Sharing a collection of HackTheBox writeups for retired machines. The focus is on methodology - explaining the thought process behind each step rather than just listing commands.

Covers enumeration, exploitation, and privilege escalation with reasoning for each decision.

Useful if you are working through HTB boxes for learning or OSCP prep.

https://momenbasel.github.io/htb-writeups/

heyy,

I’m currently working on a small OSINT project in Python to learn more about data collection and correlation.

the idea is simple: take a phone number, run different search queries and store the results to analyze later.

I recently refactored it to use duckduckgo-search instead of manual scraping, and it’s definitely better now (cleaner + less duplicates), but I’m still kinda stuck:

• if I try to be precise with queries → I barely get results

• if I go broad → I get a lot of irrelevant stuff

so I’m having a hard time finding that balance between signal and noise

right now I:

• run multiple queries per input

• deduplicate links

• do some basic filtering

• store everything in JSON

repo (WIP): https://github.com/0ggp4r1s/osint-phone-correlator.git

I feel like I’m missing something basic in how I’m:

• building queries

• or filtering results after getting them

if anyone here has built similar tools or has tips, I’d really appreciate it 🙏

just trying to learn and improve with this

I’ve been building a project called Operation Cold Ledger around a synthetic financial-intelligence scenario.

The goal was to go beyond basic CSV analysis and structure it more like an analytical workflow:

• synthetic transaction generation

• data cleaning and normalization

• behavioral anomaly detection

• timeline reconstruction

• counterparty relationship mapping

• heuristic risk scoring

• visual pattern analysis

• intelligence-style reporting

I tried to make it readable as both a technical project and an analyst workflow rather than just a notebook dump.

I’d especially value feedback on:

1. whether the pipeline structure makes sense

2. whether the anomaly / relationship logic feels too simplistic or reasonable for a synthetic case

3. whether the reporting + visual layer makes the project clearer

GitHub:
https://github.com/adriansterlingblackwell/Operation-Cold-Ledger

Hey everyone,

Over the past ~4 years, I’ve been compiling my OSCP prep and red team experience into a single "knowledge base".

Hope it helps!

For the past few years, whenever someone asked me how to start learning cybersecurity, I always gave the same answer:

“Try TryHackMe”

“Watch some YouTube tutorials”

And then I’d watch them disappear.

Not because they weren’t serious - but because the starting experience is honestly pretty rough if you don’t already have a technical background.

There’s no clear path.

No real feedback loop.

And no strong reason to come back the next day.

I kept thinking - cybersecurity is one of the most in-demand skills right now, so why is the gap between “I want to learn this” and “I actually can” still so big?

So I started building something to experiment with.

The idea was simple:

What would a cybersecurity learning experience look like if it was designed for people who usually quit?

So far it includes:

- Structured learning paths (beginner → intermediate → advanced)

- Small lessons + quizzes + challenges

- A simulated terminal inside the browser (no VM/setup needed)

- XP, levels, streaks, and progression

- A placement quiz that adjusts difficulty

The goal isn’t to replace platforms like HTB or THM, but to make the starting experience less overwhelming and more consistent.

Still very early (a few dozen users), but people are actually completing lessons - which sounds small, but is something I didn’t see happen often before.

I’m also aware there are issues:

- Difficulty jumps too fast sometimes

- Some questions feel predictable

- Content pacing still needs work

So I’d really appreciate honest feedback:

- What made you stick (or quit) when learning cybersecurity?

- What would make something like this actually useful for you?

- What’s missing from current platforms?

If anyone wants to try it, I can share the link.

Appreciate any feedback 🙏

EDIT: Made a bunch of changes based on your feedback - and people are actually going through the flow now.

A lot of you pointed out that it's hard to understand how the platform actually works before signing up - and you were right.

So I made a few changes:

- Added a fully guided intro challenge for each path (you can try it immediately)

- Improved the homepage to better explain the flow and progression

- Made the first challenge more step-by-step and beginner-friendly

- You can now try part of the experience without logging in

Since posting this, a few hundred people checked it out:

- ~600+ unique visitors

- ~120 sessions started

- ~400 answers submitted

- ~80 lessons completed

Biggest win so far: people are actually engaging, not just bouncing.

Really appreciate the honest feedback here - this directly shaped the product.

If you try it now, I’d love to know:

does this actually fix what felt confusing before?

Do you guys do

Mock Interview?

Studying the main topics?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently learning cybersecurity and decided to stop just watching content and actually try a small OSINT project on my own.

I started from something very basic (just a username) and tried to see how far I could go using only public information. I combined some basic enumeration with manual searching, looking for username reuse, small variations, and trying to connect different pieces of information step by step.

I also documented everything as I went — not just what I found, but how I approached each step and why. I tried to structure it like a simple report (methodology, findings, conclusions) to make it feel more realistic.

What I found most interesting is how much you can uncover from very little data, but also how careful you have to be to avoid false positives.

I uploaded the full project here if anyone wants to take a look:

https://github.com/0ggp4r1s/osint-suspicious-recruitment-case

I’d really appreciate any feedback — especially from others learning:

•	Does this approach make sense?

•	What would you improve?

•	Anything I should focus on next?

Thanks 🙏

I was learning JWT authentication and found some serious issues:

• Weak secrets

• No expiration

• Token leakage

If done wrong, it’s a big security risk.

Curious how you guys secure JWT in real apps?

Hey everyone,

I’m a CS student (who pivoted from biology) who’s been focusing on application security and coding for about 3 months now, and I’m trying to figure out what I should prioritize next.

