Unlock the Secrets of Cybersecurity: 13 Free Online Courses to Kickstart Your Career

The protection of internet-connected systems, including hardware, software, and data, from digital attacks, theft, and damage is referred to as cybersecurity. These attacks can take many forms, including viruses, malware, and hacking.

Cybersecurity aims to prevent unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of networks and devices. It entails a wide range of technologies, processes, and practices that are critical for organizations and individuals to protect sensitive information while ensuring the availability and integrity of their systems.

There are several critical components of cybersecurity that must be understood. This includes -

1. Network Security: Network security refers to the prevention of unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of a computer network. This is possible with the use of firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption.
2. Endpoint Security: Endpoint security refers to the protection of individual network-connected devices such as laptops, smartphones, and servers. This includes employing antivirus software, firewalls, and encryption.
3. Application Security: Application security refers to the safeguarding of software applications against vulnerabilities and attacks. This includes code testing and validation, as well as secure coding practices.
4. Cloud security: Cloud security refers to the safeguarding of data and applications hosted on cloud computing platforms. Encryption, access controls, and security monitoring are examples of such measures.
5. Incident Response: The process of identifying, containing, and mitigating the effects of a cybersecurity incident is referred to as incident response. Incident response planning, incident management, and incident recovery are all examples of this.
6. Compliance and Regulations: This refers to compliance with cybersecurity laws, regulations, standards, and best practices, such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC2, ISO27001, NIST CSF, and others.

A beginner can learn about cybersecurity in a variety of ways. There are numerous online courses and tutorials available covering a wide range of cybersecurity topics. Platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, edX, and Udacity?offer courses ranging from fundamental security concepts to more advanced topics like penetration testing and incident response.

I've put together a list of the 13 best cybersecurity courses you can take for free. These courses will get you started in this field.

• Introduction to Cyber Security: This free cybersecurity course from GreatLearning will get you off to a great start in your career. Learn about cyber-attacks, hacker motivation, cryptography, and design and implementation skills.

• Introduction to IT & Cybersecurity: This course from Cybrary covers the roles of Network Administrator, Incident Responder, System Administrator, Penetration Tester, Cloud Engineer, Cybersecurity Manager, and Privacy Analyst in this cybersecurity for beginners. This is the best introductory course to get started in this field.

• Cybersecurity Basics: This course provides the foundation for comprehending the basic concepts of cybersecurity. You will explore information security, beginning with its history and progressing to a description of various cybercriminals and cybersecurity threats, concluding with the tools required to prevent an attack.

• Real-Time Cyber Threat Detection and Mitigation: This course teaches real-time cyber security techniques and methods using the TCP/IP protocol suites. The explanation of some basic TCP/IP security hacks is used to?introduce the need for network security solutions such as stateless and stateful firewalls. You will be introduced to the techniques used to design and configure firewall solutions to protect enterprise assets, such as packet filters and proxies.

• Enterprise and Infrastructure Security: This course covers a wide range of advanced and current cyber security topics, many of which are particularly relevant in modern enterprise and infrastructure settings. The fundamentals of enterprise compliance frameworks are covered, as well as an introduction to NIST and PCI. Many of the security flaws in modern perimeter local area networks can be addressed using hybrid cloud architectures.

• Penetration Testing - Discovering Vulnerabilities: Learn the fundamentals of penetration testing, such as Intro to Penetration Testing Methodologies, Reconnaissance and Enumeration for Penetration Testers, Scanning, and Vulnerability Enumeration.

• Computer Forensics: This course will teach you how to conduct a digital forensics investigation to obtain data related to computer crimes.

• Introduction to Cyber Crime: The Introduction to Cybercrime course provides various insights into the different types of cyberattacks organizations face in today's digital era. By the end of this course, you will know what cybersecurity threats exist and how to prevent cyberattacks.

• Building a Cybersecurity Toolkit: This course will help you develop skills and characteristics that go beyond technical proficiency to be a successful cybersecurity professional.

• Introduction to Cyber Attacks: This course will teach you the fundamentals of common cyber security threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. An overview of how basic cyber attacks are built and applied to real-world systems is also provided. Examples include Simple Unix kernel hacks, Internet worms, and Trojan horses in software utilities. Network attacks like distributed denial of service (DDOS) and botnet attacks are also described and illustrated using real-world examples from the last few decades.

• Cloud Security Basics: This course will teach you about cloud information security. You will study and apply conventional security techniques to today's cloud security issues. Begin with a deceptively simple and secure web service, then address and improve it as problems arise. You'll use standard, systematic techniques to analyze recent cloud security vulnerabilities, create your own web service case studies, and build security solutions for them.

• Managing Cybersecurity Incidents and Disasters: Most businesses plan for routine operations, but what happens when unexpected events disrupt the plan? This course investigates the use of contingency planning to prepare for and manage non-normal operations, such as cybersecurity incidents such as hacking attempts, website defacement, denial of service attacks, information disclosures, and other natural and man-made cybersecurity disasters.

• Introduction to Information Security: For any information technology professional looking to pass the CISSP certification exam, this comprehensive CISSP program covers all aspects of IT security. This program, aligned with (ISC)2 CBK 2018, provides an introduction to information security and assists you in becoming an expert in defining IT architecture and designing and maintaining a secure business environment.

• Cyberattack Countermeasure: This course covers the fundamentals of cyber defense, beginning with foundational models like the Bell-LaPadula and information flow frameworks. These underlying policy enforcement mechanisms help introduce essential functional safeguards, starting with authentication methods. In the context of a canonical schema, you will be introduced to a variety of authentication solutions and protocols, including RSA SecurID and Kerberos.

It is important to note that cybersecurity is a constantly evolving field as new technologies and threats emerge. Organizations and individuals must keep up to date on the latest developments to effectively protect their systems and data. As a result, this field creates a multidisciplinary approach. So, choose the learning path that best suits your interests and career objectives.