Cybersecurity Foundations
Security teams are hiring for judgment they cannot test in an interview: can you actually map a network, triage a real attack, and write a brief a CISO would act on? Most free courses answer with slides. This one is for career switchers, IT professionals moving into security, and students who need work they can point to — a real cloud terminal, seven modules, and nothing to install.
Free
No card, no prerequisites
7
Modules, 19 lessons
6
Hands-on cloud labs
3
Certification tracks mapped
Aligned with
Security+SecAI+No payment details required. Labs run in the browser — nothing to install.
Start FreeTalk to us about cohortsThis course includes
- 7 modules — 6 taught modules plus a career matrix
- 6 hands-on labs in a real cloud terminal
- A foundation check per module, so you can skip what you know
- Coverage mapped to Security+, ISC2 CC and SecAI+
- Runs in the browser — no installation, no lab setup
- Self-paced, on your own schedule
Why This Course
Free does not mean thin. Every module ends in a real cloud lab, not a video: you map an actual network, work back from logs to what happened, lock down an over-privileged account, run a SOC alert queue, and write the risk brief a CISO would actually read. A foundation check at the start of each module means you never repeat what you already know — score well and go straight to the lab.
Coverage tracked against: CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 · ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity · CompTIA SecAI+
Skills You’ll Gain
Who Should Attend
Career Switchers
Coming from another field with no security background. The concept lesson in each module assumes nothing, and the labs give you work you can actually point at.
IT Professionals
Already technical and moving toward security. Take the foundation check first and skip straight to the lab in any module you already know.
Students
Building a first portfolio. Free, self-paced, and mapped to Security+ and ISC2 CC so the effort counts toward a recognised certification.
Curriculum
7 modules · 19 lessons
M1
M1 — Network Security Fundamentals
How networks work, what exposes them, and how to see it for yourself
You learn how traffic actually moves between hosts, ports and services — the vocabulary every later module assumes you already have. Then the concept becomes a real terminal: you scan an unfamiliar network belonging to CyBeX, identify every open port and exposed service, and explain in plain language why each one matters to an attacker, before ever touching a vulnerability.
Skill: Map an unfamiliar network and read what it tells you
M2
M2 — Threats, Vulnerabilities & Attacks
What an attack looks like from the defender’s side of the logs
You learn the difference between a threat, a vulnerability and an attack, and why conflating the three is what makes a written incident report unreadable to anyone but its author. Then you work back from raw evidence: CyBeX has already been attacked, and you have only the logs it left behind. You reconstruct what actually happened, in the order it happened, and write it up the way a real incident ticket demands.
Skill: Triage a live attack and write it up
M3
M3 — Identity & Access Management
Why most breaches are an access problem before they are anything else
You learn the principle of least privilege and why almost every serious breach traces back to someone having access they never needed. Then you audit a real account inside CyBeX: a contractor with permissions that quietly outlived the contract. You find exactly what is over-provisioned, cut it back to what the role actually requires, and explain the change in terms someone outside security would accept.
Skill: Find and fix an over-privileged account
M4
M4 — Security Operations
What a SOC actually does, hour by hour
You learn what a SOC shift is actually made of — not incident response in the abstract, but the queue, the triage rhythm, and the constant judgment call of what deserves attention right now. Then you take that queue yourself: a stack of live CyBeX alerts, most of them noise, one or two of them real. You decide what escalates, what closes, and what you would tell the next analyst taking over from you.
Skill: Work an alert queue and decide what is real
M5
M5 — Risk Management & Compliance
Turning technical findings into something a business can decide on
You learn why a technically accurate finding is worthless to a business if nobody who can act on it can understand it — and what turns a vulnerability scan into a decision a CISO will actually sign off on. Then you write that brief yourself, for CyBeX, translating what a tool found into what it costs, what it risks, and what should happen next, in language a board would accept rather than argue with.
Skill: Write a risk brief a CISO can act on
M6
M6 — AI Security & SecAI+
What changes once the attacker has AI too
You learn what structurally changes when the phishing you are triaging was written by a model rather than a person — better grammar, faster iteration, and a scale that breaks the old heuristics analysts relied on. Then a live AI-generated campaign lands in the CyBeX inbox, and you work it end to end: telling it apart from the human-written kind on the evidence, not a hunch, and responding the way SecAI+ expects you to.
