Please enable JavaScript to use CodeHS


Fundamentals of Cybersecurity (Middle School)

Units

Unit Description
What is Cybersecurity?: Students explore the basics of cybersecurity. Students learn about why cybersecurity is important, recent threats to cybersecurity, and different careers in the field.
Digital Citizenship and Cyber Hygiene: Students learn about Internet etiquette and how to stay safe on the world wide web. Students also look at the potential effects of our digital footprints, how to protect information from online risks, and the implications of cyberbullying.
Project: Public Service Announcement: For this project, students create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to teach their peers about digital citizenship and cyber hygiene.
The ABCs of Cryptography : Students dive into the history of cryptography systems, the motivation behind using encryption systems, and basic cryptography systems. Additionally, students explore topics on how to use cryptography, cryptology, and cryptanalysis.
Project: Classic Cipher Newscast: In this project, students write, rehearse, and perform a newscast with their team. Each team is given a different **classic cipher** (beyond Caesar and Vigenere) to research and address in their newscast.
What's Next?: Students explore the different pathways available to learn more about cybersecurity upon completing this course.
Web Development: In this unit, students will go through a high level introduction to HTML, CSS, and the processes involved in viewing web pages on the internet. Students will create several simple web pages using the CodeHS online editor to gain practice using the various features of HTML and CSS.

Unit Description
Networking Fundamentals : Students explore the structure and design of the internet and networks, and how this design affects the reliability of network communication, the security of data, and personal privacy. Students learn how the Internet connects computers all over the world by using networking protocols.
System Administration: Students compare and contrast common operating systems (Windows, Linux, OS) and explain the importance of application security. Students investigate security options and implement user accounts to enforce authentication and authorization. Students also demonstrate how to work with basic and advanced command prompts.
Programming Fundamentals: Students learn the fundamentals of programming including variables, arrays, and objects as well as the difference in interpreted and compiled languages. Students explore programming through block coding which includes conditional statements and control structures.