Wi-Fi security has come a long way, but each step in its evolution has had its own vulnerabilities. Understanding these weaknesses helps us secure modern networks more effectively. Here’s a quick breakdown:

🔓 WEP – The Beginning (And the Disaster)

Originally, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was meant to secure wireless networks, but its RC4 encryption was fundamentally flawed. Weak IVs (initialisation vectors) and replay attacks meant cracking WEP was trivial—even in the early 2000s.

📌 The Problem: Attackers could capture packets, analyse them, and recover the encryption key in minutes.

🔐 WPA & TKIP – A Quick Fix (That Didn’t Last)

To replace WEP, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) was introduced as a temporary fix. It used Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to prevent replay attacks but still relied on RC4—which was already vulnerable.

📌 The Problem: WPA’s security improvements were good for a time, but TKIP’s backward compatibility with RC4 made it weak against brute-force and packet injection attacks.

🔥 WPA2 & AES – A Real Upgrade

Then came WPA2, which introduced AES encryption (CCMP)—a much stronger encryption standard. No more RC4! AES significantly improved security, and it’s still widely used today.

📌 The Problem: WPA2-PSK (Pre-Shared Key) still relies on passwords, making networks vulnerable to brute-force and dictionary attacks.

🚀 WPA3 – The Next Step Forward

WPA3 fixes many of WPA2’s issues by introducing Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) instead of PSK. This makes Wi-Fi authentication much more secure.

✅ Prevents dictionary attacks – No more offline password guessing!
✅ Forward Secrecy – Unique session keys make past traffic unreadable if a password is compromised.
✅ Stronger authentication – More resilient against modern attack methods.

⚠️ The Problem With WPA3 Transition Mode

When WPA3 rolled out, many devices still needed WPA2 support. To fix this, WPA3 introduced Transition Mode, allowing networks to support both WPA2 and WPA3.

📌 The Issue? Attackers can exploit this by forcing devices to downgrade to WPA2, allowing them to capture and crack PSKs just like before.

🛠 How to Stay Secure:
🔹 Use separate SSIDs for WPA2 and WPA3 to avoid downgrade attacks.
🔹 Keep firmware updated to patch security vulnerabilities.
🔹 Disable transition mode where possible.

🎓 Want to Learn More About Wi-Fi Security?

What do you think about WPA3? Have you run into any issues with its transition mode? Let’s discuss! 👇

Hey there guys,

Does anyone have experience with one of those two certifications for GCP Red Teaming?

• GCP Red Teaming Expert (HackTricks)
• GCP Red Teaming Specialist

I can't really find that much information besides the official syllabus. So I was wondering if anyone has already done it or about to do it or if you guys know any other certifications which teaches a more technical security approach when it comes to GCP and Google Workspace?

Right now I'm about to finish my OSCP journey, but after that I would love to focus on GCP, since I've a couple of years experience in GCP and Workspace and want to combine it with my current professional as a pentester.

Cheers

hello:D what do you guys think thats is the top 3 topicis that i have to know deeply to get a SOC job? could give me more tips?

sorry for the bad english, its not my mother language and im trying to improve it everyday.

The question is WGU(Western Governors University) vs KU(University of Kansas) vs Certs

(Skip this paragraph if you don’t want my background) So I’m a junior in high school and we started talking about enrollment for next year, this for the first time got me thinking about what to do after high school and what I wanted for a career. Obviously a good salary but also I’d love to be able to work from home, naturally I started looking at tech jobs since they met both from what I’ve heard.

I have practically no experience coding or anything related. That said I have over a full year to do whatever preparations I’d need since I won’t graduate high school till may 2026. Basically should I start learning so I can “fly” through WHU, go to my in-state school KU, or find like boot camps for certs.

More information: a traditional college experience is in no way a pull factor. That said from what I’ve gathered I’d get more connections/ networking going there, which is a massive boost for getting a job. As for the others I have basically no clue what details to provide but I’ll try to check this frequently in case anyone has questions.

Sorry for such a lengthy post but when I’m stressed/asking for help I write a lot.

Guys I wanted to understand if there is a structured and easier way to learn Sigma Rules. I saw a couple of YouTube videos but not that great ones. Any resources please. Or even if there are any courses. Found this decent write up https://www.nextron-systems.com/2018/02/10/write-sigma-rules/

anybody have a resource for windows 11 practice images for CyberPatriot? im in the semifinals round and id like to hone my skills a bit more.

