Digital Security Basics TAFE Course (901-00011V01) Reviewed

Digital Security Basics TAFE
Course (901-00011V01) Reviewed

The Digital Security Basics TAFE Course (901-00011V01) was one of the free short courses available in April 2020 to help people upskill during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course caught my attention since we specialise in building cyber security awareness. This blog provides a summary of the course to help you decide if it is suitable for you or your staff.

COURSE DETAILS

Course name: STATEMENT OF ATTAINMENT IN DIGITAL SECURITY BASICS

Course code: 901-00011V01

Suggested number of hours to complete the course: 72 – 120 hours

Course delivery method: Online – Self Paced – Must complete the course within a 12-week timeframe starting from the date of enrolment.

Cost: Free until the 31st of October 2020. $540 after the 31st of October

Assessments: 8 assessments ranging from presentations to training videos and creating your own virtual and simulated network.

This course offering is designed for people who:
• are graduates of Certificate IV in Information Technology Networking or,
• are currently working in the IT industry with general skills and knowledge in networking.

This skill set is designed to increase skills and knowledge in cyber security with a pathway into
Certificate IV Cyber Security.

HOW THIS COURSE HELPS YOUR ORGANISATION?

With the shortage of cyber security workers in Australia and organisations looking to expand their cyber security talent pool, this is a cost-effective way to build cyber security capability in your organisation. The course would suit an existing IT professional or a team of IT professionals looking to upskill in cyber capability with national accreditation and the flexibility to complete the course online.

Non-IT professional considering transitioning to a career in cyber security will find the second unit of the course challenging as it requires knowledge of IT networking, however if there is a genuine interest in learning then this could be a great way to see if this is a career they wish to peruse with the benefit of national accreditation and a pathway to further studies.

This is a cost-effective way to build cyber security capability in your organisation.

USEFUL COURSE RESOURCES

There were some excellent online resources, links and reference used during the course which had me wondering if I have been a victim of a cybercrime:

- Have I Been PWNED? – This is a great way to check if your account has been compromised in a data breach using your current email address.
- NOVA Cyber Security Labs – This is a great resource which gamifies interventions to cyber-attacks, provides expert references and videos explaining basic Cyber Security concepts.
- Stay Smart Online Youtube Channel

Students studying at TAFE will also get access to the following free learning resources:

- Free LinkedIn Learning Access: As a TAFE student you are provided with free access to LinkedIn Learning.
- Free CISCO IT ESSENTIAL Course Enrolment: The second unit requires you to enrol to the CISCO IT Essentials course giving you free access to courses in the CISCO IT course library.
- Access to Software: Microsoft has an education portal where you can download software to use for educational purposes using your TAFE credentials.

THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

- The course provided a good overview of the role of a Cyber Security professional with practical examples.
- The two units of the course are in the Certificate IV in Cyber Security course (1 core and 1 elective unit) allowing you to move into the Certificate IV qualification with 2 units completed if you wish to continue further studies.
- The self-paced structure and bookmark feature of the eLearning made it easy to continue from where you last left the course.
- The assessments were hands-on with case studies, scenarios, and practical examples of troubleshooting issues, using software, and building networks.
- There was a steep learning curve from the first to second unit and without any prior experience in IT, no face-to-face support and slow correspondence via email, it was challenging to complete assignments.
- There were limited opportunities for social learning. Discussion boards were the only way to interact with other students.
- If you have not studied in a while, you may be required to reset or obtain your Unique Student Identifier (USI). Then register and enrol in the course.
- After enrolment, the course instructions were not clear on how to access the TAFE digital learning portal. After a few weeks of email correspondence, the correct instructions were provided. The trick was to keep on trying until you spoke to the right support agent.
- Accessing and completing the eLearning activities was straightforward. Submitting assignments and receiving feedback was a streamlined process. I noted there were different assessors marking assignments so there were inconsistencies in the depth of feedback.
- The content was varied using a combination of videos, readings, case studies, scenarios, and practical activities keeping the courseware engaging and interesting.
- There were limited responses on the discussion boards and the course facilitators were not available to chat on Skype as advertised by the support team. I was mainly left to my own devices to figure things out.

OVERVIEW OF UNITS

Unit 1: Recognise the need for cyber security in an organisation
The first two lessons introduce Cyber Security with examples of common threats and vulnerabilities and the need for a cyber security framework to protect personal information and private data. Readings, videos, and activities help you understand the concept of information security. Here is the introductory video used to define Cyber Security used as part of the first lesson.

The second lesson explores the role individuals play in protecting their identity and personal data and introduces measures to protect organisational data.

My Take: The content in the first two lessons are at an introductory level targeted to an audience with no background knowledge of Cyber Security. Although the videos and examples are dated (2014) it was still relevant to cover the basic concepts of Cyber Security.

There is opportunity to put theory into practice with the first few assessments where you are placed in a role of a Junior Cyber Security Analyst with the responsibility of preparing a cyber security service proposal.

Unit 2: Secure a network personal computer

This unit covered IT principles including hardware components of a PC, how to run preventative maintenance, the Internet of Things (IOT), virtual machines, and virtual network environments.

Then explored the basic structures of operating systems, including Linux and Windows OS. Common tools network analysts utilise including Wireshark and Nmap and basic networking theory. The unit concludes with an introduction to basic commands in Linux.

My Take: At this point the course has a technical IT focus looking at hardware, software and tools used to analyse networks. The practical activities will test IT aptitude as you are required to install and configure virtual machines and packet tracers. The practical activities in this unit are challenging and gave me great insight into the role of a Cyber Security professional.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The course would benefit an organisation looking to build capability in cyber security by upskilling existing IT professionals. It can also provide a pathway to staff looking to transition to the field of cyber security with the benefit of national accreditation and units counted towards a Certificate IV in Cyber Security.