Overview
This Study Buddy session provided supplementary guidance around the wider cybersecurity learning pathway, basic network infrastructure, virtualisation and recommended practical learning resources.
It reinforced some ideas from Session 1 while introducing networking and lab-environment concepts. It supports the main instructor-led cybersecurity course and is separate from the formal numbered course sessions.
Learning Pathway
- Study Buddy sessions support the main Cyber Security course.
- The pathway shown begins with Cyber Fundamentals, followed by GRC — Governance, Risk and Compliance. Networking is another key area covered later.
- CompTIA Security+ preparation forms part of the wider pathway. Roughly 2–3 months was shown for consolidation and exam preparation; this is pathway guidance, rather than a personal completion date.
- The wider IT career pathway included Network Engineer, Systems Engineer and Developer roles, which can lead into or support cybersecurity, cloud, databases and AI.
- C++ and Python were shown as relevant programming languages for development pathways.
The overall message was that cybersecurity sits within a wider IT ecosystem, building on knowledge of systems, networking and related technologies. This is pathway context, not evidence of a technical cybersecurity skill or an achieved certification.
What We Are Trying to Protect
In Session 1, I considered how an attack could affect the accounts, devices and services encountered in IT support. This Study Buddy session made that picture more concrete by exploring how those systems connect within an organisation’s network.
- A typical organisation may have a private local area network (LAN) containing workstations, servers, switches and routers.
- Switches connect devices within the local network. A router connects the private network to external networks, allowing traffic to move between the LAN and the public internet.
- Traffic arriving from outside the organisation needs to be controlled before it reaches internal systems.
- Servers may provide websites, email, Active Directory, file storage and databases. They may be hosted in a data centre, with backups helping protect important information and services.
- Workstations and servers contain software, operating systems and data as well as physical hardware.
- An endpoint such as a PC can include a CPU, RAM, hard drive or other storage, a Network Interface Card, an operating system and applications.
- Operating systems such as Windows and Linux provide the platform on which applications run.
Cybersecurity therefore protects devices, networks, operating systems, applications, services and data, rather than computers alone. The What Is a Network? lesson brings these introductory roles together for revision.
Switch Connections / Trunking
- Switches can be connected so traffic passes between devices attached to different switches.
- A trunk link was described as a connection carrying network traffic between switches.
- This allows several switches to operate together as part of the wider LAN.
- In the diagram discussed, linked switches allowed devices and servers across the network to communicate through the switching infrastructure.
These are introductory networking notes recording the terminology used in the discussion, rather than evidence of switch configuration work.
TryHackMe
The recommendation was to create a TryHackMe account and begin the Cyber Security 101 learning path, using free content where possible. TryHackMe was recommended for supplementary hands-on practice alongside the taught course.
Progress will be recorded separately from the formal classroom sessions. No completed TryHackMe rooms are recorded in this portfolio yet. Individual rooms will only be added to Labs & Projects after they have actually been completed and documented.
Recording future progress
A future TryHackMe Progress subsection would fit within the Learning Log once there is progress to record. Each entry can capture:
- Room or path and date completed.
- What it covered and what I actually did.
- New concepts learned and what reinforced existing knowledge.
- Tools or commands used, only where I actually used them.
- A key takeaway.
Virtual Machines
The session introduced virtual machines (VMs) for cybersecurity learning and testing. A VM allows another operating system to run within software on an existing computer.
VMs can be useful for practising Linux, testing tools, running security labs and isolating experiments from the main operating system. A VM can also be reset, deleted or rebuilt more easily than a physical machine, making virtualisation useful for controlled lab environments.
- Common virtualisation platforms mentioned or relevant to this topic include VMware, VirtualBox and Hyper-V.
- VMware was described during the session as widely used in industry. VMware Workstation and Fusion have free options suitable for personal learning and home-lab use.
This records an introduction to virtual machines. It does not claim that I installed or configured VMware, created a VM or completed a lab.
New Learning vs Reinforcement
Reinforcement
- What organisations are trying to protect.
- The importance of systems, services and data as security assets.
New or more detailed learning
- Basic LAN structure and the roles of switches, routers, servers and workstations.
- Connections between switches and introductory trunking terminology.
- Virtual machines as cybersecurity lab environments.
- TryHackMe as a recommended supplementary practical-learning platform.
- The wider cybersecurity and IT learning pathway.
This Study Buddy entry belongs to the Learning Log and is not a numbered classroom session. Practical work and demonstrated skills will need their own evidence as that work is completed.