My Journey to OSCP

A bit of background

First and foremost I am a cybersecurity enthusiast. More than that I am a tech enthusiast. I have always been interested in understanding how everything works. How does my phone work? How does my desktop work? How can I connect with someone on the other side of the globe just by pressing a key on my laptop? How did we send people to the moon with the computing power of my college calculator?

To understand all that I started studying computer science. Quickly, this interest for IT systems grew into a passion for cybersecurity: after understanding how systems work, I wanted to understand how to break them. That’s how I ended up with two masters in cybersecurity and some strong background in embedded systems. I won’t be writing the code that sends the astronauts on Mars in 2050, but I get to break into stuff, and that’s pretty awesome.

As per my day to day job, I have been working as a cybersecurity consultant for about 1.5 years. And this is actually how my OSCP journey started. One day, my boss created a study group with a few colleagues and me, and 6 months later here I am with my certification, generously paid by the company, Responsible Cyber.

Preparation

There are so many resources available out there to prepare yourself for the OSCP, or for penetration testing in general, that it may be overwhelming at first. Below are the main ones that I have used and that really carried me all the way to the final exam.

Try Hack Me

THM is a great starting point when you are relatively new to penetration testing. The platform offers different paths from complete beginner to more advanced ones that are great to get started when you have little to no experience. I used it to build my confidence, as the machines hosted there are relatively easy, but it always feels good to be able to compromise a host all by yourself.

PWK Lab

The official one. Purchasing some lab time will give you access to the lab machines and will grant you one exam attempt. On top of that, you will also receive the…