aaron597.com
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- Written by: Aaron DeJong
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Update
I passed my Linux Essentials exam with a 650 needing 500 to pass. This is the first certification from LPI that I have taken. I have a new project that I am working on that is a n8n server on Hostinger.
There are some functions that will need the Ollama AI as it is a personal n8n AI project. I broke the docker containers and had to reinstall the n8n image that I was working on with the hpanel.
Training
I am working through the Certified in Cybersecurity and the MD-102 training materials in hopes of passing both certifications by the end of January 2026. I am looking around the 20th of November to make the second attempt on the CC certification.
Based on my earlier certifications I decided to work on the MD-102 exam which is the Endpoint Administrator Associate from Microsoft. I do have the MS-900 that is the precursor to this exam.
I finally finished the 28th book which was an older 101-400 and 102-400 LPIC-1 book. Along with my studies, I am reading two Certified in Cybersecurity books along with the SC-200 and SC-300 books from Microsoft.
Progress
On TryHackMe, I am currently ranked 5591 with 293 rooms completed and ranked 702 in the United States all-time. I am working on the SOC Level 2 learning path which I am at 28% completed.
On TryHackMe, I am also working on my skills matrix in which the four entry-level matrices are all 100% complete. I am working on filling it out on the Junior Security Engineer filter with Identity Security at 100%, I need to work more on the Threat Management skill which is at 69%.
I am working on the HacktheBox job role path for the Junior Cybersecurity Analyst and am at 72.06% complete. There is something that I have been looking into, that is the Web Penetration Tester job role path for the newly named CWES exam. Currently, I am at 13.26% complete on this path.
Conclusion
Going forward with my dream role as a CIO, I am doing my part to work on the necessary deep technical knowledge needed for this role. The n8n server can do more than the AI component and is a workflow automation platform that will allow for me to do things like a news aggregator that can post on Discord or any other application.
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- Written by: Aaron DeJong
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Changes
I have decided to make a change to the blogs that I am working on and give you guys more of one blog. Having two blogs raised my anxiety level and I have taken aaronwdejong.net offline. This change is better for my time so that I can focus on what I want to say on just one blog.
Article
Recently, I have published an article that is called Network Virtualization Certifications on Medium which you can get to by clicking on the link below.
https://medium.com/aaron-w-dejong-it-articles/network-virtualization-certifications-8bca2f812335
This article goes over some of the steps that I would take if I needed a career guide on Network Virtualization certifications. There are some more certifications that are cloud networking solutions that I am willing to be in there as cloud is one of the major drivers of virtualization technologies.
Conference – CloudX Conference
There are some things that I am willing to do given my anxiety. This conference had me as an Open Pass and I did try to do more this year and had a little anxiety. This was on September 11th and 12th and I did learn more about the API World stuff as this was the API World, CloudX and DevWeek conference that I went to. I did have some better luck this year and was able to complete the three talks that I watched online.
There were some canceled speakers for two of the CloudX talks that I wanted to attend to. The experience this year at the conference was better than the previous two years. I think that integrating Sched into the platform was helpful and made for a better experience. The expo platform was better with the integration of multiple speakers, and the UI was smooth along with the chat feature.
TryHackMe and HacktheBox
There have been some developments on the two main platforms that I use for cybersecurity. For TryHackMe, I am now a Guardian which is Level 14. I have been doing rooms that are working better in the Junior Security Engineer Level of the Skills Matrix. I have completed the four skills matrices for the entry-level skill sets. On HacktheBox, I am at 71.11% complete with the Junior Cybersecurity Analyst job role path.
Conclusion
The changes that I have made are an improvement in the two-blog set-up. I will be working more effectively and will have only one blog post per week. There are some things that I continually improve on, and I think going forward I will be in a better spot with my anxiety. The Guardian level is one that I have been working with on TryHackMe. Additionally, the Junior Cybersecurity Analyst job role path on HacktheBox is something that I have been working on.
