Free and awesome course offered by Harvard
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve successfully completed CS50’s Introduction to Cybersecurity, an engaging and enlightening course offered by HarvardX. This introductory program dives deep into the fascinating world of cybersecurity, designed for both technical and non-technical learners.
About the Course
The course equips students with the knowledge to protect data, devices, and systems from current threats while preparing them to evaluate and tackle future risks. It highlights the dynamic nature of cybersecurity, emphasizing trade-offs between risks and rewards, as well as usability versus security. Through real-world examples and assignments, it brings theory to life in a relatable, practical way.
What I Learned
Throughout the course, I explored key concepts and practices in cybersecurity, such as:
- Threats and Attacks: Hacking, phishing, brute-force and dictionary attacks, SQL injection, viruses, worms, botnets, and buffer overflow attacks.
- Security Measures: Multi-factor authentication, password management, secure deletion, hashing and salting, encryption (secret-key, public-key, and digital signatures), and firewalls.
- Real-World Applications: Understanding social engineering, denial-of-service attacks, anonymization, verification, and secure system updates.
- Tools and Techniques: Proxies, port scanning, app store security, and the balance between open-source and closed-source software.
Key Takeaways
This course challenged me to think critically about cybersecurity, not as an absolute state of being secure but as a calculated balance between security and usability. It introduced me to ethical hacking, a vital skill for identifying vulnerabilities responsibly.
By the end of this journey, I gained not just technical insights but also a deeper appreciation for the strategic and ethical considerations that cybersecurity professionals navigate daily.
Looking Ahead
This achievement marks another step toward my goal of becoming a cybersecurity analyst. I’m excited to continue expanding my knowledge and skills in this ever-evolving field.
If you’re curious about cybersecurity, I highly recommend this course — it’s a fantastic starting point! Feel free to reach out if you’d like to know more about my experience.
Anyone can do the course for free on the following website: edX.org
For my final project, I researched a few websites: The Hacker News, Cybercrime Magazine, Help Net Security, Security Week, and Krebs On Security…
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