Hackers Academy

What Hackers Academy is

Hackers Academy is a cybersecurity training provider that teaches ethical hacking, penetration testing and defensive security through on-demand video courses, cloud labs and live in-person sessions at security conferences. Its home page describes the training as "Hands-on. Practitioner-taught. Built around the skills employers actually pay for," and its footer line is "The trusted cybersecurity training platform for professionals who need real skills, not certifications for the shelf." The site lists its location simply as a global online platform. The home page says it is rated 4.9 by 70,000+ professionals.

The courses are aimed mostly at beginners and early-career learners: people new to cybersecurity, aspiring ethical hackers and penetration testers, junior SOC analysts, and IT staff adding security skills. The live conference sessions go further, into Azure penetration testing, enterprise SOC work and AI security for executives.

The courses

The home page sorts courses by level (beginner, intermediate, specialized) and shows 7 of them, each running roughly 5 to 7 hours and each rated 5/5:

• Hacking With Kali Linux (6 hr 51 min): for beginners and intermediate students. It covers setting up and configuring Kali Linux, network scanning, vulnerability assessment, password cracking and exploitation with tools such as Nmap, Metasploit and Wireshark, and practice penetration tests in interactive labs.
• Hacking For Beginners (4 hr 59 min), marked as the bestseller: pentesting basics (finding vulnerabilities, exploiting weaknesses, assessing security), remote hacking essentials, and online labs with zero setup. It names its audience as cybersecurity newcomers, aspiring ethical hackers, SOC analysts L1 and anyone interested in ethical hacking.
• Intro To Cyber Security (5 hr), delivered in person, for students, career changers, IT enthusiasts and business professionals.
• Web Security Fundamentals (5 hr): protecting websites from common vulnerabilities, for aspiring penetration testers, bug hunters, web developers and security professionals. It states that "No prior technical knowledge is required" and promises to walk learners through each step in simple, clear language.
• Wi-Fi Hacking & Cracking (5 hr): how wireless networks and Wi-Fi encryption work, how attackers break in, how to secure your own network, and the ethical and legal side, for aspiring pentesters, network engineers, IT professionals and SOC analysts.
• Cloud Security Fundamentals (5 hr): security models and best practices for protecting cloud infrastructure, data and applications.
• Blue Team Basics (5 hr): monitoring network traffic, managing security alerts, incident response and securing IT environments.

6 of the 7 are marked "Included in Premium." The company says every course is built from real cases, pentests, breaches and assessments its team has run, and that learners use the tools professionals use daily: Kali, Burp, Wireshark, Metasploit and Azure CLI.

How learning works

Learners study on demand from any device, with cloud labs and a personal progress dashboard, or join in-person training. The site's framework lists a resume builder, assessments and quizzes, roadmaps, hands-on labs and events as the building blocks around the courses.

Free labs

The free labs page offers interactive, isolated environments that launch in minutes. Signing in is required, but no paid course or enrollment is needed. The labs listed are:

• Metasploitable 1, a guided, isolated practice environment
• Arvenix Capital, an FTP target built to practice FTP enumeration, spot misconfigurations and explore exploitation
• BluePeakSys and Marsa Lab, both guided practice environments
• Backups Lab, a Samba and MySQL training lab

Free account and Premium

The route in is a free account. The home page lays out 3 steps: create a free account, start with free lectures and labs, and upgrade to Premium when ready. The free account includes selected lectures from the courses and all free hands-on labs, with no payment details needed. Companies and teams are asked to get in touch. The site has a pricing page, but the home and labs pages show no prices.

Live events and conference training

Much of Hackers Academy's reputation comes from conference training. The home page shows Black Hat USA 2022 and 2023 and GISEC 2025 among its appearances, and lists upcoming sessions:

• Certified Azure Penetration Tester, 27-28 October 2026 at Black Hat India, Bengaluru: Azure pentesting, common misconfigurations and the Azure attack lifecycle
• Certified Enterprise SOC Analyst, 27-30 October 2026 at Black Hat India: security operations, incident detection and response, and threat intelligence
• AI & Cybersecurity for Executives, 25-26 November 2026 at Black Hat MEA, live online: AI risk, governance, data protection and offensive AI threats

The events ticker also names Certified AI Penetration Tester, Certified SOC Analyst and Certified Azure Purple Teamer sessions, plus a free live webinar on breaking into cybersecurity.

The instructors

The site introduces 3 instructors. Tarek, the lead trainer, holds an MSc in Information Security, teaches at Black Hat, HITB and other conferences, is technical advisor to GISEC and a former OWASP Dubai chapter leader, and has over 20 years of experience: penetration testing in the UK for companies including the BBC, Sky and BT, then senior penetration tester at Verizon in Dubai, lead security architect at MBC and SME at Qualys. Iman, an AI researcher, holds a PhD in Computer Science and an MSc in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Southampton and has researched AI accountability and auditing at the University of Aberdeen, the Open University and the University of Glasgow. Tim, a cloud security architect, has over 15 years of experience, is ex-Microsoft, and specializes in securing and hardening Entra and Active Directory, with over 50 assessments behind him.

What students say

Testimonials come mostly from Black Hat attendees. One from 2023 calls it "the most informative training class I've ever had" and says "The preparation he put into this class outclasses many instructors that present here at Black Hat." A 2025 attendee says they "will come away from this course a better defender." An Intro to Cyber student writes: "100% practical 0% pitching his course!" The home page also claims its students land roles at IBM, Mandiant, Bank of America and government agencies.

Who Hackers Academy suits and who it does not

Hackers Academy suits beginners who want a practical, lab-first start in ethical hacking, Wi-Fi security, web security or blue team work, and who like learning from instructors with long field careers. The free account and free labs let a newcomer try the teaching style before paying, and the 5-hour course length fits evenings or a weekend. Professionals who attend Black Hat India or Black Hat MEA can take the deeper in-person Azure, SOC and AI security sessions.

The on-demand catalog is small and mostly introductory, so an experienced penetration tester will find more depth in the conference sessions than in the online courses. And because prices are not on the main pages, buyers will need the pricing page or a conversation with the company to compare Premium against alternatives.