TryHackMe: Command Line Confessions

Greg Heffner August 28, 2024

If youre anything like me you are always like to play with new toys and learn new ways to do things. TryHackMe (THM) came along for me at a perfect time where I needed a place to play and I was HUNGRY for more IT knowledge. THM is a training website that not only walks you through technical training sessions but allows you to put your skills to the test in real labs. The site is written for people who have no experience or people like me who are working in the industry and wanting to learn more. So dont worry if you and your computer are not best friends yet. There are three main sections to the site in the learning section where I put most of my time and what I will be going over in this blog.

Learn:

THM calls this section Hands on Hacking. There are a few sections you can choose from here. This is where I go for learning. I look for topics I am interested in and enroll. Best part is most of them are free!

• Learning Paths- Training that is grouped by Future Job Role. Examples like Jr Penetration Tester, Pre Security, Red Teaming, Complete Beginner, SOC level 1 and SOC level 2.
• Cloud Training- This section is specifically setup for Attacking and Defending AWS. There are different training modules, simulated events, and labs with a path to a certification.
• Modules- These are groups or training topics. Maybe you are looking for an Intro to Penetration Testing, How the web works, Threat Hunting.
• Rooms- These are stories and challenges that also teach you. Think of this section as hands on training.
• Networks- This is a group of challenges that use virtual networks and tunneling attacks.

Practice:

This are is for people who are interested in training and just want to go and test skills. There are two sections here. These are labs that are made like games. You enroll in the lab and are given questions to answer like what ports are open or what is the contents of a file on the server.

• General- Search this area for specific rooms you want to test. There is a room called Agent Sudo and its description is "You found a secret server located under the deep sea. Your task is to hack inside the server and reveal the truth." You would log into the room and look into the instructions for next steps.
• Series- Series are groups of rooms used to learn or exploit certain things. Example here would be the Pentesting Tools where you "Learn about and get experience with industry-standard offensive security tools."

Search:

This section is just that. THM has over 800 rooms as of writing this article and they go from literally complete beginner to insane Capture the Flag challenges like CCT2019 where its an actual challenge from the US Navy Cyber Competition Team.

How I use it:

I personally started in December one year. THM has a yearly thing called the Advent of Code where each day they release a new fun holiday themed exercise. I like these because they are written to allow everyone from complete beginners to advanced professionals to enjoy them. I think my favorites would be Linux Strength training, Red Team Engagements, or the Intro to Kubernetes modules. I really like the way you are walked through the training and if you get stuck most of the time there is a write up you can reference from someone who has completed the room before. I just got into the CTF builder THM came out with. I would love to make a room in the Develop Rooms section but I dont think I will get to this any time soon. IDK, who knows.

Check out shenetworks Lazy Admin Walkthrough where she does a whole walkthrough for one of the rooms!!! Once you create an account and finish some rooms you can share your personal badge and rank you get with THM:

Bing AI notes on TryHackMe:

Imagine TryHackMe as a fun online playground where you can learn how to be a superhero who protects computers from bad guys. 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️
On TryHackMe, you get to play games and solve puzzles that teach you how to find and fix problems in computers. It’s like a big adventure where you earn points and badges for completing challenges. You can even join teams with other kids and work together to solve tricky problems.
It’s all about learning how to keep computers safe while having a lot of fun! 🎮💻