--- title: Networks & Security description: This field covers how computers communicate and how to protect those communications. You will understand network protocols, routing, and architecture, alongside security principles like encryption, firewalls, and defense mechanisms against network-based threats. category: programming-tech subcategory: computer-science difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/networks-and-security --- # Networks & Security This field covers how computers communicate and how to protect those communications. You will understand network protocols, routing, and architecture, alongside security principles like encryption, firewalls, and defense mechanisms against network-based threats. ## Available Resources 3 Books • 5 Courses • 3 Websites ## Courses ### 1. Introduction to Cyber Security Free eight-week FutureLearn course from The Open University on staying secure online: malware types, passwords and authentication, how networks carry data, basic cryptography, identity theft, and recovering from an attack. Learners finish able to assess personal cyber risk and write a simple security action plan. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-cyber-security **Tags:** cybersecurity-fundamentals, malware, cryptography, online-privacy, risk-management ### 2. The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking Introductory course from Google's IT Support certificate on how computer networks work, covering the five-layer TCP/IP model, Ethernet, IP addressing and subnetting, TCP and UDP, DNS and DHCP, NAT, and troubleshooting tools. Learners can explain and diagnose everyday network connectivity problems. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/computer-networking **Tags:** computer-networking, tcp-ip, ip-addressing, dns, dhcp, network-troubleshooting ### 3. Network Architecture Google's four-module introduction to network components, devices, and topologies, covering the TCP/IP and OSI models and layer-by-layer communication. Finish able to trace how data moves across a network and name common security controls. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/google-network-architecture **Tags:** computer-networking, osi-model, tcp-ip, network-security ### 4. Cybersecurity Learn cybersecurity fundamentals, including how to detect threats, protect systems and networks, and anticipate potential cyber attacks. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/cybersecurity/rochester-institute-of-technology-cybersecurity-fundamentals **Tags:** courses, technology-computer-science, computer-sciences ### 5. Ethical Hacking **Author:** Alejandro Garcia Sainz Sours Short Spanish-language introductory course from SAE Institute México covering how computer networks work, vulnerability probing and scanning, and exploitation and post-exploitation tools. Learners come away understanding the ethical hacker's role and the basic stages of a penetration test. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Duration:** 6 | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/ethical-hacking **Tags:** ethical-hacking, penetration-testing, vulnerability-scanning, exploitation, network-security, spanish-language ## Websites ### 1. Beej's Guide to Network Programming A free, long-running guide by Brian "Beej" Hall to sockets programming in C, covering TCP and UDP sockets, addressing, client-server structure, and IPv4/IPv6 differences. Readers learn to write working networked programs and understand how applications use the sockets API. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/ **Tags:** sockets, network-programming, c-programming, tcp-ip, unix ### 2. OWASP Foundation Nonprofit foundation publishing open web application security standards and guides, including the OWASP Top Ten, the Application Security Verification Standard, the Web Security Testing Guide and the Cheat Sheet Series, used to identify, test for and prevent common web vulnerabilities. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://owasp.org **Tags:** owasp-top-ten, application-security, secure-coding, vulnerability-testing, web-vulnerabilities ### 3. tryhackme.com TryHackMe is an online cybersecurity training platform offering hands-on labs, guided learning paths, and real-world scenarios (rooms and challenges) to practice penetration testing, web security, and network defense in an interactive, gamified environment. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://tryhackme.com **Tags:** websites, technology-computer-science, computer-sciences ## Podcasts ### 1. Cybersecurity Today **Author:** Jim Love News podcast published several times a week covering current cyberattacks, ransomware campaigns, data breach disclosures and newly exploited vulnerabilities, with a weekend review show. Listeners stay aware of the live threat landscape and what defensive steps organisations are taking. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.technewsday.ca **Tags:** cybersecurity-news, data-breaches, ransomware, threat-intelligence, vulnerabilities ### 2. The Packet **Author:** Packet Pushers Every single podcast we publish in one convenient feed. This is a LOT of content. Hours of audio each week. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://packetpushers.net/ **Tags:** networking, network-engineering, infrastructure, routing, podcast ## Books ### 1. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach **Author:** James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross University textbook that presents networking from the application layer downward, covering HTTP, DNS, TCP congestion control, routing algorithms, link-layer protocols, and wireless. Working through it gives you a principled model of how internet traffic actually moves. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0201477114?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, computer-networks ### 2. Cryptography and Network Security **Author:** William Stallings Stallings' university textbook pairs the mathematics of classical and modern ciphers with the protocols built on them: AES, RSA, hashing, key exchange, IPsec, and TLS. Expect number theory and algorithm detail alongside applied network defense. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0132023229?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, technology-computer-science, computer-sciences ### 3. Hacking: The Art of Exploitation **Author:** Jon Erickson Teaches exploitation from the machine up: C, assembly, and memory layout first, then stack overflows, shellcode, format strings, and network attacks. Comes with a Linux live environment so every technique can be reproduced and debugged. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593271441?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** exploitation, buffer-overflows, shellcode, c-programming, assembly, penetration-testing --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/networks-and-security