Python for Cybersecurity: Build 4 Real-World Apps in 8 Hours

Explore variables and data types, boolean operations, and arithmetic operators in Python. Apply these basics through a coding exercise to solidify understanding.

Explore working with strings in Python by using single, double, and triple quotation marks, combining strings with plus, and reading user input with the input function.

Explore integer and floating point data types, convert between them with int() and float(), and nest functions within print to show how type conversion and function hierarchy work in Python.

Explore boolean values and operators in Python, evaluating true and false outcomes with comparison and logical operators such as and, or, and not.

Learn Python arithmetic operators, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, modulus, and exponentiation. Explore assignment operators like += and -=, and understand operator precedence with parentheses.

Explore the strings data type in Python programming for cybersecurity, learn string manipulation such as extracting letters, joining strings, slicing, and converting case, with a hands-on coding exercise.

Master string indexing and slicing in Python to extract characters, capture substrings with positive and negative indices, and apply the split function for cybersecurity tasks like malware detection.

Explore common string methods in Python for cybersecurity tasks, including upper and lower case conversion, strip whitespace, replace sensitive content, and find substrings for email format checks.

Learn advanced string manipulation in Python by using split and indexing to extract email domains and file names from urls, and robustly derive username and domain around the at symbol.

Dive into control flow and loops in Python, covering if statements and list iteration for passwords, including encrypting and checking strength under various conditions.

Explore algorithms and the if, else, and else if statements, illustrated through weather scenarios and computer performance checks to guide Python programming.

Learn to implement if, else, and elif logic in Python by prompting user input, converting to int, and evaluating conditions to print why so much, why so little, or bingo.

Learn to build a simple python password checker that compares a user-entered password to a stored one using input and an if-else block, printing access granted or access denied.

Master loops in Python programming, including for and while structures, to automate repetitive tasks until a condition is satisfied, and avoid crashes caused by endless loops.

Practice for loops and while loops in Python by iterating a list of names and printing greetings, while using a counter to control how often hello prints.

Master the break statement to end loops early in for and while constructs, using examples of early termination, first even number, and quitting on Q with f-strings.

learn to handle user input in Python using try and except to catch value errors, enforce positive numbers, and prevent crashes by guiding inputs with clear messages.

Learn how the continue statement skips a loop iteration without ending the loop, with examples using range. Explore range start, stop, and step, and the pass statement as a placeholder.

Build a Python program for cybersecurity that prompts for positive numbers, stores them in a list until you type done, identifies the first even number, and prints all entered numbers.

Explore creating custom functions, mastering parameters, data types, keyword arguments, and local and global variables, with a practical coding exercise to reinforce skills.

Define custom functions in Python by naming the function, adding parameters, and returning a value, then illustrate with a greet function that prints hello world and is called.

Learn to define functions with parameters, pass arguments, and use the return statement to compute results, including adding numbers and handling multiple parameters.

Explore keyword arguments in Python, using named parameters to pass values, demonstrate flexible calling with age, name, and city, and show that order does not matter.

Explore variable scope in Python by distinguishing local and global variables, showing how a global x=12 and a local x=3 behave, and how to modify globals with the global keyword.

Explore lists, dictionaries, and sets, learning their differences and how to create them. Apply loops to these structures through coding exercises, challenges, and a final main exercise.

Learn how lists are mutable in Python, access items by index starting at zero, and modify them with methods like append, extend, remove, clear, reverse, and copy.

Learn to use a for loop with an if statement inside it to scan a list of login attempts and print high activity days (ten or more) in Python.

Learn how dictionaries store key-value pairs, modify or add entries, and use get, keys, values, and items to print and loop through data.

Explore nested dictionaries by nesting user credentials inside a dictionary, accessing admin password and last login data, and printing values to support tools like password checkers and firewalls.

Explore sets in Python, contrast them with lists, and learn to use union, intersection, and difference, along with add, remove, and clear to manage unique elements efficiently.

Identify all unique IP addresses in the logs using a for loop and a set. Check whether the special IP 1921681.4 exists in the set and print the appropriate message.

Explore counting failed login attempts per user with a dictionary and a for loop, including first-time and subsequent attempts, updating counts and printing the results.

Create a basic authentication system by applying variables, functions, loops, and dictionaries to register and log in users, using a username-password dictionary and three menu options.

Build a registration function that uses a user_credentials dictionary to store usernames and passwords. Prompt for username and password, check for existing usernames, and save the new credentials.

Learn to build a login_user function that prompts for username and password, checks them against user_credentials, and prints welcome back or invalid credentials, while separating registration and login loops.

Build a basic authentication system with a main menu offering register, login, or exit; implement input handling, loop control, and checks for duplicate usernames and password validation.

Master file handling in Python by creating, reading, writing, appending, and modifying files while managing errors with multiple except blocks and a finally clause.

Learn to open and write to files in Python using open and the with statement, using w and r to write, read, and display contents.

Learn to read from and write to text files in Python, using a users.txt file, with write and append options, and strip for clean input.

Explore writing and reading files in Python, comparing file.write, write lines, read, read line, read lines, and line-by-line iteration for memory efficiency.

Learn to handle file-related errors gracefully in Python by using try-except blocks and specific exceptions like file not found, permission, is a directory, and OS errors.

Handle multiple exceptions in Python by using several except blocks for file not found errors, permission errors, and OS errors, plus a general exception block with an f-string for details.

Learn how to use the finally block in Python to safely manage file resources when not using the with statement, including manual closing, initialization, and error handling.

Explore libraries and modules in python and learn how to import prewritten code, understand their types and differences, and tackle hands-on coding challenges to strengthen cybersecurity programming skills.

Explore the differences between modules, libraries, and packages in Python by hashing plaintext using hashlib and its algorithms, and learn how standard and third-party libraries expand your toolkit.

Create and use a custom Python module to add two numbers. Build a simple module file, define add_numbers, import it in a main program, and print the sum.

Import the built-in random module and use random.choice to generate a random letter from A to Z, then print the selected letter.

Learn to generate a randomized password in Python by using random.choices with string constants (ascii letters and digits) and join to produce a single password string.

Learn to use the Python datetime module to display date and time, and pair it with the random module to generate timestamped actions like login and reset password for cybersecurity.

Explore how to work with an external library using Python's cryptography Fernet to encrypt and decrypt messages. Generate a key, create a cipher, and use encode and decode.

Build a file encryption and decryption tool with options to generate, encrypt, decrypt, or exit using a default or custom key, as part of a three-part project.

Create a function to generate and save an encryption key with cryptography Fernet, writing to encryption_key.key in wb mode and a load_key function to read it in rb.

Learn to create and use encryption and decryption keys with Fernet in Python, writing functions to encrypt and decrypt files using input and output files.

Design and implement a command-line encryption tool with a four-option interface that can generate a default or custom key, encrypt or decrypt files, and handle input errors.