Three Years of Advent of CyberArchived
How I actually learned security. Not from courses, from a platform with real labs, and from finishing the same 25-day December event three years running.
When I decided security was the thing I wanted to do properly, I could not find anywhere to actually learn it.
I looked at Telugu-language cybersecurity classes first, since that is the language I think in. What was there was thin. Basic phishing, basic vulnerability hunting, the same handful of topics repeated. Nothing that would make you capable of anything.
I had CEH credentials. What I did not have was anywhere to practise against real systems, which is the only part that actually builds skill.
TryHackMe
Then I found TryHackMe, and it was the thing I had been looking for.
Real labs. Cloud machines you attack from a terminal in the browser. Structured paths so you are not guessing what to learn next. New rooms added constantly, so running out of material is not a problem you will have.
I started in 2022 as a complete beginner and worked at it daily. By 2023 I was top 1% on the platform.
That number mattered to me less as a rank than as a signal. It meant the practice was working, and that I could trust my own sense of whether I was improving.
Advent of Cyber
The best thing TryHackMe does runs every December.
Advent of Cyber is 25 days, one new topic a day, structured from the beginning to something genuinely difficult by the end. It is built for people starting out and it does not stay easy.
I finished it three years running.
Rarity on those badges: 1.4%, 1.6%, 1.4%. Most people who start it do not finish it.
That is the part worth understanding about the event. Starting is easy and December is long. Twenty-five consecutive days of showing up to something hard, while everything else in your life continues, is the actual difficulty.
There are prizes too. TryHackMe gives away goodies and watches, drawn from people who complete days. That is not why you do it, but it does help on day 17 when you are tired.
Where it stands now
It has been more than a year since I last practised there.
Machine learning. Quantum. Philosophy, and the questions underneath the philosophy. I am still working out how those fit together and what I want to do with them, and that has taken the hours that used to go into labs.
The streak on my profile says zero. I am not going to pretend otherwise.
But if someone asked me today how to actually learn security, rather than how to collect a certificate in it, I would give the same answer I would have given in 2022.
Get on a platform with real machines and do Advent of Cyber. All 25 days. That is where the learning happens.My profile, if you want to see the rooms.