Ryan Bailey

It all starts with the Google Cyber Security Certificate

Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of people always wonder what cybersecurity cert they should get first. In this article I’m going to explain why I chose the Google Cybersecurity Certificate first before I did everything else.

So when I started this journey, I originally was working towards the CompTIA Security+, as every YouTuber and blogger had said, the Security+ was a fundamental certification that I needed to get. I began working on that and the concepts were new to me. The theory was challenging at times and it just wasn’t making sense. At some point in my studies, I found the Google Cybersecurity Certificate.

Hello World

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to my site. I’ll be posting security research, thoughts, and CTF write-ups here.

What to expect

CTF box write-ups (HackTheBox, Hack Smarter, and others)
General security topics
Anything else I find interesting

Stay tuned.

HTB: Example Machine

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Platform: HackTheBox
Difficulty: Easy
OS: Linux
IP: 10.10.10.xxx

Recon

Starting with a full port scan:

nmap -sV -sC -oN nmap/initial 10.10.10.xxx

Results:

PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
22/tcp open ssh OpenSSH 8.2p1
80/tcp open http Apache httpd 2.4.41

Foothold

…describe what you found and how you got in…

# Example command
curl http://10.10.10.xxx/secret-path

Privilege Escalation

…describe how you got root…

Flags

User: abc123...
Root: xyz789...

whoami

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

About Me

Hey there and welcome to my corner of the internet! I’m Ryan Bailey (a.k.a. dementor575). I’ve been interested in tech for a long time but finally decided to start diving in deep. I have a vivid memory of my dad and my uncle, when I was a kid, installing the first hard drive in our family IBM computer. Since that day I’ve been hooked. It took a while for me to find my way back to tech but here I am. Part of the reason I’m doing this is that I want to prove you’re never too old to learn new things, especially technical things. So if you agree, welcome. I’m glad you’re here!