Theory · College Board aligned

AP Cyber Security — The Complete Map.

A full cybersecurity worldview for Year 9-12, aligned to the College Board AP Cybersecurity framework. But this isn't a dry defence course — every concept is welded to a real Capture-the-Flag technique, so theory becomes attack. One body of work that feeds the AP exam, the ICOA, and the ICO.

📚 5 units
🎓 20 lessons
🧩 Year 9-12
🏁 CTF-welded
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What's Included

A structured path from "what is cybersecurity?" to "I understand how every attack works."

20 Concept Lessons

Across 5 units — each concept explained from zero, with a real-world analogy first.

CTF-Welded

Every concept ends with "here's how this is used to capture a flag" — theory that attacks.

Practice Labs

Interactive practice after every lesson, with instant feedback — mobile-friendly.

AP Exam Ready

Aligned to the College Board CED — a head start on the 2027 AP Cybersecurity exam.

5-Unit Curriculum

Ordered for understanding: build the analyst's framework first, then attack the highest-value domains.

UNIT 0

Foundations & the Big Map

Framework

The whole-field mental model — the five layers an attacker breaks through, the CIA triad, risk assessment, and the six stages of an attack. The language behind everything else.

CIA triadRisk = vuln × threat × assetAttack lifecycleAnalyst thinking
UNIT 1

People & the Human Layer

Light + AI focus

How attackers fool people — and AI. Social engineering and phishing get a quick, real-world pass; the AI-attack section (prompt injection, extracting data from an LLM) is taught in depth — ICOA's biggest information edge.

Social engineeringPhishingAI / prompt attacks
🏁 CTF: AI-security flag (prompt injection)
UNIT 2

Networks & Traffic

High (theory)

How data travels — and how it's intercepted. Packets, ports, protocols and firewalls, with the focus on reading captured traffic to find hidden credentials and flags.

Packets & protocolsPorts / nmappcap analysisFirewalls
🏁 CTF: Forensics flag (find a password in a packet capture)
UNIT 3

Devices, Malware & Reversing

High value

Password hashing and cracking, malware classification, and an introduction to reverse engineering and buffer overflows — the theory behind cracking and pwning.

Hashing & saltingPassword attacksMalware typesReverse engineering
🏁 CTF: Crypto flag (crack a hash) · Reversing flag
UNIT 4

Apps, Data & Cryptography

Highest value

The richest unit — it feeds two top CTF domains at once. Web vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS) plus modern cryptography (symmetric AES, asymmetric RSA), each tied to its signature flag.

SQL injectionXSSAES (symmetric)RSA (asymmetric)
🏁 CTF: Web flag (' OR '1'='1) · Crypto flag (factor n, solve RSA)

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