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- Written by: Aaron DeJong
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Blog Topics
I wanted to tell you guys more about what I am trying to do on my blog for aaron597.com. This includes Computer Networking, Cisco Certifications, and Microsoft Certifications. The blog will also be a place for my Network Security Influencer updates. This will be on statistics, TryHackMe, HacktheBox and any Top Fan Status Updates.
I will also look at doing Certifications that are new and ones that I have completed. In addition, the blog topics will include Microsoft Security topics and Articles that I write on Medium. I am trying to get the right amount of content for this blog and will have more content to share with the expanded blog topics.
TryHackMe Status
On TryHackMe, my current all-time all-countries rank is 6086 with being ranked at 774 in the United States. I have done 279 rooms with 34860 points and 40 badges. I am currently also on a streak of 50 days and am 140 points away from being at Guardian status. I have been working on my Junior Security Engineer skills and will be doing the SOC Level 2 Learning Path.
HacktheBox Status
For HacktheBox I am working on the Junior Cybersecurity Analyst Job-Role Path and am currently at 70.16% complete. I have just finished the Introduction to Penetration Testing Module and will continue with the training for the CJCA certification. HacktheBox is currently doing a name change migration from CBBH to CWES, this is happening on October 1, 2025.
Network Security Influencer
I have 1,257 friends on Facebook, and on LinkedIn I have 777 followers. In addition, on Instagram I am at 47 followers and on X I am at 29 followers. I am also still working on my X followers and will need to do some more social media marketing tricks to get some genuine followers.
Article on Medium
I have published a new article on Medium called Network Virtualization Certifications that you can get at the link below.
https://medium.com/aaron-w-dejong-it-articles/network-virtualization-certifications-8bca2f812335
Please connect with me if you enjoy my content. For Facebook I have aaron.dejong.7 as my profile page, I am /in/dejongaaron on LinkedIn, for Instagram I am @aarondejong10 and for X I am @aaronwdejong. I have a publication on Medium called Aaron W. DeJong IT Articles so check it out when you get a chance.
Conclusion
I will be doing some more stuff on my other blog to add more of a blog topics kind of approach for that blog also. I am more interested in doing some Network Security topics like HacktheBox and TryHackMe and will provide more of a status of my Network Security Influencer statistics and top fan statuses on this blog, aaron597.com.
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- Written by: Aaron DeJong
- Category: Blog Posts
- Hits: 120
Blog Focus
I am changing the way that I am doing the blog. The focus should be on Computer Networking and an additional focus on Network Security. I don’t have enough content to share on Network Security for a weekly blog post.
For the blog, I am getting more of a Cisco focus but will share updates about HPE, Juniper, Arista, and Ubiquity. There is also a slant towards certification exams for Computer Networking that I will try to explain on aaron597.com.
Network Virtualization
I will be blogging about VMware and Cloud Networking as part of the blog. This will allow me to get some more content for each week. The Network Virtualization topic is somewhat linked with Cloud Networking as the Cloud is a big driver of virtualization.
Some other topics that I will be discussing include Network Defense and Network Penetration Testing. These two are more Network Security topics but in the new blog focus I will talk about them.
Training on Other Blog
I will be doing my training journey on aaronwdejong.net and will reference my articles and blog posts on Medium. There are some topics that I will discuss there like my mental health and my reading. My stats will be on this platform for the Network Security Influencer role that I am doing.
TryHackMe and HacktheBox
I am still working on the training for both TryHackMe and HacktheBox. The rank in the U.S. All-time for me is at 785 while having global rank of 6,150. I am at 34490 points with 272 rooms completed and 40 Badges.
For HacktheBox, I am working on the Junior Cybersecurity Analyst path and am at 68.57% completed. I have an interest in the penetration testing modules and have 11 modules left to complete.
Conclusion
I am thinking about what I want to do as far as career milestones. The milestones that I am wanting to do still are the CCIE, CISSP, CEH, CCISO, GSP, and PMI-ACP. The last three have been moved later in my career. For the CCIE and CISSP, I want to do the CCIE first.
The other thing that I have been thinking about is how to accomplish this task. I am thinking that I would need to get the CCNP Enterprise and CCNP Security at least. I am also thinking that I could use the ENAUTO exam to build out my skill set.