Cybersecurity Foundations
Learn how real attacks work and how to defend against them: CIA triad, HTTP/TLS, authentication, hashing, sessions, OWASP-style vulnerabilities, and secure coding habits.
0 of 10 lessons complete
About this course
A practical, beginner-friendly introduction to cybersecurity for anyone who writes or ships software. You will learn what security actually protects (confidentiality, integrity, availability) and how to think about threats, how data moves across the internet (HTTP, TLS, ports, DNS), the difference between authentication and authorization, how passwords should be stored, how sessions and tokens like JWT work, the most common web vulnerabilities (injection, XSS, CSRF, broken access control, IDOR), how to validate input and encode output safely, how to manage secrets, the risks of third-party dependencies, and the daily habits that keep code and systems secure.
Syllabus
Security Fundamentals
What security actually protects, how the internet moves data safely, and the difference between proving who you are and what you're allowed to do.
- What Security Actually ProtectsLevel 1 · Complete beginner · Pass the quick check to continue12m
- How the Internet Moves Data SafelyFinish the lesson and pass the quick check in "What Security Actually Protects" to unlock this lesson.12m
- Authentication vs AuthorizationFinish the lesson and pass the quick check in "What Security Actually Protects" to unlock this lesson.14m
- Passwords and HashingFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Authentication vs Authorization" to unlock this lesson.14m
Common Web Vulnerabilities
Sessions and tokens, and the classic OWASP-style attacks: injection, XSS, CSRF, broken access control, and how to validate input safely.
- Sessions, Tokens, and JWTUnlimitedFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Authentication vs Authorization" to unlock this lesson.14m
- Injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)UnlimitedFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Sessions, Tokens, and JWT" to unlock this lesson.14m
- CSRF, Broken Access Control, and IDORUnlimitedFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Authentication vs Authorization" to unlock this lesson.15m
- Input Validation and Output EncodingUnlimitedFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)" to unlock this lesson.14m
Defense in Practice
Managing secrets, understanding supply-chain risk, and the secure coding + incident-response habits that keep real systems safe.
- Secrets ManagementUnlimitedFinish the lesson, Pass the quick check and pass the coding challenge in "Sessions, Tokens, and JWT" to unlock this lesson.14m
- Secure Signup & Access GatewayUnlimitedComplete "Secrets Management" to unlock this project.~6h
- Supply Chain Risk and Secure Coding HabitsUnlimitedFinish the project "Secure Signup & Access Gateway" to unlock this lesson.15m