How I Got Hooked on Networking (and Why Security Starts Here)
I was always fascinated by tech. I touched a computer for the first time when I was very young, and from then on, I had a habit:
every week, I’d break something… and then spend hours figuring out how to fix it.
That habit never left me. It actually turned into a skill.
From Curiosity to Hacking
I’ve always been drawn to hacking — the curiosity of how systems break, and more importantly, how they can be fixed or protected.
The deeper I went down the rabbit hole, the more I realized something important.
I came across this meme 👇 and it couldn’t be more true:
It hit me: before you can be great at cybersecurity, you must master networking.
If you don’t understand how packets move, how routers forward, or how firewalls inspect — your “security” is just guesswork.
My Professional Journey
My professional journey started in Jan 2021. First job was CRM support. After a month they made me Team Lead IT Support. Suddenly I was looking after 500+ users, fixing web and CRM issues, QA, automating data tasks, and dealing with phone/call/email support every single day. That was my crash course — solving problems fast and learning to keep things running without burning everything down.
In 2022 I shifted into systems engineering. More serious work: Microsoft 365, Azure, VPNs for banking clients. That’s where I started leaning into security, making sure traffic between sites stayed solid and private.
Now I’m with Digital Auxilius. I started onsite, now fully remote in Dubai. I run pretty much the whole stack: firewalls, switches, servers, hybrid cloud, backups, monitoring. Built out SD-WAN across multiple ISPs, tightened things up for ISO 27001, and still break stuff on purpose just to figure it out better.
The CCNA Milestone
In December 2023, I finally earned my CCNA. For me, it wasn’t just a certificate — it was the moment networking stopped feeling like magic and started making sense. Routing tables, VLANs, access-lists… all the pieces clicked together. That foundation is what pushed me to take security seriously, because you can’t defend what you don’t understand.
Since then I’ve been stacking more:
- FortiGate certifications (firewalls are where the battles happen)
- ISO 27001 Associate (because security isn’t only configs — it’s frameworks and policies too)
And now I’m grinding toward CCNP Security, with CCIE Security as the ultimate goal.
Playing on HackTheBox
When I’m not labbing or studying, I like to test myself on HackTheBox.
You can find my profile here: HackTheBox — Osama.
The first time I rooted a box, it felt like beating a game boss I’d been stuck on for days. Every challenge reminds me that theory is nothing without practice — and that persistence usually matters more than shortcuts.
Why I’m Writing Here
This blog is my learning journal. I’ll be posting labs, configs, scripts, lessons, and more.
If you’re just starting out in security, here’s my one-liner for you:
👉 Don’t skip networking. Master it first — security will make so much more sense.
See you in the next post. 🚀