Home Cyber Defense Course (HCDC)

Background

Not properly securing your home computer can be tragic, but knowing how hackers and cyber intruders target and exploit your private information can give you a serious advantage in today's digital world.

The threat to home users is growing more and more each day.  Parents and children are challenged with understanding how to protect their private information that is on their home computer systems from cyber criminals.

So what makes up the Internet? The home user.  Without the home user there would be no need for the Internet as we know it today.  If there were no people there would be no need for a website, if there were no need for a website, there would be no need for computers.  In short, the Internet as we know it today exists because of you, the home user.

Paying the Price. You pay into the system.  You pay for your computer; you pay for your computer software, and Internet service.  Once you’re happily surfing the Internet you pay for services on the web and finally you have to pay to secure your computer (i.e. Anti-virus programs).

Question, which anti-virus should you pay for? Which is the best?  How do you know it will protect you and your family?  The truth is there is no automated system that you can pay for that will keep you safe all the time.  Being aware of the current cyber threat and countermeasures is the only sure defense.

The Home User Computer Network Defense Course is geared toward fulfilling the needs of adult home users who want to know how to protect their home computers and networks.  The knowledge and skills taught in this course are cutting edge and essential in protecting you and your family from identity theft, cyberstalking, data loss or compromise.  See below for the course description and syllabus.

Prerequisites:  None (basic computer skills are recommended but not a must).

Audience:  Parents, guardians, educators, home PC users, and people working from home.

Description

Lesson 1 of the course starts off by revealing why personal network security is most important to the home user. The home user will get a brief introduction in home network security basics which is built around the PAC triad: Privacy, Accuracy, and Convenience.  This triad is all about what the home user expects out of their computers; privacy to keep data confidential; accurate to make sure the information transmitted or saved is not changed in any way; and convenience all of your information on your computer or the Internet is always available and convenient to access.  The second half of lesson one (1) is devoted to identifying, describing, and demonstrating real cyber threats and their associated countermeasures.  Whether you or your family is surfing the Internet at home or you are working from a hotel or an in-laws house you are at risk to high-tech sophisticated attacks.  Malicious hackers do not care who’s on the other end of your computer, they care about breaking in, stealing, and/or destroying your data and information.  We will discuss how cruel invaders do this through espionage, cyberstalking, pop-ups, social engineering, social networking, spear phishing, drive-by-downloads, malware, spyware, ransomware, worms, Trojan horses and viruses just to name a few.

Lesson 2 focuses on teaching the home user how to protect their home computer network, mobile cellular phones, and wireless networks from cyber attacks using freely available tools.  The tactics, techniques, and procedures for protecting home computers and cellular mobile phones includes a detailed look at the operating systems, anti-virus programs, prevention and detection programs, file permissions, file encryption, email encryption, personal patch management, and parent controls.  The second half of the lesson teaches the home user some of the best practices for wireless security which include how to choose the best wireless access point encryption, how to set up and configure the wireless encryption, and how to monitor for malicious activity.

Lesson 3 is putting what the home user learned into action!  First starting out by identifying some free computer security resources and understanding where to get free computer security support.  Whether through your service provider, the country, state or federal government, there are thousands of legitimate resources and support centers to assist the home user.  Next the home user will learn how and when to report malicious cyber activity they might encounter while surfing the Internet.  From the Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) at Verizon and Comcast to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there are many people available to record and possibly investigate your cyber incident.  The rest of the lesson is solely dedicated on putting together everything you have learned into scenario based exercises.  Some of the full exercises will simulate real cyber attacks such as malware infections via drive-by-downloading, infectious viruses that corrupt the computer and force constant reboots, and spear phishing emails with hidden Trojan horses waiting to be installed.  At the end of the lesson every home user will be able to actively guard against malicious hackers, install, and setup, configure, and operate parent controls, anti-virus programs, security applications, and install application and operating system software patches and security updates.

Course Offerings

To make our course flexible for working adults and parents we host on-site and virtual courses.  See below for a full description of each.  Individuals interested in taking this course please see below for the two delivery methods we offer.  Organizations interested in hosting or offering this course please see the curriculum licensing options at the end of the page.

Self-paced Courses

Self-paced courses are offered in one format.  The individual student and instructor format.  The self-paced course format is designed to allow the working student to complete coursework, labs, information sheets, and lessons on their own pace without the worry of deadlines or time constraints that exist in the virtual and on-site course offerings.  The student will have the same support as the virtual and on-site courses provide with instructor assistance when requested.

Virtual Courses

To make our course flexible for working adults and parents we host the virtual course in two different formats.  The 3-Saturday format and the Full-Weekend format.  The 3-Saturday format breaks the 3 lesson course up into three consecutive Saturdays of each month.  The 1-Weekend format is held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of each month.  Stretch and lunch breaks are built into each course schedule.

On-site Courses

On-site courses are offered in two different formats. The 3-Saturday format and the Full-Weekend format.  The 3-Saturday format breaks the 3 lesson course up into three consecutive Saturdays of each month.  The 1-Weekend format is held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of each month.  Stretch and lunch breaks are built into each course schedule.

Want to teach or host the Home User Computer Network Defense Course at your organization?  If you want The CND Group's Certified Ethical Hackers to teach the course at your organization please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 410-654-4070 for more information.