Linux on everything I could, I had a couple of computers and I tried stuff on them as much as I could. I installed Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and Finally Kali. I dual Booted my laptop ‘cause virtual machines weren’t going as fast or smooth as I hoped. Reading a ton of books on networking, HTTP, and web security was also helping a lot. Each day I was able to understand a little bit more of what I was reading. Then I started meddling with TryHackMe and finally I was able to complete a few of WebSecAcademy labs. Along with completing tasks and challenges, I was needing scripts to solve or automate some of the tasks I was doing. I was getting bored of typing stuff over and over. That was the moment I started with Python, but I didn’t found it as useful and as easy as Bash. And as with everything else, the more I was scripting, the more I wanted to do stuff with it.

How I begin shows me one thing, the most important part of trying to learn something new is the curiosity and willingness to do it. And also I’ve noticed, the more I learn and understand helps me realize I don’t know so much more stuff. And that brings me a lot of hope and a future full of knowledge waiting for me.

Keep learning, keep pushing forward, and keep trying to get to where you want to be.

MEGANUKE