30 Days Cybersecurity Internship
A structured 30-day, hands-on internship track to build ethical hacking fundamentals, perform recon and scanning, practice real web exploitation techniques, and complete a mini pentest engagement with a final report + demo.
Program Overview
This internship-style learning track is designed to get you productive fast: set up your lab, learn recon and scanning, practice common web vulnerabilities, and finish with a real-world simulation where you perform a mini pentest and write a report.
What You'll Learn
- Build a safe lab environment with Kali Linux and VMs
- Understand networking + web basics needed for testing
- Perform reconnaissance, subdomain discovery, and enumeration
- Scan services and discover attack surface using Nmap and Gobuster
- Test OWASP-style vulnerabilities with Burp Suite
- Exploit common issues (SQLi, XSS, auth attacks) and attempt Linux privilege escalation
- Deliver a final mini pentest engagement: exploit + report + demo
Program Features
- Daily hands-on tasks
- Guided tools practice
- Final pentest engagement
- Report + demo day
Prerequisites
- • Basic computer knowledge
- • Willingness to learn and practice daily
- • Internet connection
- • A PC capable of running a VM
Internship Curriculum
Week-wise plan with daily hands-on tasks. Finish with a mini pentest engagement + report + demo.
Week 1
Foundations + Setup (Day 1–7)
Introduction to Cybersecurity: ethical vs illegal hacking, attack surface, mindset
Lab Setup: Kali Linux (VM), VirtualBox/VMware, basic Linux navigation (cd, ls, pwd)
Networking Basics (Hands-on): IP, DNS, ports; ping, traceroute, netstat
Linux Deep Dive: file permissions, users & groups, terminal practice
Web Basics for Hackers: HTTP/HTTPS, requests/responses, browser dev tools
Intro to Reconnaissance: passive vs active recon, WHOIS, DNS enumeration
Hands-on Recon Tools: Subfinder, Amass; task: find subdomains of a target
Week 1
Foundations + Setup (Day 1–7)
7 days
Week 1
Foundations + Setup (Day 1–7)
Introduction to Cybersecurity: ethical vs illegal hacking, attack surface, mindset
Lab Setup: Kali Linux (VM), VirtualBox/VMware, basic Linux navigation (cd, ls, pwd)
Networking Basics (Hands-on): IP, DNS, ports; ping, traceroute, netstat
Linux Deep Dive: file permissions, users & groups, terminal practice
Web Basics for Hackers: HTTP/HTTPS, requests/responses, browser dev tools
Intro to Reconnaissance: passive vs active recon, WHOIS, DNS enumeration
Hands-on Recon Tools: Subfinder, Amass; task: find subdomains of a target
Week 2
Enumeration & Scanning (Day 8–14)
7 days
Week 2
Enumeration & Scanning (Day 8–14)
Port Scanning Basics: open ports & services; Nmap
Advanced Nmap: service detection, OS detection, NSE scripts
Directory Enumeration: find hidden paths; Gobuster
Subdomain + Directory Combo: map attack surface fully; practical target scanning
Intro to Web Vulnerabilities: OWASP basics, real examples
Burp Suite Basics: setup proxy, intercept requests; Burp Suite
Practice Lab: DVWA-style target; task: recon + scan report
Week 3
Exploitation (Day 15–21)
7 days
Week 3
Exploitation (Day 15–21)
SQL Injection (Hands-on): manual SQLi; sqlmap
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): reflected & stored XSS; payload testing
Authentication Attacks: brute force basics; Hydra
File Upload Vulnerabilities: upload shells; bypass filters
Command Injection: execute system commands; reverse shell intro
Privilege Escalation Basics: Linux privesc; SUID, cron jobs
Practice Lab: full exploit chain on a lab machine
Week 4
Real-World Simulation + Project (Day 22–30)
9 days
Week 4
Real-World Simulation + Project (Day 22–30)
Project Brief: target vulnerable app, define scope, plan attack
Recon Phase: subdomain + DNS enumeration, collect data
Scanning Phase: Nmap + directory enumeration
Vulnerability Discovery: use Burp Suite to find bugs
Exploitation: exploit at least 1 injection and 1 misconfiguration
Post Exploitation: privilege escalation attempt, data extraction
Report Writing: summary, vulnerabilities, fixes
Presentation Prep: create PPT, explain attack flow
Demo Day: recon → exploit → report
Tools Covered
Ready to Start Your Cybersecurity Internship?
Build real skills in 30 days — recon → scan → exploit → report → demo.