Cyber Security A-Z™: Masterclass Course for Non-Techies

Explore cyber security as the application of technologies to defend computer systems and data from malicious attacks, and its distinction from the broader information security field.

Explore the major types of cyber security, including network, application, system, physical, personal, organizational security, secure code development, and cloud security, and how each protects data.

Trace cybersecurity from 1960s physical safeguards and Arpanet experiments to modern breaches, viruses, creeper and Morris worm, firewalls, cert, and WannaCry.

Master key cybersecurity terms, including information security, confidentiality, integrity, availability, risk management, threats, vulnerabilities, encryption, firewalls, and authentication.

Identify, quantify, and prioritize security weaknesses in an information system through vulnerability assessments. Catalog assets, assess risk, perform monthly scans with automated tools, and guide remediation to close security gaps.

Vulnerability assessments detect and rank weaknesses in hardware, software, and networks to prevent exploits; patching after reports like WannaCry reduces risk from coding errors or misconfigurations.

Master the 10 steps of vulnerability assessments, from securing legal authorization and defining scope to information gathering, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, gaining access, privilege escalation, and final reporting with patches.

Understand how the rapid expansion of internet use increases cyber crimes and the need for robust security measures, training, and awareness to protect data across sectors.

Explore key cybersecurity organizations—from women in cybersecurity and the Sans Institute to the Open Web Application Security Project and First—and certification bodies like ISACA, ISC Square, EC Council, and CompTIA.

Penetration testers help organizations identify security weaknesses in information systems and networks, in-house or via specialized firms. Success hinges on networking knowledge, scripting, operating systems, teamwork, and clear reporting.

learn how information security analysts monitor networks, identify weaknesses, patch vulnerabilities, and implement firewalls and encryption to protect data and the network infrastructure.

Security auditors audit computer systems, test networks and databases, and ensure IT security compliance by applying information security standards, policy development, and risk assessments.

Security consultants assess security measures, analyze systems for breaches, and supervise solution implementation for organizations or clients, using cloud skills and professional certifications to meet regulatory compliance.

Explore the CISO as the apex leader who develops information security policies, excels in communication, and steers cloud identity, access management, and overall security for the organization.

Identify information as data with real-world importance, especially in IT service management and IT security. Show how data analysis drives decision making and baselines across organizations, projects, and universities.

Explore the six major elements of information security—confidentiality, integrity, availability, non-repudiation, authentication, and access control—and how they safeguard data in this cyber security masterclass.

Establish confidentiality by enforcing authentication, authorization, access control, and security controls so only authorized users access all assets, as shown with a password for the video and restricted audit reports.

Learn how integrity ensures information remains unmodified, complete, and authentic from authorized sources, using encryption, decryption, and hashing to keep data accurate across communications.

Explore availability in information security by ensuring data is accessible when needed through the right medium and timeframe, delivered to recipients, with confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and access control.

Learn how authentication verifies your identity and enables access control through single-factor, two-factor, and multi-factor methods.

Learn how non-repudiation uses digital signatures, private and public keys, and email logs to prove sending and receiving messages and prevent denial of authenticity.

Access control protects resources by using authentication and authorization to grant permissions. Learn about mandatory, discretionary, role-based, and attribute-based access control and how they shape who may access specific resources.

Vulnerability is a design flaw or weakness that lets an attacker gain unauthorized access, including misconfigurations, default passwords, and injection flaws, highlighted by testing and vulnerability assessment to mitigate risk.

Learn to identify threats as potential causes of unwanted incidents that can harm information, assets, and reputation, and explore types from accidental to cyber terrorism.

Learn how threats and vulnerabilities create impact on an organization's assets, processes, and stakeholders. Identify that impacts can be positive or negative, depending on the threat, and inform risk management.

Explore the fundamentals of cryptography, from why we need it to how it protects data, covering ciphers, symmetric encryption, RSA, Diffie-Hellman, hashing, public key infrastructure, digital signatures, SSL/TLS, and cryptanalysis.

