Learn the fundamentals of cybersecurity.

SANS Cyber Aces Online makes available, free and online, selected courses from the professional development curriculum offered by The SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training. SANS goal in making these courses available as open courseware is to help grow the talent pool and accelerate the rate at which skilled cyber professionals can enter the information security industry – filling mission critical jobs currently going unfilled.

The open courses are the same as those offered to information security professionals around the world and are focused on the fundamentals of cyber security.

Our hope is that individuals, schools, teachers, businesses, and more will benefit from this offering and, ultimately, help strengthen the security of our nation.

For anyone with an interest in learning more about making online information more secure, this course teaches the core concepts needed to understand, assess, and protect information security systems.

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Workload: Open course format

Cost: Free

About the Course

We live in a networked world. Whether it’s keeping in touch with friends, paying bills, operating a city’s energy grid, or strengthening national security, it happens on line. The need to secure our networks has never been greater. The number of cyber attacks is increasing dramatically and there aren’t enough people with the skills needed to ensure our security online.

This course develops the knowledge and skills needed to master the core concepts in cyber security. Course material is updated regularly to keep pace with changes in technology and threat landscape. Students come away with a solid foundation for building a career in cybersecurity or just strengthening their own home network.

The course covers the three foundation areas of information security.

Operating Systems

Networking

Systems Administration

Course Format

Each module includes a tutorial to build knowledge and skills of the concepts.

Module 1, Operating Systems:

This module introduces the students to computer operating systems, with a strong emphasis on command line usage. The first half focuses on Linux, guiding students through using a CentOS LiveCD in VMware Player and teaching important concepts and commands. The second half focuses on Windows, particularly Windows 7, and covers important topics that all advanced computer users should know.

Module 2, Networking:

A firm understanding of Network fundamentals is essential to being able to secure a network or attack one. This module provides a broad overview of networking, covering the fundamental concepts needed to understand computer attacks and defenses from a network perspective. This module focuses on the various protocols used at each layer, with a particular focus on the Networking layer.

Module 3, System Administration:

This module is intended to provide students with the tools they need to perform common administrative functions in some of the most popular scripting environments. The module will examine PHP and PERL in the context of an Apache webserver, and then it will examine using GNU BASH and Microsoft Powershell scripting from the command line to complete every day administrative functions.