Free · Self-paced · No sign-up

The Pre-Security Course

Starting a career in cybersecurity but new to IT? This primer builds the ground floor — how computers, networks, and the web actually work, how to read the code you will be testing, and how a security consultant does the job. Finish it and you can walk into hands-on training, and onto a client site, without feeling lost.

5 modules ~7 hours Read + quiz, no setup needed Built for freshers & career-changers

Your progress is saved on this device only.

Module 1

Computer Fundamentals & Data Representation

What a computer and an operating system really are — files, processes, permissions — your first look at the Windows and Linux command line, and the number and text formats (binary, hex, base64) that security work runs on.

OS & files · permissions · the command line · binary/hex · encoding · encoding vs encryption vs hashing Start module → ✓ Completed Module 2

Networking

The devices a network is built from, the OSI and TCP/IP layers everyone talks in, and how machines find and reach each other — IP, ports, subnetting, switching, routing, NAT — plus why being on one subnet doesn't mean you can reach another.

IP & ports · devices & architecture · OSI / TCP-IP · subnetting · switching · routing · NAT · segmentation · DHCP & DNS · configs & firewalls Start module → ✓ Completed Module 3

How the Web Works

The request-and-response conversation behind every website — URLs, methods, status, headers, cookies — logging in vs being allowed in, and how modern apps work: SPAs, the three tiers, the API types you will meet, and one gateway serving web & mobile.

HTTP · URL anatomy · status & headers · cookies/sessions · authn vs authz · SPA vs traditional · three tiers · API types & gateways · DevTools Start module → ✓ Completed Module 4

Reading Code & JavaScript Basics

A lite JavaScript primer — variables, loops, functions, objects and JSON — so the code stops being a mystery. Then HTML and the DOM, reading a payload, SQL, and telling Oracle from MSSQL.

HTML & DOM · JavaScript (variables · functions · objects · JSON) · SQL · Oracle / MSSQL / MySQL Start module → ✓ Completed Module 5

How Security Consulting Works

The world you are joining — every service a consultancy sells, the OWASP and other frameworks work is measured against, why authorisation matters, why the report is the real product, and the tools and vocabulary you will hear on day one.

the service menu · OWASP Top 10 family · scope & authorisation · the report · risk & compliance · Burp, Nmap & the toolbelt Start module → ✓ Completed