How to learn ethical hacking from scratch: a step-by-step route

Knowing how to learn ethical hacking from scratch is harder than finding resources: there are too many, and almost none tell you what to do on Monday morning. This guide is a week-by-week plan for roughly six months, designed for someone who can put in 8 to 10 hours a week and has no professional IT experience.

If you want a quick overview of the big phases, see our practical guide to getting started in ethical hacking. Here we go into detail: concrete goals, resources for each block and a way to check you have absorbed what you learned before moving on.

Before you start: your lab and your notes

Two things worth having ready on day one:

• A legal lab. A virtual machine with Kali Linux or Parrot OS in VirtualBox or VMware. Everything you attack will be yours or belong to platforms that authorise you. If you do not know how to install it, follow our guide to Kali Linux for beginners.
• A note-taking system. Obsidian, CherryTree or plain Markdown files. Every command you learn, with an example and what it is for. In any practical exam, your notes will be your best tool.

Route to learn ethical hacking from scratch: phase 1, fundamentals (weeks 1 to 8)

Weeks 1 and 2: Linux in the terminal

Goal: navigate the file system, manage permissions, find files and read logs without a graphical interface.

• Play the Bandit levels on OverTheWire. Try to reach level 20.
• Key commands: ls, cd, find, grep, chmod, ssh, pipes and redirections.

Weeks 3 and 4: networking

Goal: explain in your own words what happens from typing a URL to seeing the page. TCP/IP model, ports, DNS, DHCP, subnets.

• The introductory course from Cisco Networking Academy or Professor Messer's videos.
• Capture your own traffic with Wireshark and find a DNS query and a TCP handshake.

Weeks 5 and 6: the web under the hood

Goal: understand HTTP requests and responses, cookies, sessions and headers. Start the first topics of PortSwigger Web Security Academy.

Weeks 7 and 8: basic scripting

Goal: write a Bash script that loops over a list of IPs and a Python script that makes HTTP requests. You do not need to be a developer, but you do need to automate repetitive tasks.

Phase 1 check: if you can explain what a port is, what a DNS server does and what travels in a cookie, and solve Bandit up to a medium level without looking at solutions, you are ready.

Phase 2: guided practice (weeks 9 to 16)

Weeks 9 to 12: guided paths

Join TryHackMe and follow its introductory paths. This is where you discover the full cycle of an intrusion: reconnaissance, enumeration, exploitation and privilege escalation. At the same time, keep going in PortSwigger with SQL injection and XSS.

Weeks 13 to 16: methodology and basic tools

Now is the time to learn a few tools well instead of many halfway:

• Scanning: Nmap. Understand the difference between a SYN scan and a full connect scan.
• Web discovery: ffuf or Gobuster with wordlists from SecLists.
• Web proxy: Burp Suite (Community edition) or Caido.
• Privilege escalation: PEASS-ng and GTFOBins.

To go deeper into each one, there is a dedicated guide to the best ethical hacking tools for beginners.

Phase 2 check: compromise an easy machine end to end without hints and write a short report with the steps.

Phase 3: autonomy (weeks 17 to 26)

Weeks 17 to 22: machines without guidance

Move to Hack The Box or to VulnHub machines in your local lab. Aim for two or three easy machines a week. When you finish (or after several hours stuck), compare your approach with IppSec's video or 0xdf's writeup. That is where you learn the most.

Weeks 23 to 26: initial specialisation and first certification

Pick a direction: web, infrastructure and Active Directory, or defence. And if you want a measurable goal, prepare an entry-level hands-on certification such as the eJPT. There is a full comparison in ethical hacking certifications.

Common mistakes when learning from scratch

• Collecting tools. Installing a hundred utilities does not make you better. Mastering five does.
• Looking at the solution too early. Set yourself a limit (for example, 45 minutes stuck) before asking for a hint.
• Skipping the fundamentals. Almost every time someone "is not progressing" on machines, the problem is networking or Linux.
• Practising outside an authorised environment. Besides being illegal, it gives you nothing a lab cannot.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to learn ethical hacking from scratch?

It depends on your hours and your background. With around 8 to 10 hours a week, this plan gets you solving easy machines on your own in about six months. Reaching a professional level usually takes considerably more practice.

Can I learn without an IT background?

Yes, but do not skip phase 1. It is precisely what makes up for the lack of previous experience.

Do I need to pay for any platform?

It is not essential. You can complete almost all of this plan with free resources; there is a list in free ethical hacking courses and more material in the Learn section.

What if I get stuck for weeks in one phase?

Go back to the previous phase's check. If you cannot pass it comfortably, strengthen that base before continuing.

If you would rather not build the plan on your own, our course Ethical hacking from scratch ("Hacking ético desde cero") follows this same route in 8 modules, in Spanish and step by step. The launch price will be 29 € (49 € afterwards) and you can already join the waitlist.