Security+: Complete Course (SY0-701) + Practice Exams + Fun!

Identify threat actors internal and external, motivations and tactics like data exfiltration and disinformation, and how vulnerabilities drive risk and security decisions within the CIA triad.

Shrink your attack surface by patching, securing configurations, and removing exposure, and understand threat and attack vectors while using client-based or agentless vulnerability scans to detect and mitigate threats.

Explore how network vectors let attackers reach vulnerable software and how to defend with access controls, encryption, patching, segmentation, and monitoring to shrink the attack surface.

Explore how lure-based and message-based threat vectors trigger malware via files, images, and devices. Learn defenses like patching, antivirus, intrusion detection, and user training to mitigate these attacks.

Identify how supply chain partners, vendors, and contractors expand your attack surface and build a trusted chain through audits and security certifications like NIST or ISO.

Social engineering exploits the human vector by targeting people to reveal credentials or perform actions. Build defense through awareness training, identity verification, limiting information exposure, and reporting culture.

Explore phishing and farming techniques, including social engineering, spoofing, typosquatting, lookalike domains, and watering hole attacks, and learn how attackers steal credentials via fake login pages and targeted scams.

Strengthen endpoints with device hardening, strong authentication, baselines, and patch management, plus encryption and modern endpoint protection to deter threats.

Explore advanced endpoint protection with EDR and XDR for real-time threat visibility and rapid response, plus HIDS, HIPS, FIM, UBA/UEBA to monitor behavior and enforce secure configurations.

Analyze indicators of malicious activity by classifying malware by type and behavior—viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, rootkits, rats, ransomware, and fileless malware—to enable rapid detection and response.

Explore malware threats such as ransomware, crypto ransomware, and cryptojacking, and apply TTP analysis to understand attacker goals. Identify indicators of compromise, such as unusual resource usage and tampered logs.

Explore how physical and network attacks threaten organizations, from brute force and RFID cloning to DDoS, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration.

Learn dns and wireless attack techniques, including typosquatting, dns poisoning and hijacking, ddos amplification, evil twins and rogue access points, disassociation and replay attacks, with detection using nslookup and dig.

Explore how web application attacks threaten data confidentiality and integrity on public networks, including privilege escalation, buffer overflow, replay attacks, and forgery attacks like CSRF and server-side request forgery.

Explore how injection attacks exploit input processing to run unauthorized commands or queries, including XML and LDAP injections, directory traversal, and command injections, plus URL analysis and server logs.

Spot weaknesses in enterprise network design to boost security, resilience, and efficiency. Learn how network architecture, segmentation, and security zones protect data, apps, and infrastructure.

Explore the OSI model's seven layers with a real-world email example. Understand encapsulation from physical to application layers, including MAC and IP addresses, ports, and TCP/UDP protocols.

Explore how switches act as traffic directors in a star topology with structured cabling and segmentation to prevent flat networks, strengthen security across OSI layers with defense in depth.

Learn how layer 3 routes traffic between subnets using IP addresses and how VLANs segment networks for better access control and security, plus IPv4/IPv6 and ARP/NDP mappings.

Analyze architecture decisions that balance cost, performance, scalability, availability, and security, and explore on-prem vs cloud, risk transfer through SLAs, and the security of air gapped systems with manual updates.

Enforce port-based network access control with 802.1x, authenticating via Radius using EAP, to provide centralized control and logs while mac filtering manages port access.

Understand firewall behavior and placement, including fail open and fail closed states, inline and transparent deployments, and routing modes, plus ACLs that filter IP addresses, protocols, and ports.

Differentiate stateless and stateful firewalls and explore layer 4 and layer 7 firewalls that monitor TCP/UDP and application data. Learn about forward and reverse proxies, including transparent and non-transparent setups.

Learn how intrusion detection systems monitor traffic and alert, while intrusion prevention systems actively block threats in real time, with sensors, next-gen firewalls, and unified threat management.

Distribute traffic across multiple servers with load balancers to boost performance and reliability. Use web application firewalls to inspect app-level traffic and block threats like SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

Explore how remote access and site-to-site VPNs securely connect users and networks over untrusted networks, using TLS/IPsec, digital certificates, and appropriate TCP or UDP transport.

Explore IPsec VPN setup with IKE as the mediator, phase one introduction, phase two negotiation of AH or ESP, pre-shared keys or certificates, AES and SHA-256, and mobility with IKEv2.

Learn how secure shell (ssh) enables encrypted remote access, verifies servers with host keys, supports public key authentication for passwordless logins, SFTP transfers, and encrypted sessions.