I found this upload function that shows where the uploaded image is saved in the response like: raw url: example.com/images/cat.jpg thumbnail: /images/162628238/ahdhfg.jpg

I add an X-Forwarded-Host header to the request when I upload an image, the raw url domain will change.

I get a call back when I put my domain in the header, but it's a GET request, not a POST request. I've tried using the header injection to try and upload files to different directories, with no luck. In other words, I haven't been able to access anything yet when I specify the location but anyway just really strange behavior.

Also, the upload function only checks for the magic bytes, to make sure it's an image (jpg, png, jpeg) But it lets me change the extension and content-type. However, no matter what, it always gets uploaded as a .jpg file.

So I am very curious if anyone has any insight about why the server would change that upload url in the response because of the X-Forwarded-Host header.

And I'd also love to hear any tips, suggestions, or similar things you've encountered. Thanks everyone so much!

Hi guys.

I am a 21-year-old college student who just got a paid cybersecurity internship. I'll be doing (from what I know so far) active directory inventory, SIEM operation, and general IT work. This is a no-knowledge-required kind of internship, but I still want to ensure I thrive and not get fired.

I want to create a homelab to help hone my skills and I'd also like your opinions on what I should do going forward. I plan on getting my Security+ certification this summer when the semester ends. When I graduate this fall, I want to be hired as a full-fledged employee if I don't find a job elsewhere.

So far, I have installed a Kali Linux VM with VirtualBox. I tried to install Security Onion, but frankly, I didn't fully understand what I was doing so I put that on hold. I want to focus on penetration testing as that is my biggest interest as well as threat monitoring and analysis. I have plans to download vulnerable ISO images to practice with when I learn more about it. Additionally, I have a little bit of experience studying Python and C++, and I'll be starting a course in six weeks that involved Python for cyber security, likely automation and scripting.

So what tools would you suggest I try out and learn? What are some concepts I should brush over or make sure I understand as well as I can before I begin in a few weeks? I have my own ideas but I'd like to hear what you suggest.

Thank you.

Hey guys.

Right now I'm trying to do a custom exercise on DVWA where I try to execute a PHP script which has been deposited in /tmp/ via a LFI.

Unfortunately I always receive these two warnings, without much happening:

Warning: include(../../../../../../tmp/powned.php): Failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/html/DVWA/vulnerabilities/fi/index.php on line 36

Warning: include(): Failed opening '../../../../../../tmp/powned.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php') in /var/www/html/DVWA/vulnerabilities/fi/index.php on line 36

The query I'm using is:

http://localhost/DVWA/vulnerabilities/fi/?page=../../../../../../tmp/powned.php

Weirdly enough I'm perfectly able to execute this, if I manually put it in /etc/. Generally I'm not able to access any file in /tmp/.

The DVWA has been set up on a kali vm according to the tutorial of Robin Wood and appears to otherwise work fine.

• So far I tried changing permissions to 777 on all files and the directory itself as well, as changing ownership to www-data.
• I made sure to enable allow_url_include and fopen
• I tried adding a symlink from /etc/powned.php to /tmp/powned.php to no avail
• Tried manually adding all directories to open_basedir and disabling this option
• Various amounts of "../" as well as other absolute and relative paths
• And of course double and tripple checking the spelling, file contents and php.ini

Keep in mind I want to execute the file, while it is in /tmp/

Kinda at my wits end with this, and would be really thankfull if someone could give me a hint towards the right direction.

Edit: Security Level is set to low

I'm fresh out of high school on a gap year and I'm finally starting out in cybersecurity. I understand the importance of certifications, and I was thinking of starting with the A+, but the content is really geared towards tech support. While I do realize the importance of the foundational knowledge it's based on, could I just study the material and focus on the Security+ instead since I'll be getting a CS degree later on anyway?

For reference, I'm ultimately hoping for a pen testing career(surprise surprise) and have experience with Kali, Python automation and stuff like that, but I wouldn't say I know all the ins and outs of computers which is why I plan on studying the content whether I purse the cert or not. I did look through some Security+ material, and at least from what I saw, it seemed fairly simple so it's not like I wouldn't understand it without the A+(unless the book I used was terrible). In this case, would the A+ still be worth it?

Given an option to take a black hat on demand course infrastructure hacking or Crto/crtp. Any insight from people who have taken or attended?

Actually this is in the Farmersville area. Got any recommendations?

Hey researchers,

Just launched a new security research micro challenge focused on content validation and sanitization.

