Cybersecurity Fundamentals — Study Notes

A comprehensive, exam-focused guide to introductory Cybersecurity, covering the CIA triad, common threat types and social engineering, symmetric and asymmetric encryption (and the hybrid approach), hashing and salting for password security, network security (firewalls, segmentation), authentication and genuine multi-factor authentication, common web application vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS), the defense-in-depth security model, risk management fundamentals, and incident response phases. Includes custom diagrams (the CIA triad and a defense-in-depth layered security model), fully worked problems (CIA triad attack classification, MFA evaluation, defense-in-depth application), comparison tables clarifying commonly confused security concepts, an 11-term glossary, and original practice questions with detailed explanations. Built around the practical, applied security reasoning (not just terminology memorization) that this foundational course requires.