Hacking Through the Holidays: My Advent of Cyber 2025 Experience

Christmas has come early for cybersecurity enthusiasts! This year I've joined TryHackMe's Advent of Cyber 2025, an annual event offering daily security challenges for 24 days. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills, brush up on fundamental concepts, and of course, do some hacking while enjoying the holidays!

Here I will be sharing my progress and what I learn in each challenge.

0) Advent of Cyber Prep Track

Before the main event started, I completed the "Prep Track". It was a series of warm-up tasks designed to get beginners ready (and refresh the memory of veterans) for what's coming. It covered essential basic concepts to ensure everyone is ready for the daily challenges.

1) Linux CLI - Shells Bells

Topic: Introduction to the Linux Command Line.

Day 1 started with the basics but fundamental: the Linux terminal. "Shells Bells" took us to explore the command-line interface (CLI), learning how to navigate the file system, manipulate files, and use essential commands. It was an excellent reminder of why Linux is the operating system par excellence in cybersecurity.

2) Phishing - Merry Clickmas

Topic: Social Engineering and Phishing.

Day 2 got interesting with "Merry Clickmas". We learned how to use the Social-Engineer Toolkit (SET) to simulate phishing attacks. The challenge demonstrated how easy it can be to trick users into handing over their credentials and the importance of always being alert to suspicious emails.

3) Splunk Basics - Did you SIEM?

Topic: Log Monitoring and Analysis with Splunk.

On day 3, we delved into the world of defense (Blue Team) with "Did you SIEM?". We learned to ingest and parse custom logs using Splunk, one of the most popular SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools. It was great to see how suspicious activities can be detected by analyzing large volumes of data.

4) AI in Security - old sAInt nick

Topic: Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity.

Day 4, "old sAInt nick", showed us the power of AI. We explored how artificial intelligence can be used both to attack and defend systems. It is fascinating (and a bit scary) to see how these technologies are reshaping the security landscape.

That's all for now! I will keep updating this post as I progress through the challenges. Stay tuned!