Free Cyber Security Manager Roadmap
From practitioner to the person who runs the programme: the technical baseline, governance, risk and service management, the CISO's first 90 days, then CISSP and CISM — the two certifications management adverts ask for.
6 steps · 30 free videos · 4 free reads
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Read these first
The free roadmap
6 steps, in order
The 🔒 rows show what the full roadmap adds at each step. StationX Membership opens every course and its labs: $299 / year ($24.92/mo billed annually). Infrastructure Labs labs are a separate add-on.
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Step 1 — Security foundation
Managers are hired from practitioners; this is the practitioner baseline.
Follow the free CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 6 full courses · hands-on labs 1–148 of 168 (courses in Membership · 71 labs in Membership · 77 labs in Infrastructure Labs)
- Course · CompTIA Security+ Certification (SY0-701): The Total Course · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Security+ (SY0-701) - Self-paced Course! · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CompTIA Security+ SY0-701: General Security Concepts · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CompTIA Security+: Viruses, Threats and Compromise Indicators · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CompTIA Security+ Labs · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Security+ Just Labs: The Ultimate Hands-On Bootcamp · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 1 of 168 · Additional Scanning Options · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 2 of 168 · Basics of Metasploit · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 3 of 168 · BCP DRP and Test Planning · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 4 of 168 · BitLocker Setup · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 5 of 168 · Block Incoming Traffic on Known Port · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 6 of 168 · Comparing Controls · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 7 of 168 · Creating a List of Installed Programs, Services and User Accounts from a WIN2K12 Server · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 8 of 168 · Creation of BCP and DRP · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 9 of 168 · Data Backup to Prep for Recovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 10 of 168 · Event Log · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 11 of 168 · Host Data Integrity Baselining · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 12 of 168 · Installing Patches and Testing Software · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 13 of 168 · MITRE - Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 14 of 168 · MITRE - Defend · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 15 of 168 · Network Discovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 16 of 168 · Network Segmentation (FW/DMZ/WAN/LAN) · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 17 of 168 · Network Topology Generation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 18 of 168 · Open Source Collection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 19 of 168 · Open Source Password Cracking · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 20 of 168 · Scanning From Windows · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 21 of 168 · Windows Event Log Manipulation via Windows Event Viewer · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 22 of 168 · Wireshark · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 23 of 168 · Manage Users and Groups in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 24 of 168 · Manage Users and Groups in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 25 of 168 · Can You Manage Users and Groups in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 26 of 168 · Configure Password Management in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 27 of 168 · Configure Password Management in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 28 of 168 · Can You Manage Password Requirements in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 29 of 168 · Configure Standard Linux Permissions [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 30 of 168 · Configure Standard Windows Permissions [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 31 of 168 · Can You Configure Standard Linux and Windows Permissions? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 32 of 168 · Can You Manage Access in Linux and Windows? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 33 of 168 · Can You Harden the SSH Service on a Linux Server? [Advanced} · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 34 of 168 · Force Users to Change Password Upon First Sign In [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 35 of 168 · Remove a User Account [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 36 of 168 · Can You Add Server Access for a Group? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 37 of 168 · Examine Log Files to Block Bad Actors [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 38 of 168 · Harden a Server by Limiting Access to a Single Subnet [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 39 of 168 · Can You Harden a Server by Restricting Access per Protocol? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 40 of 168 · Can You Harden a Linux Web Server? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 41 of 168 · Deploy a Private Certificate Authority [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 42 of 168 · Configure Custom Certificate Templates and Deployment Options [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 43 of 168 · Manually Request a PKI Certificate [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 44 of 168 · Can You Deploy a Certificate Authority and Issue Certificates? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 45 of 168 · Enable DNSSEC [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 46 of 168 · Use EFS To Encrypt Files on NTFS Volumes [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 47 of 168 · Can You Secure DNS Resource Records and Windows NTFS Volume File Objects? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 48 of 168 · Enable SSL/TLS on a Website [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 49 of 168 · Enable Client SSL/TLS [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 50 of 168 · Can You Secure a Website with an SSL/TLS Certificate? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 51 of 168 · Can You Use PKI to Secure a Network Environment? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 52 of 168 · Cryptography: Attacking Classic Ciphers · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 53 of 168 · Cryptography: Breaking Repeated Key XOR Cipher · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 54 of 168 · Cryptography: Breaking Weak RSA Keys · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 55 of 168 · Cryptography: Decrypting Files With a Dictionary Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 56 of 168 · Cryptography: Forging Digital Signatures · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 57 of 168 · Cryptography: Forging MACs With Side Channels · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 58 of 168 · Cryptography: Hidden Veracrypt Containers · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 59 of 168 · Cryptography: Man In the Middle Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 60 of 168 · Cryptography: Password Cracking · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 61 of 168 · Cryptography: Setting Up HTTPS in Windows and Linux · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 62 of 168 · Cryptography: Setting Up Two Factor Authentication · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 63 of 168 · Cryptography: Steganography · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 64 of 168 · Cryptography: Using GPG for Encryption and Key Management · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 65 of 168 · Cryptography: Using the OpenSSL CLI Tool · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 66 of 168 · Getting Started with Security Concepts in Windows and Linux Environments [Getting Started] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 67 of 168 · Configure Windows Firewall ACL Rules [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 68 of 168 · Configure Linux Firewall ACL Rules [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 69 of 168 · Configure Security Settings by Using Microsoft Group Policy [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 70 of 168 · Identify Non-secure Network Traffic [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 71 of 168 · Can You Secure Host Settings Through Firewall Settings and Group Policy? