joe-shenouda/awesome-cyber-skillsA curated list of hacking environments where you can train your cyber skills legally and safely
A curated list of hacking environments where you can train your cyber skills free, legally and safely.
Welcome to awesome-cyber-skills — your one-stop library for free, legal, and safe places to train your cybersecurity skills.
[!NOTE] In the field of Information Security, understanding the enemy, the hacker, is crucial. By knowing your enemy, you can effectively defend and secure the digital world.
[!TIP] "Know the enemy, and you can defeat the enemy."
In the USA, even high-ranking retired police officers continue to advise residents on how to better secure their homes. They visit houses and identify weak points, sharing their knowledge of the criminals' techniques to help prevent break-ins.
To hone your cybersecurity skills, you need to keep your hacking skills up-to-date. To achieve this, a safe, legal, and free environment is necessary for practice.
This list compiles websites that offer various opportunities to practice your cyber skills. Each site has a unique approach, and a brief description is provided to highlight its focus.
If you are missing a site not mentioned in the list, feel free to contribute.
| Emoji | Category | Sites |
|---|---|---|
| 🌐 | Web Application Security | 41 |
| 🔐 | Cryptography | 2 |
| 🔍 | Reverse Engineering | 16 |
| 🎯 | CTF / Wargame | 31 |
| 🛡️ | Blue Team / DFIR / SOC | 3 |
| ☁️ | Cloud Security | 1 |
| 📱 | Mobile Security | 4 |
| 🖥️ | System / Network / Exploitation | 8 |
| 🧰 | Tutorial / Course / Knowledge | 11 |
| 🎮 | Misc / Game | 2 |
| Badge | Level | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 | Beginner | Just starting in security — guided tutorials, friendly walkthroughs, low-stakes CTFs |
| 🟡 | Intermediate | Have basics down — real CTFs, full vulnerable apps, blue-team investigations |
| 🔴 | Advanced | Significant expertise — kernel exploitation, custom reversing, deep system internals |
[!IMPORTANT] Every site in this list is 100% free, legal, and safe to practice on. Each entry is tagged with a category emoji and a difficulty badge (
🟢 Beginner/🟡 Intermediate/🔴 Advanced).
Use the categories legend below or Ctrl+F to jump to what you need.
