IT, Networking & Security Foundations
Build the infrastructure mental model that every cybersec interview probes. The candidates who skip this layer cap out at L1 SOC roles because they can't reason about why a packet got dropped or where a bypass happened.
- IT infrastructure fundamentals — racks, switches, routers, firewalls, hypervisors
- Networking protocols: TCP/IP stack, DNS, DHCP, HTTP/HTTPS, ARP, ICMP
- Operating system internals — Windows registry / services / scheduled tasks; Linux init / systemd / cron
- Security principles: CIA triad, AAA (authentication, authorization, accounting), defence in depth
- Threat landscape — script kiddie / cybercrime / APT / nation-state taxonomy
- Frameworks survey: NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls
Deploy a 3-tier secure network — perimeter firewall + DMZ + internal LAN — and capture/analyse traffic across each segment.
Audit a 50-host enterprise topology; document attack surface; write 3-page risk register.
"Walk me through what happens when I type ping 8.8.8.8 on a corporate laptop." — the answer requires DNS, ARP, default gateway, NAT, and routing all in one breath.