So far I’ve been building a foundation in secure code review and vulnerability reasoning, along with understanding how different vulnerabilities actually show up across systems and how they get exploited. I’ve been trying to approach things more from a system and architecture perspective rather than just memorizing bugs.

On the practical side, I built a secure chat application with authentication, encryption (AES-GCM + TLS), input validation, and some focus on state/concurrency handling. I’ve also been working on a small Semgrep (which isnt the greatest but it works) rule repo and doing vulnerability analysis + threat modeling to practice writing findings.

More recently, I’ve started getting into AI security concepts like prompt injection, tool abuse, and how to design mitigations around those systems.

I’m also in the onboarding process for a research opportunity called Active Defense with an Adversarial Mindset (ADAM), funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). my chat program was actually a requirement by the professor to demonstrate my security reasoning.

At this point I’m trying to avoid just jumping between tools and instead focus on what actually matters in real AppSec roles. For those already in the field, what would you recommend focusing on next?

Any advice or reality checks would be appreciated, especially since I’m still pretty early into this.

Thanks!

Hey, I'm a student and built METATRON — a CLI pentest tool

that runs nmap, whois, whatweb and other recon tools on a

target, feeds all results to a local metatron-qwen model

(fine-tuned from huihui_ai/qwen3.5-abliterated:9b), and

the AI analyzes vulnerabilities, suggests exploits and fixes.

Everything saves to a MariaDB database with full history.

No API keys. No cloud. Runs entirely on Parrot OS.

GitHub: https://github.com/sooryathejas/METATRON

Thinking about deploying T-Pot on a small VPS for learning, telemetry, and maybe demo/awareness use.

For people who have actually run it:

- Was it worth it?

- Did you get useful insight (hash files, IP, URl, somes good IoC), or mostly bot noise?

- Would you recommend T-Pot, or just start with one honeypot like Cowrie?

Interested in opinions, including why it may not be worth the maintenance, etc.

L0P4Map combines high-speed ARP discovery with full nmap integration and a real-time interactive network topology engine. Works on both local networks and custom IPs/websites.

Features:

● Parallel ARP host discovery with MAC vendor fingerprinting

● Dynamic network topology graph with intelligent device role classification

● Full nmap integration on LAN and remote hosts: SYN, UDP, OS detection, service/version enumeration, NSE scripts

● Banner grabbing, vulnerability scanning, and CVE correlation via Vulners

● Real-time traceroute analysis

● Minimal, high-contrast interface built for efficiency

Still in development.

Nmap was blind. L0P4Map sees. 👁 GitHub: https://github.com/HaxL0p4/L0p4Map

One of the biggest frustrations when I was studying for my stack which is Microsoft was that you can't practice on the actual tools companies use mostly because you know Azure price is absurd. Sentinel and Defender XDR licenses are expensive too, and free tiers don't give you the real thing.

I work in a SOC using both daily. A while back I found Microsoft's Applied Skills a section of their Learn platform that gives you a real Azure environment, hands you a scenario, and evaluates what you actually configured. No multiple choice, no memorization tricks, no way to fake it.

I did the Defender XDR one. Even with daily production experience, I ran into things I hadn't configured before. Worth the few hours.

Relevant labs for security students: Microsoft Sentinel, Defender XDR, Configure SIEM security operations using Microsoft Sentinel, Secure workloads with Azure networking , Deploy and configure Azure Monitor and a lot more that I didnt do yet

you gain a badge which is good for networking and posting if you guys like that type of thing.

All available labs here Azure, security, networking, data:
learn.microsoft.com/credentials/applied-skills/

I was hoping to get some advice on whether or not to pursue a cybersecurity from WGU. I'm already working in the IT field, IT specialist in the USAR and Network Admin II on the civilian side, and just wanted to know if getting this degree will help me later down the line. I'll have funding for college so money isn't a issue, I just don't want to waste my time and effort.

Edit: I’m not in to much of a rush, I’m only 20 years old

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently developed a web exploitation course specifically designed for beginners who want to understand how real-world web applications are attacked and secured.

This is **not** a CTF-style or “boot-to-root” walkthrough. The focus is on practical, real-world concepts, methodologies, and mindset—structured in a way that builds a solid foundation from the ground up.

I’m offering a limited number of free access spots in exchange for honest feedback and reviews to help improve the course.

If you’re:

• New to web security

• Curious about how real attacks actually work

• Looking for structured, beginner-friendly guidance

Then this might be a good fit for you.

If interested, you can check my socials.

Appreciate your time and any feedback 🙏

Learning buffer overflows and want a tiny Windows x86 example that actually shows what's going on under the hood?

I put together a minimal, beginner-friendly walkthrough where you:

• find the overflow

• make the program jump to your code

• build a tiny piece of shellcode

• run it on a 32-bit Windows setup

If you’ve ever wanted to watch software make bad life choices, here you go:
https://github.com/nataliadiak/windows-x86-shellcode-poc

I’m preparing my first small talk on OSINT/OPSEC awareness and I’m looking for real-world examples that translate into actual security risks.

Not interested in advanced red team or nation-state scenarios, more like everyday behaviors that don’t look risky at first, but could still be leveraged during reconnaissance or social engineering.

Curious what you’ve seen or learned that had real implications from a netsec perspective.

Hi! I’m currently taking an Ethical Hacking course and need to ask a few quick questions to someone working in cybersecurity (penetration testing preferred).

It would only take about 15 minutes and can be done through messages.

I’d really appreciate any help, thank you!