If you're looking to start with hacking labs online, there are several great options that cater to beginners. Here's a guide to some of the best free and low-cost labs and platforms you can use to practice your skills:

General Hacking Labs

• TryHackMe: This platform is highly recommended for beginners due to its guided labs and easy-to-understand tutorials. "TryHackMe has guided labs that cover various topics including offense and defense, it is very good for beginners or anyone learning a new topic."

• HackTheBox: Known for its realistic and challenging labs, HackTheBox is another excellent choice. "Hackthebox has the typical lab of vulnerable machines (boxes) which can be guided depending on how old the box is."

• OverTheWire: Offers a series of wargames that help you learn security concepts in a fun and interactive way. "Overthewire.org has a pretty good practice on security concepts."

• VulnHub: Provides a collection of vulnerable VMs that you can download and practice attacking. "Vulnhub is a good place to download VMs to practice various different techniques against all kinds of vulnerable machines you manage yourself using VMWare or VirtualBox."

Specific Skill Focus

• PortSwigger Web Security Academy: Ideal for learning about web vulnerabilities and how to exploit them. "Portswigger academy"

• Immersive Labs Community Edition: Offers free labs on various cybersecurity topics. "Immersive labs community edition has some free labs"

• RangeForce: Provides free resources and labs to help you practice different cybersecurity skills. "You can look into rangeforce.com they have some free resources available."

Capture The Flag (CTF) Challenges

• PicoCTF: Great for beginners with a variety of challenges that cover fundamental security concepts. "Pico CTF has some really good beginner level CTF's."

• Parrot CTFs: A growing platform with both beginner and advanced labs. "Parrot CTFs is my platform which is swiftly growing and has some amazing beginner and advanced labs"

Learning Resources

• Cybrary: Offers a range of free and paid courses on cybersecurity. "Cybrary"

• TCM Security: Provides courses and labs that are highly recommended for beginners. "TCM Security"

Additional Tips

• Build Your Own Lab: You can set up your own lab using virtual machines to practice different hacking techniques. "You can build two VMs and try doing some red teaming against one from the other."

• Use Free Tools: Familiarize yourself with tools like Kali Linux and its built-in utilities. "In my opinion at first you should try to learn Linux, so you can install as example Kali Linux and start learning with tutorials in YouTube."

Subreddits for Further Questions

• r/cybersecurity

• r/hackthebox

• r/securityCTF

• r/HowToHack

These resources should provide a solid foundation for anyone looking to start their journey in ethical hacking. Good luck!