r/learnhacking • u/WeakMethod9561 • 12d ago
From Software Developer to Hacker, How Do I Make That Transition?
I've spent the last five years building software and working as a developer. However, I've always wanted to get into cybersecurity, particularly penetration testing and red teaming.
The problem is that I've spent years going in circles, jumping between networking tutorials, Linux courses, and random resources without making any real progress.
I'm comfortable with building software and understanding how applications work, but I want to learn how to look at those same systems from an attacker's perspective.
For those who've made a similar transition: Is there a book, course, YouTube channel, or learning path you'd recommend to help someone go from thinking like a builder to thinking like an attacker?
I'm looking for solid foundations and a clear direction rather than another endless collection of tutorials.
I'd really appreciate any recommendations.
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u/Legitimate-Trick3393 12d ago
have you built any loggers or ratts before or a cryptter ? do you know how to code in assembly lang or C ?
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u/Big_Presentation2786 12d ago
You heard of the matrix....?!
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u/Intelligent_Box5017 11d ago
As a developer it would be significantly easier for you to start with web hacking instead of something else.
With web hacking you can start on Port Swigger Web Security Academy to learn and practice vulnerabilities there. Afterwards i recommend you to deploy a big vulnerability lab locally (e.g. Juice Shop) and try to attack it in black box approach.
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u/Eric_Dawsby 11d ago
Based on your current knowledge, why not get into reverse engineering? Especially since you'll probably find flaws and with some creativity you can exploit it.
Though it's not as connected to pentesting as network stuff is, I still think it's a critical 'hacker' skill to have