Skill: Respond to an AI-generated phishing campaign
M7
M7 — Career Matrix: Choose Your Path
CAPSTONEWhere you fit, and what to do next
Six modules of real work is evidence, not just a certificate — this closing module turns that evidence into a decision. You place yourself on a career matrix built from what you actually did in M1 through M6, not a personality quiz, and come away with the specific next course your results point to: the AI SOC Analyst cohort, a governance track, or more foundations first.
Skill: Pick the path your next course follows
What backs this up
The specifics behind the claims on this page. Open any of them for the detail.
- M1
Map CyBeX’s Network
Find what is exposed on an unfamiliar network and explain why it matters.
- M2
Triage the CyBeX Attack
Work back from the logs to what actually happened, then write it up.
- M3
Lock Down the Contractor Account
Find the over-privileged account and apply least privilege.
- M4
Your First SOC Shift at CyBeX
Take the alert queue and decide what is real and what is noise.
- M5
CyBeX Risk Brief for the CISO
Turn technical findings into a brief a business can act on.
- M6
Respond to the AI Phishing Campaign
Handle a campaign written by a machine rather than a person.
- Switchers
Concept → lab
The concept lesson assumes no security background at all.
- IT pros
Check → lab
Skip the material you already work with and spend the time in the terminal.
CompTIA Security+ SY0-701
The common baseline requirement in security job listings.
ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity
Entry-level certification with no experience requirement.
CompTIA SecAI+
AI security coverage, which most foundation courses do not carry at all.
No card required
Sign up and start; there is nothing to cancel later.
Delivered under CSA Bangalore Chapter
Reviewed by the same advisory panel as the paid courses. The full roster is at /course-advisors.
How You’ll Be Certified
Check
Each module opens with a five-question foundation check. Score well and skip straight to the lab — the course is built so you do not sit through what you already know.
5 questions per module
Learn and do
A concept lesson that assumes no background, then a hands-on lab in a real cloud terminal. Every module ends in work you performed rather than content you watched.
6 concepts · 6 labs
Choose your path
Finish on the career matrix: where your strengths sit, which specialisation fits, and which CyBe course follows on.
M7 career matrix
Certifications aligned with
Coverage is tracked against each of these as you work through the course, so the time counts toward a recognised credential rather than only toward this page.
| Issuer | Certification | Domains mapped | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Security+ | 5 domains | The common baseline requirement in security job listings. |
| ISC2 | ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity ISC2 CC | 5 domains | Entry-level certification with no experience requirement. |
| CompTIA SecAI+ SecAI+ | 4 domains | AI security coverage, which most foundation courses do not carry at all. |
5 domainsCompTIA Security+ SY0-701
The common baseline requirement in security job listings.
ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity
Entry-level certification with no experience requirement.
4 domainsCompTIA SecAI+
AI security coverage, which most foundation courses do not carry at all.
Certification names and logos are the property of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the credentials this curriculum maps to. CyBe Global is not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by CompTIA or ISC2, and this course is not an official preparation course for any of their exams.
Faculty for This Course
Satyavathi Divadari
CEO & Founder · CyBe Global / CSA Bangalore
Madhukeshwar Bhat
Academia Advisor · CSA Bangalore Chapter
Course Advisors
Practising security leaders who review this curriculum and keep it current.
Dr. Abhilasha Rakesh Vyas
Director, Learning & Innovation · PureID
Vishal Saraswat
Head, Research & Innovation, Cybersecurity · Bosch Software
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Seema Khandelwal
Core Member · CSA Bangalore Chapter
R S Lakshminarayanan
GM & Regional CISO · Wipro Limited
What Learners Say
“This was different learning experience all together. So much fun and so much to learn. The energy was continuously high to know what’s next. Not just regular content but every time something new and different. I recommend this learning methodology to every learner.”
Pravinkumar Jha
Head of Product and Cloud Security
“That sounds like such a refreshing change from usual conferences. Learning through music and teamwork really makes complex concepts stick in a fun way.”
Rohan Pinto
CTO and Founder, 1Kosmos