Cyber security is a rapidly moving and highly collaborative industry. Many professionals and novices alike leverage cyber security forums to stay on top of the latest information and collaborate with fellow cyber security professionals.
With as many cyber security forums out there as there are new viruses, it can be difficult to know which ones are worth your time.
We’ve combed through a myriad of cyber security forums to find the best 15 that will help you learn and further your cyber security career.
Our top 15 forums are not ranked one to 15, but rather are divvied up by category. Every forum serves a different purpose and audience, so use the forums that best suit your needs.
| Career Development and Education | Technical |
| StationX | AntiOnline Forum |
| Ethical Hacking | Bleeping Computer Forum |
| 0x00sec | SubReddits |
| General | r/blackhat |
| Malware Tips | r/cybersecurity |
| Spiceworks Community | r/netsec |
| TechRepublic Forums | Vendor-Specific |
| Wilders Security Forums | Cisco Community |
| Dark Web | eset Security Forum |
| CryptBB | Palo Alto LIVE Community |
| Dread |
Table Of Contents
- Career Development and Education
- Ethical Hacking
- General
- Dark Web
- Technical
- SubReddits
- Vendor-Specific
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Career Development and Education
These are the go-to forums for everything related to cyber security education and career development.
StationX
About the Forum
The StationX Community is a place where aspiring and established cyber security professionals alike can come together to exchange information, network, mentor, and learn what it takes to make it in cyber security.
This forum primarily focuses on answering students’ technical and career-oriented questions.
The forum also allows users to network with one another, share their wins, and explore cyber security career pathways.
Its audience consists of both aspiring and established cyber security professionalslooking to expand their skill sets and launch themselves into the next part of their careers.
Why We Like It
It’s a community where members support one another as they transition into the field and gain valuable cyber security skills.
StationX fosters this sense of community by hosting live Q and A welcome events, encouraging members to post their wins, and via its introductions page where new members can introduce themselves and connect with other members of the community.
Ethical Hacking
Ethical hacking forums are active due to the complexity of the subject, the tools, and the changing technology. Hackers are constantly looking to forums to help them solve nuanced problems.
0x00sec
About the Forum
There’s nothing worse than running into a wall while (ethically) hacking and being unable to figure out your next move. When this happens, pentesters often turn to forums for answers.
0x00 is one of the few truly ethical hacking forums. There is an abundance of hacking forums out there, but many live on the dark web as they are often used by black hat hackers and are hotspots for posting and selling stolen information and promoting cyber warfare.
Some of the most popular categories on 0x00 include:
- CTF
- Social engineering
- Web hacking
- Exploit deployment
- Malware
- Cryptology
This site’s target audience includes students, cyber security professionals, and ethical hacking enthusiasts sharing advice, experiences, and how tos.
Why We Like It
0x00 is a heavily moderated community. Questions and threads are monitored, promoted, or removed based on the moderator’s criteria. Consequently, 0x00 eliminates redundant posts and cultivates a lively, safe, and informative forum.
General
When it comes to cyber security, there is a lot to cover. These general knowledge forums will help you fill in the knowledge gaps.
Malware Tips
About the Forum
Originally dedicated to malware-related news and tips, Malware Tips has grown to cover a range of topics.
If you’re looking for in-depth discussions on the hottest cyber security topics, this is the place for you. Some of the most active recent threads as of the time of writing include:
- Kaspersky without HTTPS Scanning - Still safe?
- Stay with EAM or switch to G=Data?
- How to set up a safe environment for Malware Testing
- Cisco: We all just need to agree that ad blockers are good
As you can see, no one topic dominates the discussion.
Why We Like It
It’s refreshing to see a forum that covers everything from general career advice to the minutia of an OS’s most recent update. Malware Tips users are dedicated IT and cyber security professionals and enthusiasts who create informed posts and have intellectual discussions.
Spiceworks Community
About the Forum
Spiceworks Community forms part of Spiceworks, the tech news company.
This laid-back general IT and cyber security forum has a user-friendly interface. Unlike other forums that separate user-generated questions and company-generated articles, Spiceworks Forum weaves the two together.
Many employees write blogs and posts that are posted on the community page.
Why We Like It
Spiceworks Forum aims to create online and in-person communities. It has a “find a local IT meetup” option that allows users to meet other IT professionals and enthusiasts in person.
TechRepublic Forums
About the Forum
TechRepublic Forums is part out its parent news website TechRepublic, which specializes in providing the latest IT news, guides, and best practices.
This forum serves seasoned IT and cyber security professionals. Don’t expect to find discussions regarding entry-level certifications or foundational cyber security information.
