Designed for aspiring associate-level cybersecurity analysts, this course provides a comprehensive introduction to network security from both a defensive and offensive perspective.
First, you will build a strong foundation by learning the essential components of a secure network infrastructure. You will explore core technologies like NAT, ACLs, and AAA, and understand the role of critical security devices such as Web Application Firewalls and network-based malware protection.
Then, you will learn to think like an attacker. We will dive deep into the TCP/IP protocol suite to uncover its inherent vulnerabilities and demonstrate how they are exploited in common attacks like Man-in-the-Middle, spoofing, and Denial-of-Service.
By the end of this course, you will be equipped with a holistic understanding of network architecture and the threats it faces, preparing you to effectively monitor, analyze, and defend networks in a Security Operations Center (SOC).
Requirements (This section remains the same and applies to the overall course)- To be successful in this course, you should have:
- Skills and knowledge equivalent to the CCNA v1.0 course.
- Familiarity with Ethernet and TCP/IP networking.
- Working knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems.
- Familiarity with basic networking security concepts.
Overview
Syllabus
- Understanding Network Infrastructure and Network Security Monitoring Tools
- This foundational module provides you with a blueprint for modern network security architecture. We will start with essential network functions like Network Address Translation (NAT) and packet filtering with Access Control Lists (ACLs). You will then learn how to manage user and device permissions through Access Control Models and AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting). Finally, we'll examine the critical security technologies that protect and monitor the network, including load balancers, Web Application Firewalls, network-based malware protection, and various Network Security Monitoring (NSM) tools.
- Understanding Common TCP/IP Attacks
- Building on your knowledge of network infrastructure, this module shifts focus to the offensive side of cybersecurity. You will learn to think like an attacker by dissecting the TCP/IP suite to expose common vulnerabilities in protocols like ARP, IP, ICMP, TCP, and UDP. We will analyze how these weaknesses are leveraged to launch real-world attacks, covering techniques for reconnaissance, gaining unauthorized access, and disrupting services through Man-in-the-Middle (MITM), spoofing, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks.
Taught by
Cisco Learning & Certifications
