Does ever the thought of your personal details lying unsafe online cross your mind? Have you ever thought of how to keep your personal data secure online? At some point of time, these questions do cross everyone’s mind at one point or the other.
With hacking and data breaches on the rise, internet and information safety is hugely important. As our lives increasingly depend on digital services, the need to protect our information from being maliciously disrupted or misused is really important.
For instance, if your credentials are stolen, there is very little you can do to stop their resale and reuse. However, there are plenty of free online resources designed to teach you about basic information security techniques that can keep yourself safe from criminals who could use them against you. Even though your credentials may be stolen, you can definitely lessen the potential damage that is causes.
In this article, we bring to a list of 5 free cyber and information security courses that you can take, right away to enhance your awareness of your online surroundings. Each course is designed for self-learning MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses), and come with active communities and lecturers you can direct questions towards.
FutureLean: Introduction to Cyber Security
“Our lives depend on online services. Gain essential cyber security knowledge and skills, to help protect your digital life.” Anyone who is looking to know more about protecting their digital life, FutureLearn is the course to choose. Designed by the UK government and the Open University using the FutureLearn platform, this is an eight week long MOOC.
This free online course will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to identify the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to lessen the chances that they will happen to you. It basically looks to give you an understanding into basic infosec security principles, and grows on how to keep your personal data safe online.
As it is a MOOC, you will be able to work together with the other students enrolled on the course during the same period as you. Also, it does have a very active Google+ community.
FutureLearn: Cyber Security: Safety at Home, Online, in Life
The University of Newcastle’s School of Computing Science gets across this very short, three-week jaunt through information security in the modern world. This course concentrates on understanding three basic principles of Internet security: Privacy Online, Payment Safety, and Security at Home.
“As the world is increasingly interconnected, everyone shares the responsibility of of securing cyberspace” – Newton Lee, Counterterrorism and Cybersecurity: Total Information Awareness
Coursera: Internet History, Technology, and Security
This course concentrates on a range of Internet technologies, the history behind the Internet, and the requirement of increased and evolving security to remain safe in the 21st century. Instructed by Charles Severance, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, the course comprises around 12 hours of video lectures and quizzes.
Some of the early weeks may cover information you already understand, such as how the Internet was developed, and why the Internet transformed business, which depends on your current level of knowledge. However, it all quietly flows toward security, networking, and encryption.
This course isn’t as self-paced as others, as you will be required to submit your coursework to advance to the next segment of the course.
Coursera: Cybersecurity and Its Ten Domains
The Cybersecurity and Its Ten Domains course is designed to introduce students, working professionals and the community to the exciting field of cybersecurity. Throughout the MOOC, participants will engage in community discourse and online interaction. It will give you comprehensive understanding of essential cybersecurity fields, including “governance and risk management, compliance, access control, network security, cryptography, business continuity and disaster recovery, security operations, software development security, physical and environmental security, and security architecture.” Learning will be assessed using strategies aligned to knowledge and understanding.
Coming in at just six hours, this is a slightly shorter course. However, this definitely makes it more manageable for those with time restrictions. Another advantage in this course is the diversity of languages available for learning. The video lectures are delivered in English, but come with subtitles for Dutch, Chinese (Simplified), and Portuguese (Brazilian).
Udemy: Cyber Security
The Udemy Cyber Security course aims to provide well-rounded, entry level information relating to important terms and the ideas supporting Internet security practices. The MOOC is instructed by DeVry University and Professor Robert Bunge. Starting with threat analysis and risk management, additional lessons explore core technologies such as encryption, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. Cloud security is also featured, as are incident response, disaster recovery, and how to conduct cyber exercises. The course takes around 2.5 hours delivered over 15 lectures.
Learning is self-paced like most MOOCs. The Udemy course takes in an extensive range of security resources, from both the ethical and the hacktivist viewpoints.
