Beginner · Available now
IT & Security Foundations
Start from zero and build the base every security career stands on.
Twelve short lessons that explain how computers, operating systems and networks actually work, then turn that knowledge into practical security habits. No experience required.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what IT and cybersecurity teams do, and how the roles differ
- Describe how hardware, operating systems and files fit together
- Read an IP address, a DNS lookup and an HTTP response
- Use the terminal to navigate a system and inspect permissions
- Apply the CIA triad and basic threat modelling to everyday risks
- Recognise phishing and build a safer password and MFA routine
Curriculum
12 lessons · 136 minHow computers work
The physical and logical pieces behind every system you will ever secure.
- 9 min
What IT and cybersecurity actually are
Cut through the Hollywood version: what these teams really do, where the roles overlap and why most security work is quiet.
- 11 min
Hardware, software and the operating system
Follow a keystroke from the keyboard through the CPU, memory and storage, and see where the operating system sits.
- 10 min
Binary, hex and how data is stored
Why everything is a number underneath, and how bits, bytes and file signatures show up in security work.
Operating systems and the command line
Where users, files and permissions live, and how to move around without a mouse.
- 10 min
Windows, macOS and Linux
The three families you will meet in every IT job: how they differ, what they share and which one to learn first.
- 12 min
Files, users and permissions
Paths, ownership and the rwx bits that decide who can read, change or run something.
- 13 min
Terminal basics
A calm first session in the shell: navigate the file system, inspect files and chain commands with pipes.
Networking
How data finds its way from one machine to another, and what that means for security.
- 12 min
IP addresses, DNS and DHCP
The three services that make a network usable: addressing, name resolution and automatic configuration.
- 13 min
Ports, protocols and HTTP
TCP, UDP and the request/response conversation your browser has with every website.
- 11 min
Your home network and Wi-Fi security
Routers, NAT, firewalls and Wi-Fi encryption, explained through the network in your own home.
Security basics and next steps
The mental models and habits that make the technical knowledge useful.
- 12 min
The CIA triad and threat modelling
A reusable way to ask what you are protecting, from whom, and what happens if it fails.
- 12 min
Passwords, MFA and phishing
The three attacks you will meet most often, and the habits that actually stop them.
- 11 min
Ethics, law and your first legal lab
Authorization is the line between learning and committing a crime. Cross it properly, then start practising.