Cybersecurity Career Track

Syllabus & Course Overview

Introduction

Experts predict that there will be 2-3 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the coming
years. With today’s changing technological landscape, companies are making security a
top priority, fueling the demand for talented professionals who have strong cybersecurity
skills. These jobs are at the forefront of policing and ensuring safe, fair online activity.
Fostering a strong frontline defense is a great responsibility and organizations are
committed to creating secure environments.

At Springboard, a core part of our mission is to equip students with the skills and
knowledge they need to meet the cybersecurity skills gap head-on. By teaching in-
demand skills and training a skilled workforce, Springboard helps professionals tackle
new-economy jobs.

That’s why we launched the Cybersecurity Career Track, a 200+ hour online course
designed to prepare you for a cybersecurity career. You’ll learn by working through an
expert-curated curriculum and practicing your skills in a lab environment. To help you
develop strong professional skills, you’ll participate in mock interviews, network with a
dedicated community, and work 1-on-1 with a career coach to help you succeed in your
job search.

Springboard in numbers

8000+ 500+ 500,000+ 80+

Total students Mentors Hours of learning logged Countries our students
call home

2
 Prerequisites

The Cybersecurity Career Track is ideal for people with backgrounds in technical fields (e.g. IT
or Computer Science) or in entry-level security roles.

Examples of ideal backgrounds:

- a Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity (or in a technical field like Computer Science or IT)
- 1-5 years of experience in a security role

Our admissions process screens for a foundational knowledge of programming and basic
security concepts.

Admission Process

1. Submit your application

Completing the application form takes 10-15 minutes, and you’ll hear back
from us in 2-3 business days. There’s no application fee.

2. Pass the challenge

If the admissions team believes you have the skills required to successfully
complete the course, we’ll send you a one-hour multiple choice challenge to
test your security and technical knowledge.

3. Reserve your spot

If you pass the challenge, you’ll receive a registration link which allows you
to select your start date and the payment plan that works best for you.
We’re happy to help if you have any questions or concerns.

4. Join the program

You'll be one of a few applicants to secure a spot in the Cybersecurity
Career Track. Congratulations!

3
Start application
How it works

1. Cost and schedule: The course costs $599 per month and most
students complete it within 6 months. For financing options, please
read more here. The course is fully online and allows you to study
anywhere and anytime you want. You’ll have 30-minute video calls with
your mentor every week and access to your Springboard account and
online community after you graduate.

2. Enrollment: Once your application is accepted, we’ll send you a

custom link to make the payment and enroll. We have cohorts starting
every month, and you can enroll for a future cohort. Enroll here

3. Mentor-matching process: Once you enroll, you’ll be asked to fill out

a profile in which you’ll write a short bio about yourself, your availability
during the week, and the skills you want to develop. Your Student
Advisor will use this information to match you with a mentor who suits
your specific needs.

4. Curriculums curated by experts: Diverse perspectives lead to better

learning outcomes. Our 200+ hour expert-curated curriculum is
designed by cybersecurity experts using the best sources on the web
(e.g. tutorials, videos, podcasts, papers, articles) and updated to reflect
new trends and hiring needs.

5. Test your skills through practice labs: A lot of your time will be
spent working on hands-on projects and applying what you’re learning.
Working with your mentor, you’ll get experience finding and reporting on
various types of application security vulnerabilities and securing
operating systems.

6. Career services: You will get career resources as part of the

curriculum, as well as 1-on-1 video calls with a career coach, where you
will cover resume review, mock interviews and salary negotiation tips
and more.

4
 6. Graduating from the course: You will exhibit your data science skills
through a capstone project which will be approved by your mentor.
Once you complete all assignments, you’ll receive a certificate which
describes your learning. You can even add this to your LinkedIn profile!

Why is mentorship important?

Mentors hold students accountable, help them grow, and impart real-world knowledge
and advice. Research shows that having a mentor makes you 5 times more likely to get
promoted and more likely to get a raise.

Our mentors are Cybersecurity experts

who are motivated by a desire to give back
to their communities. We select them
based on a combination of professional
experience, educational background, skills-
based competencies, and a portfolio of
work. More importantly, we look for
empathetic individuals with top-notch
communication abilities, and an intrinsic
love of teaching.

