The Watchlist

A running list of videos I’ve saved to learn from — security, and the fundamentals it sits on: cloud, infrastructure, code, networking, how the pieces fit. It’s not a finished syllabus and I haven’t watched every minute of all of them; it’s what I’m working through, kept in the open. If you find something here you didn’t know about, good — that’s the point.

Everything links out to YouTube. I keep only the title, the channel and a line on why it’s here — the videos belong to the people who made them. Anything offensive here is for your own lab and your own gear only. Links rot; tell me if one’s dead and I’ll pull it.

Finding your footing

• Is Ethical Hacking the Right Field for You? · The Cyber Mentor — An honest “is this actually for you” talk before you sink months into it.
• The Fastest Way to Learn Coding and Actually Get a Job · Namanh Kapur — A grounded take on learning to code efficiently and landing the job — less hype than the title.
• How to Pass Any SANS / GIAC Certification on Your First Try · The Cyber Mentor — Practical strategy for the notoriously tough SANS/GIAC exams — how to study, not shortcuts.

Programming

• Python for Beginners — Full Course · The Cyber Mentor — A hacker’s-eye intro to Python — the language most security tooling and glue scripts are written in.
• Python Basics: What I Would Learn First · Internet Made Coder — Short and opinionated — the Python worth learning first, before you drown in tutorials.
• Python Full Course · Amigoscode — A clean, well-paced full Python course if you prefer a more polished teaching style.
• Python and Data Science — Full Course (12 hours) · Simplilearn — A long one: Python into data science — useful groundwork for detection engineering and log analysis.
• Python Backend Web Development with Django — Full Course · freeCodeCamp.org — Backend fundamentals with Django — how web apps are actually served, start to finish.
• Learn JavaScript — Full Course for Beginners · freeCodeCamp.org — The language of the browser and half the web’s attack surface — worth knowing whether you build or break web apps.
• Build Your First Python Slack Bot · PyCharm (JetBrains) — A small build project — good for turning “I learned Python” into “I made a thing.”

Infrastructure & cloud

• Enterprise Network Configurations PM Networking A 10-part course building a company network from scratch — VLANs, DHCP, NAT, HSRP, OSPF and firewall config on live gear.
• Scan Your Home Network for Hidden Devices in 2026 Find every device actually on your home network — and spot the ones that should not be there.
• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) — full course · Adam Marczak — Azure for Everyone — A 40-part course that walks the whole AZ-900 syllabus — what Azure is, the core services, pricing. The gentlest on-ramp to cloud, exam or not.
• HashiCorp Terraform Associate — certification course · freeCodeCamp.org — Infrastructure as code from zero to the cert — how modern labs and cloud get built and torn down repeatably.
• Terraform: Input, Output and Local Variables (Part 2) · techieandtravel — The plumbing that makes infrastructure-as-code reusable. It’s Part 2, so pair it with a Terraform intro.
• Kubernetes Tutorial for Beginners (Full Course, 4 hours) · TechWorld with Nana — The go-to beginner Kubernetes course. Containers at scale — increasingly where both apps and attacks live.
• Complete Kubernetes Course — Beginner to Pro · DevOps Directive — A deeper Kubernetes course if Nana’s leaves you wanting more.
• Your Remote Desktop Sucks — Try This Instead (Free & Open Source) · NetworkChuck — A free, open-source remote-desktop setup — a handy homelab and admin quality-of-life upgrade.

Security & offensive

• Create a Virtual Pen-Test Lab with VMware Workstation · Francis Tuttle Network Security — How to stand up a safe, isolated lab — the right place to try everything else in this section.
• How to Install Metasploitable 3 · HackerSploit — Setting up a deliberately vulnerable target so you have something legal to practise against.
• Full Ethical Hacking Course — Network Penetration Testing for Beginners · freeCodeCamp.org — A long-form intro to network pentesting, end to end. From 2019, so some tooling has moved on, but the methodology holds.
• Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) in 5 Hours — Full Course · The Cyber Mentor — Recon from public data, start to finish — foundational for both red and blue.
• Linux Privilege Escalation for Beginners · The Cyber Mentor — Going from a foothold to root on Linux — the enumeration and techniques, explained slowly.
• Buffer Overflows Made Easy (2022 Edition) · The Cyber Mentor — The classic exploit-dev primer, updated — how a buffer overflow actually works, built up step by step.
• Attacktive Directory Walkthrough (TryHackMe) · The Cyber Mentor — A hands-on first taste of attacking Active Directory, walking the TryHackMe room end to end.
• Create a Dead Man’s Switch in Python · Null Byte — A small, real project — encrypt a file if you don’t check in. Security thinking meets scripting.
• Wi-Fi Password Cracking (in Minutes) · Loi Liang Yang — A quick WPA-cracking demo — run it only against your own network, to understand why weak Wi-Fi keys fall.

Go deeper

• Start here — the StashGrid learning path, if you want lessons and not just links.
• The security slang decoder — the words these videos throw around, in plain English.
• The Purple Bridge — once a video teaches you an attack, see how it’s detected.