I'm 16 and interested in getting into cyber security/ethical hacking

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Python_Puzzles@reddit

Start off doing a Microsoft Windows certification.
There's plenty of entry level ones.

Windows, Windows Server, Azure Cloud.

Why am I recommending a Microsoft cert and not a security cert first? 90% of companies use Microsoft Windows and it is what you will be "managing" cyber security and anti-virus on.

Then do CompTIA Security certification - Security+ (Plus) Certification | CompTIA IT Certifications

Having both of those, or having covered their topics even if you don't sit the exam, should give you a very good intro to the field.

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hey i just read ur comment the thing is i want to peruse my carrer in ethical hackng and cycber security and i already started my journey on it i have been rn learning the complete basics of python and next i will start my penetration testing course and so on.
the thing is i am doing it all by myself with no degree or anything of a sort from collages i will be getting my certificates from online tests.
will i be able to do freelancing? and is it risky cause like i am really into this and i just want clarification and u sound like a professional in that field.

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Python_Puzzles@reddit

Freelancing? Taking on jobs for money right at the start is VERY unlikely.

You would be much more likely to use the experience you've gained studying to impress someone enough at a job interview for them to hire you for an entry level position.

Before you go any further, look at cyber security jobs on your area's seek/monster website. Most entry level cyber jobs do not need you to "hack" anything or write python code. They need you to be familiar with monitoring and administrating cyber security products.

Your first cyber job will be to monitor client sites and troubleshoot/escalate anything the software flags as well as take clients through the various cyber security processes for that department. After a few years you will get more technical.

Most of the ethical hacking, penetration testing training is just so you "learn the lingo". Your employer will mostly just ask you to run penetration scripts written by much more experienced collegues.

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

I've only heard a little bit about the Microsoft Windows certification so thank you for that and I will definitely look into it more. I have heard quite a bit about the CompTIA certification but 1. those cost money and 2. i don't know what i'm doing yet. Thanks again and i appreciate the help.

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wickedosu@reddit

Just go to the TryHackMe and do free rooms. First learn basics (you can sort rooms by most popular first). I also recommend reading some book about Networking. After learning basics (networking, linux, python, attacks, general idea of hacking etc) you can practice your skills on PortSwigger academy or any other website/vulnerable machine. DVWA App and OWASP Juice Shop are good vulnerable applications for learning web vulnerabilities. Metasploitable 3 is a good vulnerable by design VM to practice finding vulnerabilities on Linux and exploiting them.

Also you can look for writeups for any CTFs (catch the flag) and learn from it as well.

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Python_Puzzles@reddit

To sit the exam, yes it costs money. I am sure you could buy the current CompTIA study books on Amazon or find older pdf versions available for free on dodgy websites (be careful it is not a virus you are downloading).

There will also be older CompTIA video corses for free on youtube.

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Pretend-Raisin914@reddit

Nice

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Engineerofdata@reddit

My college hosts a website which teaches cybersecurity. https://pwn.college/

It’s the same information taught in our cybersecurity classes.

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vbd@reddit

Check amazon.com for the e-book series "sparc flow".

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Ok-TECHNOLOGY0007@reddit

hey, starting early is great! focus on learning networking basics, some Linux and a bit of Python. free resources like TryHackMe or Hack The Box are good for practice. certs like Security+ can help later.

i can share some beginner links if you want. feel free to ask about certs or learning paths!

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

thanks for the help and the links would be great.

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Ok-TECHNOLOGY0007@reddit

no worries! glad it helped. i’ve been digging around for decent practice material myself—came across a few that people seem to recommend a lot. edusum.com has some solid practice tests, pretty straightforward layout too. also found this prep guide that breaks stuff down nicely for Security+ if you're looking into that soon:
https://www.isecprep.com/2025/03/31/comptia-security-sy0-701-practice-test-essential-prep-guide/
figured i’d share in case it helps someone else too. good luck with your prep

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SpottyJaggy@reddit

"ethical hacking"

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CounterReasonable259@reddit

Why do people always chase this idea of being a hacker, whatever happened to just building cool shit.

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

Im not necessarily trying become a "hacker" but more so just interested in the field and thats from what i've heard the main job everybodys working towards

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CounterReasonable259@reddit

Yeah alot of people want to do some kind of red teaming or pen testing. But those jobs are actually pretty sparse. You can do it. But it's tricky and your best bet to actually get a job is to get certs and become consultant, youre the guy people go to for cyber security stuff.

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Revolutionary-Fan657@reddit

Why the quotes? You know that’s a real Thing right

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SpottyJaggy@reddit

It is a real thing, but once they learned it the word ethical disappears.

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wickedosu@reddit

You know that hacking isn't a bad thing, right?

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SpottyJaggy@reddit

That depends.

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wickedosu@reddit

Exactly

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

?

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web-dev-noob@reddit

Nmap

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8E3HGJ@reddit

Kids have no sense of fun these days.

When I was your age, I had endless hours of fun cracking apps, adding premium features to free apps, giving myself 99999 currency in games, getting infinite rare monsters, coding up bots and making game mods.

Ethical hacking sounds as boring as fuck!

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

old ahh sad he aint do none with his life

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CounterReasonable259@reddit

Ethical hacking sounds as boring as fuck!

IT IS

it's fucking lame. They're all John Hammond wannabes. There's no innovation, no creativity, they follow tutorials to use kali linux tools to crack wifi networks. These cucks feed off David Bombal videos and certs.

I tried, and I fell for the bait that trying to do certs and use kali linux tools to hack shit the "proper" way would get me a job. It didn't, and it sucked. I gave up on my last cert course.