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 72 of 168 · Configure IPSec [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 73 of 168 · Configure a Windows PPTP VPN [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 74 of 168 · Can You Secure Network Access? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 75 of 168 · Can You Harden Windows Hosts? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 76 of 168 · Back Up and Restore Data in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 77 of 168 · Back Up and Restore Data in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 78 of 168 · Can You Back Up and Restore Data in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 79 of 168 · Configure and Test the Firewall in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 80 of 168 · Configure and Test the Firewall in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 81 of 168 · Can You Configure the Firewall in Linux and Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 82 of 168 · Configure Patch Management in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 83 of 168 · Configure Update Management in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 84 of 168 · Can You Configure Update Management in Linux and Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 85 of 168 · Can You Manage Windows and Linux Systems? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 86 of 168 · Applying Filters to TCPDump and Wireshark · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 87 of 168 · DNS as a Remote Shell · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 88 of 168 · Firewall Setup and Configuration · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 89 of 168 · Gap Analysis of Firewall Rules · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 90 of 168 · Implementing Least-Privilege on Windows · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 91 of 168 · Setting Up Zones in a Firewall · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 92 of 168 · Snorby Setup and Operation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 93 of 168 · TCPDump · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 94 of 168 · Tweaking Firewall Rules for Detection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 95 of 168 · Using Snort and Wireshark to Analyze Traffic · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 96 of 168 · Getting Started with Cybersecurity Defensive Tools [Getting Started] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 97 of 168 · Managing Log Files on a Windows Server [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 98 of 168 · Configure Windows Defender on a Windows System [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 99 of 168 · Configure a Local Security Policy on Server 2016 [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 100 of 168 · Can You Use the Sysinternals Suite to Review Permissions on a Windows System? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 101 of 168 · Using Encryption to Secure Information [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 102 of 168 · Can You Configure Drive Encryption by Using LUKS and BitLocker? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 103 of 168 · Can You Configure Remote Administration by Using PuTTY and SSH? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 104 of 168 · Use a Password Cracking Utility in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 105 of 168 · Can You Use PowerShell to Gather Computer Information in Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 106 of 168 · Escalate Privileges in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 107 of 168 · Can You Enumerate Network Services by Using Port Scanning in Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 108 of 168 · Auditing Service Accounts and Setting Up Automated Log Collection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 109 of 168 · Centralized Monitoring · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 110 of 168 · CIRP Creation and Disaster · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 111 of 168 · Creation of Standard Operating Procedures for Recovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 112 of 168 · Data Downloads and Validation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 113 of 168 · Force Point: DLP Email Overview · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 114 of 168 · Force Point: DLP Network Overview · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 115 of 168 · Identifying Key Assets · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 116 of 168 · Leveraging Internal Intelligence Resources · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 117 of 168 · Log Correlation & Analysis to Identify Potential IOC · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 118 of 168 · Monitoring and Verifying Management Systems · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 119 of 168 · Open and Close Ports on Windows 7 · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 120 of 168 · Phishing · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 121 of 168 · Post Incident Service Restoration · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 122 of 168 · Ransomware · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 123 of 168 · Recover from SQL Injection Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 124 of 168 · Sensitive Information Identification · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 125 of 168 · Vulnerability Identification and Remediation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 126 of 168 · Use Git to Manage Code [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 127 of 168 · Analyze Log Files for Malicious Activity [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 128 of 168 · Identify and Manage Old Software [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 129 of 168 · Deploy a Docker Container [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 130 of 168 · Deploy a Virtual Machine [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 131 of 168 · Configure a Jump Box [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 132 of 168 · Manage File Redundancy for Resilience and Recovery [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 133 of 168 · Manage System Restore Using Windows 11 [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 134 of 168 · Use Alerting and Monitoring Tools [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 135 of 168 · Digitally Sign Code To Verify Authenticity [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 136 of 168 · Configure a Wireless Access Point [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 137 of 168 · Sanitize Storage Disks [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 138 of 168 · Enhance Security by Using SELinux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 139 of 168 · Manage Configurations by Using Ansible [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 140 of 168 · Configure Devices by Using Ansible [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 141 of 168 · Perform Security Audits on Linux Services [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 142 of 168 · Baseline Systems in Accordance with Policy Documentation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 143 of 168 · Conduct Baseline Comparison for Indicators of Compromise · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 144 of 168 · Creating a Baseline Using Autopsy · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 145 of 168 · Creating a Secondary Baseline and Conducting Comparison · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 146 of 168 · Manually Creating a Baseline with MD5Deep · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 147 of 168 · Recovering Data and Data Integrity Checks · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 148 of 168 · Windows Deployment Services · 🔒 Membership
Try a free cloud security lab: Left open (~4 min) → A scripted simulation in your browser. No account needed.
