Paul's Security Weekly (Audio) Building a Hacking Lab in 2025 - PSW #906
Dec 25, 2025
Tyler Robinson, a security practitioner who advises on lab builds and virtualization, walks through modern lab choices. He compares Proxmox, KVM and other virtualization, recommends practical hardware from Raspberry Pi to reclaimed servers, and highlights must-have hardware hacking tools. He also covers automation, remote access options, and when physical gear is essential.
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Build Admin Skills To Find Real Bugs
- Hands-on administration work (AD, Group Policy, Exchange) teaches fundamentals that prebuilt boxes hide.
- Building and troubleshooting real infrastructure creates the deep knowledge needed to find non-obvious vulnerabilities.
Use CTF Platforms As Idea Generators
- Use Hack The Box, TryHackMe, or Pentester Academy for focused exercises but don't let them replace building your own lab.
- Recreate interesting boxes locally to learn setup, detection, and remediation.
Run Local AI Models
- Host local LLMs and AI tools in your lab to avoid cloud guardrails and keep sensitive training data private.
- Learn prompt engineering and model context to use AI effectively for lab tasks.