Intro
TryHackMe is a fun, interactive website for anyone to learn about cybersecurity. It’s tailored towards both beginners and those with intermediate experience. I may not be a complete novice, but I still decided to work through beginning rooms to shore up any gaps in my fundamental knowledge and to evaluate the coverage of topics I’m already familiar with. So far, I’ve finished over 25 rooms and loved every minute.
User Interface/Design
Modern, arcade-esque design. Interface is pretty easy to navigate.
Three main sections when you log in:
Dashboard - where you track your progress.
Learn - where you can pick up different modules or practice certain areas.
Compete - offers a fun King of the Hill game where you and others can compromise a system and patch its vulnerabilities. The longer you have access, the more points you get! It also contains a leaderboard for general points you acquire by completing any rooms on the website.
Course Content and Quality
They have 13 learning paths and over 60 different modules covering a plethora of topics ranging from Linux Fundamentals to Metasploit to Log Analysis.
Structure: Paths > Modules > Rooms > Tasks
The content of each room is mainly text with the occasional diagram.
You can earn different badges for achieving certain milestones, like completing modules or maintaining a daily streak. Keep in mind that the daily cutoff time for completing tasks might be in the London time zone (UTC +1), so if you complete tasks in the morning on the US West Coast, it might not increase your streak. This has totally not happened to me... It would be great if it could sync with the local browser's date and time, or at least a single time for each major continent to avoid any confusion.
Pricing
1) Free tier
2) Paid tier: as low as $10.50/month (annual subscription) or $14/month
I was excited to explore the new Attacking and Defending AWS path, but I was disappointed to find that it's only available for Business and Education packages. What's more, the restriction isn't clearly disclosed until you try to access the room, which I found to be a minor frustration.
User Experience
Tasks are fairly straightforward and broken down in to bite-sized tasks.
If you ever find yourself stuck on a task, fear not; occasionally hints are available. If that doesn’t help, each room features a dedicated forum where you can either search for solutions or ask for help. I’ve always been able to find some clues and assistance.
However, it's worth noting that the forums lack a built-in search function. To find specific topics, you'll need to utilize your browser' search feature. Only a limited number of posts are loaded initially, requiring you to click “more” multiple times to view more posts. There isn't an option to load all the posts at once, which can be a bit inconvenient.
A few of the beginner rooms like Linux Fundamentals have videos that walk you through each task (and throw in some extra anecdotal info, which I thought was both interesting and helpful). Sadly, they stopped recording these and haven’t seen them since.
Some of the beginner rooms, such as Linux Fundamentals, used to provide helpful instructional videos that guided you through each task. These videos not only explained the steps but also included interesting anecdotes, making the learning experience both engaging and informative. However, it's disappointing that they stopped recording these and haven’t seen them since.
Most tasks require you to utilize virtual Linux machines and separate attack boxes, which run on their servers. These can be easily spun up and torn down, although it may take a few minutes for them to load. Depending on your internet connection, there also can be some lag, which is to be expected since they are running in the cloud through your browser.
Conclusion
TryHackMe is a fantastic, free resource for those new to cybersecurity. From what I’ve heard, it’s more novice-friendly than HackTheBox, another online learning platform for cybersecurity. While some premium topics require a subscription, the cost is reasonable for access to their extensive range of subjects. It’s definitely worth trying out for those interested in getting into the field.