Step 2 — Governance, risk and compliance
The language of the board: frameworks, risk registers, policy.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 1 full course (Membership)
- Course · Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) · 🔒 Membership
Step 3 — Service management (recommended if your organisation runs on ITIL)
The service-management method the rest of IT already speaks. Take it if your organisation runs on ITIL.
Follow the free ITIL 4 Foundation roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 3 full courses (Membership)
- Course · ITIL 4 Foundation: Complete Course Part 1 · 🔒 Membership
- Course · ITIL 4 Foundation: Complete Course Part 2 · 🔒 Membership
- Course · ITIL 4 Foundation: Complete Course Part 3 · 🔒 Membership
Step 4 — Lead the programme
The CISO's skills, first 90 days and challenges, and the security risks of the AI an organisation adopts.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 2 full courses (Membership)
- Course · CISO Fundamentals: A Quick-Start Guide · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Generative AI Risks & Cybersecurity: LLM Security · 🔒 Membership
Step 5 — The senior technical certification
Credibility with the engineers you will lead.
Follow the free CISSP — Certified Information Systems Security Professional roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 7 full courses · hands-on labs 149–165 of 168 (courses in Membership · 8 labs in Membership · 9 labs in Infrastructure Labs)
- Course · CISSP Certification Introduction. Prepare for the exam right · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Certified Information Systems Security Professional - CISSP · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISSP Certification: CISSP Domain 1 & 2 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISSP Certification: CISSP Domain 3 & 4 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISSP Certification: CISSP Domain 5 & 6 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISSP Certification: CISSP Domain 7 & 8 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 149 of 168 · Using the OWASP Zed Attack Proxy Web Application Scanner [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 150 of 168 · Using the Burp Suite Web Application Scanner [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 151 of 168 · Use the Nikto Web Application Scanner [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 152 of 168 · Use the Arachni Web Application Scanner [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 153 of 168 · Use Web Application Scanners [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 154 of 168 · Use Greenbone Security Manager to Identify Vulnerabilities [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 155 of 168 · Use Nmap for Enumeration [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 156 of 168 · Use hping for Enumeration [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 157 of 168 · Use Responder for Enumeration [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 158 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 1: Race Conditions · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 159 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 2: Data Validation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 160 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 3: Authentication · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 161 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 4: Access Control · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 162 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 5: Cryptography · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 163 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 6: Error Handling · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 164 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 7: Static Analysis · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 165 of 168 · Secure Coding (Java) - Lab 8: Insecure Deserialization · 🔒 Membership
Step 6 — The management certification
The credential that says you run programmes, not just controls.
Follow the free CISM — Certified Information Security Manager roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 4 full courses · hands-on labs 166–168 of 168 (Membership)
- Course · CISM Certification: CISM Domain 1 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISM Certification: CISM Domain 2 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISM Certification: CISM Domain 3 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CISM Certification: CISM Domain 4 Video Boot Camp · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 166 of 168 · Analyze and Update a Company BCP/BIA/DRP/CIRP · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 167 of 168 · Recover from Incident · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 168 of 168 · Report Writing for Presentation to Management · 🔒 Membership
Do it hands-on
The full Cyber Security Manager roadmap
The same steps with every course and the hands-on labs, and your progress tracked.
The full roadmap with labs →What Membership includes · Full refund within 30 days if you haven't started a lab · cancel anytimeAdvanced
AI-Driven Security Engineering
Become the Cyber Security Expert the AI Era Needs.
StationX’s AI Master’s teaches you to create and deploy security solutions by directing AI. “No coding background required. You direct the AI; the AI does the building.”
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The 34 free items on this page — and every other free lesson, video and guide — open once you have a free StationX account. No card, no trial.