Challenge Focus:

• Markdown processing exploitation
• HTML injection vectors
• Encoding/charset manipulation
• CSRF protection analysis
• Boundary testing
• Dynamic content injection

Timeline: Active until January 20, 2025 00:00 UTC

Full Details: https://yieldcat.com/micro-challenges/2

Looking forward to seeing your creative approaches!

Hi everyone,

I recently passed the Cisco 100-140 (CCST IT Support) certification exam, and I wanted to share my experience and preparation tips for anyone looking to take it.

My Study Approach:

1. Know the Exam Topics: The exam covers essential IT support topics, including networking basics, troubleshooting methodologies, and Cisco technologies. I referred to the official Cisco learning materials to ensure I had a solid foundation.
2. Practice Tests: Practice tests were a game-changer for me. I used resources like NWExam, which offered detailed practice questions that closely mirrored the actual exam format. This helped me identify weak areas and work on them.
3. Hands-On Experience: Setting up a home lab with Cisco Packet Tracer and experimenting with configurations helped me understand the practical aspects of the syllabus.
4. Community Discussions: Reddit and other forums were invaluable. Engaging in discussions about real-world troubleshooting scenarios added depth to my knowledge.

Exam Day:

The questions were clear, and the topics were well-distributed. If you’ve thoroughly practiced and reviewed the material, you’ll do great!

Advice for Future Test-Takers:

• Don't rush. Take your time to fully grasp the concepts.
• Practice as much as you can. Resources like NWExam.com and others are great for building confidence.
• Focus on troubleshooting methodologies—this is crucial for the exam.

Feel free to ask any questions or share your experiences! Let’s help each other succeed.

So as far as I know, in the "old days" one would create a user per service (e.g. www-data for the webserver) and be done with it. Nowadays we have things like AppArmor, SeLinux, Seccomp, Landlock as Kernel security features but also Docker/Podman images, which in turn provide some level of isolation, even if it is not a real sandbox and there have been a number of container escape bugs. Then there are Systemd Services, where it is also possible to restrict some permissions.
That brings me to the question: what would currently be the best way to host an application in Linux and have security in depth without having to alter the source code of the original software. And is there a project that streamlines this. Also the service should autostart after a reboot.

Hello everyone hope you are doing fine,

I’m working on my final year project (BS Computer Science) focused on detecting malware embedded in GIF files. My goal is to demonstrate how malicious behaviors in GIFs can bypass current online tools, emphasizing the need for improved detection methods. I want to spend a sample malware/gif/ sample ransomware infected gifs file to upload into various online detection tools and forever how they fail to detect it, but have no idea how to...

What I Need Help With:

1. Creating a harmless GIF that mimics malicious behavior (e.g., opening Notepad or a browser) for demonstration purposes.

2. Ensuring the demonstration adheres to ethical guidelines and poses no risks.

Questions:

How can I safely create a demonstrative file that mimics malicious GIF behavior?

What tools or methods are best for embedding dual functionality in a GIF?

How can I ethically test this file against detection tools?

Additional Info:

I have Python development experience.

The project is purely educational to highlight detection gaps.

I’d appreciate any advice or resources to guide me in this project. Thank you in advance

Hey all, I wanted to ask you all about what project should be added in resume as a beginner. what kind of project can be made any ideas for brainstorming? Thank you for the help :)

I am graduating college at 19 in just 2.5 years (due to APs and CLEP) this summer with a Bachelors in Cybersecurity. I just got my Security+ certification, but my only moderately tech-related work experience is working sales at Best Buy over the summer. 

My goal after graduation is to start out as a SOC Analyst, so I want to spend as much time as possible self-learning to improve my skills and boost my resume. My long-term ambition is to become a Security Engineer or Architect at a FAANG or Fortune 500.

I previously thought that after getting my Sec+, TryHackMe would be a logical next step for my self-study journey in order to get hands-on experience with tools. However, I just went through the first few rooms on THM’s SOC Level 1 path and was underwhelmed. Now I am wondering if I should pursue something else in order to be effective with my learning time. Some of the things I have thought about are CySA+, Net+ or CCNA, BTL1, and improving my programming skills.

What in your opinion is the next step in self-studying that is in line with my goals?

Hi everyone! I am a freshmen and decided to join the net sec club at the beginning of the semester with little prior knowledge in the field (just passion for it😅). I did one entry level competition in the fall and did bad. Now, I have the opportunity to try out for the CCDC team. However, I am very nervous as I have little knowledge and will likely be the sole Windows defender. I have been working hard to try to understand and prepare but I feel very outclassed. Does anyone have any advice for the competition or resources that could help me prepare for attacks used in it?

