Let’s look back at the last 31 days, discuss the best way to learn cyber security and I’ll share a new project I’m working on. Disclaimer, you’ve received this newsletter as you subscribed to Mr Ash .co.

the BEST way to learn CyberSec

If you want into CyberSec then get into Capture The Flags (CTFs), simple. CTFs are gamified learning, I mean, why do people spend so many hours playing video games? Gaming is a lot of fun even when it’s challenging, hence gamified learning.

I participated in two live CTFs in October from HackTheBox and TryHackMe respectively. Both were free, online, beginner-friendly and could be played solo. Plus, I learnt a ton of new things like command injection, packet analysis and blue team forensics.

These (and other) CTFs inspired my new project drum roll 100daysofctfs.com, a site dedicated to organising CTFs for fellow beginners. For additional resources, see CTF Time for live CTF events and Roppers CTF Bootcamp for the best CTF course imo.

Let’s Catch-Up

Month’s Memories

• We road-tripped to a rural country town inland, 12 hours there and back in one day. Ah, the things we do for friends.
• I’m in the process of moving mrash.co to Hugo, expect article delays.
• I switched internet and phone providers to ‘Mate’, bye-bye Kogan and Aldi Mobile. Also, I’ve dumbed my phone down by removing apps, unused services and going greyscale, my wife HATES it.
• I published four videos: Bandit 0-4, Bandit 5-9, Bandit 10-14, and Bandit 15-19. And four articles: OverTheWire Bandit, 100 Days of Hacking, Crack the Hash, and How To Fix OpenVPN for TryHackMe.

Consumed Content

• Videos: LiveOverflow’s Leaked IP, David Bombal’s Hacking Device, Jonny Harris’ North Korea & America, Matt D’Avella’s Dumb Phone, Seytonics Hackers on Discord and Grant Collin’s CTF Challenge.
• Courses: Ransomware Techniques, Cybersecurity Technologies and TCM’s Ethical Hacking.
• Books: Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and Bruce Nikkel’s Practical Linux Forensics.
• Podcasts: Darknet’s REvil, Jeremiah, We’re In’s Sec Culture, HIBT’s Twitch, The Changelog’s Jack Dorsey, Cybrary’s Dave Kennedy, and 401’s Rik Ferguson.

Show the Stats

• Newsletter friends: 242 (+5%)
• YouTube subs: 784 (+11%)
• Blog views, visitors: 1558 (+9%), 1021 (+10%)

Next Month: publish more videos on YouTube and actually finish articles on my site.

It’s been a long month of working, learning and creating content. I don’t think I’ve ever been so optimistic for the end of the year.

Keep to your course.