Cloud Security

Cloud Security Essentials

Even if your organization has the tooling, experience, and teams to secure on-premises environments, you likely aren’t fully prepared for the cloud. Organizations all over the world are rushing to adopt cloud technologies despite having an insufficient understanding of critical cloud security issues, such as properly configuring cloud environments to protect sensitive data, managing billing costs, and balancing computing power usage. The problem is, many cloud security courses focus solely on theory. Cloud Security Essentials tackles these practical challenges head-on, offering over 20 real-world, technical, hands-on labs, a Capstone Capture the Flag event, and industry-leading content to build a secure cloud foundation.

Certification: GIAC Cloud Security Essentials (GCLD)

Cloud Security

Cloud Security and DevSecOps Automation

Organizations are moving to the cloud to enable digital transformation and reap the benefits of cloud computing. However, security teams struggle to understand the DevOps toolchain and how to introduce security controls in their automated pipelines responsible for delivering changes to cloud-based systems. Without effective pipeline security controls, security teams lose visibility into the changes released into production environments. This course provides security professionals with the knowledge they need to automate guardrails and security policies in their organization’s DevOps pipelines, cloud infrastructure, container orchestrators, and microservice environments. By embracing the DevOps culture, students will walk away from this course battle-tested and ready to build to their organization’s Cloud & DevSecOps Security Program. 35 Unique, Immersive, Hands-On Labs + CloudWars Bonus Challenges

Certification: GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA)

Digital Forensics, Incident Response & Threat Hunting, Cloud Security

Enterprise Cloud Forensics and Incident Response

The world is changing, and so is the data we need to conduct our investigations. Cloud platforms change how data is stored and accessed. They remove the examiner’s ability to put their hands directly on the systems. Many examiners are trying to force old methods for on-premise examination onto cloud hosted platforms. Rather than resisting change, examiners must learn to embrace the new opportunities presented to them in the form of new evidence sources. Enterprise Cloud Forensics and Incident Response addresses today’s need to bring examiners up to speed with the rapidly changing world of enterprise cloud environments by uncovering the new evidence sources that only exist in the cloud.

Certification: GIAC Cloud Forensics Responder (GCFR)

Cloud Security

Cloud Security Threat Detection

While shifting to cloud infrastructure offers many benefits, it also exposes organizations to new and continuously evolving threats. Many organizations are unaware of the critical differences between on-premises and cloud environments, leading to challenges in understanding what to log and how to detect threats effectively. Unlike other, primarily theoretical courses, SEC541: Cloud Security Threat Detection provides hands-on-keyboard experience through 21 practical labs covering AWS, Azure, and Microsoft 365. This course empowers your team to master cloud-native logging, threat detection, and monitoring, solving hidden, low-hanging but high ROI issues. Equip your team with the skills necessary to enhance your organization’s cloud security posture and stay ahead of potential breaches with this course.

Certification: GIAC Cloud Threat Detection (GCTD)

Cloud Security, Offensive Operations, Pen Testing, and Red Teaming

Cloud Penetration Testing

This course will equip you with the latest cloud-focused penetration testing techniques and teach you how to assess cloud environments. The course dives into topics like cloud-based microservices, in-memory data stores, serverless functions, Kubernetes meshes, and containers. It also looks at how to identify and test cloud-first and cloud-native applications. You will also learn specific tactics for penetration testing in Azure and Amazon Web Services, particularly important given that AWS and Microsoft account for more than half the market. It is one thing to assess and secure a data center, but it takes a specialized skill set to evaluate and report on the risks to an organization if its cloud services are left insecure. 27 Hands-on Labs

Certification: GIAC Cloud Penetration Tester (GCPN)

Cloud Security

Application Security: Securing Web Applications, APIs, and Microservices

In today’s complex, distributed application environments, securing sensitive corporate data is more challenging than ever. It equips security professionals with the skills to identify and mitigate common vulnerabilities in web applications, cloud-native services, and APIs, while integrating industry best practices into development processes. With 20 hands-on labs and an exciting Defend the Flag challenge, this course offers the practical, hands-on experience necessary to stay ahead of evolving security threats and protect modern, hybrid application ecosystems.

Certification: GIAC Certified Web Application Defender (GWEB)

Cloud Security

Cloud Security Architecture

Organizations are migrating infrastructure and applications to the cloud at a rapid pace. As migrations take place, security architects are struggling to design hybrid and cloud-native solutions to meet their organization’s security requirements. Shifting to the cloud requires a deep understanding of the threats introduced by a cloud migration and how each provider mitigates those threats using their well-architected framework. This course teaches security professionals how to design an enterprise-ready, scalable cloud organization. With nearly 20 hands-on labs, students will learn to design cloud solutions for their organization at any stage of the cloud journey, whether planning for the first workload, managing complex legacy environments, or operating in an advanced cloud-native ecosystem.

