The Monthly Patch 2025.01

Welcome to The Monthly Patch, a new blog series where I document my cybersecurity journey, both personal and professional. My goal with this blog is twofold:

To serve as a motivational tool—tracking my progress and pushing myself to continuously improve.
To provide a transparent record of my learning journey—allowing potential employers and like-minded professionals to see my dedication to cybersecurity growth.

Each month, I’ll cover my progress, learning experiences, projects, and future goals. Now, let’s dive into January 2025!

📜 Wrapping Up 2024: My Cybersecurity Milestone

December 2024 was a major milestone for me—I officially graduated with a Diploma of Cybersecurity with Distinction, achieving a GPA of 6.5. This was a huge accomplishment after a full year of intense study.

To celebrate, I took the rest of December off to spend time with family, unwind, and recharge after a demanding academic year.

🚀 January: The Job Hunt Begins

With the new year in full swing, I shifted my focus to landing a cybersecurity role. This month, I:

Refined my resume and updated my LinkedIn and other job-seeking profiles.
Applied for around 40 jobs in cybersecurity-related fields. While this isn’t a massive number, I wanted to prioritise quality over quantity—tailoring applications for roles that align with my interests and skillset.
My goal for February is to increase applications while securing interviews and, ideally, receiving offers.

💻 Getting Back to Hands-On Learning

Now that my formal studies are complete, I’m returning to TryHackMe to continue upskilling. Specifically, I aim to:

✅ Complete the SOC Level 1 Learning Path before the end of February.

I’ve also started the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera. Although it’s structured as a 3–6 month program (at 7 hours per week), I believe my existing knowledge will allow me to fast-track my progress and complete it in February.

📝 Expanding My Knowledge Base

I’ve been maintaining cybersecurity notes in Obsidian, and I plan to:

Continue expanding my notes with key concepts, attack techniques, and defensive strategies.
Explore alternative platforms in case I find a more efficient solution for managing and organizing my cybersecurity knowledge.

🌍 Staying Up to Date with Industry Trends

Keeping up with industry developments is crucial, so I’ve been:

Watching Simply Cyber’s Daily Cyber Threat Brief with Gerald Auger to stay informed on real-world cybersecurity threats.
Exploring SIEM lab projects, inspired by one of Gerald Auger’s videos on building a home SIEM setup to practice detecting, analyzing, and responding to security events.

My plan for February is to set up a SIEM lab in my home lab environment, so I can better understand log analysis, alerts, and security monitoring.

🎯 Looking Ahead: February 2025 Goals

🔥 Increase job applications and secure interviews.
🔥 Complete the TryHackMe SOC Level 1 Learning Path.
🔥 Finish the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera.
🔥 Build a SIEM lab in my home environment.
🔥 Continue expanding and refining my knowledge base.

Wrapping up, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment from graduating in December, but I know this is just the beginning. Cybersecurity is a field of continuous learning, and I’m excited for the next steps in my journey.

Let’s make February a productive month! 💪