Intro to Hacking: Your First Steps into Offensive Security

Hacking has a reputation for being intimidating. Green text on black screens, cryptic commands, and a community that assumes you already know everything can be intimidating. This workshop is the opposite of that.

Over a single hands-on session, you'll build the foundational skills that every ethical hacker uses every day: navigating Linux from the command line, understanding how web requests and responses actually work, and developing the problem-solving mindset that turns a locked door into an interesting puzzle.

By the end of the class, you'll be ready to tackle Bandit and Natas, two free, web-based "wargames" from OverTheWire that have gotten so many onto the path of a successful hacking hobby. You'll leave with momentum, a roadmap, and the satisfaction of having solved your first real challenges in front of you.

What you'll learn:

• Essential Linux commands for navigation, file inspection, and searching
• How to read and interpret terminal output like a hacker
• The anatomy of an HTTP request and what's really happening when you load a page
• Browser developer tools as a hacker's lens
• How to approach an unknown system methodically
• A working strategy for Bandit and Natas challenges

Who this is for: Folks with some tech background. You’re comfortable using a computer, maybe have written some code or worked in IT. This is for pepople who are curious about security but haven't taken the plunge. You don't need any hacking experience. You don't need to be a Linux expert. You just need curiosity and a laptop.

What to bring:

• A laptop (any OS, we'll get you set up)
• Curiosity and a willingness to break things (in a safe sandbox)

About Hackers Guild: Hackers Guild is a community focused on ethical hacking and offensive security education. Everything we teach is oriented toward defenders, professionals, and the curious and never toward harm.

Come with your laptop. Leave a hacker.

Ethical hacking only. We teach you to think like an attacker so you can defend like a pro — on systems built for exactly that purpose.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Hackers Guild PGH