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Learn Cybersecurity Fundamentals

10 weeks · 2 milestones

Cybersecurity Fundamentals (RIT on edX), then one project of your own. Part of the Varsity Curriculum: Computer Science.

Milestone map

Milestone map

2 milestones

Do the course work in public

4–8 weeks (10–12 hrs/week)

Take Cybersecurity Fundamentals for free and do a security check of your own home network or a test machine, with what you found and fixed. Keep everything in one public repo or notebook as you go. Certificates cost money. Audit is free; you never need the certificate here.

Proof required

Link your public repo or notebook with a security check of your own home network or a test machine, with what you found and fixed, and a screenshot or log showing the self-check passed.

What gets checked

  • Only systems you own were tested.
  • Each finding has proof (screenshot or log) and a fix.
  • The fix was checked afterwards.

Common mistakes

  • Copying posted answers: verifiers read the history.
  • Skipping the self-check, then asking for review too early.

Powstik Guide

A public repo or notebook with a security check of your own home network or a test machine, with what you found and fixed.

Steps

  1. Make a public repo or notebook first.
  2. Do one unit at a time and commit after each.
  3. Run the self-check: For each risk on the list, explain it in one line and name one fix.
  4. Write a short README: what is here and how to run it.
  5. Ask three people who know the topic to check it.

Template

README
Course: Cybersecurity Fundamentals (RIT on edX)
What is here:
How to run it:
Self-check result:
What was hardest:

What gets sent back

  • No history, just one big upload.
  • Self-check not shown.
  • Code that does not run from the README.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • Only systems you own were tested.
  • Each finding has proof (screenshot or log) and a fix.
  • The fix was checked afterwards.
  • Ask one question about a choice in the code; the answer should be clear.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

Write a threat model for an app

1–3 weeks (5–8 hrs/week)

Use what you learned. Make a threat model (assets, threats, fixes) for an app you built or use, with one fix shipped. Keep it small enough to finish in about two weeks.

Proof required

Link a threat model (assets, threats, fixes) for an app you built or use, with one fix shipped, with a README that says how to run or read it.

What gets checked

  • Assets and threats are real for that app.
  • Fixes are ranked by risk.
  • One fix is in the code.

Common mistakes

  • A project too big to finish.
  • A demo that only works on your machine.

Powstik Guide

A threat model (assets, threats, fixes) for an app you built or use, with one fix shipped.

Steps

  1. Write one line: what it does and for whom.
  2. Build the smallest version that works.
  3. Test it on someone else's machine or with someone else reading it.
  4. Write the README.
  5. Ask three people to check it.

Template

README
What it does:
Who it is for:
How to run it:
What I would do next:

What gets sent back

  • Does not run from the README.
  • Not clearly the person's own work.
  • Claims more than it does.

Resources

Foundationstart here

Depthgo deeper

What a verifier looks for

  • Assets and threats are real for that app.
  • Fixes are ranked by risk.
  • One fix is in the code.
  • Check that the work is the person's own.

You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.

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