CybersecurityIntermediate
Cybersecurity Analyst: Zero to Job-Ready (SOC Analyst Path)
The intensive path into a cybersecurity job: security principles, networking, Linux, Python, phishing analysis, network monitoring with Wireshark and Snort, SIEM with Splunk, vulnerabilities, incident response — and a portfolio investigation.
157 lessons24h 26m of video11 quizzes2 practical tasks Certificate
What you'll learn
- Explain core security principles: the CIA triad, AAA, zero trust, encryption and PKI
- Understand networks well enough to defend them: OSI, TCP/IP, IP addressing, DNS, DHCP and common protocols
- Work confidently on the Linux command line and automate tasks with Python
- Explain how a SOC works, its tools, metrics and roles
- Analyse phishing emails, headers, URLs and attachments safely
- Capture and analyse traffic with tcpdump and Wireshark, and write Snort detection rules
- Search and investigate logs in a SIEM (Splunk)
- Run vulnerability and risk analysis and follow an incident response process
- Plan certifications (ISC2 CC, Google, CompTIA Security+, TryHackMe SAL1) and build a portfolio
Course content
Part 1. Start here: the job, the rules and your lab11 lessons
- How this intensive course works
- Foundations: Get started with the certificate programby Grow with Google10 min
- Foundations: What is cybersecurity?by Grow with Google7 min
- Foundations: Core skills for cybersecurity professionalsby Grow with Google8 min
- Foundations: History of securityby Grow with Google10 min
- Foundations: Eight security domainsby Grow with Google8 min
- Foundations: Security frameworks and controlsby Grow with Google11 min
- Foundations: Ethics for a cybersecurity professionalby Grow with Google5 min
- Foundations: Important cybersecurity toolsby Grow with Google6 min
- Foundations: Programming languages in cybersecurityby Grow with Google3 min
- Quiz: the job and the rules
Part 2. Security principles (Security+ core)5 lessons
Part 3. Networking for security analysts21 lessons
- Computer networking in 100 secondsby Fireship2 min
- Intro to computer networks — crash courseby freeCodeCamp.org8 min
- Networking: The OSI Networking Reference Modelby freeCodeCamp.org8 min
- Networking: The Transport Layer Plus ICMPby freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Networking: Basic Network Concepts (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Networking: Basic Network Concepts (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Networking: Basic Network Concepts (part 3)by freeCodeCamp.org5 min
- Networking: Introduction to IPv4 (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Networking: Introduction to IPv4 (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org13 min
- Networking: Introduction to IPv6by freeCodeCamp.org10 min
- Networking: Special IP Networking Conceptsby freeCodeCamp.org8 min
- Networking: Networking Services and Applications (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org8 min
- Networking: Networking Services and Applications (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org5 min
- Networking: DHCP in the Networkby freeCodeCamp.org10 min
- Networking: Introduction to the DNS Serviceby freeCodeCamp.org8 min
- Networking: Introducing Network Address Translationby freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Networking: Common Networking Protocols (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Networking: Common Networking Protocols (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Wireshark tutorial for beginnersby Anson Alexander20 min
- Ports every analyst knows by heart
- Quiz: networking
Part 4. Linux and the command line5 lessons
Part 5. Identity, access and cryptography5 lessons
Part 6. Threats: malware and phishing5 lessons
Part 7. Python for security automation14 lessons
- Python: Get started with the courseby Grow with Google3 min
- Python: Introduction to Python programming in cybersecurityby Grow with Google9 min
- Python: Core Python componentsby Grow with Google14 min
- Python: Conditional and iterative statementsby Grow with Google20 min
- Python: Introduction to functionsby Grow with Google7 min
- Python: Work with functionsby Grow with Google15 min
- Python: Learn from the Python communityby Grow with Google8 min
- Python: Work with stringsby Grow with Google13 min
- Python: Work with lists and develop algorithmsby Grow with Google14 min
- Python: Regular expressionsby Grow with Google8 min
- Python: Python for automationby Grow with Google5 min
- Python: Work with files in Pythonby Grow with Google13 min
- Python: Debug Python codeby Grow with Google12 min
- Practice: a log-checking script
Part 8. Inside the Security Operations Centre (SOC 101)17 lessons
- SOC: Course Objectivesby The Cyber Mentors3 min
- SOC: Prerequisites and Course Resourcesby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- SOC: Installing Oracle VM VirtualBoxby The Cyber Mentors5 min
- SOC: Installing Windowsby The Cyber Mentors12 min
- SOC: Configuring Windowsby The Cyber Mentors10 min
- SOC: Installing Ubuntuby The Cyber Mentors13 min
- SOC: Configuring Ubuntuby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- SOC: Configuring the Lab Networkby The Cyber Mentors5 min
- SOC: The SOC and Its Roleby The Cyber Mentors19 min
- SOC: Information Security Refresherby The Cyber Mentors23 min
- SOC: SOC Models, Roles, and Organizational Structuresby The Cyber Mentors1 min
- SOC: Incident and Event Managementby The Cyber Mentors7 min
- SOC: SOC Metricsby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- SOC: SOC Toolsby The Cyber Mentors16 min
- SOC: Common Threats and Attacksby The Cyber Mentors16 min
- Free hands-on alternative: TryHackMe Pre Security path
- Quiz: the SOC
Part 9. Phishing analysis21 lessons
- Phishing: Introduction to Phishingby The Cyber Mentors14 min
- Phishing: Email Fundamentalsby The Cyber Mentors13 min
