Cyber Security Crash Course

Lesson 1 • The CIA Triad and Core Concepts

Defines confidentiality, integrity, and availability as the pillars of security. Anchors all subsequent technical topics to these three principles.

Lesson 2 • Cybersecurity Roles and Frameworks

Maps common job roles and industry frameworks to real organizational needs. Helps students orient their learning path within the profession.

Lesson 3 • Security Controls and Defense Models

Introduces preventive, detective, and corrective controls alongside defense-in-depth. Students map controls to the CIA triad.

Lesson 4 • Risk, Vulnerability, and Exposure

Distinguishes risk, vulnerability, threat, and exposure with precise definitions. Builds the analytical vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • IP Addressing and Subnetting

Covers IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, CIDR notation, and subnet design. Enables students to design and analyze segmented network architectures.

Lesson 2 • Firewalls, Routers, and Segmentation

Explains how firewalls, routers, and VLANs enforce network boundaries. Students configure basic rule sets and understand DMZ architecture.

Lesson 3 • Key Protocols and Their Weaknesses

Examines DNS, HTTP, SMTP, FTP, and DHCP with known vulnerabilities for each. Connects protocol weaknesses to attack techniques covered later.

Lesson 4 • TCP/IP and the OSI Model

Explains the OSI and TCP/IP models layer by layer with security relevance at each layer. Provides the protocol foundation for all network-based attack analysis.

Lesson 1 • Endpoint Detection and Logging

Configures audit policies, Sysmon, and EDR agents to generate actionable telemetry. Connects OS-level events to the detection workflows introduced later.

Lesson 2 • User Account and Privilege Management

Applies least-privilege principles to local and domain accounts on both platforms. Reduces insider threat and lateral movement risk through account hygiene.

Lesson 3 • Windows Security Architecture

Covers the Windows security model including SIDs, ACLs, and the registry. Establishes the OS-level foundation for privilege and access control topics.

Lesson 4 • Linux Security Architecture

Explains Linux file permissions, user namespaces, and the sudo model. Provides the Unix-based OS knowledge needed for server and cloud security.

Lesson 1 • Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption

Contrasts block and stream ciphers with public-key algorithms and their use cases. Provides the mathematical intuition needed to evaluate algorithm choices.

Lesson 2 • TLS and Secure Protocol Configuration

Walks through the TLS handshake, cipher suite selection, and common misconfigurations. Students harden a web server to eliminate weak protocol versions.

Lesson 3 • Public Key Infrastructure

Covers certificate authorities, certificate chains, and revocation mechanisms. Students issue, validate, and revoke X.509 certificates in a lab environment.

Lesson 4 • Cryptographic Attacks and Weaknesses

Surveys padding oracle, downgrade, and birthday attacks against real protocols. Teaches students to recognize cryptographic weaknesses in system designs.

Lesson 1 • Reconnaissance and OSINT

Applies passive and active information gathering to build a target profile. Students use OSINT tools to map attack surface before any direct interaction.

Lesson 2 • Post-Exploitation and Pivoting

Covers privilege escalation, credential harvesting, and lateral movement after initial access. Students understand attacker persistence to improve defensive detection.

Lesson 3 • Scanning and Enumeration

Uses Nmap, Nessus, and service banners to identify open ports and vulnerabilities. Feeds scan results into the exploitation phase with prioritized target lists.

Lesson 4 • Penetration Testing Methodology

Defines scoping, rules of engagement, and the five-phase pentest lifecycle. Establishes the ethical and legal boundaries that govern all offensive exercises.

Lesson 1 • Cross-Site Scripting and CSRF

Exploits reflected, stored, and DOM-based XSS alongside cross-site request forgery. Students implement CSP headers and anti-CSRF tokens as countermeasures.

Lesson 2 • API Security Testing

Tests REST and GraphQL APIs for OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities using Burp Suite. Students document findings and propose secure API design improvements.

Lesson 3 • SQL Injection and Command Injection

Demonstrates manual and automated SQL injection against vulnerable applications. Students extract data, bypass authentication, and apply parameterized query fixes.

Lesson 4 • OWASP Top 10 Overview

Maps the current OWASP Top 10 to real breach examples and business impact. Frames the web attack surface students will explore in subsequent sections.

Lesson 1 • Incident Response Lifecycle

Applies the six-phase IR lifecycle from preparation through lessons learned. Students execute tabletop exercises simulating ransomware and data exfiltration scenarios.

Lesson 2 • SIEM Architecture and Log Management

Explains SIEM data ingestion, normalization, and correlation rule construction. Students ingest multi-source logs and tune alert thresholds to reduce false positives.

Lesson 3 • Threat Hunting Techniques

Introduces hypothesis-driven hunting using behavioral analytics and anomaly detection. Students hunt for living-off-the-land techniques in pre-collected log datasets.

Lesson 4 • Digital Forensics Fundamentals

Covers evidence acquisition, chain of custody, and forensic analysis of disk and memory. Students preserve and analyze artifacts without contaminating evidence integrity.

Lesson 1 • Third-Party and Supply Chain Risk

Evaluates vendor risk through questionnaires, audits, and contractual security requirements. Students assess a simulated supplier and produce a vendor risk report.

Lesson 2 • Risk Assessment Methodologies

Applies qualitative and quantitative risk assessment to prioritize security investments. Students build a risk register with likelihood, impact, and treatment decisions.

Lesson 3 • Compliance and Regulatory Alignment

Maps security controls to data protection, payment security, and healthcare privacy frameworks. Students perform a gap analysis against a chosen compliance framework.

Lesson 4 • Security Architecture and Program Design

Applies SABSA and TOGAF concepts to design a layered enterprise security architecture. Students produce a security roadmap with prioritized initiatives and budget estimates.