Explore the fundamentals of cryptography, its historical roots from Caesar ciphers to modern encryption, and its role in confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, and its two common types.

Explore symmetric and asymmetric encryption, how a single key locks and unlocks data versus two keys, and how public and private keys create cipher text in cryptography.

Explore classical and modern ciphers, including substitution and transposition methods, and learn how keys, encryption and decryption differentiate Caesar, stream, and block ciphers.

Symmetric encryption uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt, a fast two-way private key method, with examples like Blowfish, Twofish, AES, DES, and Diffie-Hellman for secure key sharing.

Explore symmetric encryption examples such as Twofish, DES, and AES variants, including ARC4, ARC5, ARC6, and note the key sharing challenge addressed by Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

Explore asymmetric encryption using a public and private key to encrypt and decrypt messages, compare key usage, and review RSA, Diffie-Hellman, Elliptic Curve Cryptography, ElGamal, and digital signatures.

See how asymmetric encryption uses a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt, illustrated with Bob and Alice, and why symmetric methods follow.

Diffie-Hellman key exchange lets two parties derive a shared secret key over an insecure channel using public generator and prime numbers with private keys, for symmetric encryption.

Explore hashing as a cryptographic function that converts input data into a fixed-length message digest, using MD5 and SHA-1/2/3 to verify data integrity and support digital signatures.

Explore online hash tools, observe fixed-length outputs, and see how even a single changed character alters the hash, comparing MD5 and SHA-256 for security.

Discover how digital signatures provide authentication and secure transmission by leveraging PKI, private and public keys, and trusted certificate authorities to verify document legitimacy.

Demonstrates how digital signatures verify document integrity and sender authenticity using sha-256 hashing, private key signing, and public key verification in a practical Bob and Alice example.

Learn how ssl and tls secure internet messages using public key encryption, with client-initiated handshakes, encrypted certificates, and pre-transfer key exchange, plus certificate authorities.

a certificate authority issues digital certificates to verify identity within a hierarchy of authorities, uses public keys while private keys stay secret, enabling trusted document signing and certificate validation.

Introduce information security risk management with industry practices, covering risk, threat actors, the risk formula, and the PDCA cycle. Outline the risk assessment process, NIST framework, and managing people risks.

Identify threat actors and categorize them into hackers, hacktivists, insider threats, competitors, script kiddies, nation states, and advanced persistent threats to understand the risk to assets and organizations.

Explore the risk formula by combining probability with threats, vulnerabilities, and assets to assess risk, and learn how probability and impact feed into the risk matrix.

Explore basic risk management fundamentals, including infrastructure, organization, and security controls, and distinguish standards, laws, and best practices within risk management frameworks like NIST RMF.

Explore Deming's plan-do-check-act cycle as an iterative framework for information security management systems, guiding planning, implementing, checking, and acting on security controls and risk management.

Explore the risk assessment process to identify asset value, existing controls, disposal procedures, and non-conformities in the isms. Prioritize risks with a severity matrix to determine which to mitigate first.

Identify organizational assets, assess vulnerabilities and threats, and evaluate security controls within the risk assessment framework guided by ISO 27001 and the pdca cycle.

Identify and analyze risks to gather data on consequences and likelihoods. Determine risk levels and plan mitigations; this overview introduces risk assessment and risk management frameworks.

Define inherent risk at the start, apply risk treatment options, and identify residual risk that remains after mitigation. The next lecture covers the NIST risk assessment framework.

Master the NIST risk management framework with its six steps—categorize, select, implement, assess, authorize, and monitor—by applying a continuous, risk-based approach to federal information systems.

Explore quantitative risk assessment and how to express risk in monetary terms using asset value data, exposure factor, likelihood, and impact to decide between mitigation options like replacement or repair.

Calculate single loss expectancy by multiplying asset value by exposure factor; for 150,000 and 0.4, sle equals 60,000. Multiply sle by the annual rate of occurrence to obtain ale.

Explore personnel risks in cyber security, from background checks and non-disclosure agreements to onboarding, training, policies, mandatory vacations, job rotation, and separation of duties.