There's a lack of creativity in those ethical hacking circles.

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Slam_Dunk_Kitten@reddit

More realistically you'll be staring at logs, managing spreadsheets of vulnerabilities, and pushing updates/patches. I don't want to deter you, but the reality of cybersecurity is a lot less exciting.

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Additional-Will4976@reddit

As someone who tried that path as a hobby, I can tell you that you will need to have a foundation in programming, networking and how computer and systems work. Without knowing how something works you won’t be able to protect it, secure it. Let alone penetrating it or gaining access to it using an attack, systems are more secure than ever nowadays and most of the tutorials you are going to find are addressing old vulnerabilities in older systems and legacy machines, that however doesn’t mean that you cannot gain access to modern day machines, you only need the right tools, time and the knowledge and patience to do it. I hope my answer is helpful.

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sasukarii@reddit

I’m not an expert by any means. But I read somewhere that cybersecurity is not about “hacking”, booting up Kali linux and do some Mr. robot shit like what you see on youtube and movies. Once you get deep into it, a job will entail looking at logs, data, and helping the non-tech savy work around their devices.

Someone can correct me if my understanding is wrong.

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ShadowRL7666@reddit

This is the right answer that nobody seems to ever give. You’ll be staring at some log files or get blamed for something happening but you’re underfunded. Then when you’re funded something still happens and you’re blamed still and then underfunded.

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Stock-Reaction2393@reddit (OP)

After looking into it more i see more stuff along the lines of that. Helping people find problems with websites and what not.

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rexxboy@reddit

Search the difference betweem red team and blue team on cibersecurity. Youre looking for a job on red team, testing systems and other stuff for security problems.

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dkopgerpgdolfg@reddit

Both kind of jobs exist. The scope of the word "cybersecurity" is not clearly defined.

(But of course, actual professionals are different from movies, even if they do "hacking")

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DeathFoeX@reddit

Hey, you're already ahead of the game by starting at 16! That's seriously impressive. 😊

To get into cybersecurity and ethical hacking, start by building a solid foundation in computer basics and networking. Learning about operating systems, especially Linux, is crucial. You might want to explore resources like OverTheWire's Bandit wargame to get hands-on experience with command-line interfaces. As you progress, consider diving into programming languages such as Python or JavaScript, which are commonly used in the field. Understanding how databases work can also be beneficial. For certifications, starting with CompTIA's A+ and Network+ can provide a good baseline. Later on, you might aim for Security+ or even Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certifications. Remember, the journey is as important as the destination. Keep exploring, stay curious, and don't hesitate to ask questions along the way. You've got this! 💪

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PureTruther@reddit

Hacking - The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson

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CounterReasonable259@reddit

Learn to code lol. Go build something cool on a rpi

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Fridux@reddit

Cybersecurity is not an entry-level field. You'll have to get your feet wet doing something else before forming the right mental structure to understand why things are built the way they are, what kind of attack vectors exist, and how to mitigate them. Without that kind of knowledge the best you'll be able to do is run some exploits without actually understanding how they work, which may result in being regarded as a hacker by the general population but looked down as a script kiddie by the cybersecurity experts who are the ones you need to impress in order to get an entry-level job working for someone else in the field. If you're goal is to do freelance work as a researcher in order to earn a living from bug bounties, then in addition to the aforementioned skills you will also have to learn reverse-engineering and come up with innovative strategies to prove how a theoretical problem can be exploited in practice, which is how the real value of cybersecurity research is measured.

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CounterReasonable259@reddit

Yeah, honestly, you should have some solid cs knowledge before trying anything cybersecurity related. At least learn enough to build your own website and server.

For the longest time I thought I wanted to do cyber security but then I took a course to get a cert and realized I'm lazy. I don't like doing school and gave up on the cert lmao. After learning more from the course "hacking" just feels like fraud.

I still love tech and fraud but I don't think I'll ever do it as a job.

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Cybasura@reddit

Ethical Hacking (specified by OP) is the side of cybersecurity called Red Teaming, which is basically the offensive security, namely pentesting, vulnerability assessment etc etc

Those are the side where you boot up kali, do some authorized and legal tests with the intent to fulfil what is effectively a checklist designed by your client

Typically you want to act as the adversary to ensure that you, a friend, are the one doing the attacking as a simulation so that you are prepared for the real black hat

The most important keyword is legal, everything has to be specified black and white, nothing out-of-scope because thats where it becomes illegal and you can be sued

There's also Blue Teaming which is defensive, stuff like Intelligence Gathering, Monitoring and Analysis to protect the systems, which is also necessary to know imo

r/cybersecurity for more info on general cybersecurity

r/ethicalhacking for specifically Ethical Hacking

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ahovdryk@reddit

ALL, do you hear, friend, ALL of this hacking/sec stuff is math-related. Do you like math? Do you solve math riddles for fun? If no. than this field is going to be a soul-eating disappointment to you. Those, who say math is unimportant, are either lying or incapable of the job. So... Math?

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doxx-o-matic@reddit

Go take your ASVAB, score high, join your preferred branch of the military, and go to AIT. Congrats, you're a cyber security professional and a studmuffin without student loans.

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Wolastrone@reddit

I’d start by getting a general idea of how computers and computer code works. So, just take a regular computer science and programming course, because you will need that anyway. There’s time to specialize later. If you’re interested, I would look up the syllabus for cybersecurity classes in major universities. I think understanding networks is a big part of cybersecurity. Anyway, you will find the exact topics they study and the textbooks they use, so you can go for that as well.

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