HACKER Q&A
📣 franklin_p_dyer

Can I do cybersecurity using only iOS?


I’m a Freshman pre-Computer Science Major, and I’m interested in learning about cybersecurity and web hacking. My only device is an IPad Pro, which I use for pretty much everything (schoolwork, programming projects etc). However, I’ve noticed that a lot of web-development and cybersecurity tools don’t seem to be available for iOS (e.g. “inspect element” functionality in most browsers, Burp Suite, etc).

Is it feasible to learn about cybersecurity and hacking using only my IPad? Or will I need to buy a laptop at some point?

  👤 yeti_303 Accepted Answer ✓
It is feasible to start learning in theory and to some practical level you can advance using a terminal and other host machines, such as temporary VMs in the cloud. To learn deeper techinal skills it still seems to me better to have the actual physical hardware devices (laptops/mobiles/network components!) if you are serious about it, or apply for an entry level role in a company/study at a university where a device lab can be accessed and harnessed to deep-dive into details.

Otherwise, for the price of a new iPad pro, one could buy 2-3 used laptops with different architecture/OS (Linux, win, Mac os, just to name the well-known). I'd start with Kali Linux at least on one of them, similar pattern with mobile devices, and networking components, the more diverse, the better.

note: that's my personal view from a different generation (a few bits older) and I'm really curious about what everyone else thinks about this topic. Thank you for asking this really good question to start thinking clear.