Introduction to Cybersecurity and Cyber Attacks

Lesson 1 • The Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

Maps the categories of adversaries and their motivations. Provides context for understanding why attacks occur.

Lesson 2 • Regulatory and Compliance Foundations

Explains how data protection mandates and industry standards shape security programs. Students understand compliance as a driver of security investment.

Lesson 3 • Security Models and Frameworks

Covers defense-in-depth, zero trust, and widely adopted control frameworks. Connects abstract principles to practical security architecture.

Lesson 1 • Network Segmentation and Perimeter Controls

Explains firewalls, DMZs, VLANs, and segmentation strategies. Connects network design decisions to attack containment.

Lesson 2 • Traffic Analysis and Packet Inspection

Introduces packet capture tools and traffic interpretation. Students can identify anomalous patterns in network data.

Lesson 3 • Network Architecture and Protocols

Covers OSI and TCP/IP models, IP addressing, and core protocols. Provides the structural map attackers exploit.

Lesson 1 • Web Application Attack Vectors

Covers injection flaws, cross-site scripting, and broken authentication. Ties each vector to the OWASP top vulnerability categories.

Lesson 2 • Network-Based Attack Techniques

Details man-in-the-middle, denial-of-service, and spoofing attacks. Shows how protocol weaknesses enable traffic interception and disruption.

Lesson 3 • Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks

Examines manipulation tactics targeting human psychology. Connects deception techniques to credential theft and malware delivery.

Lesson 4 • Malware Categories and Behavior

Covers viruses, worms, ransomware, spyware, and rootkits. Explains how each propagates and what damage it causes.

Lesson 1 • Reconnaissance and Footprinting

Details passive and active information-gathering methods attackers use before striking. Connects open-source intelligence to attack planning.

Lesson 2 • Exfiltration and Impact Techniques

Examines how attackers extract data and cause damage at campaign end. Students recognize indicators of exfiltration in logs.

Lesson 3 • Exploitation and Privilege Escalation

Covers how attackers leverage vulnerabilities to gain and expand access. Builds understanding of post-exploitation goals.

Lesson 4 • The Cyber Kill Chain Model

Breaks intrusions into seven sequential phases from reconnaissance to actions on objectives. Enables defenders to identify intervention points.

Lesson 1 • Continuous Vulnerability Monitoring

Introduces ongoing scanning cadences, threat intelligence feeds, and metrics. Builds a proactive rather than reactive security posture.

Lesson 2 • Common Vulnerability Scoring and Databases

Explains CVSS scoring, CVE identifiers, and the NVD. Students use scores to compare and prioritize vulnerabilities objectively.

Lesson 3 • Vulnerability Scanning Fundamentals

Introduces authenticated vs. unauthenticated scans and common scanning tools. Students configure and interpret basic scan results.

Lesson 4 • Patch Management and Remediation

Covers patch testing, deployment pipelines, and compensating controls. Students design a repeatable remediation cycle.

Lesson 1 • Network Defense Technologies

Introduces IDS, IPS, web application firewalls, and secure DNS. Maps each tool to the attack types it mitigates.

Lesson 2 • Data Protection and Encryption Controls

Explains encryption at rest, in transit, and key management practices. Protects data confidentiality against interception and theft.

Lesson 3 • Identity and Access Management

Explains multi-factor authentication, least privilege, and privileged access management. Reduces credential-based attack success.

Lesson 4 • Security Information and Event Management

Covers SIEM architecture, log ingestion, correlation rules, and alerting. Students build a basic detection use case.

Lesson 1 • Digital Forensics Fundamentals

Introduces evidence preservation, chain of custody, and forensic imaging. Ensures investigation integrity for legal and operational purposes.

Lesson 2 • Post-Incident Analysis and Reporting

Covers root cause analysis, timeline reconstruction, and stakeholder reporting. Transforms incident data into organizational learning.

Lesson 3 • Threat Detection and Alert Triage

Covers indicator-of-compromise identification, alert fatigue reduction, and triage prioritization. Connects SIEM output to actionable response.

Lesson 4 • Containment and Eradication Techniques

Details network isolation, malware removal, and credential resets. Students apply containment decisions to minimize breach spread.

Lesson 1 • Third-Party and Supply Chain Risk

Addresses vendor assessment, contractual security requirements, and supply chain attack vectors. Extends risk management beyond the organization boundary.

Lesson 2 • Security Program Metrics and KPIs

Defines meaningful security metrics, measurement cadences, and reporting formats. Enables data-driven program improvement.

Lesson 3 • Security Policy and Standards Development

Covers policy hierarchy, acceptable use, and security baseline standards. Students draft a policy document aligned to a control framework.

Lesson 4 • Enterprise Risk Management for Security

Applies qualitative and quantitative risk analysis to security decisions. Connects threat data to financial and operational impact estimates.