5 Open source projects that will open doors

Welcome to the new 35 cyber warriors who joined us last week. Explore our weekly delivery of inspiration, insights, and exclusive interviews from the global BHMEA community of cybersecurity leaders.

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A weekly delivery of insights, inspiration, and exclusive interviews from the global Black Hat MEA community.

This week we’re focused on…

Open source projects that early-career cybersecurity practitioners can use to level up their skills. 

Because open source will open doors*

*Or give you the skills to open doors on your own. 

Open source projects offer incredibly valuable opportunities for you (aspiring cybersecurity professional) to sharpen your skills. Collaborative and community-driven, they present real-world challenges that mirror the dynamics of the cybersecurity industry – and give you a chance to make connections with other practitioners too. 

When we asked Paulino Calderon (Co-Founder at Websec) why he’s passionate about open source projects in cyber, he said: 

“I genuinely believe in the power behind the democratisation of knowledge... I learned much from collaborating with people worldwide and sharing contributions with millions of users.”

If you’re new to the field, or even if you’re an established practitioner looking to enhance your skills and reignite your inspiration, then engaging with open source allows you to: 

• Gain practical experience: Work on real-world problems and develop solutions that go on to be used globally.
• Collaborate globally: Join a community of professionals and enthusiasts from around the world and work together to solve shared challenges.
• Build a portfolio: When you’re looking for a job, you can showcase your contributions to open source projects to potential employers, and use them to demonstrate your capabilities. 

5 open source projects to explore

1. Kali Linux: A Debian-based distribution tailored for penetration testing and digital forensics. It includes tools like Nmap, Wireshark, and Metasploit.
2. Snort: An open-source intrusion detection and prevention system that analyses network traffic in real-time.
3. OSSEC: A host-based intrusion detection system that performs log analysis, integrity checking, and rootkit detection across multiple platforms.
4. Ghidra: A reverse engineering tool released by the US National Security Agency, allowing users to decompile software and analyse malware.
5. MISP (Malware Information Sharing Platform): A threat intelligence platform designed for sharing, storing, and correlating Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) of targeted attacks.

How do you get started with open source?

Pick a project. Choose one that aligns with your interests right now, or with your future career goals. For example, are you interested in network security, malware analysis, or threat intelligence? 

By focusing on an area you genuinely enjoy, you’re likely to get hooked on that project and stay engaged – and over time, this will give you the space you need to build deeper, more meaningful expertise. 

Once you’ve chosen your project, immerse yourself in its community. Get involved in forums, join mailing lists, and engage in chat channels where contributors exchange ideas. 

Then when you’re ready to start contributing to the project, start small. Fix bugs or add to the project documentation, or suggest minor feature enhancements. By starting with small, low-stakes contributions you’ll build confidence and get feedback that will help you develop your skills. And those small pieces of work really do help to strengthen the overall project too. 

Never underestimate open source 

Open source projects are powerful development opportunities for you as an individual. And at the same time, they’re powerful drivers of innovation in the field of cybersecurity – they’re a collaborative world of their own in which knowledge is shared and security is strengthened. On the blog this week we wrote about three recent developments in cybersecurity that have been enabled by open source (read it here). 

Calderon added, “Together, we can make significant strides toward a future where technology serves as a bridge rather than a barrier.”

So choose a project and embark on your open source journey. We’d love to know what you learn along the way.

We’ll see you back here next week. 

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