We think of every OffSec learner as a member of the OffSec community. Our OffSec Discord server encourages and facilitates interaction among OffSec learners and OffSec staff members while learners study for their OffSec certifications.
Read this guide to learn more about the OffSec community, what resources you can find in OffSec’s Discord channel, and how to use them. To learn how to join us on Discord, click here.
- Why should I join the Discord server?
- Who are the Student Mentors (SMs)?
- How do I ask for help?
- What are the expected channel behaviors in the OffSec Discord server?
- What are the rules and guidelines?
- What are the OffSec Discord Hours and How may I join?
- When are the Discord Office Hours happening?
- How may I contribute to the OffSec Community?
- Other Community Resources
Why should I join the Discord server?
The Offsec Discord server is the perfect place to connect with other learners. Here you may find other students who are going on the same learning journey as you, get study buddies, and get insights from learners who have already gone through the content you are studying.
By joining us on Discord you will:
- Gain access to private channels specialized in the content you are studying
- Be part of a growing community and engage other learners
- Keep an eye on important announcements
- Gain access to our Discord bots
Who are the Student Mentors (SMs)?
Our Student Mentors (SMs) are alumni of the OffSec course/s who have joined the company to guide learners based on their own course experiences.
OffSec courses are designed to be self-paced, empowering the learners to study and learn the material independently. This approach aims to foster critical thinking skills and self-reliance.
Should you hit a roadblock, SMs will be available to provide mentorship, guidance, and support by giving necessary directions, and monitoring various channels and groups to facilitate your learning journey.
To identify an SM, please check if the Discord’s name is in red and the OffSec Student Mentor tag is present in the Roles section under their username:
If a learner wishes to speak directly to an SM, the SM may not be available immediately as he/she may be assisting other learners or working on other assignments.
If the SM is not available, another SM will get back to the learner as soon as one is available. If the learner would like a faster response, please message the relevant OffSec channels where the community can assist or until another SM is available to assist.
Note: Extra Mile labs require independent research and are meant to be completed independently by the learner. Therefore, SMs will not be able to help or provide assistance for it.
How do I ask for help?
As a cybersecurity professional, the ability to conduct independent research and problem-solving is a sought-after skill to have. Having said that, it's important to remember that there are also resources available to you to assist you if needed.
For example, the pen-200 hints are available in the OffSec Learning Platform to guide you with specific lab questions, and Discord offers a search feature that can help you find answers and in-depth conversations to most lab questions.
By utilizing these resources, you can further improve your problem-solving abilities while also developing self-sufficiency in your work. Remember to keep an open mind and don't hesitate to seek assistance when necessary.
When asking for help, please include as much detail as possible. Provide the steps, commands, codes, and any other relevant information to https://paste.offsec.com/. This way, the learners and SMs will have a good understanding of what’s going on so they can better assist you. Please do not copy & paste your sample codes to the channels, as it will be difficult to read, and be mindful of other users also discussing in the channel.
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Avoid: Hi I need help! Avoid: I need help with x.x.x.x challenge lab machine Propose: I’ve been working on getting low-level access to the x.x.x.x challenge lab machine. I found credentials from another challenge lab machine, but they do not seem to be working. Can someone help me? |
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Avoid: I’m stuck on lab 123 Propose: I’m trying to get the exploit for lab 123 to work, however I get an error when launching it. Here are the commands and outputs: https://paste.offsec.com/SdDfLvsw |
Note: We encourage community engagement! Anyone is free to assist learners if they know an answer to a question. However, if a learner has not received help within 15 minutes, the available Student Mentors will gladly assist.
What are the expected channel behaviors in the OffSec Discord server?
- Please be polite and courteous within the chat platform as we do not tolerate unmannerly behavior of any kind. Below are the list of unacceptable topics within any of our channels:
- We do not allow discussing information on the lab machines outside of what is publicly available.
- We do not allow discussing information on the course exams outside of what is publicly available in the course Exam Guides.
- We do not allow users to use insults, and profanities, or be rude and disrespectful to their fellow users in the channels.
- We do not allow discussing illegal activities such as hacking private individuals or corporations.
- We do not allow users to use any forms of racism, sexism, homophobic, transphobic, or heterosexist remarks.
- We also request users to keep discussions related to the channel topic. If you are not sure what channel to start the discussion on, please check the #off-topic and #main channels.
To avoid spoiling the fun and challenge of the labs, some rules must be followed:
- Learners are not allowed to share complete solutions or walkthroughs of any labs as we still want learners to complete them on their own.
- Learners are not allowed to share complete source codes, scripts, or commands required for the labs. Sharing sample code snippets is allowed as long as they don’t give the answers away.
Learners may request hints on the lab machines. However, lab machine questions will be stricter in moderation as we do not want the machine’s solutions to be spoiled to everyone.
The following are examples that should be avoided in the channels:
- Providing a detailed walkthrough or steps needed to exploit a lab machine.
- Providing the exact exploit, command, CVE, or URL of the exploit to use on a specific lab machine
- Providing detailed information on how to leverage the vulnerability of an exploit is not allowed. Although discussing the general concept such as RFI is acceptable.
- Discussing hidden information that should be enumerated, such as a hidden port number, hidden URL, or hidden files is not allowed. Giving details on such information defeats the purpose of having them hidden in the first place.
OffSec staff and community moderators will be monitoring the channels, to make sure the rules are observed and followed.
What are the rules and guidelines?
If an individual engages in any misconduct that adversely affects other members of the community, they will be permanently banned from the server.
The following must not be done within the server:
- Derogatory, derisive, or disparaging remarks such as showing low opinion of others, taunting or mocking
- The use of profanity towards other member/s or staff
- Any forms of harassment and discrimination
- Spamming/Trolling promotional or inappropriate messages
- Confidentiality breaches such as sharing spoilers or solutions to exam/course lab machines.
- Any forms of racism, sexism, homophobic, transphobic, or heterosexism
- Share any materials that violate copyright laws or/and OffSec academic policy
Our OffSec Staff and Community Moderators have the right to evaluate the severity of misconduct to determine whether it warrants an immediate ban or a mute ranging from one day to seven days in the first instance.
What are the OffSec Discord Hours and How may I join?
OffSec has taken steps to increase communications with our learners and implementing Office Hours is one of them.
This is an opportunity for our community to interact with the OffSec staff and where members can ask any questions they may have related to courses, latest releases, updates, career opportunities, career advice, and more.
Once the Office Hour starts, a banner will show at the top of the server showing the event is live. Clicking that banner, finding the channel "OffSec Office Hour" or clicking this link https://discord.gg/vM2xc8w9k3 will take you there.
Otherwise, you may ask your question in the stage's chat feature, located in the upper right corner upon joining the stage.
When are the Discord Office Hours happening?
Office Hours are typically held on Fridays around 1 PM EST, and run for approximately 1 hour. However, if the community is highly interactive and the questions are many, it might go over.
How may I contribute to the OffSec Community?
We LOVE it when our learners actively engage in our community! If there is anything you wish to share, please contact @YangYang on the OffSec community chat platform. We welcome your ideas and engagement!
Other Community Resources:
We recommend keeping an eye on our Blog for new releases and updates, as well as our Podcast, Webinars, Official Twitch , and Official YouTube channels.