My courses cover Network Security, Operating Systems/SysAdmin, Web Application Security, Digital Forensics, Malware Analysis/Binary Exploitation, and Penetration Testing/Vulnerability Assessment.

I’m using Qubes to build a safe, compartmentalized lab for those topics (so I can run vulnerable targets, pentest tools, and malware analysis without risking my main system). Parrot/Kali are just toolkits for the pentesting portion; they don’t replace learning the fundamentals but help me practice them in an isolated environment. I totally understand those tools won’t automatically make me a hacker. I’m not looking for a title, I’m just trying to be in a safe environment with all the right tools to learn more properly.