Introduction to Cybersecurity

Explore the fundamental building blocks of cybersecurity. Learn how networks handle routing, DNS, load-balancing, and more. Learn the Linux operating system, and review programming and APIs. Start building cloud infrastructure.

Cybersecurity attacks are increasing in frequency and complexity, and demand for qualified security engineers is soaring; according to the Global Information Security Workforce Study, there will be 1.8 million open cybersecurity jobs by 2022. Building a successful cybersecurity career begins with learning the fundamentals taught in this course.

• Cybersecurity Foundations
• This foundations course explains security fundamentals including core principles, critical security controls, and cybersecurity best practices. Students will also evaluate specific security techniques used to administer a system that meets industry standards and core controls, assess high-level risks, vulnerabilities, and attack vectors of a sample system, and explain ways to establish and maintain the security of different types of computer systems.
• Defending and Securing Systems
• Gain exposure to a diverse group of technologies that will provide or enhance the skills needed to enter the cybersecurity field. You will apply best practices of Defense in Depth to secure computer systems, use outputs from security incidents to analyze and improve future network security, and search internal systems to determine network vulnerabilities. You'll also learn how to recommend mitigations to address common application vulnerabilities and ensure fundamental encryption techniques for securing data at rest and in transit.
  
• Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Incident Response
• During this course, you will learn how to identify security threats and gaps, fix issues, and respond to inevitable attacks. You'll be able to explain the relationship between threats, threat actors, vulnerabilities, and exploits, leverage the MITRE ATT&CK framework to understand attack methods, and distinguish events from incidents and recognize indicators of compromise.
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance
• Cybersecurity Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) has rapidly become a critical part of an effective cybersecurity strategy. In this course, students will learn about the functions of Governance, Risk, and Compliance and how each function operates alongside operational controls to strengthen an organization’s security. Students will also learn how to assess control effectiveness, measure security risk, and ensure that organizations are meeting security compliance objectives.