AP Cybersecurity
- Level High School
- Contact Hours 130
- Timeframe Year
AP Cybersecurity is a yearlong high school course that introduces students to cybersecurity and aligns with an introductory college-level course. Students learn about threats, vulnerabilities, risk, and defense-in-depth strategies across physical, digital, and data-focused domains. This course is aligned to the AP Cybersecurity Career Kickstart course from the College Board. Join the course preview section here: http://codehs.com/apcyber_preview
To view the entire syllabus, click here or click to explore the full course.
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Introduction to Security
Students are introduced to cybersecurity through three common ways adversaries compromise systems. They learn how social engineering tactics manipulate people into clicking malicious links or sharing sensitive information, how adversaries exploit weak authentication, and how to strengthen it. They explore the risks of public Wi-Fi and how to protect their data online. Students also examine how adversaries use AI-powered tools to enhance attacks and how defenders use AI to detect and respond to threats faster. |
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Securing Spaces
Students build the foundational vocabulary of the course and then apply it to protecting physical locations. They learn to identify social engineering attacks and types of adversaries, describe the phases of a cyberattack, work through the risk assessment process, and recognize strategies for managing risk, types of security controls, and why defense-in-depth matters. Students then focus on physical security, since an adversary with physical access can often bypass technical controls. They identify physical vulnerabilities and attacks, apply managerial controls, and learn to detect breaches and place security devices like cameras and sensors for maximum effectiveness. |
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Securing Networks
Students learn how connecting devices creates new opportunities for adversaries and how defenders protect data in transit. They study common network attacks and the vulnerabilities behind them, then learn to apply managerial controls and configure wireless security. Students explore network segmentation and how it improves security, and they learn to place and configure firewalls using access control lists to manage traffic. They also analyze network log files to identify indicators of compromise. |
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Securing Devices
Students learn how devices like computers, phones, and IoT devices store and process data, and how adversaries target them. They explore device vulnerabilities and types of malware, then study how authentication verifies user identity and how adversaries attempt to impersonate legitimate users. Students learn why hashing is used to store passwords and how to configure secure login settings. They also examine how anti-malware software, software updates, and host-based firewalls protect devices, and how to analyze log files for indicators of compromise. |
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Securing Applications and Data
Students learn how adversaries attack the data and applications at the center of the digital world. They explore application and file vulnerabilities, then learn to set access controls that limit who can access data, including configuring access control settings on a Linux system. Students use both symmetric and asymmetric cryptography to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data in storage and in transit. They also study secure design principles and input sanitization, and learn to detect attacks by verifying file hashes and analyzing log files for indicators of compromise. |
Explore programs that your students will build throughout this course!
Here are a few examples of teacher resources and materials to use in the AP Cybersecurity course
AP Cybersecurity is aligned with the following standards
| Standards Framework | View Alignment |
|---|---|
| AP Cybersecurity | View (100%) |
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