TechRepublic Forums covers a range of topics, but its most popular categories include:
- OS
- Mobility
- Software
- Hardware
- Security
Why We Like It
Most users are already well entrenched in the world of IT and cyber security, making TechRepublic Forums a solid resource for tech information.
Users are more than willing to help solve technical problems or offer more general tech advice.
Wilders Security Forums
About the Forum
Wilders Security Forums cover a wide range of cyber security-related topics in depth. While this forum is open to beginners, it covers a number of more advanced security topics.
It’s a widely used forum with dozens of new posts every day.
Its most active forums are:
- Security products
- Privacy related topics
- Artificial intelligence
- Software, hardware, general services
- Brightfort support
Why We Like It
With advanced topics covered and discussed in-depth, this is the place to challenge yourself and gain a more advanced understanding of cyber security topics.
We also find its Security Products forum helpful when researching the latest cyber security software. Here you’ll find trusted reviews and guidance on all the latest IT and cyber security tools.
Dark Web
As a quick reminder, the dark web is a part of the internet that can only be accessed through encrypted proxy networks such as Tor.
Using the darknet is not illegal, and not everything found on the darknet is illegal. However, due to the inherent obfuscation offered by the darknet, it has become a popular place for cyber criminals to operate.
These are two of the most popular cyber security forums found there.
CryptBB
About the Forum
CryptBB is a site designed by cyber criminals for cyber criminals.
It uses AES 256 CTR to encrypt all communication. CryptBB admins claim this is the go-to place on the dark web for teaching novice threat actors the scrupulous ways of black hat hacking. It also connects malicious hackers and members in a way that allows them to collaborate and verify their expertise privately.
Its audience is primarily cyber security criminals but also cyber security researchers who want to record every move that happens in the cyber criminal underworld. This, strangely, can make it valuable for both sides.
Why We Like It
If you want to learn how cyber criminals operate or get into threat intelligence, there is no better place to learn about how the dark side operates.
Be aware that performing illegal, unethical, or black hat hacking has serious criminal penalties in most parts of the world. We strongly advise against performing any form of cyber attacks or pentesting any systems where you do not have full written permission from the system owner. For more information on how it might affect you, look at some of the following laws:
- The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (United States)
- Sections 184, 342.1, 380, and 430 of the Criminal Code of Canada (Canada)
- Computer Misuse Act 1990 (England)
- Sec. 202a and 202b of the German Criminal Code (Germany)
- Information Technology Act Sec. 43 and 66 (India)
- The Act on the Prohibition of Unauthorised Computer Access (Japan)
Dread
About the Forum
Dread is like Reddit but for the dark web.
Dread is home to thousands of subreddits. Some of the most active cyber security forums found on Dread include:
- /d/hacking
- /d/OpSec
Why We Like It
If you want an up close and personal view of how cyber criminals operate on the dark web, this is your chance. Browse Dread, and you’ll quickly find illegal postings selling sensitive information and offering illegal services.
Conducting research on Dread is one of the best ways to learn how a cyber criminal thinks. Understanding the enemy will enhance your abilities as a cyber security professional.
Once again, we advise against performing any illegal or unauthorized hacking yourself. Refer to the different laws listed in our previous forum choice.
Technical
If you want to get your hands dirty and solve some of the most complex IT and cyber security problems, check out these forums.
AntiOnline Forum
About the Forum
Don’t let the lackluster design deter you from using one of the most popular cyber security forums around.
While AntiOnline does have threads targeting beginner cyber security professionals, for the most part, it aims to provide technical guidance on a range of cyber security categories. Two categories tackle the news and “newbie security questions,” while the rest of the categories discuss the usage of popular cyber security tools and topics.
Why We Like It
AntiOnline is a no-frills community of professionals focused on solving complex problems.
Bleeping Computer Forum
About the Forum
Bleeping Computer Forums is part of the IT news website Bleeping Computers.
It's a technical-minded forum that discusses and attempts to solve nuanced and infuriating technical problems.
The most popular sub-forums are:
- Hardware
- Windows Support
- Security
- Internet and Networking
- Software
- Tablets and Mobile Devices
Its target audience is those with hands-on IT and cyber security experience. You’ll find these users are quite willing to help novices who visit the forum with technical problems.
Why We Like It
While many other forums deal with information on a more surface level, the Bleeping Computer Forum isn’t afraid to provide in-depth technical answers to complex IT problems.
SubReddits
Reddit is arguably the biggest discussion-based website in the world. Each topic has its own forum called a subreddit. These are the best subreddits pertaining to cyber security.
r/blackhat
About the Forum
r/blackhat is a popular pentesting subreddit with over 84k users.
It’s an active community that primarily discusses vulnerabilities and exploitation techniques. This community is for both serious ethical hackers and script kiddies with limited technical skills. Unlike other pentesting communities you might find online, this one is (for the most part) ethical.
