Cybersecurity

Python pathway

Programming Foundations / Practice rooms / Track curriculum and enrollment

1. Encoding & Data Representation

   Every hack starts with reading data the way a machine does. Master bytes, hex, base64, bitwise XOR, and byte surgery, then peel apart a multi-layer encoded flag.

   • Bytes & Hex: 5 lessons
   • Base64 & Encodings: 5 lessons
   • Bitwise & XOR: 5 lessons
   • Byte Manipulation: 5 lessons
   • Multi-layer Decode: 5 lessons

2. Classical Cryptography

   The ciphers that ran for two thousand years, and how they fall. Build Caesar, Vigenere, and transposition ciphers, then break them with brute force and frequency analysis.

   • The Caesar Cipher: 5 lessons
   • Frequency Analysis: 5 lessons
   • The Vigenere Cipher: 5 lessons
   • Transposition Ciphers: 5 lessons
   • Crack an Unknown Cipher: 5 lessons

3. Hashing & Integrity

   One-way functions that fingerprint data without hiding it. Use hashlib for checksums and HMAC, salt and stretch passwords, and build a tamper-evident hash chain.

   • Hash Functions: 5 lessons
   • Integrity & Checksums: 5 lessons
   • HMAC: Keyed Authentication: 5 lessons
   • Password Hashing: 5 lessons
   • Tamper-Evident Logs: 5 lessons

4. Password Cracking

   Think like the attacker hammering a stolen hash dump. Run dictionary attacks, brute force, and rule-based mangling, measure password strength, then crack a full leaked database.

   • Dictionary Attacks: 5 lessons
   • Brute Force: 5 lessons
   • Rule-Based Mangling: 5 lessons
   • Password Strength: 5 lessons
   • Crack the Dump: 5 lessons

5. Modern Cryptography

   Build the math that secures the internet, from scratch. Master modular arithmetic and primes, implement RSA and Diffie-Hellman with plain Python integers, then break weak RSA by factoring.

   • Modular Arithmetic: 5 lessons
   • Primes & GCD: 5 lessons
   • RSA From Scratch: 5 lessons
   • Diffie-Hellman: 5 lessons
   • Break Weak RSA: 5 lessons

6. Log Analysis & Forensics

   Hunt attackers in the evidence they leave behind. Load logs with pandas, extract indicators with regex, spot anomalies and brute-force attacks, then run a full incident investigation.

   • Parsing Logs: 5 lessons
   • Regex & Indicators: 5 lessons
   • Anomaly Detection: 5 lessons
   • Brute-Force Hunting: 5 lessons
   • Incident Triage: 5 lessons

7. Network Analysis

   Read the wire. Parse raw binary packets with struct, decode TCP flags, reconstruct flows, detect a port scan, and reconstruct a full network intrusion from the bytes alone.

   • Bytes on the Wire: 5 lessons
   • Headers & Flags: 5 lessons
   • Flow Analysis: 5 lessons
   • Scan Detection: 5 lessons
   • Intrusion Reconstruction: 5 lessons

8. Web Security

   Attack and defend web apps in Python. Parse HTTP, exploit SQL injection and XSS, forge and verify JWTs, then chain it all to pwn a vulnerable app, using only provided, simulated data.

   • HTTP Basics: 5 lessons
   • SQL Injection: 5 lessons
   • Cross-Site Scripting: 5 lessons
   • JSON Web Tokens: 5 lessons
   • Pwn the Web App: 5 lessons

9. Reverse Engineering

   Take apart a program you cannot read the source of. Read raw bytes and bit fields, disassemble a custom bytecode, build the virtual machine that runs it, follow its control flow, and crack a VM-based license check.

   • Reading the Bytes: 5 lessons
   • Decoding Opcodes: 5 lessons
   • The Virtual Machine: 5 lessons
   • Control Flow: 5 lessons
   • Crack the VM: 5 lessons

10. Capture The Flag

    The finale. Five challenges, one per category, that chain every skill in this track: peel an encoding stack, drag a crib through a cipher, trace an intrusion, crack a salted hash, and defeat a multi-layer final boss to claim grandmaster.

    • Recon: 5 lessons
    • Cipher: 5 lessons
    • Forensics: 5 lessons
    • Cracking: 5 lessons
    • Final Boss: 5 lessons