Cybersecurity Learning Path
Your journey from beginner to expert starts here. Choose your level to begin.
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, programs, and data from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users through ransomware; or interrupting normal business processes.
A successful cybersecurity posture has multiple layers of protection spread across the computers, networks, and data one intends to keep safe. This requires a combination of People, Processes, and Technology.
People
Users must understand and comply with basic data security principles like choosing strong passwords, being wary of email attachments, and backing up data.
Processes
Organizations must have a framework for how they deal with both attempted and successful cyberattacks, including how to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover.
Technology
This is essential for providing the tools needed to protect against cyberattacks, such as firewalls, antivirus software, and email security solutions.
Exploring Security Fields
Cybersecurity is a vast domain. Here are a few key areas to get you started.
Focuses on protecting websites, web applications, and web services from attacks like SQL injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). It's about ensuring data confidentiality and integrity online.
Concerned with protecting smartphones, tablets, and their applications (like Android and iOS apps) from threats such as malware, spyware, and insecure data storage.
A new frontier focused on protecting AI and machine learning systems from unique attacks like data poisoning, model inversion, and adversarial examples that can fool AI into making wrong decisions.
Core Networking Concepts
Understanding how computers talk to each other is the first step in network security.
Think of an IP address as a mailing address for your computer on the internet. There are public IPs (your home's address on the internet) and private IPs (the address of your device inside your home network).
DNS is the phonebook of the internet. It translates human-friendly domain names (like www.google.com) into machine-readable IP addresses that computers use to find each other.
If an IP address is a building, a port is a specific door. Different services use different doors (e.g., web traffic uses port 80/443, email uses port 25). Scanners look for open doors to see what services are running.
Operating System Security
Each operating system has unique security features. Learn the basics of how to secure the most common ones.
Explore the built-in security layers of macOS, from System Integrity Protection to Gatekeeper.
Understand the hardened security architecture of iOS, including the Secure Enclave and App Sandboxing.
Learn to harden Linux systems using tools like AppArmor, iptables, and proper user permissions.
Website Security Fundamentals
Understand the core technologies that keep your data safe while you browse the web.
Dive into the differences between HTTP and HTTPS, the role of SSL/TLS certificates, and how security headers protect you from common web attacks.
How to Protect Yourself
You have the power to significantly improve your digital security. Here are simple, effective steps you can take today.
Use Strong, Unique Passwords
Create complex passwords mixing letters, numbers, and symbols. Most importantly, use a different password for every account. A password manager is an excellent tool to help you create and store them securely.
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA adds a second layer of security beyond just your password, like a code from your phone. Even if someone steals your password, they can't log in. Enable it on all important accounts.
Be Skeptical of Emails and Links
Think before you click. If an email creates urgency or seems too good to be true, it might be phishing. Check the sender's address and hover over links to see the destination before clicking.
Keep Software Updated
Regularly update your operating system and applications. These updates often contain critical security patches that protect you from newly discovered vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.