AP Cybersecurity
Comprehensive AP Cybersecurity guide covering all five units of the College Board framework: Introduction to Security (CIA triad, threat actors, risk), Securing Spaces (physical and access control), Securing Networks (architecture, protocols, firewalls, attacks), Securing Devices (endpoints, hardening, malware, cryptography), and Securing Applications and Data (secure development, databases, privacy). Includes the four cybersecurity skill categories and a dedicated exam-strategy capstone for the multiple-choice section and the free-response question.
Topics Covered
What you get
1. Introduction to Security
THE BIG PICTURE. Unit 1 grounds the whole AP Cybersecurity course in a single idea: cybersecurity exists to protect assets (anything valuable: data, money, infrastructure, reputation) from adversaries who want to compromise them. Before you can secure spaces, networks, devices, or applications, you need the vocabulary that every later unit reuses. That vocabulary is built around three goals (the CIA triad), three account-control functions (AAA), and one core relationship: a threat that can exploit a vulnerability to harm an asset creates risk. Unit 1's concrete topics, social engineering, weak authentication, public Wi-Fi hazards, and AI-augmented attacks and defenses, are all real-world illustrations of how these abstractions show up in everyday life. Throughout the course you also weigh the impact of cybersecurity on individuals, organizations, governments, and society, and you operate within professional norms and laws.
Sample Flashcards
What are the three goals of the CIA triad?
The CIA triad names the three core security goals:
- Confidentiality: only authorized parties can access data.
- Integrity: data are accurate and unaltered by unauthorized parties.
- Availability: data and services are accessible to authorized users when needed.
Every security control supports at least…
Which CIA goal does a denial-of-service (DoS) attack violate?
Availability. A DoS attack floods a system so legitimate users cannot reach the data or service they need, causing downtime.
For contrast: stealing a password file attacks confidentiality, and altering a webpage attacks integrity.
Sample Key Terms
CIA Triad
The three core security goals: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Every security control supports at least one of them.
Confidentiality
Ensures only authorized individuals, systems, or processes can access data. Systems lacking it are vulnerable to data theft or exposure. Supported by encryption.
Integrity
Ensures data are accurate and trustworthy and have not been altered by an unauthorized party. Systems lacking it are vulnerable to data manipulation.
What's Covered
- 1. Introduction to Security
- 2. Securing Spaces
- 3. Securing Networks
- 4. Securing Devices
- 5. Securing Applications and Data
- 6. Exam Strategy and Skills
6 topics · 72+ flashcards · quizzes & matching games included
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