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Course: Introduction to Cyber Security

Our lives depend on online services. Gain essential cyber security knowledge and skills, to help protect your digital life.

Self-Paced

Duration 8 weeks - 3 hours per week - FREE online course

Why join the course?

We shop online. We work online. We play online. We live online. As our lives increasingly depend on digital services, the need to protect our information from being maliciously disrupted or misused is really important.

This free online course will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to recognise the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce the chances that they will happen to you.

With cyber security often in the news today, the course will also frame your online safety in the context of the wider world, introducing you to different types of malware, including viruses and trojans, as well as concepts such as network security, cryptography, identity theft and risk management.

What topics will you cover?

• Threat landscape: terminology, cyber security threats, keeping up to date;
• Authentication: access control, passwords, two-factor authentication;
• Malware: types of malware, attack vectors, preventing infection;
• Networking and communications: fundamentals, security challenges, standards;
• Cryptography: symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, applications;
• Network security: firewalls, virtual private networks, intrusion detection/prevention;
• When your defences fail: cyber security laws, recovering from attacks;
• Managing security risks: risk analysis and management.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Explain basic cyber security terminology; have skills for keeping up to date on cyber security issues, and be able to identify information assets;
• Describe basic authentication mechanisms; have skills to improve their password security, and be aware of alternative authentication methods;
• Identify main malware types; awareness of different malware propagation methods; and skills for preventing malware infections;
• Explain basic networking concepts; be aware of network security challenges, and have knowledge of key networking standards;
• Describe cryptography terminology; be able to use cryptography for email; be aware of applications of cryptography;
• Demonstrate understanding of firewalls, virtual private networks and network intrusion detection and prevention technologies;
• Describe legal and regulatory issues relating to cyber security, and understand how to recover from security failures;
• Apply basic risk analysis and management techniques.

Who is the course for?

The course does not assume any prior knowledge of computer security and can be enjoyed by anyone interested in improving the security of their digital information.

Please go to the course link for further detailed information and enrollment: Introduction to Cyber Security.