Are you:

• Struggling with time management?
• Missing out on practice tests?
• Feeling overwhelmed by routing protocols?

This latest guide provides actionable strategies to overcome these pitfalls and excel in the JN0-664 exam.

🎯 Boost Your Skills. Reduce Stress.

https://www.nwexam.com/blog/jncip-sp-study-pitfalls-tips-overcome-them

using event viewer and resource monitor i am trying to find the exact details of what is constantly checking my location and how to stop it.
example: recently a dev of a web app (a PWA app he mentions) i was using was asked to find out why this was happening as it was showing in privacy & security > location, in windows seemingly sporadically and very often.
he said he "fixed" it but now it just comes in as generic microsoft edge. ill attach pics.
i want to see IP info, mac address, etc, all the way I can block this.
thanks kindly!

https://preview.redd.it/89y86d8fsf8e1.png?width=908&format=png&auto=webp&s=2117e2f90716622f51a18ff9706c1eb7c1b34a88

https://preview.redd.it/7i3bdjmnsf8e1.png?width=907&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5091fa4fd6c69066f993a383a5ff3281581fab1

Hello community,

I have went to other communities and asked for some advice but I figure that more advice would be good.

Currently I am in college and got into networking from a family friend in the field and he essentially mentored me. My one issue is that I am having a hard time finding an internship or like a low level position in order to get started in order to work, experience, and learn more about the field.

I don't know if it is just late into the year and companies are stretched thin or I am just lost in trying to find something.

I have applied to basically everything and no dice. Just looking for some advice or maybe even a recommendation to a company that would be good to start at, especially for entry level or internship level.

I am enrolled in college taking engineering

I am also junos-JNCIA certified

currently studying for security + with all the free material I find ( the course is out of my budget rn )

Do not mind moving or anything of the sort

Hopefully I can get some advice and more forward in a better direction. So far, the advice from other communities has been good but not as insightful as hoped.

Hi everyone,

I’m a 25-year-old woman eager to break into Cybersecurity, specifically in the GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) field. So far, I’ve earned a Professional Cybersecurity Certificate from Coursera and the (ISC)² CC certification, and I’m currently preparing for the Security+ exam.

My question is: Is it possible to land a cybersecurity job without having the Security+ certification yet, while continuing to study for it after securing a role?

The state I currently live in (New Hampshire) doesn’t offer many opportunities for tech or cybersecurity jobs, so I’m considering relocating to the DC area, where I’ve heard there are better opportunities. However, I don’t have security clearance. Would moving there still be a smart move?

For additional context:

• I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications with minors in Business Administration and Gender Studies.
• I’ve also completed a Project Management Certificate (PMP) from Coursera.

I’m just looking for some guidance on what my next steps should be to successfully transition into this field. Thanks in advance for your advice!

Hello! I’m a student and a complete beginner in networking and cybersecurity. I know that to pursue a career in cybersecurity, I need to understand how computers and networks work. However, I’m quite confused about which certificates I should start with, as there are so many options online. I would really appreciate guidance on the proper flow for taking these certifications. Thank you so much!

Looking for mentor groups and roadmap

So boom I’m 30 got out the military almost 2 years ago as security forces abs have been contracting. While do executive protection i came across a course at my security academy that was cyber focused and decided to take it, it was only 5 weeks long but it awakened my mind to tech but more so cyber/hacking. I am currently enrolled at wgu in the cyber program but it’s not going as deep as i want it to and it’s kinda hard to meet ppl in forums and stuff when you don’t know anything really. I want to become truly great at this across all areas cyber/ hacking so if anybody can point in the right direction as far as groups roadmaps mentors in general please lmk. I should add I’m not looking to get a job i just have love for the game

Recently I wondered if it was possible to obtain a list of all (or most) of the public ipv4 ip's for a certain area, so first I decided to start with countries, I thought it would be as simple as each country being assigned a certain IP range, but this clearly isn't how it works, I tried looking into Ripe NCC for a European country but the records it gave back seemed to be outdated and from 2009.

so then I looked at ipinfo.io which gave me a much better detailed analysis of some of the IPs in the area to go off for the country but they all seem so mixed e.g :

5.92. etc. 89.21 etc. 11.78.09 etc.

there seems to be so many variables involved when it comes to ip's being assigned, I just don't get how it works.

I don't want to rely on some service to fetch all the IPs in a country or area for me and I assume this is all public data / info they're pulling from.

What resources can I look at to learn?