My TryHackMe Journey (2022–2025) | Cyber Codex

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The Beginning 2022: Curiosity Over Comfort

In 2022, I wasn’t a “hacker.” I wasn't even someone who fully understood how the internet worked. I was a curious student intrigued by cybersecurity, armed with a Linux virtual machine, a lot of free time, and one name I kept hearing over and over: TryHackMe and HackTheBox.

I still remember the first room I launched. The terminal blinked at me. I didn’t know what to type. I had no idea what an IP address meant. But that room changed everything. That was the spark.

What is TryHackMe?

TryHackMe or THM is an online cybersecurity platform that teaches hacking through hands-on labs, gamification, and a guided learning experience.

Here’s what sets it apart:

Learning Paths: Red Team, Blue Team, Jr Pentester, SOC Level 1, and more.

Room Types:

• Guided rooms: Concepts with tasks and hints

• CTF rooms: Realistic scenarios, minimal help

• Challenges, Raw puzzle-solving (web, reverse, crypt, etc)

Streak System: Daily XP to keep you coming back.

Community Events: Advent of Cyber, Cyber Mayhem, Industrial Intrusion

It’s beginner-friendly but grows with you, and for me, it becomes a daily dojo.

Year by Year Breakdown

2022: Learning the Basics

• Completed Intro to Cyber Security and Linux Fundamentals

• Learned about Nmap, file permissions, SSH, and basic web exploits

• Discovered the Blue Team Path: started thinking like a defender

• Struggled with terminology, but the guided rooms kept me going

2023: The Grind Era

• Began serious streak tracking

• Completed Pre Security, Jr Pentester, Blue Team, and most of the Red Team path

• Started solving rooms without hints

• Took part in the Advent of Cyber for the first time

• Started building internal wikis, note templates, and Bash recon scripts

2024: Growth Beyond the Platform

• Entered TryHackMe CTFs: Learned the pain of going solo

• Realized many teams join for the XP, not the challenge

• Tackled harder challenge rooms (reverse engineering, binary exploitation)

• Used knowledge from THM in bug bounty, internships, and HTB

• Wrote my first public write-ups

2025: Peak Form

• Reached Top 168 global rank

• Maintained a 132-day streak

• Hit 111,493 points

• Used THM for CRT (Certified Red Teamer) prep (Active Directory, BloodHound, LDAP)

• Published blogs and got recognized in the community

Blue Team Path: The Underrated Gem

Many people chase red teaming for the adrenaline, but the Blue Team taught me:

• Windows Internals

• Log Analysis with ELK & Splunk

• Network forensics and incident response

• Attack detection and mitigation

It helped me secure internship projects and analyze real incidents. Some tools I picked up:

• Wireshark

• Sysinternals Suite

• OSSEC

• Volatility

THM made these topics accessible through labs like Log Analysis, Memory Forensics, and SOC Level 1.

Rooms That Reshaped My Mindset

Summary: Both platforms offer incredible value. TryHackMe eases you in with a structured approach and gamification. Hack The Box hits hard but teaches deeply. I use both and recommend them based on what you want to master.

The CTFs: Teamless but Not Clueless

• Joined multiple TryHackMe CTFs

• Found out quick: “team” doesn't mean support

• Ended up grinding most challenges solo

• Got salty but got stronger

Learned:

• How to break crypto challenges

• OSINT under pressure

• Full pwn from enumerations to privilege escalation

The competitive pressure gave me thick skin. Even without help, I emerged with skill.

Challenged: Where THM Tests You

The Challenges section became my gym:

No hints. Just terminal + brain

My fav categories:

• Reverse Engineering (with Ghidra + Radare2)

• Web (NodeJS + SSRF FTW)

• Crypto (simple XOR to RSA weaknesses)

These were raw, creative, and deeply satisfying. My problem-solving hit a new level here.

TryHackMe vs Hack The Box

Summary: THM taught me; HTB refined me. THM is where you grow roots. HTB is where you swing your sword.

Stats & Recognition

• Rank: #163 global

• Points: 111,493

• Streak: 132 days

• Published 15+ writeups on Medium

• People now ask me for career advice

Real Lessons THM Taught Me

• Always enumerate

• Never guess — prove your assumption

• Take notes. Better: take structured notes

• Red between the flags

• You can start from zero and still go pro

Advice for Newbies in 2025

• Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle

• Start with Pre-security or Blue Team

• Don’t fear the terminal

• Solve one room every day → streaks matter

• Write. It cements memory

• Solo or teamless? Still Compete. Growth > scoreboard.

Final Words: More Than Just a Platform

TryHackMe wasn’t just an app on my browser. It becomes:

• A habit

• A trainer

• A mentor I never had

• A record of how far I’ve come

From that first “whoami” to ranking among the top 200 globally, the journey wasn’t easy. But if I could do it, so can you. Just log in.

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