Cloud Security, Cybersecurity and IT Essentials

Cloud Security Controls and Mitigations

Today’s organizations depend on complex, multicloud environments, which must support hundreds of different services across multiple clouds. These services are often insecure by default and require substantially different methods to protect depending on the cloud service provider (CSP) that hosts them. It is vital that security teams have a deep understanding of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud services to lock them down effectively. Checking off compliance requirements is simply not enough to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your organization’s data, nor will it prevent attackers from taking your critical systems down. With the right controls, organizations can reduce their attack surface and prevent security incidents from becoming breaches. Mistakes are inevitable, but you can limit the impact.

Certification: GIAC Public Cloud Security (GPCS)

Cloud Security, Cybersecurity Leadership

Cloud Security for Leaders

This cloud security strategy for leaders training course focuses on what managers, directors, and security leaders need to know about developing their plan/roadmap while managing cloud security implementation capabilities. To safeguard the organization’s cloud environment and investments, a knowledgeable management team must engage in thorough planning and governance. We emphasize the essential knowledge needed to develop a cloud security roadmap and effectively implement cloud security capabilities. Making informed security decisions when adopting the cloud necessitates understanding the technology, processes, and people associated with the cloud environment. 12 hands-on Cyber42 exercises + capstone.

Cloud Security

Introduction to Cloud Computing and Security

Today’s world of cyber security moves quickly. Cloud security moves even faster, so getting started or moving into a career in this field can be intimidating if you do not have the foundation to be successful. This course solves this problem by helping you to learn the foundational elements of modern cloud computing and security. This course kicks off your journey to becoming a cyberpro’s Cloud Ace by taking an introductory yet critical look at cloud security. This course focuses on Azure and AWS and shows you how to interact with each cloud provider by familiarizing you with common terminology, cloud services, security concerns, and solutions to cloud-based security shortcomings. Through hands-on labs, this course puts you in real-world scenarios that challenge you to learn more about AWS, Azure, and relevant cloud computing and security concepts.

Cybersecurity and IT Essentials, Cloud Security

AWS Secure Builder

Data breaches of cloud infrastructure can often be traced back to inadvertent misconfigurations made by non-security personnel. Cloud developers, engineers, architects, and other security-adjacent roles require platform-specific training to effectively prioritize security and reduce the likelihood of harmful breaches. AWS Secure Builder fulfills this requirement by equipping technical professionals with the skills needed to embed security fundamentals into Amazon Web Services (AWS) workloads from the start. This course features eight comprehensive modules, each accompanied by a hands-on lab, ensuring participants gain practical experience in building secure AWS environments.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cybersecurity Courses

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, cybersecurity has become a critical concern for organizations worldwide. The demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals is growing exponentially, with the World Economic Forum projecting a talent shortage of 85 million workers by 2030. As a result, IT professionals, whether aspiring or experienced, are increasingly focusing on upskilling to meet this demand.

The high stakes of cybersecurity mean that hiring managers maintain rigorous standards, creating a significant barrier to entry that only education and experience can overcome. This is where cybersecurity courses come into play, offering IT professionals the opportunity to enhance their skills, gain valuable experience, and improve their marketability in the competitive IT career landscape.

Despite the many training organizations claiming expertise in cybersecurity, only a select few are recognized by industry decision-makers. This blog addresses the most common questions from your peers about cybersecurity courses, providing insights that influence both upskillers and job seekers alike.

1. What are the courses for cybersecurity?

Specializing in a specific area of cybersecurity helps tremendously when developing a course and certification roadmap for your cybersecurity career. Areas of specialization are as vast as the cybersecurity discipline itself. So, focus on areas of passion and keen interest, areas where you’ve made positive change or achieved ‘wins’ for an organization.

A few areas of specialization in cybersecurity include:

• Cloud Security
• Cyber Defense
• Cybersecurity and IT Essentials
• Cybersecurity Leadership
• Digital Forensics, Incident Response, and Threat Hunting
• Industrial Control Systems Security
• Offensive Operations, Pen Testing, and Red Teaming
• Open-Source Intelligence

2. How long is a cybersecurity course?

The length of a cybersecurity course depends on the course type. Course types fall into three categories: in-person, live online, and on demand.

In-person cybersecurity courses range from five to ten days in duration and offer a series of networking and professional development opportunities aside from the core subject matter training.

Live online cybersecurity courses take place during a specific date and time and are conducted live, with participants having access to some or all course materials after the completion of the live portion of the course. The duration is equal to that of the in-person version of the course: five to ten days.

OnDemand cybersecurity courses offer students the chance to learn at a customized pace while receiving live support from subject matter experts. There are sometimes limits on the length of time learners can access the materials, in many cases ranging from four months to unlimited access.

3. How much does a cybersecurity course cost?

Courses increase in cost based on complexity of subject matter, length of the course, and the tools and resources included in the course to hone the learner’s skills in a particular area. High quality, highly specialized, and technical courses cost more than others in the market.

