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Free Cybersecurity Learning Platforms for High School Students


Cybersecurity is a powerful yet challenging field. With the sheer amount of technology used in the world today, the ability to take advantage of technology is highly sought after, but extremely difficult. So the question arises: how do we get involved in these topics and learn from early stages, even as early as high school? The following information discusses learning platforms with an emphasis on beginner and price-friendly platforms, and what kind of learning they offer.

           

Firstly, one of the most common forms of practice platforms is learning concepts. These are platforms where you simply listen to lectures about specific topics and potentially answer questions involving the topic. These platforms are good resources for getting started in cybersecurity, and typically only require a device with a web browser. Some powerful free platforms for this include TryHackMe, various blogs, and even YouTube. It may seem strange, but YouTube hosts several informative creators, such as Professor Messer. Other platforms, such as Coursera, Udemy, and Cybrary are platforms that do require payment but still offer learning resources, typically more dedicated to specific certifications.

 

Other learning platforms emphasize hands-on practice, typically in the form of virtual machines. These require a bit more resources than the previously mentioned platforms - typically, you need an attack box of some kind, usually done through virtual machines. These platforms set up new machines that host machines with purposeful exploits, allowing users to test newly learned skills on these machines. Some great platforms that offer this service include TryHackMe, HackTheBox, and websites that offer wargames, and King of the Hill - competitions between several users to attempt to enforce cybersecurity or break through it. These are all very valuable resources with much experience to gain overall.

 

Finally, the last type of learning platform is the enforcement type. Enforcement-type learning platforms focus on testing individuals on their knowledge and experience. These are most valuable for practicing for certification exams. These platforms tend to have a set of questions that individuals can study and review. Examcompass is the primary free platform for test questions and offers several sets of questions for review. However, other than Examcompass, it is very difficult to find practice exams. For high school students, enforcement learning platforms will likely be less helpful compared to conceptual learning and hands-on practice.

 

High school students may be more limited in their options when it comes to learning cybersecurity practices, but there are still options. These valuable resources allow students to acquire both knowledge and experience. They require few resources and offer a beginner-friendly approach to new topics. Overall, with these tools in hand, high school students should be able to take advantage of future opportunities and get a head-start in cybersecurity.

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