Who We Are

Cybersecurity · Offensive & Defensive · Practitioner-First

Stop reading docs.
Start thinking like an attacker.

Field-ready notes, methodology breakdowns, and certification cheat sheets built by a practitioner for practitioners.

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62K+YouTube Subscribers

20K+Web Visitors

4K+Students and Professionals Using The Notes

What's in the vault

Two tiers.
One clear mission.

Whether you're just getting started or deep in the trenches, there's a tier built for where you are right now. Free notes cover the essentials — premium unlocks the full playbook.

Free Access

The essentials,
on the house.

A curated library of beginner and intermediate notes you can access right now — no signup, no friction.

Introductory walkthroughs on core concepts
Tool overviews: Nmap, Burp Suite, Metasploit & more
Selected HTB writeup summaries
Foundational blue team methodology notes
YouTube companion write-ups

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Premium

The full
practitioner playbook.

Every note, every cheat sheet, every methodology breakdown — structured the way a senior analyst actually thinks.

Full OSCP, CPTS, OSWE, HTB CDSA prep DISCOUNTS
Complete HTB machine writeups (Guardian, Expressway & more)
AI Red Teaming tooling comparison notes
SOC analyst learning roadmaps & playbooks
Threat intelligence methodology guides
Malware analysis case studies (NotPetya & more)
New content added continuously

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Coverage

What you'll actually use.

Notes built around real engagements, real exam objectives, and real SOC workflows — not a rehash of vendor documentation.

#Penetration TestingOSCP · CPTS · HTB

#Web App SecurityOSWE · Bug Bounty

#SOC & Blue TeamCDSA · SIEM · IR

#Threat IntelligenceTAXII · YARA · MITRE

#Malware AnalysisReverse Engineering

#AI Red TeamingGarak · PyRIT · LLM Sec

#Network SecurityActive Directory · Pivoting

#Tooling & AutomationScripts · Integrations

Cert Coverage

OSCP CPTS OSWE HTB CDSA CEH CompTIA Sec+ eJPT

The author

Motasem Hamdan

I'm a cybersecurity practitioner, technical writer, and content creator who got tired of resources that treat readers like beginners forever.

My notes are built the way I wish someone had built them when I was grinding through certs and CTFs — methodology-first, practitioner-grade, and structured for how analysts actually think on the job.

Over 62,000 people on YouTube follow along. Thousands more read on the site every month. These aren't notes for passing an exam and forgetting everything — they're references you'll keep coming back to.

▶ YouTube Channel @MotasemHamdan · 62K+ subscribers ✦ Main Site motasem-notes.net ⊡ Store shop.motasem-notes.net

motasem_notes — practitioner.sh

❯ whoami

motasem_hamdan — cybersec_practitioner

❯ cat expertise.txt

offensive_security: advanced

blue_team_soc: advanced

threat_intel: advanced

technical_writing: practitioner-grade

❯ ls content/

htb_writeups/ cert_cheatsheets/

ai_red_team/ soc_methodology/

threat_intel/ malware_analysis/

❯ cat philosophy.txt

"teach how to think,

not just what to type."

❯ _

Membership

One subscription.
Everything unlocked.

Skip the hours lost searching fragmented resources. One membership gives you the full library, updated continuously as the threat landscape evolves.

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Foundational notes library
Selected HTB summaries
YouTube companion write-ups
Tool overview guides

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Most Popular Premium Member $15 / month · cancel anytime

Full notes library (100+ resources)
Cert prep DISCOUNTS: OSCP, CPTS, OSWE, CDSA
Complete HTB machine writeups
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AI Red Teaming notes
Threat intelligence guides
New content every week
Priority access to new releases

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FAQ

Good questions.

The free tier has solid foundational content. Premium notes are written for intermediate-to-advanced practitioners — they assume you know the basics and want to go deeper. If you're grinding toward OSCP or working in a SOC, you'll feel right at home.

Continuously. New walkthroughs, methodology updates, and cheat sheets drop regularly — aligned with new HTB machines, cert updates, and emerging threat topics. As a member, you get access to everything as it lands.

Yes, absolutely. Membership is managed through Buy Me a Coffee — you can cancel any time directly from your account. No long-term lock-in, no awkward cancellation flows.

The membership gives you ongoing access to the full library for a monthly fee. The store lets you buy individual resources once and own them permanently — good if you just need one specific cert pack.

Definitely. Head to @MotasemHamdan on YouTube — over 62K subscribers and a large back-catalogue of walkthroughs, tool demos, and methodology breakdowns. Best way to see if the teaching style clicks for you before committing to anything.