Hey Everybody,
I'm fortunate enough to have a unique perspective on this topic. Without going into any detail at all (mostly because I have steered clear of being an active participant), I can say that there are ways to get involved. That'd be of your own accord, but I was provided a link earlier by a colleague.
On a securing aspect, I found that STIGs are pretty neat to go through.
https://www.stigviewer.com/stigs. They suck if you have to go through them a bunch of times, but the first set that I did was really illuminating to the settings available on systems. I know there has always been the opinion that Linux is more secure than Windows (and Mac is more secure than Linux), but my experience with this claim is different. I understand Apple devices to be amongst the worst... Either way, more than the OS, applications are where a lot of vulns exist. Windows systems are certainly more targeted, and the user-base is usually of a different caliber than Linux users (Linux users tend to learn a bit more than your typical end user). Regardless of this, I think most of the hackers at my org are much more familiar with Linux hacking (as it's more prevalent and easier to get access to learning resources).
Sorry to go off-tangent here, but I wanted to share my perspective (as a 'hacker'). Check out the STIGs and let me know what you all think. Of course, it depends on what you are running, but as you'll see, STIGs are quite extensive.
Regards,
Anthony (RedHatAugust) Radzykewycz