Explore cloud infrastructure security, from the shared responsibility model across public, private, hosted private, community, and hybrid deployments, to serverless architectures and security best practices.

Understand the shared cloud security model, where the cloud service provider secures infrastructure and you protect data, apps, and access, plus the contrast between centralized and decentralized architectures.

Explore resilient cloud architecture with high availability, redundancy, and data replication across regions and zones; compare virtualization and containerization for reliable app delivery.

Discover serverless cloud architecture, where cloud providers handle provisioning and billing, while functions and microservices run on demand with event-driven infrastructure as code.

Explore cloud automation and software defined networking, defining IAC, YAML, JSON, ACL configurations, and the role of the control, data, and management planes in automated networks.

Explore public cloud considerations, including resilience, data replication, auto scaling, and disaster recovery. Balance costs from CapEx to OpEx with automation, templates, and portability.

Explore how cloud providers optimize power, compute, and networking for efficiency and reliability, and examine security practices like SASE, zero trust, IAM, encryption, and patching.

Explore embedded systems—real-time operating systems power cars and medical devices—and examine zero trust architecture for secure IoT, with MFA, least privilege, and continuous monitoring.

Learn how industrial control systems and scada run critical infrastructure, from plc and sensors to data historians, and how layered security protects them.

Explore how sensors, software, and networked devices exchange data through cloud systems. Analyze IoT growth drivers, real-world applications, security risks, and best practices to secure devices.

Shifts security from defending a single network edge to protecting data, devices, and users everywhere, embracing zero trust. Combines identity and access management, policy enforcement, segmentation, encryption, and monitoring.

Dive into zero trust security, defining never trust, always verify. Learn adaptive identity, threat scope reduction, device posture, and policy driven access across control and data planes with session management.

Learn how authentication guards your accounts by verifying your identity with something you know, have, or are, and boost security with multi-factor authentication and strong passphrases.

Explore password managers to securely store and generate strong passwords with a master password, and implement multifactor authentication using two or more factors from something you know, have, or are.

Evaluate biometric authentication and hard tokens as stronger multi-factor options, covering enrollment templates, FRR, FAR, CRR, throughput, and privacy concerns, plus PKI, OTP, and FIDO token methods.

Explore soft tokens and passwordless authentication, including one-time passwords delivered via text messages or email, authenticator apps, and Fido2 web auth using biometric or security keys for secure logins.

Explore authorization and access control models, DAC, MAC, RBAC, and ABAC, and learn how hybrid approaches grant users just enough access to do their jobs.

Learn rule-based access control and account provisioning to enforce least privilege, manage identity verification, provisioning and deprovisioning, and implement rbac, abac, and mac for scalable security.

Accounts include a CID, username, credentials, and a profile with name, email, department, and access to network files. Enforce location-based and time-based restrictions with GPO and PAM.

Explore how directory services like Active Directory organize user, device, and group accounts with LDAP and distinguished name, and how federation with identity providers enables cross-system authentication.

Discover how Kerberos enables single sign on, using a KDC with authentication and ticket granting services to issue TGTs and service tickets, secured by encrypted keys and mutual authentication.

Compare SAML and OAuth to enable secure enterprise single sign-on and API access, detailing identity providers, service providers, XML-based assertions, and JWT-based tokens used in RESTful flows.

Learn how asset management, resilient design, and physical security form a cybersecurity foundation by identifying, classifying, assigning ownership, and tracking hardware, software, data, and devices for patches and incident response.

Protect assets by tagging hardware and data, tracking them in a cmdb and itil framework, and implementing backup strategies with deduplication, offsite backups, airgap, and ransomware protection.

Protect sensitive data by using snapshots, replication, and journaling across virtual machines, file systems, and SANs. Encrypt backups and implement secure destruction with sanitization, zero filling, and certification of destruction.

Manage vulnerabilities as a continuous four-step cycle: discover, analyze, remediate, and improve. Scan Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and IoT, patch legacy and firmware flaws, and secure virtual environments.

Learn about zero day vulnerabilities, misconfiguration risks, and cryptographic flaws, plus mobile device risks like jailbreaking and sideloading, and the importance of key management, audits, and least privilege.

Explore race conditions and memory injection vulnerabilities in applications and cloud, with defenses like input validation and ASLR; cover cloud misconfigurations, updates, and evaluation scope for testing and compliance.

Learn how web apps and cloud systems face cross-site scripting and SQL injection, and apply protection with input validation, output encoding, CSPs, CASB controls, and SBOM-based supply chain risk.