Cybersecurity course fees and their return on investment depend on a learner’s goals when seeking cybersecurity education. A cybersecurity pro looking to build a skill base can piece together a learning curriculum, but that can be like building in the dark with no blueprint.

SANS courses offer a curated learning experience with all resources necessary to learn and master the most relevant skills in a subject area. This saves students time and effort. When reviewing costs, consider these factors:

• Time: The lower the cost, the less structured and impactful the experience. Learners often end up pulling together information from disparate sources with no assurance that what they’re learning is important to hiring managers and internal decision makers in their organizations.
• Reputation: Some educational groups in cybersecurity need no explanation as to their expertise or level of trust in the marketplace. Others, while popular in small groups of specialized cybersecurity pros, may not have the name recognition to grab the attention of fast-moving decision makers looking to promote the next solid cybersecurity expert in their organization.
• Employer sponsorship: Some educational groups offer pricing designed for learners who self-fund their education, while other training organizations facilitate corporate pricing for high-level, specialized coursework for their employees. This often helps employers prove that they’re addressing a pressing issue or a gaping hole in their cybersecurity positioning.

Courses that offer this level of efficient delivery and a high-level learning experience range between $3,000 and $6,000 per course.

4. How difficult is a cybersecurity course?

Difficulty levels of cybersecurity courses vary based on the experience level of the learner, the prerequisite courses needed, and the complexity of the course subject matter.

More advanced courses held in a group setting often present the most complexity to learners. Ways to address perceived difficulty of course materials include selecting a course style that best suits the learner’s needs. For some, in-person experiences lessen course difficulty. Whereas on-demand courses offer those who favor self-paced learning the time to absorb and test new concepts until they become integrated into the learner’s skill set.

Consider reviewing prerequisites and consulting with an educational consultant provided by the cybersecurity course provider to select the best course type and to gauge the level of difficulty of each course.

5. What are the best cybersecurity courses for beginners?

This answer depends on your specific goals. There are foundational courses that provide certifications that employers expect potential hires to have when seeking to land a cybersecurity role.

In this case, GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) offers employers proof of your mastery of cybersecurity essentials and foundational concepts, terms, and strategies. Areas of this certification include cryptography, cloud security operations for AWS and Azure, Linux hardening, and Windows access controls.

6. What are the best advanced cybersecurity courses?

As certain technologies gain popularity, an organization’s attack surface grows. Cybersecurity pros who master the fundamentals can branch out into emerging branches of the cybersecurity threat matrix. For instance, as machine learning becomes more useful in enterprise settings, cybersecurity pros look to codify their understanding of securing systems leveraging the technology.

Other solid advanced courses include:

• Red Team, Blue Team, and Purple Team operations
• Cloud Security
• Security Management
• Advanced Leadership

7. What jobs can you get in cybersecurity?‎

The cybersecurity industry offers many chances for passionate learners to upskill and land roles in the industry. Many cybersecurity pros come from the broader world of IT and move from being network administrators and software engineers to cryptanalysts and bug bounty hunters. Here’s a list of cybersecurity jobs and their associated categories:

Offensive Operations

• Red Team member
• Pen Tester

Defensive Operations

• Counterespionage Analyst
• Cryptanalyst
• Cyber Intelligence Specialist
• Data Privacy Officer
• Data Security Analyst
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Security Specialist
• Information Security Analyst
• IT Security Architect
• Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst
• Security Awareness Training Specialist
• Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) Security Analyst

Leadership

• Chief Security Officer (CSO)
• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
• Security Operations Center (SOC) Manager

Incident Response and Threat Hunting

• Threat Hunter
• Virus Technician
• Bug Bounty Hunter
• Ethical Hacker
• Incident Responder
• Malware Analyst
• Vulnerability Assessor

Threat Intel and Forensics

• Cyber Insurance Policy Specialist
• Cyber Operations Specialist
• Cybercrime Investigator
• Cybersecurity Lawyer
• Source Code Auditor

8. How can online courses help you learn cybersecurity?

While in-person learning experiences in cybersecurity offer networking opportunities, online courses provide learners with a focused environment for absorbing cybersecurity concepts and practicing their application online.

For the budget conscious, not having to travel makes online courses attractive. Learners also get the chance to engage with course materials at the times most convenient for them.

Another benefit, when course participants need one-on-one assistance, they can reach out to subject matter experts and/or course leaders only when needed. This independent learning format suits many in the cybersecurity industry.

Cybersecurity is a dynamic and ever-evolving field, requiring continuous learning and adaptation. Investing in cybersecurity courses can significantly enhance your skills, boost your career prospects, and help bridge the talent gap in this critical industry. Whether you’re just starting or looking to advance your expertise, there are courses tailored to meet your needs and ambitions. By understanding the various aspects of cybersecurity education, you can make informed decisions and set yourself on a path to success in the cybersecurity landscape.