Unpopular opinion: Beginners spend way too much time learning tools (Splunk, Wireshark, Nmap) and not enough time learning the plumbing.

Tools sit on top of networks. If you don't understand the flow of data, you're just a "tool operator," not a security professional.

Interviewers know this. That's why they ask networking questions to see how you think, not what you've memorized.

The 7 questions you need to master