Before diving into bug bounty hunting, it is critical to have a solid understanding of how the internet and computer networks work. Understanding key concepts such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), a fundamental protocol used for transmitting data over the internet and other networks, is essential. Also, it is critical to understand networking concepts such as IP addresses, subnetting, and routing, which are all critical components of how devices communicate on a network. Another crucial concept to grasp is Domain Name System (DNS), which is in charge of converting human-readable domain names (such as google.com) into machine-readable IP addresses.
Understanding these concepts will provide a solid foundation for your bug bounty hunting journey, allowing you to better understand and navigate the various systems and networks you will encounter.
In order to be able to learn what and how an application works, you need to be able to understand how you are communicating with it. This section is dedicated to all the resources to understand the HTTP basics.
Recon is a common terminology used in bug bounties. It’s great if you are already using tools to scan a range of IPs for open ports or find subdomain, however, you should first understand why these things matter and how they work.
-[Network Fundamentals](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDQaRcbiSnqF5U8ffMgZzS7fq1rHUI3Q8), A 19 part Video Series about Networking well explained for Beginners
- [IP Addressing and IP Subnetting for the CCNA Exam by David Bombal] (https://youtube.com/watch?v=E-J8EPUvc8E)
- [What is DNS by David Bombal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl-C6cBoRg4)
Being a great programmer is not a requirement to be a successful hacker. However, having the ability to make an educated guess, may increase your chances of successfully identifying and exploiting an issue. In a number of cases, you may need to automate your work or know more than just the “basics” in order to escalate a bug with a medium severity to high/critical.
- HTML: HTML is very easy to learn and there are a ton of free resources for it. If you are interested in learning about XSS this should be your first step. If you prefer an interactive tool to learn about JavaScript, I highly recommend [Codecademy](http://ssqt.co/mQfH8zl) or [W3Schools](https://www.w3schools.com/html/)!
- JavaScript: Once you have familiarized yourself with HTML, you should understand JavaScript since you will be using it to exploit XSS vulnerabilities. The usage of JavaScript isn’t just limited to when you are exploring XSS, so it’s a very handy programming language to know.
If you prefer an interactive tool to learn about JavaScript, I highly recommend [CodeCademy](http://ssqt.co/mQfH8zl)!
- SQL: You may have guessed It already, but you won’t be able to exploit complex SQL injection vulnerabilities before having any SQL knowledge.
As always, if you prefer an interactive course, feel free to use [CodeCademy](http://ssqt.co/mQfH8zl)!
You may skip this section if you believe you will never need automation or in-depth web application knowledge. However, I believe that learning bash in addition to one of the four languages listed below will allow you to work smarter rather than harder.
If you are looking into getting started with Bug Bounties with a focus on web, I highly recommend learning the nuts and bolts of what make a website work.
- [Installing Apache, MySQL, PHP on Windows 10](https://codebriefly.com/how-to-setup-apache-php-mysql-on-windows-10/)
- [Installing Apache, MySQL, PHP on Ubuntu](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-apache-mysql-php-lamp-stack-ubuntu-18-04)
- [Setting Up Your Ubuntu Box for Pentest and Bug Bounty Automation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhUiAH5SIqk)
After creating your own web server, I highly recommend installing a CMS (like Wordpress or drupal) on your localhost to understand how it all works.
