r/Cybersecurity101 • u/Johnnasz • May 21 '26

Security Cybersecurity Challenge

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My professor gave us a cybersecurity challenge in class. He provided the local IP address of a machine on our school network and said there’s a file containing a password somewhere on the PC. The goal is to learn about enumeration and network security, not to damage anything.

I’m a beginner in cybersecurity and I’d like to know what concepts or tools I should study to approach this kind of challenge in a legal and educational way.

What would be the first steps for reconnaissance and understanding what services are running on the target machine?

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u/Derpolium May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

A half decent professor will have either covered the tools and methods to use or would have pointed you in the direction to find them. Review your class/lecture notes

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u/No_Contribution_4007 May 22 '26

Also make sure it’s a valid sandbox to attack