- Phishing: Phishing Analysis Configurationby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- Phishing: Phishing Attack Typesby The Cyber Mentors16 min
- Phishing: Phishing Attack Techniquesby The Cyber Mentors15 min
- Phishing: Email Analysis Methodologyby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- Phishing: Email Header and Sender Analysisby The Cyber Mentors21 min
- Phishing: Email Authentication Methodsby The Cyber Mentors17 min
- Phishing: Email Content Analysisby The Cyber Mentors13 min
- Phishing: The Anatomy of a URLby The Cyber Mentors9 min
- Phishing: Email URL Analysisby The Cyber Mentors21 min
- Phishing: Email Attachment Analysisby The Cyber Mentors15 min
- Phishing: Dynamic Attachment Analysis and Sandboxingby The Cyber Mentors21 min
- Phishing: Static MalDoc Analysisby The Cyber Mentors7 min
- Phishing: Static PDF Analysisby The Cyber Mentors11 min
- Phishing: Automated Email Analysis with PhishToolby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- Phishing: Reactive Phishing Defenseby The Cyber Mentors27 min
- Phishing: Proactive Phishing Defenseby The Cyber Mentors13 min
- Phishing: Documentation and Reportingby The Cyber Mentors12 min
- Phishing: Additional Phishing Practiceby The Cyber Mentors3 min
- Quiz: phishing analysis
Part 10. Network security monitoring27 lessons
- Network security: Introduction to Network Securityby The Cyber Mentors6 min
- Network security: Network Security Theoryby The Cyber Mentors30 min
- Network security: Packet Capture and Flow Analysisby The Cyber Mentors12 min
- Network security: Introduction to tcpdumpby The Cyber Mentors16 min
- Network security: tcpdump: Capturing Network Trafficby The Cyber Mentors14 min
- Network security: tcpdump: Analyzing Network Trafficby The Cyber Mentors14 min
- Network security: tcpdump: Analyzing Network Traffic (Sample 2)by The Cyber Mentors15 min
- Network security: Introduction to Wiresharkby The Cyber Mentors16 min
- Network security: Wireshark: Capture and Display Filtersby The Cyber Mentors12 min
- Network security: Wireshark: Statisticsby The Cyber Mentors12 min
- Network security: Wireshark: Analyzing Network Trafficby The Cyber Mentors19 min
- Network security: Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systemsby The Cyber Mentors8 min
- Network security: Introduction to Snortby The Cyber Mentors18 min
- Network security: Snort: Reading and Writing Rulesby The Cyber Mentors25 min
- Network security: Snort: Intrusion Detection and Preventionby The Cyber Mentors21 min
- Network security: Additional Network Traffic Analysis Practiceby The Cyber Mentors3 min
- Network defence: Risk and Security Related Conceptsby freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Network defence: Common Network Vulnerabilitiesby freeCodeCamp.org9 min
- Network defence: Common Network Threats (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org7 min
- Network defence: Common Network Threats (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org9 min
- Network defence: Network Hardening Techniques (part 1)by freeCodeCamp.org9 min
- Network defence: Network Hardening Techniques (part 2)by freeCodeCamp.org9 min
- Network defence: Network Hardening Techniques (part 3)by freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Network defence: Physical Network Security Controlby freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Network defence: Firewall Basicsby freeCodeCamp.org10 min
- Network defence: Network Access Controlby freeCodeCamp.org6 min
- Quiz: network monitoring
Part 11. Endpoint security and SIEM6 lessons
- Endpoint: Introduction to Endpoint Securityby The Cyber Mentors5 min
- Endpoint: Endpoint Security Controlsby The Cyber Mentors13 min
- Endpoint: Creating Our Malwareby The Cyber Mentors14 min
- Splunk tutorial for beginnersby Jon Good12 min
- Why you need to learn Splunk (David Bombal)by David Bombal35 min
- Practise: LetsDefend (free SOC simulator tier)
Part 12. Vulnerabilities, risk and cloud6 lessons
Part 13. Incident response5 lessons
Part 14. Certifications, career and the African job market7 lessons
- From zero to SOC analyst: the roadmapby MyDFIR12 min
- Watch this before becoming a SOC analystby UnixGuy | Cyber Security27 min
- 10 free sites for hands-on SOC trainingby MyDFIR7 min
- Taking the TryHackMe Security Analyst Level 1 certification (John Hammond)by John Hammond14 min
- Cyber threats to African security (Africa Center for Strategic Studies)by Africa Center for Strategic Studies20 min
- ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) — free training and exam offer
- Your certification and job plan
Part 15. Final investigation2 lessons
Capstone project: Capstone: write a SOC investigation report. You finish by building something real; a mentor reviews it before your certificate is issued.
About this course
Security Operations Centre (SOC) analysts are the front line of cyber defence, and banks, fintechs, telecoms and governments across Africa are hiring. This intensive course takes you from beginner to job-ready. You'll start with Google's Cybersecurity Certificate foundations and Professor Messer's Security+ lessons (the CIA triad, zero trust, identity, encryption, malware, threat actors, vulnerabilities and risk), build the networking, Linux and Python skills every analyst needs, then work through The Cyber Mentor's complete SOC 101 training: how a SOC runs, analysing phishing emails and attachments, capturing and analysing network traffic with tcpdump and Wireshark, detecting intrusions with Snort, and endpoint security. You'll add SIEM skills with Splunk, incident response based on NIST, free hands-on labs (TryHackMe, LetsDefend, CyberDefenders, OverTheWire) and a certification and career plan. Your capstone is a real investigation report — the kind of work sample that gets interviews. About 24 hours of video plus labs: 3–4 months at an hour a day. Take Cybersecurity Fundamentals first if you are completely new.