The Absolute Beginners Guide to Cyber Security 2026 - Part 2

Explain how http defines web requests and how https encrypts data with tls or ssl. Note ssl certificates, expiry checks, and free Let's Encrypt options that boost seo.

Compare hubs, switches, and routers to understand network roles; hubs broadcast to all devices, while switches use mac addresses and routers use ip addresses to route data and protect networks.

Explore how firewalls monitor and control network traffic with rules based on IP addresses, ports, protocols, and applications, safeguarding private networks from unauthorized access.

Demonstrates how Windows Defender Firewall uses inbound and outbound rules across domain, private, and public profiles, with logging and monitoring settings.

The lecture demonstrates creating a sample outbound rule in windows 10 firewall to block Google Chrome by targeting the Chrome program path and applying it to all profiles.

Explore how network address translation enables many devices to share a public ip address, distinguish private vs public addresses, and understand nat types and security considerations.

Explore network segmentation and vlans to isolate and restrict access, improve performance, and simplify management, with practical examples of office vlans, guest wifi, and IoT isolation.

Explore how data travels from your device to a web server and back in five steps, with security at every hop—IP addresses, DNS, DNSSEC, TLS/SSL, and firewalls.

Explore how the domain name system translates domain names to IP addresses using a hierarchical network of root and top-level servers, with ISP caching for faster access.

Explore common networking tools such as ping, tracert, nslookup, reverse dns, and whois to test connectivity, trace routes, and reveal ip addresses and hosting details.

Examine email basics, security concerns, and how IMAP and POP receive mail while SMTP sends, with DNS resolving IP addresses and encrypted ports.

Discover identity and access management through identification, authentication, authorization, and accounting, and learn how unique IDs and credentials govern access to networks, files, and databases.

Explore the four access control models—discretionary, mandatory, role-based, and attribute-based—how they govern permissions, enforce least privilege, and reduce insider and outsider risk in cybersecurity.

Learn how privileged access management protects powerful accounts like domain admins and cloud superusers by vaulting credentials, recording sessions, enabling just-in-time access, and enforcing least privilege.

Explore security controls across technical, operational, and managerial categories that protect confidentiality, integrity, availability, and non-repudiation, detailing logical controls like firewalls and access control, and people-driven measures such as training.

Explore privacy, anonymity, and pseudonymity, and learn how you control who accesses your information and what they can do with it, with examples like encrypted mail and VPN.

Describe identity compartmentalization as dividing online activities into separate personal, professional, pseudonymous, and anonymous identities with distinct accounts, devices, and networks to reduce linkability and thwart data brokers.

Explore modern online tracking techniques, including cookies, browser fingerprinting, cross-device tracking, and artificial intelligence–driven behavioral tracking, and learn practical privacy tools and habits to counter them.

Explore how search engines, social media, and apps track you to build interest profiles. Learn privacy tips like using DuckDuckGo or Startpage, disabling shadow profiles, opt-out services, and VPNs.

Discover the limits of incognito mode: what the browser doesn't store (searches, history, cookies) and what remains trackable (bookmarks, downloads, IP by routers, ISP, and employer).

Explore anonymizers as tools that conceal online activity, enhance privacy, and bypass censorship, comparing single-point proxies with networked anonymizers like Tor.

Explore proxy servers as intermediaries that hide your IP to bypass restrictions and censorship, while noting speed trade-offs, lack of encryption, and options like Hide Star, Hide.me, and proxy site.com.

Discover how a virtual private network creates an encrypted tunnel between you and the VPN server, offering stronger privacy than proxies and enabling bypass of isp throttling and censorship.

Explore the types of vpn and how they shield your ip, with demos of Nordvpn, Tunnelbear, Cyberghost, and Pure VPN, plus essential security and privacy settings.

Debunks major vpn myths by comparing paid vs free vpn data, speed, and encryption, clarifies that vpns do not guarantee anonymity or security, and notes setup ease and platform differences.

Discover Tor, a leading anonymity tool, download the Tor browser, and learn its multi-node routing, vpn comparison, and safety cautions about torrents and plugins.

Tor bears weaknesses: users may be labeled extremists or persons of interest, and authorities continually try to undermine it. It is complex to use and often blocked by many sites.

Explore end to end correlation attacks on Tor, noting the entry and exit nodes, encryption, and why https or ssl helps mitigate exposure.

