Yusuf Lekan

No course will get you a cybersecurity job. Labs will. Here are the 10 you need to practice right now. 1. TryHackMe SOC Level 1 Path: the single best starting point for anyone who wants to work in a SOC. Covers log analysis, SIEM tools, threat detection, and incident response in a fully guided, beginner-friendly format. tryhackme.com/path/outline/s… 2. HackTheBox Starting Point: step-by-step guided machines that take you from zero to your first real exploitation. Once you finish Starting Point, move to the easy machines and build from there. hackthebox.com/starting-poin… 3. PortSwigger Web Security Academy: the best free resource for learning web application security. Every OWASP Top 10 vulnerability covered with real labs you actually hack, not just read about. Free. portswigger.net/web-security 4. Blue Team Labs Online: defensive security labs focused on forensics, threat hunting, SIEM analysis, and incident response. Built specifically for people who want to work on the blue team side. blueteamlabs.online 5. OWASP WebGoat: a deliberately insecure web application you run locally and attack. One of the best ways to understand how web vulnerabilities actually work from the inside. owasp.org/www-project-webgoa… 6. VulnHub: free downloadable vulnerable virtual machines you spin up in VirtualBox and practice on locally. No internet required, no subscription, just download and hack. vulnhub.com 7. PicoCTF: a free beginner CTF platform built by Carnegie Mellon University. Covers web exploitation, forensics, cryptography, reverse engineering, and binary exploitation through hundreds of challenges. picoctf.org 8. OverTheWire Bandit: a wargame that teaches Linux fundamentals, SSH, file permissions, and basic exploitation through progressive challenges. If your Linux skills are weak, start here before anything else. overthewire.org/wargames/ban… 9. Immersive Labs: used by enterprise security teams globally for hands-on skills development. Has a free tier with labs covering SOC, malware analysis, cloud security, and threat intelligence. immersivelabs.com   10.Cyberdefenders: blue team focused labs built around real-world attack scenarios with PCAP files, malware samples, and memory forensics. The closest thing to working a real incident without being on the clock. cyberdefenders.org The gap between people who get hired and people who keep applying is not certificates. It is lab hours. Put in the reps. Save this and share it with someone trying to break into cybersecurity. Repost for others to see.