BC Skills Academy

Cybersecurity Foundations — Illustrated Study Guide

A vendor-neutral, entirely defensive illustrated study guide for the Cybersecurity Foundations certification. Four modules build a defender's mental model from zero: the CIA triad and the language of threats, vulnerabilities, and risk; the common families of attack and how to recognise and prevent them; identity, access, passwords, MFA, and encryption; and secure networking, hygiene, defense in depth, frameworks, and incident awareness. Rich with Mermaid diagrams (the CIA triad, the phishing attack flow, symmetric versus asymmetric encryption, and defense-in-depth layers), comparison tables, worked examples, and self-checks. Every topic teaches how attacks work only so that you can stop them.

Key facts

Course outline

  1. Core Principles: the CIA Triad, Threats, and Risk — The three goals every control protects, and the precise difference between a threat, a vulnerability, and risk.
    • The CIA Triad
    • Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Risk
    • Thinking Like a Defender
  2. Common Attacks and How to Recognise Them — Malware, phishing and social engineering, ransomware, denial of service, and man-in-the-middle — at a conceptual, defensive level.
    • Malware and Its Families
    • Phishing and Social Engineering
    • Ransomware, DoS, and Man-in-the-Middle
  3. Identity, Access, and Encryption — Authentication versus authorization, passwords and MFA, least privilege, and the essentials of encryption, hashing, and TLS.
    • Authentication, Authorization, and Least Privilege
    • Passwords and MFA in Practice
    • Encryption, Hashing, and TLS
  4. Networks, Hygiene, Defense in Depth, and Incidents — Firewalls, VPNs, and ports; patching and data classification; the layered defense-in-depth strategy; an intro to NIST CSF and basic incident awareness.
    • Network Basics: Firewalls, VPNs, and Ports
    • Hygiene, Patching, and Data Classification
    • Defense in Depth, Frameworks, and Incidents