5
Career services

While you work through the course, you’ll get personalized 1-on-1 career coaching calls
at designated points in the career curriculum to address your specific situation. The
coaching sessions cover topics such as:

Job search strategy and LinkedIn profile review

Networking
Identifying dream companies and job titles
Resume review
Mock behavioral interview
Mock technical interview
Salary negotiations

Career coaching calls normally last 30 minutes and mock technical interviews last 60
minutes.

Units – What you’ll learn

Each module covers a key aspect of cybersecurity and includes a combination of
materials, including lectures, theory, practical exercises, reading/viewing exercises, and
career-related coursework. The recommended time allocation is based on a total of 200+
hours of work and can be scaled according to your needs.

and how security plays a role in each

phase.
UNIT 1
Secure Lifecycle Management Topics covered:
15+ hours
1. Methodologies and standards in
Managing an application security development and testing
program requires bringing together 2. Legal requirements
teams and tools to track the risk of an 3. Developing metrics to improve code
application as it moves through the
product development lifecycle. You’ll
learn about the development lifecycle
6
UNIT 2
Application Security Concepts
15+ hours
This units focuses on measures taken to
improve the security of an application
and highlights how to find, fix, and
prevent security vulnerabilities.
Topics covered:
1. Security design principles within
application development
2. Security software concepts, including
confidentiality, integrity, and
availability
3. Principle of least privilege and
separation of duties
UNIT 3
Secure Application Requirements
15+ hours
In this unit, you’ll review different secure
development frameworks and
methodologies to ensure that data is
protected and applications are securely
developed.
Topics covered:
1. Regulatory requirements during
development process
2. Data classification and privacy
7
UNIT 4
Application Design
15+ hours
This section introduces you to threat
modeling and the risks associated with
application development.
Topics covered:
1. Secure design architecture concepts
2. Designing secure interfaces within
applications
3. Virtualization, data loss prevention,
and trusted computing
UNIT 5
Programming and Implementation
20+ hours
In this unit, you’ll learn various secure
coding practices and how to test for
vulnerabilities both during development
and in a production environment.
Topics covered:
1. Finding and fixing malicious code
2. Identifying and preventing software
security vulnerabilities

UNIT 6
Secure Application Testing
20+ hours
In this section, you’ll learn how to find
vulnerabilities in applications,
strengthening your testing skills.
Topics covered:
1. Protecting company data during
deployment and production
2. Analyze software to ensure that it’s
securely configured and integrated
within the environment

Topics covered:
Practice Labs
1. Test for known and unknown 50+ hours
vulnerabilities
2. Classify and track errors during the Each technical unit includes lab
development phase exercises to help you practice applying
tools and technologies to real-life
scenarios. You’ll gain hands-on
experience finding and reporting
UNIT 7
application security vulnerabilities while
Deployment and Maintenance
securing operating systems.
15+ hours

This unit focuses on different software

security strategies during installation and
deployment.
Career Resources
40+ hours
Topics covered: Topics covered:
1. Securely manage encryption keys
1. Resume and LinkedIn profile review
2. Perform vulnerability assessments on
2. Collaborate with personal career
live applications coach
3. Performing root cause analysis on
3. Develop personalized job search
security report strategy
4. Learn networking principles
5. Learn salary negotiation techniques
UNIT 8
3rd Party Applications
15+ hours

Some applications are developed by third

parties. In this unit, you’ll learn how to
ensure third-party software is secure.

8
Capstone Project
15+ hours

The capstone is a comprehensive, multi-part project, allowing you to demonstrate your

knowledge of application security. It’s designed to be a key element of your portfolio.

For this project, you’ll be given several key elements of a fictitious application and a lab
environment to run actual security tools. You’ll follow a risk and vulnerability assessment
methodology and identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities within the environment.

After you complete the comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment for the software
application, you’ll write a report of your findings and make recommendations for
improvements.

Not sure if your background is a fit?

If you’re unsure whether your background, interests, and the course are
a good fit, please email us at nicole@springboard.com. Nicole, our
Admissions Manager, will help you think through the decision via email
or phone.

Schedule a call

9
Office Hours

You'll join other students and a host mentor to discuss a variety of topics. You can utilize
this time to get a better understanding of what other students are working on, ask
questions about cybersecurity, and learn more about getting into the industry.

1. Capstone Project Presentations

When you complete the course, you’re invited to
present your capstone project to other students.

2. Q&A Sessions
You can ask the host mentor questions about your
project work, industry trends, and interviews.

Ready for the next step?

Learn more and apply

Questions about Springboard?

Email us at hello@springboard.com with any questions.

10