Telicon Academy™ · 12 weeks · 48 lessons

Cybersecurity Professional Certificate

A defensive, ethics-first path through networking, hardening, identity, detection, response, cloud and governance, practised only in authorized fictional environments.

Who it's for

Career changers, IT professionals and veterans moving into security operations or engineering roles.

Prerequisites

  • Comfort using a computer and command line basics
  • About 12–15 hours per week
  • Commitment to authorized, ethical practice

You'll be able to

  • Harden common operating systems
  • Triage alerts and investigate incidents
  • Assess and prioritize vulnerabilities
  • Communicate risk to technical and business audiences

12-week curriculum

  1. Week 1

    Security Foundations, Ethics & Safe Practices

    Why security first · CIA triad and threat modelling · Ethics and authorization · Building your lab environment

  2. Week 2

    Networking for Defenders

    Packets, ports and protocols · Reading traffic with a defender's eye · Segmentation and firewalls · Network evidence sources

  3. Week 3

    Operating Systems & System Hardening

    Windows and Linux internals · Secure baselines · Patch and configuration management · Hardening verification

  4. Week 4

    Identity, Access Management & Cryptography

    Authentication and MFA · Authorization and least privilege · Cryptography essentials · Keys, certificates and PKI

  5. Week 5

    Vulnerability Assessment & Remediation

    Vulnerability lifecycle · Scanning safely and scoping · Scoring and prioritization · Remediation tracking

  6. Week 6

    Logging, SIEM & Security Operations

    Log sources and pipelines · SIEM queries and correlation · Alert triage · SOC workflows and metrics

  7. Week 7

    Incident Response & Digital Investigation Fundamentals

    IR lifecycle · Evidence handling · Timeline analysis · Reporting and lessons learned

  8. Week 8

    Cloud & Infrastructure Security

    Shared responsibility · Cloud identity and policy · Secure infrastructure configuration · Cloud detection signals

  9. Week 9

    Web / Application Security Fundamentals

    How web apps work · Common weakness classes · Secure development practices · Testing within authorization

  10. Week 10

    Governance, Risk, Compliance & Security Policy

    Risk management basics · Frameworks and controls · Writing security policy · Audit readiness

  11. Week 11

    Threat Hunting, Automation & Security Engineering

    Hypothesis-driven hunting · Detection engineering · Scripting for defenders · Automating response safely

  12. Week 12

    Cybersecurity Capstone & Defense Panel

    Capstone scoping · Building the defense plan · Risk and remediation briefing · Panel defense

Projects

Week 2 · Applied project

Secure a small enterprise network

Segment a fictional office network and justify each control.

Week 4 · Applied project

Identity and access review

Audit fictional accounts and design least-privilege roles.

Week 6 · Mid-program project

Log analysis investigation

Use provided SIEM data to detect and explain suspicious activity.

Week 7 · Applied project

Incident response exercise

Run a tabletop response and produce an incident report.

Week 9 · Applied project

Vulnerability remediation plan

Prioritize findings for a fictional app and plan fixes.

Week 12 · Capstone · expert panel

Defend a simulated organization

Assess a fictional organization and present a risk and remediation plan to a panel.

Admissions readiness check

  • Computing fundamentals
  • Networking basics
  • Logical reasoning
  • Security awareness
  • Ethics scenarios

Advisory only; staff make the final decision.

Trainer expectations

Demonstrable security operations or engineering experience; relevant industry certifications or equivalent experience preferred.

Career directions

  • SOC Analyst
  • Junior Security Analyst
  • Vulnerability Analyst
  • GRC Analyst

Not a job guarantee.

Learning and tools

Guided lessons, applied practice and a portfolio of work aligned to this pathway.

Expert review and certificate

The capstone is reviewed by an assigned expert panel. Panel assignments depend on verified reviewer availability; no staff credentials are implied by a seat description.

Published lesson completion and an approved capstone are required. See your learner portal for individual status.

Start dates, financial options and admission decisions are confirmed by staff. A certificate does not guarantee employment.