Why We Like It
This safe and ethical hacking community tackles a range of pentesting subjects both basic and advanced. If you’re looking to break into pentesting, this could be the community to help answer questions and pique your excitement.
r/cybersecurity
About the Forum
r/cybersecurity covers a broad range of cyber security-related information. Most of the posts are related to career advice and discussion, with the second most popular type of post involving cyber security news.
The subreddit has over 611,000 members, making it one of the largest subreddits on the site and one of the most active cyber security forums on the Internet.
Why We Like It
With over 611,000 users, this subreddit receives dozens of posts every day. It’s highly active, meaning you’ll almost always have an audience for your post. It’s also a general cyber security forum that covers various topics (though not always in-depth). If you’re new to cyber security, this forum would be perfect for you as you attempt to navigate the rapidly changing field.
r/netsec
About the Forum
With over 486k subscribers, Reddit’s r/netsec subreddit is one of the most active and popular cyber security forums.
While all cyber security enthusiasts and professionals are welcome, professionals will feel most at home in this forum. Having a solid cyber security foundation is needed to get the most out of this advanced network security forum.
The three types of posts you’re most likely to see here are posts regarding:
- Updates and reviews regarding the latest cyber security tools
- Discussion about the latest vulnerabilities
- General advice about cyber security hardening best practices
Why We Like It
It’s rare to find a cyber security forum comprised of consistently low-level posts on cyber security topics. r/netsec users are entrenched in cyber security and aren’t afraid to talk about highly technical topics and dive into the finer points of how best to defend against cyber threats.
Vendor-Specific
These are the best vendor-specific cyber security forums.
Cisco Community
About the Forum
The Cisco Community forum is a forum run by Cisco for users of their products.
The community is used by both home users and IT professionals looking for answers regarding Cisco issues they might be having. Cisco employees are active in the forum and provide spot-on information.
Why We Like It
Cisco has a 41% market share of enterprise network infrastructure. Naturally, with so many people using Cisco hardware, Cisco-specific questions will arise.
This Cisco-specific forum is the best place to get all your Cisco-related questions answered.
eset Security Forum
About the Forum
eset is an antivirus company that has created its own forum to aid customers in their attempt to optimize their products. However, eset’s forum goes beyond discussions related to just that.
Its most in-depth sub-forum is related to malware detection and cleaning. Here, users share threat intelligence and help fellow community members rid their computers of malware.
The primary audience for this forum is owners of eset software and cyber security professionals.
Why We Like It
This is the best resource for answering all your eset-related questions. Should you ever have a problem with an eset product or get a look at some of the most active malware, this is the first place you should look for a solution.
Palo Alto LIVE Community
About the Forum
Palo Alto LIVE Community is Palo Alto Networks’s tech forum where users of Palo Alto products and cyber security professionals alike come together to discuss best cyber security practices, Palo Alto products, and general IT and cyber security topics.
Its primary focus is to help fellow users of Palo Alto Networks products and service optimize their security tools. Palo Alto Networks offers a range of services for a range of clients big and small. This forum is the ideal place to have their vendor-specific questions answered.
Why We Like It
Palo Alto offers a number of products including: firewall security, endpoint security, cloud security, threat detection, zero trust security.
Its forum does a good job of helping users with their service-specific questions by breaking posts into categories. Palo Alto employees have an active presence in every sub-forum, offering advice and helping clients better use their products.
Conclusion
There’s a wide range of cyber security forums you have at your disposal. Seeing as the topic of cyber security is both broad and nuanced, no single forum will answer all your cyber security-related questions.
Use a mix of forums to help further your career, network, and learn the latest cyber security skills.
If you’re still figuring out your next move, join the StationX Community and Accelerator Program. Joining this program gives you access to our forum, over 1,000 courses, mentors, personalized career roadmaps, mastermind groups, and our entire community.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I contribute to cyber security forums without being an expert?
Yes, all are welcome to contribute to cyber security forums. However, some forums are more beginner-friendly than others.
How current is the information in cyber security forums?
The timeliness of the information posted is dedicated to the people who post it. Just because someone claims information is true or timely does not mean it is.
Are cyber security forums safe to use?
For the most part. However, take extra precautions if you are using forums on the dark web.
Can I ask for help on cyber security forums?
You can always ask for help on forums. However, that doesn’t mean that you will receive help or a response that adequately addresses your problem. Be polite and provide as much information as possible to increase your chance of reply.
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Spencer Abel Spencer is part cyber security professional and part content writer. He specializes in helping those attempting to pivot into the vast and always-changing world of cyber security by making complex topics fun and palatable. Connect with him over at LinkedIn to stay up-to-date with his latest content.
