Why Cyber Security?
The foundation behind three closely related security careers
Every system that's worth building is worth attacking, which is exactly why security has become one of the most in-demand, recession-resistant paths in tech — and one that welcomes people from IT, networking, and even non-technical backgrounds. That's also why it opens the door to several closely related roles. A Security Analyst / Blue Teamer monitors networks, investigates alerts, and responds to incidents before they become breaches. A Penetration Tester / Red Teamer thinks like an attacker, probing systems for the same weaknesses real adversaries would exploit. A Security Engineer builds and hardens the infrastructure, tooling, and policies that keep both of those teams' jobs possible in the first place. Whichever direction you lean toward, the roadmap below covers the shared foundation all three roles are built on.
Quick intro — what does a cyber security career actually look like?
A quick primer before you start the roadmap. Opens in a small player, no need to leave the page.
The Cyber Security Roadmap
Work through these in order. Each step has a short lesson, official docs, and a repo to practice in.
Fundamental IT Skills
Hardware components, connection types, OS-independent troubleshooting, and the basics of the office suites and wireless tech everyone uses.
Operating Systems
Installation, permissions, CLI and GUI navigation, and common commands across Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Networking Knowledge
The OSI model, common protocols and ports, subnetting, IP terminology, network topologies, and SSL/TLS basics.
Virtualization & Troubleshooting Tools
Hypervisors, VMs, and the command-line tools you'll reach for constantly: nmap, tcpdump, wireshark, and friends.
Authentication & Identity
Authentication vs. authorization, MFA/2FA, and the protocols behind single sign-on: Kerberos, RADIUS, LDAP.
Security Fundamentals & Frameworks
The CIA triad, defense in depth, zero trust, the cyber kill chain, and the standards security teams work against.
Threats, Attacks & Social Engineering
Phishing and its many variants, common attacks like MITM and SQL injection, and how malware actually works.
Defensive Security & Cryptography
Firewalls, IDS/IPS, hardening, secure protocols, and the cryptography basics — hashing, salting, PKI — behind them all.
Incident Response & Forensics
The IR lifecycle from preparation to lessons learned, plus the logs, tools, and threat intel that drive investigations.
Cloud Security
Security in the cloud, SaaS/PaaS/IaaS models, infrastructure as code, and how AWS, GCP, and Azure differ from on-prem.
Programming, CTFs & Certifications
Automate with Python and Bash, sharpen your skills on CTF platforms, and use certifications to prove what you know.
GitHub Projects
Real, buildable projects to put on your own GitHub
Web App Penetration Testing
Deploy OWASP Juice Shop, a deliberately vulnerable web app, and work through OWASP Top 10 challenges.
CVE Exploitation Lab
Spin up pre-built, intentionally vulnerable Docker environments and practice exploiting real, documented CVEs.
Threat Mapping with ATT&CK
Run MITRE's own ATT&CK Navigator locally and map a real or fictional incident to specific adversary techniques.
Privilege Escalation Practice
Run PEASS-ng's enumeration scripts against a lab VM to learn how privilege escalation paths actually get found.
Track complete
Eleven steps from IT fundamentals to cloud security. Get hands-on in a CTF or lab environment and put it on your GitHub so it's visible to employers, then keep going — security is learned by breaking and defending real systems, not just reading about them.
Where next?
Keep exploring by domain or drill into a single skill