Beginner
Small organisations guide to cyber security
Start: Start with Secure your email, then Backing up your data. Local support and reporting procedures may differ.
Open government guide; free with no login.
Digital fluency, information literacy & cyber safety
Cyber safety & security
Learn to protect your accounts, devices and data, practising security only in authorised environments.
How to learn
Protect your own accounts
Start with email. Use a passkey or MFA where supported, understand recovery and stop reusing passwords.
Understand devices and backups
Check updates for supported software, screen lock and a separate backup. Test whether you can restore a sample file.
Learn networks and permissions
Learn domains, HTTPS and the difference between authentication and authorisation. A padlock does not establish that every claim on a site is true.
Study defence in an authorised lab
After Cisco’s foundations, read OWASP’s introduction. Record what is being tested, who authorised it and how a problem would be fixed.
Books & guides
Advanced
Security Engineering — Third Edition
Start: Begin with Chapters 1, 2 and 3; later read Chapter 6, Access Control. Beginners need not read it cover to cover.
English · Complete third edition from the author’s site; 1,212 pages.
Put it into practice
Research & frameworks
Courses & resources
Cisco — Introduction to Cybersecurity (opens in a new tab)Free self-paced course; a Cisco account is required to begin.
Start: Get Started With Self-Paced → Module 1; then Module 3: Protecting your Data and Privacy.
NCSC — Small organisations guide to cyber security (opens in a new tab)Open government guide; free with no login.
Start: Begin with Secure your email.
OWASP Web Security Testing Guide — v4.2 (opens in a new tab)Free open guide. Test only in your own or explicitly authorised lab.
Start: Introduction → The OWASP Testing Project. Do not begin testing other websites.