All topics / Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity for beginners, drawn out
Short animated lessons that show how attacks work and how to stop them, one sketch at a time. Each lesson takes about 7 minutes, ends with a quick game, and needs no technical background.
- 8 lessons
- 57 min
- Free
- No sign-up
Hi, I'm Ada from the security team at NovaCorp. Welcome aboard! Before you get your logins, I'll show you how attackers think and the simple habits that stop them. No jargon, I promise.
Cyber Citizen
Everyday safety for everyone: scams, passwords, devices and backups
- 1
Why you are a target
everyone's data has a price
- 2
Threat actors
who is on the other side
- 3
Phishing & social engineering
the attack on people, not machines
- 4
Passwords & MFA
length, uniqueness, second factor
- 5
Malware 101
worms, trojans, stealers, ransomware
- 6
Fake links & lookalikes
read the domain, right to left
- 7
Home network & IoT
your router is the front door
- 8
Backups: the 3-2-1 rule
the undo button for ransomware
Defender: how attacks unfold
Networks, encryption and the stages of a real attack
- 9
How data travels
packets, layers, headers
- 10
Encryption & TLS
the padlock, explained
- 11
The cyber kill chain
attacks are sequences
- 12
Web application flaws
the OWASP Top 10, defended
- 13
Traffic floods (DDoS)
availability is security too
- 14
Supply chain risk
you inherit your dependencies
- 15
AI-era scams
deepfakes & machine-written lures
- 16
Identity attacks
logging in, not breaking in
Defender: how organisations defend
Layers, alerts, incident response and zero trust
- 17
Defence in depth
no single wall
- 18
SOC triage
signal from noise
- 19
Incident response
a practised lifecycle
- 20
Zero trust
never trust, always verify
Specialist
Expert tracks: red and blue teams, forensics, cloud and risk
- 21
Red, blue & purple teams
attack to improve defence
- 22
Digital forensics (DFIR)
reconstruct what happened
- 23
Cloud & DevSecOps
security inside the pipeline
- 24
GRC & risk
likelihood × impact
How it works
- 01
See it
An animated drawing shows how the thing really works.
- 02
Try it
A short game makes you use it: spot, sort, switch, decide.
- 03
Keep it
Three takeaways and a badge for your sheet.
Questions people ask
Is this cybersecurity course really free?
Yes. Every lesson is free to use, with no sign-up, no trial and no paywall.
Do I need any technical knowledge?
No. The first track, Cyber Citizen, is written for complete beginners. Each idea is drawn out step by step, and the later tracks build on it for people who want to go deeper.
How long does the course take?
Each lesson takes about 6 to 9 minutes. You can finish the eight beginner lessons in about an hour, in any order.
Do I get a certificate?
You earn a badge for every lesson you complete. A shareable certificate for finishing a whole track is planned, but it isn't available yet.
Can I use these lessons for security awareness training at work?
Yes. The lessons work well as short awareness sessions for a team: everyone can open them in a browser, and nothing needs to be installed.