Site licenses are available for schools to provide this certification to their students.

Individual exams are also available to be purchased by anyone at a cost of US$100.

This exam tests your knowledge of cybersecurity and online safety in the areas listed below.

It is recommended that candidates undertake approx. 60 hours of instruction or hands-on experience with cybersecurity before taking this exam.

The percentage values are indicative of the breakdown of the content of the exam – the higher the percentage, the greater number of questions you are likely to see on the exam relating to that area.

• Digital Footprint
  • Understand what good and bad online behavior is
  • Describe what a digital footprint is
  • Understand how a digital footprint can be harmful
  • Understand how data can be gathered by third parties to create a digital footprint (app, location, web history, etc.)
  • Understand that once information is online, it may not be possible to fully remove
  • Understand and describe the potential implications of a digital footprint (positive and negative, ethical, financial, etc.)
• Cyberbullying
  • Understand what cyberbullying is and recognize it taking place
  • Understand what actions can be taken to prevent cyberbullying
  • Understand what actions can be taken when discovering cyberbullying
  • Demonstrate how to reduce or prevent cyberbullying
• Personally Identifiable Information
  • Understand what privacy is and what information is OK to share
  • Understand what personally identifiable information is and how to keep secure
  • Understand the risks and benefits of sharing PII
  • Understand how PII can be disclosed
  • Describe the potential impact of exposing PII online
  • Understand and identify unsafe content such as malicious links or emails
  • Understand the potential implications of actions online and their real-world consequences
  • Understand what a data breach is

• Cyber Ethics
  • Understand and identify unsafe content such as malicious links or emails
  • Understand and describe what a cyber-attack is and reference recent cyber-attacks
  • Understand what ethical hacking is
  • Understand what malicious hacking is
  • Understand and describe how integrity and reputation can be affected by actions taken online
• Networking
  • Understand the difference between local and online
  • Describe and be able to differentiate between network
    topologies (LAN and WAN)
  • Describe the components that make up a Local Area Network (NIC, Switch, Router etc.)
• Security
  • Understand and describe authentication and authorization and the difference between the two
  • Understand and describe the various methods of authentication such as passwords, biometrics, multifactor authentication
  • Understand the role of security software (antivirus, antimalware, firewalls, web filter etc.)
  • Understand and describe the characteristics of a good/strong password
• Threats and Vulnerabilities
  • Understand and describe what malware is and how it could be used and how to respond
  • Understand and describe email threats and how to respond
  • Understand and describe how threats and attacks may be used against individuals and organizations
  • Understand the role of security software (antivirus, antimalware, firewalls, web filter etc.)

• CIA Triad and Authentication
  • Understand what confidentiality, integrity and availability are
  • Understand and describe concepts related to CIA such as authentication and encryption
  • Describe a scenario where a part of the CIA Triad has failed
  • Understand and describe authentication and authorization and the difference between the two
  • Understand and describe the various methods of authentication such as passwords, biometrics, multifactor authentication
  • Understand and describe the characteristics of a good/strong password
• Internet of Things and Backup
  • Describe what a digital footprint is
  • Understand what an IoT device is and common use cases
  • Describe and understand that IoT devices collect and share huge amounts of data globally
  • Identify common IoT devices
  • Understand and describe the risks and benefits of IoT
  • Understand the vulnerabilities associated with IoT devices
  • Identify different data storage devices (local and cloud)
  • Understand the importance of backing up and automatic backing up on cloud services
• Cryptography
  • Understand what cryptography is and how it protects information
  • Understand and describe how simple (Caesar cypher etc.) and more complex (Enigma etc.) encryption methods work
  • Understand and discuss scenarios where there is a need for encryption
• Access Controls
  • Understand what privileged data is
  • Understand and describe different levels of authority and the data they may require access to
  • Understand what access control is
  • Understand the principle of least privilege
  • Understand an access control list
  • Understand firewalls and how they use allow and block lists
  • Understand and describe attacks and how they can be responded to