Demonstrate accessing the dark web with a VPN and Tor browser set to safest, show deep web links, and emphasize educational purposes while outlining protective steps for users.

Explore dark web tools that enable anonymous browsing, email, and file sharing, including free net, I2P, one swarm, and retroshare, with emphasis on private, encrypted services.

Learn how to combine Tor and VPN for privacy and anonymity, compare Tor through VPN and VPN through Tor, and understand their pros, cons, and practical setup.

Understand business email compromise, a targeted phishing attack that impersonates executives or suppliers through reconnaissance, spoofing, social engineering, and execution to steal funds or data.

Explore sim swap attacks, how attackers hijack victim numbers to intercept two-factor authentication, and practical defenses like authenticator apps and carrier pin codes.

Drive-by downloads occur when visiting a compromised site triggers malicious code that scans your browser and OS for vulnerabilities and delivers ransomware or a keylogger via malvertising.

Learn how deepfake scams fooled a multinational's chief financial officer, leading to a $25 million transfer, and how multi-person approvals and verification can prevent such attacks.

Explore session hijacking, where attackers steal session cookies or IDs to impersonate users, via sniffing, XSS, or malware, and learn defenses such as HTTPS, VPNs, logout, and TLS.

Rootkits, the most dangerous malware, include kernel, application, library, hypervisor, and firmware levels; they evade anti-malware and cause settings changes, frozen peripherals, and high network usage.

Explore zero trust that rejects implicit trust, verifies identity and device health, enforces least privilege with just-in-time access, and uses continuous monitoring, IAM, MFA, micro-segmentation, and encryption everywhere.

Stack multiple layers of security controls with diversity across network, application, and data layers to ensure that if one control fails, others protect the system.

Threat intelligence and threat hunting empower proactive defense by understanding threats and adversaries, actively searching for hidden threats, and feeding a symbiotic loop of IOCs and tactics for faster response.

Explore how security compliance frameworks such as NIST, GDPR, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and SOC 2 shape risk management and minimum security standards.

Learn how AI powered security detects anomalies, insider threats, lateral movements, and malware by analyzing file and network traffic, phishing with natural language processing, and behavioral biometrics. See AI action.

Discover how to use ChatGPT to analyze security incident reports, identify trends and attack types, reveal the most targeted systems and recurring IP addresses, and generate mitigation recommendations.

Learn how backups shield data from ransomware and hardware failure by applying the 32110 rule, three copies on two media, including full, incremental, and differential backups, plus regular verification.

Explore how cloud computing stores data on internet, enabling access anywhere via web-based applications like Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and Amazon Web Services, while noting privacy, control, and ownership concerns.

Explore the four cloud deployment types: public, private, hybrid, and multi, and how they influence cost, scalability, security, data sovereignty, and management across models.

Identify cloud security risks such as misconfigurations, account hijacking, phishing, ransomware, and API exploits, then apply encryption, multifactor authentication, least privilege, backups, regular audits, and understand shared responsibility.

Encrypt disks, partitions, or folders to turn plain text into cipher text. Decrypt with a key to restore the plain text and protect against theft.

Explore attacker methods against encryption, including rootkits and bootkits, brute force, direct memory access risks, hiberfil.sys and memory remnants (cold boot), with prevention via secure boot and port disablement.

Explore how patching and updates work in Windows 11, including get the latest updates as soon as they are available, optional driver updates, and using active hours to manage restarts.

Learn to enable Windows 11's controlled folder access to prevent unknown apps from altering protected folders, configure protected folders, and safeguard documents, pictures, and private work files.

Learn to protect privacy by turning off voice features, disabling optional diagnostic data, reviewing mandatory data collection, considering the delete diagnostic data option, and adjusting feedback frequency.

Manage app permissions for location, camera, and microphone; review which apps can access each, turn off unused permissions, and adjust settings to suit your usage.

Enable all three Windows 11 firewalls—domain, private, and public—under Windows Security, and configure dynamic lock by pairing with a mobile device to auto-lock when away; use a pin for sign-in.

Learn to configure Windows security with app and browser control, enable reputation-based protection, review recommendations, handle potentially unwanted apps, and verify exploit protection settings for stronger device security.

boost your privacy on networks by turning on random hardware addresses in wifi settings, so your mac address stays randomized when connecting to networks.

Conclude part two of the absolute beginners guide to cybersecurity 2025 and thank learners for joining, while inviting reviews and exploration of more courses on the lab Uscybercom platform.