TCM Security

What is TCM Security?

TCM Security is a cybersecurity training company founded by Heath Adams — known as ‘The Cyber Mentor.’ Built around one core value: practical skills that actually transfer to real penetration testing engagements. The Practical Ethical Hacking (PEH) course became the community’s go-to for OSCP preparation and entry-level offensive security training. At $30 for lifetime access versus $1,499+ for OSCP enrollment, it reshaped expectations for what affordable security training should deliver.

Is This Right for You?

This is for you if...

You want practical, hands-on offensive training at a price that doesn’t require a corporate budget
You’re preparing for OSCP and want structured prep before paying for the exam
You’re transitioning into cybersecurity and need a clear, skill-focused starting path
You want lifetime access to courses rather than expiring subscriptions
You’re studying for PenTest+, CEH, or building toward red team operations

This is NOT for you if...

You want a massive content library with hundreds of courses — TCM is focused, not broad
You’re looking primarily for blue team content — TCM is predominantly offensive-focused
You need formal academic-style assessments for employer requirements

Course Catalog

Course	Duration	Level	Best For
Practical Ethical Hacking (PEH)	~25 hours	Beginner–Intermediate	OSCP prep, career entry into pentest
Linux Privilege Escalation	~8 hours	Intermediate	OSCP prep, post-exploitation skills
Windows Privilege Escalation	~8 hours	Intermediate	OSCP prep, Active Directory basics
Practical OSINT	~9 hours	Beginner–Intermediate	Reconnaissance, bug bounty, investigations
SOC Core Skills	~8 hours	Beginner	Entry-level SOC analyst preparation
Practical Malware Analysis	~9 hours	Intermediate	Reverse engineering, malware triage, sandbox analysis
Practical Bug Bounty	~8 hours	Intermediate	Web application hacking, bug bounty programs
External Pentest Playbook	~5 hours	Intermediate	External network penetration testing methodology
Movement, Pivoting and Persistence	~5 hours	Advanced	Post-exploitation, lateral movement, red team ops

Pricing

Option	Price	Includes
Individual courses	$30–40 each	Lifetime access, all future updates included
TCM Academy Subscription	$30/month	Access to ALL current and future courses
Course bundles	Varies	Discounted multi-course packages

Certification Prep — What TCM Helps With

Certification	Recommended TCM Courses
OSCP	PEH + Linux PE + Windows PE + Movement & Pivoting
PenTest+	PEH + External Pentest Playbook
CEH / CEH Practical	PEH + Practical Bug Bounty
eJPT (entry-level)	PEH first half covers all eJPT content
SOC Analyst / CySA+	SOC Core Skills + Practical Malware Analysis

Recommended Resources

TCM Academy — course enrollment and platform access
TCM Sec — company blog, OSCP prep articles, community resources
Heath Adams (YouTube) — free content including full privilege escalation courses

── SecVerse Marketplace — Resources ──

Which Platform is Right for You?

TCM Security is the right choice when you want structured, practical offensive training at an accessible price. Here is how it compares:

If you want...	Best Choice
You want unguided hands-on machines after the course	Hack The Box — apply what TCM taught you
You want official OSCP course content	OffSec PEN-200 — the exam source, but 50x the price
You want blue team and SOC training	Blue Team Labs Online or LetsDefend
You want affordable lifetime-access offensive training	TCM Security — this is the right choice

How to Get Started

Start with Practical Ethical Hacking, not individual topic courses. PEH is the foundation. It assumes basic networking and Linux — nothing more. If you lack that, spend two weeks on TryHackMe Pre-Security first, then come back.
Build a lab alongside the course, not after. PEH walks you through building a virtual lab. Set it up in week one. Every technique you learn should be practiced in your lab the same day.
After PEH, immediately go to Hack The Box. Work through Starting Point, then Easy retired machines. The gap between knowing a technique and applying it to an unknown machine is where real skill development happens.

📌 Note: The information on this page — including certification details, exam codes, pricing, and salary ranges — is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the latest data from official sources. Always verify current details directly with the relevant certification body or platform before making any decisions.

Community & Support

── TCM Communities ──

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Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links in this article are affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase, SecVerse may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we genuinely believe in and that we consider useful for your cybersecurity learning journey. Our editorial opinions are never influenced by affiliate relationships. Introduction: **In our first guide**, we covered how to start learning cybersecurity without feeling overwhelmed. If you haven’t read it yet, start there. Now, let’s talk about which path to take once you’re ready. When I decided to get into cybersecurity 20 years ago after I graduated from school of engineering as computer engineer, I had no idea which path to take. I bought a CEH course first. Then I bought a Security+ book. Then I tried to learn networking. I was all over the place. Don’t be me.

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Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links in this article are affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase, SecVerse may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we genuinely believe in and that we consider useful for your cybersecurity learning journey. Our editorial opinions are never influenced by affiliate relationships. Introduction: The Overwhelm is Real (But Avoidable) Let’s be honest with ourselves to avoid the shock and be realistic. Cyber security is huge, branching, and massive field. When I decided to get and start in this field 20 years ago. I made every mistake imaginable: Bought expensive courses I never finished. Tried to learn everything at once – pentesting, malware analysis, cloud security, forensics. All in short time. Got trapped in “tutorial”- watching videos for hours but never actually doing anything because of not practicing them and being confused.