Free Self-Paced Course
Cybersecurity: Defending the Digital World
10 Weeks · 307 Sections · Computer Science — Cybersecurity
This free, self-paced course provides a structured 10-week syllabus for learning Cybersecurity. Each module builds on the previous one, guiding you from foundational concepts through advanced topics with 307 pages of in-depth reading material. All content is drawn from our comprehensive Cybersecurity textbook, organized into a clear weekly schedule that you can follow at your own pace.
Weekly Syllabus
- Part I: Security Foundations
- Chapter 1: What Is Cybersecurity? Threats, Vulnerabilities, Risk, and Why Everything Is Under Attack
- Chapter 2: The Threat Landscape: Who Attacks, Why They Attack, and How Attacks Actually Work
- Chapter 3: Security Principles: CIA Triad, Defense in Depth, Least Privilege, and Zero Trust
- Chapter 4: Cryptography Fundamentals: Encryption, Hashing, Digital Signatures, and PKI
- Chapter 5: Applied Cryptography: TLS, VPNs, Disk Encryption, and Securing Data in Transit and at Rest
- Part II: Network Security
- Chapter 6: Network Security Fundamentals: TCP/IP, Ports, Protocols, and Where Attacks Live
- Chapter 7: Firewalls, IDS/IPS, and Network Access Control: The Perimeter That Doesn't Exist Anymore
- Chapter 8: Wireless Security: WiFi, Bluetooth, and the Invisible Attack Surface
- Chapter 9: DNS, Email, and Web Security: Securing the Protocols Everyone Uses Every Day
- Chapter 10: Network Monitoring and Traffic Analysis: Seeing the Invisible with Wireshark, Zeek, and Flow Data
- Part IV: Identity and Access Management
- Chapter 16: Authentication: Passwords, MFA, Biometrics, Passkeys, and Why Passwords Won't Die
- Chapter 17: Authorization and Access Control: RBAC, ABAC, and Who Gets Access to What
- Chapter 18: Identity Governance: SSO, Federation, Directory Services, and Managing a Million Accounts
- Chapter 19: Privileged Access Management: Protecting the Keys to the Kingdom
- Chapter 20: Secrets and Machine Identity: Service Accounts, API Keys, Certificates, and Securing Non-Human Access
- Part V: Security Operations
- Chapter 21: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Centralized Logging and Correlation
- Chapter 22: Threat Detection and Hunting: Indicators of Compromise, Threat Intelligence, and Hunting for Adversaries
- Chapter 23: Vulnerability Management: Scanning, Prioritizing, Patching, and the Vulnerability That Never Gets Fixed
- Chapter 24: Incident Response: Preparation, Detection, Containment, Eradication, Recovery, and Lessons Learned
- Chapter 25: Digital Forensics for Defenders: Preserving Evidence, Timeline Analysis, and Post-Breach Investigation
- Part VI: Governance, Risk, and Compliance
- Chapter 26: Security Governance: Policies, Standards, Procedures, and Building a Security Program
- Chapter 27: Risk Management: Identifying, Assessing, Mitigating, and Accepting Risk
- Chapter 28: Compliance Frameworks: NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR
- Chapter 29: Third-Party and Supply Chain Risk Management: Vendor Risk, SBOMs, and Trusting What You Didn't Build
- Chapter 30: Security Awareness Training: The Human Firewall (and Why Phishing Still Works)
How to Use This Syllabus
- Read at your own pace. Each module is designed for roughly one week of study, but there are no deadlines. Spend as much time as you need on each topic.
- Follow in order or jump around. The modules are arranged sequentially for a structured learning path, but feel free to skip to any topic that interests you most.
- No sign-up needed. Every page in this syllabus links directly to free, open-access content. Just click a topic and start reading immediately.
Ready to Start Learning?
Access the full Cybersecurity textbook with all chapters, examples, and exercises.
Open the Full Textbook