Learn the Basics
๐ 1. Information Gathering (Reconnaissance)
- Passive & active recon
- WHOIS, nslookup, dig, theHarvester, Google Dorking
๐ก 2. Scanning & Enumeration
- Nmap scanning (ports, services, OS detection)
- Banner grabbing
- Enum4linux / SMB enumeration
- DNS and SNMP enumeration
๐ ๏ธ 3. Exploitation Basics
- Manual testing vs automated tools (e.g., Metasploit)
- Understanding CVEs
- Reverse shells & bind shells
๐ 4. Web Exploitation
- Basic understanding of HTTP, cookies, forms
- XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
- SQL Injection (SQLi)
- Command Injection
- File Inclusion (LFI/RFI)
๐ 5. Password Attacks
- Brute force vs dictionary attacks
- Hash cracking (John the Ripper, Hashcat)
- Common wordlists (rockyou.txt, SecLists)
๐ง 6. Linux & Windows Fundamentals
- Basic commands and navigation
- File permissions and ownership
- Understanding services and daemons
- Windows command line (PowerShell, CMD)
๐งฉ 7. Binary Exploitation (Optional for Beginners)
- Understanding basic buffer overflows
- Using GDB or pwndbg
๐ฆ 8. Using Common CTF Tools
- Burp Suite (for web testing)
- Nmap
- Netcat
- Gobuster / Dirb
- Wireshark
- CyberChef (for encoding/decoding)
๐ฏ 9. CTF-Specific Skills
- Reading challenge descriptions carefully
- Looking for hints and odd patterns
- Basic steganography (image/audio metadata)
- OSINT techniques (finding clues online)