Cyber Security project
Set up an isolated home lab and document a full recon-to-exploit walkthrough
A properly isolated lab against a deliberately vulnerable VM (Metasploitable2) — the network isolation is graded as strictly as the exploitation itself.
The brief
Set up an isolated home lab using VirtualBox or VMware: a deliberately vulnerable VM (Metasploitable2 is a good default) on a host-only or internal-only network, with no bridged or internet-facing configuration. Perform reconnaissance and exploitation against your own lab VM only, and document the full process — network setup, tools used, each step taken, and what you learned — as a lab report.
Suggested stack
What you hand in
- A PDF lab report covering network setup, methodology, findings, and lessons learned
- A network diagram or clear description proving the lab is host-only/internal, not bridged
- Step-by-step documentation detailed enough for another person to reproduce the result in their own isolated lab
Grading happens against the rubric below, so read it before you start — not after.
How this is graded
Published in advance and weighted out of 100. Nothing here is a surprise.
The report documents and the setup actually uses a host-only or internal-only network configuration, never bridged or internet-facing.
Reconnaissance is performed and documented before exploitation, and each exploitation attempt is tied to a specific recon finding, not random tool-firing.
Another person could follow the report's steps in their own isolated lab and get the same result.
Each successful exploit is explained — what the underlying vulnerability is and why the exploit works — not just that it worked.
No console errors or crashes, no broken layout, no leftover placeholder text or commented-out code.
Why this project is worth your weekend
- A properly isolated home lab is literally how professional pentesters and security engineers first practice, so the setup discipline matters as much as the exploitation.
- Documenting network isolation proves the candidate understands scope and legality, which is a real, commonly-asked interview topic in security roles.
- A systematic recon-then-exploit process, instead of randomly trying tools, is what a hiring manager is actually screening for.
Where people lose points
- Setting up the vulnerable VM on a bridged network reachable from the wider LAN or internet instead of host-only/internal.
- Jumping straight to running an exploit tool without documenting reconnaissance or why that specific vulnerability was targeted.
- A report that shows the exploit succeeded but doesn't explain why it worked or what the underlying flaw was.
Other Cyber Security projects
Two or three of these turn an empty resume into a portfolio.
Built it? Get it scored against this rubric.
Submit your work and get a score on every criterion above, written feedback, and three resume bullets you can use straight away.