Chapter 0 Course Introduction

1. Message to the student

When you participate in the Networking Academy, you are joining a global community linked by common
goals and technologies. Schools, colleges, universities, and other entities in over 160 countries participate in
the program.

Look for the Cisco Networking Academy official site on Facebook© and LinkedIn©. The Facebook site is
where you can meet and engage with other Networking Academy students from around the world. The
Cisco Networking Academy LinkedIn site connects you with job postings, and you can see how others are
effectively communicating their skills.

a. More than just information

The netacad.com learning environment is an important part of the overall course experience for
students and instructors in the Networking Academy. These online course materials include course text
and related interactive media, paper-based labs, and many different types of quizzes. All of these
materials provide important feedback to help you assess your progress throughout the course.

The material in this course encompasses a broad range of technologies that facilitate how people work,
live, play, and learn by communicating with voice, video, and other data. Networking and the internet
affect people differently in different parts of the world. Although we have worked with instructors from
around the world to create these materials, it is important that you work with your instructor and fellow
students to make the material in this course applicable to your local situation

2. How we Teach

E-doing is a design philosophy that applies the principle that people learn best by doing. The curriculum
includes embedded, highly interactive e-doing activities to help stimulate learning, increase knowledge
retention, and make the whole learning experience much richer – and that makes understanding the content
much easier.

A. Interactive Activities

Interactive activities are embedded within the chapters as checks for understanding. Some of these use
“drag and drop” to complete the activity (Figure 1). Others use a “checkbox” method to complete them
(Figure 2). You can check your score immediately. You can also reset and do the activity as many times
as you like.

B. Labs

Labs are activities that are designed to be performed on physical equipment (Figure 3). Some labs are
written as class or small group activities that may or may not involve equipment. It is very important to
learn and practice physical skills by using the labs in this course in preparation for a career in IT.
Working on physical equipment not only develops skills, but also reinforces knowledge and builds
confidence. This is very important as you move into the IT field.

C. Packet Tracer

In the Networking chapters, you will configure a simple network using Packet Tracer, the Networking
Academy network simulation tool. Click here to download the latest version of Packet Tracer. Packet
Tracer may look complicated at first glance, but is easy to work with, and there are many tutorials to
help you learn how to use it. Packet Tracer is a very robust tool that you will use regularly as you
participate in more advanced networking courses.
 D. Assessments

Each chapter in this course has an online quiz. These are scored automatically, showing you the areas
where you excel, as well as any areas where you may want to do some additional study or practice.
There is also an online, end-of-course final exam.

3. Ethical Hacking Student

The Cisco Networking Academy Program is focused on creating the global problem solvers needed to build,
scale, secure, and defend the networks that are used in our businesses and daily lives. The need for well-
trained cybersecurity specialists continues to grow at an exponential rate. Training to become a
cybersecurity specialist requires in depth understanding and exposure to how cyber attacks occur, as well
as how they are detected and prevented. These skills will naturally also include learning the techniques that
threat actors use to circumvent data, privacy, and computer and network security.

In this course, learners will use tools and techniques in a “sandboxed”, virtual machine environment that
allows them to create, implement, monitor, and detect various types of cyber attacks. The hands-on training
is performed in this environment so that students can gain the necessary skills and knowledge needed to
thwart these and future cyber attacks. Security holes and vulnerabilities that are created in this course
should only be used in an ethical manner and only in this “sandboxed” virtual environment. Experimentation
with these tools, techniques, and resources outside of the provided sandboxed virtual environment is at the
discretion of the instructor and local institution. If the learner has any doubt about which computer systems
and networks are part of the sandboxed virtual environment, they should contact their instructor prior to any
experimentation.

Unauthorized access to data, computer, and network systems is a crime in many jurisdictions and often is
accompanied by severe consequences, regardless of the perpetrator’s motivations. It is the learner’s
responsibility, as the user of this material, to be cognizant of and compliant with computer use laws.

4. Course overview
CCNA Cybersecurity Operations 1.0 covers knowledge and skills needed to successfully handle the tasks,
duties, and responsibilities of an associate-level Security Analyst working in a Security Operations Center
(SOC).

Upon completion of the CCNA Cybersecurity Operations 1.0 course, students will be able to perform the
following tasks:

 Explain the role of the Cybersecurity Operations Analyst in the enterprise.

 Explain the Windows Operating System features and characteristics needed to support

cybersecurity analyses.

 Explain the features and characteristics of the Linux Operating System.

 Analyze the operation of network protocols and services.

  Explain the operation of the network infrastructure.

 Classify the various types of network attacks.

 Use network monitoring tools to identify attacks against network protocols and services.

 Use various methods to prevent malicious access to computer networks, hosts, and data.

 Explain the impacts of cryptography on network security monitoring.

 Explain how to investigate endpoint vulnerabilities and attacks.

 Identify network security alerts.

 Analyze network intrusion data to verify potential exploits.

 Apply incident response models to manage network security incidents.

5.