The Art of Learning Programming for Red Teaming and Cybersecurity

Programming is one of those things you can put off in security work for a while, but eventually you hit a wall. This post is about how I think about programming in red teaming, what I actually use, and what I'd tell someone starting out.

You can get away with using public tools for a while. Eventually you can't. Some of the reasons I ended up writing my own:

• Custom exploits: Off-the-shelf payloads get caught. The fix is usually writing your own version of the same thing.
• Automation: Anything you do twice should probably be a script. There's no point clicking through the same workflow again.
• Reverse engineering: You need to read code to understand it. You need to write code to test what you think you understand.

You don't need to learn all of these. Pick one or two and go deep.

• Python: For glue scripts and quick experiments.
• PowerShell: Hard to avoid on Windows. Worth being fluent in.
• Bash: Same idea on Linux. Learn enough to be dangerous.

Nothing fancy. VMs for Kali and Windows, an editor you like (I use VS Code), debuggers (x64dbg, WinDbg, GDB), and Wireshark for the network side. C2 frameworks like Cobalt Strike or Mythic if you're doing engagements.

Memory layout, network basics, crypto fundamentals, and a working model of how the OS handles processes and files. Skip this and everything else gets harder than it needs to be.

Start small. A keylogger. A port scanner. A reverse shell. A web shell. You learn more by building one of these than by reading ten blogs about them.

Once the basics feel boring: exploit development (buffer overflows, ROP), payload obfuscation, privilege escalation, and adversary simulation. None of this is fast. Give it years, not weeks.

Get written permission before you touch anything that isn't yours. Read the CFAA and your local laws. Use Hack The Box, TryHackMe, and similar platforms when you want to practice on real targets.

Contribute to open source. Play CTFs when you can. Follow people who actually do the work, not the ones who just talk about it.

There's no finish line in any of this. The tools change, the targets change, and you keep learning. The point is to understand systems well enough that you can take them apart and put them back together.

That's it. Go build something.