Run automated vulnerability scans across networks, systems, and apps with credentialed and non-credentialed views; use Nessus/OpenVAS, static/dynamic app scans, SCA, SBOM, and dark web intel.

Learn how threat feeds provide real-time vulnerability intelligence to update scanners, prioritize patches, and combine open-source and commercial data with OSINT tools, pen testing, and audits.

Prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities through a full vulnerability management cycle from discovery to verification, using CVE, NVD, and CVSS scores, with patching, segmentation, and clear reporting.

Establish baselines, harden systems, and enforce real-time network access control to reduce attack surfaces, guided by CIS benchmarks, Stigs, patch levels, and encryption settings.

Explore modern Wi-Fi security, from WEP obsolescence to WPA3 enhancements like Easy Connect and DPP. Learn enterprise and personal authentication, NAC posture checks, and hardening steps for routers and devices.

Learn to build a layered security stack using acls and firewall rules, enhanced by ids, ips, and web filtering to protect dmzs via screened subnets.

Explore how IDS and IPS use an analysis engine and rules to classify traffic, using signature-based and anomaly-based detection, UEBA, NTA, and machine learning to spot threats and trends.

Hardening specialized devices, including ICS, embedded systems, and mobile devices, reduces vulnerabilities. Apply isolation, strict access control, secure boot, encryption, and deployment models with MDM for IoT and RTOS.

Explore how location services use GPS and indoor positioning, geofencing, and GPS tagging, and learn the privacy risks and security measures for mobile connectivity.

Learn secure protocols like https, ssh, sftp, and ldaps, with tls encryption. Review phishing and spoofing defenses: spf, dkim, dMarc, dns secret, and snmp v3.

Explore secure file transfers and email protocols, from sftp and ftps to smtp with starttls, and protect against spoofing with spf, dkim, and dmarc, plus dnssec.

Learn cloud security as a shared responsibility, enforce least privileged access, encrypt data in transit and at rest, implement auditing, monitoring, and sandboxing with AWS Security Hub and Cuckoo Sandbox.

Master incident response by guiding analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned to confirm real incidents, assess impact, and prevent recurrence.

Explore digital forensics to uncover what happened on devices, preserve evidence with chain of custody and hashes, and apply order of volatility aware data acquisition.

Learn to identify data sources for incident response, from memory and logs to network captures and vulnerability scans, and use a sim tool and dashboards to analyze and report.

Explore key network data sources for incident response by examining system and traffic logs from routers, switches, firewalls, and access points, plus packet captures and metadata.

Explore how a siem collects logs from routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and security tools, correlates events, detects threats, tunes alerts, and supports reporting and compliance.

Monitor infrastructure with SNMP and logs, analyze NetFlow/IPFIX traffic, assess cloud health, run vulnerability scanners, and apply SCAP and XCCDF guides to enforce endpoint protection and data loss prevention.

Automate repetitive, rule-based tasks to enforce configurations, patch systems, and maintain security baselines, reducing human error and drift. Orchestrate workflows via APIs to coordinate provisioning, guardrails, ticketing, and incident response.

Security governance builds a risk management foundation with policies, standards, procedures, and playbooks to guide onboarding, offboarding, change management, and incident response for secure operations.

Align governance with laws by translating compliance rules into security controls and clear roles—owner, controller, processor, and custodian—to prevent fines and breaches.

Identify threats and assess impact to reduce inherent risk. Use scans, audits, heat maps, and quantitative and qualitative analysis aligned with HIPAA, Sox, and PCI DSS.

Identify vulnerabilities, threats, and impacts to manage risk using risk management strategies like avoid, accept, mitigate, and transfer, and follow five steps with risk registers and risk appetite.

Perform third-party risk assessment using vendor due diligence, risk identification, ongoing monitoring, and incident response planning to ensure security, compliance, and resilient operations.

Evaluate security posture through internal and external audits, assessments, attestation, and pen testing to identify weaknesses, ensure compliance with standards, and strengthen risk management.

Learn how privacy, data sensitivity, and labeling determine protections across data types from public to highly restricted within legal and geographical contexts like HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.

Understand privacy data as personal information and its rights under GDPR and CCPA, including data subject access, deletion, and the roles of controller and processor.

Clarify compliance as policies, procedures, and controls that protect data, align with laws and contracts, and guide data loss prevention through DLP tools.

Understand how personnel policies, acceptable use, shadow it, and role-based training reduce risk and strengthen security across data, devices, and incident response.