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THE LEARNING JOURNEY

Learn security in the order it builds on itself.

Seven stages from how a computer and a network actually work to attacking and defending AI systems. Each step names what to read first. Essentials are the questions any security interviewer expects you to reason through from first principles, and many carry a what-if ladder: the same problem with one constraint changed at a time, the way interviews really go.

Questions
614
Essentials
169
Lessons
147
Free to read now
85

Every title, lesson summary and what-if question is public. The first answers in each topic are free, more open with a free account, and Premium unlocks every answer, ladder and lesson. See what Premium includes.

1

How computers and networks work

Processes, memory, the kernel and permissions; packets, TCP, DNS, NAT and firewalls; trust boundaries and threat models.

25 questions · 17 essential · 10 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Free
  2. Free
  3. Free
  4. Threat Modeling AI Systems
    LessonSecurity Foundations
    Premium
  5. How the Kernel Isolates Processes
    LessonSystems & OS Security
    Free
  6. Attacker Positions on the Network
    LessonNetwork Security
    Free
  7. Free
  8. Segmentation and Egress Control
    LessonNetwork Security
  9. TCP/IP for Security Engineers
    LessonNetwork Security
    Free

Essential questions, in order

  1. Finding Trust Boundaries in a New System
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Trust Boundaries, Assets and Adversaries

    Free
  2. Threat Modeling with DFDs and STRIDE
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Threat Modeling with Data-Flow Diagrams and STRIDE

    Free
  3. Least Privilege and Defence in Depth
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Least Privilege, Defence in Depth and Fail-Safe Defaults

    Free
  4. Threat vs Vulnerability vs Risk
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Threat Modeling with Data-Flow Diagrams and STRIDE

  5. Kernel Space, User Space and System Calls
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Free
  6. Process Isolation and Virtual Memory
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Free
  7. Unix Permissions, setuid and the Sticky Bit
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Free
  8. MITM Techniques and What Stops Them
    EssentialeasyNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network

    Free
  9. TCP Handshake, SYN Floods and SYN Cookies
    EssentialeasyNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network

    Free
  10. The Network Stack, Layer by Layer
    EssentialeasyNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network

    Premium
  11. How NAT Works, and Why It Isn't a Firewall
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network · The Network Stack, Layer by Layer

    Premium
  12. How Firewalls Work Underneath
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network · How NAT Works, and Why It Isn't a Firewall

    Premium
  13. How Scanning Sees Your Exposure
    EssentialeasyNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: The Network Stack, Layer by Layer · How Firewalls Work Underneath

    Premium
  14. What Happens When You Run a Program
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Kernel Space, User Space and System Calls · Process Isolation and Virtual Memory

    Premium
  15. From URL to Page: Security at Each Step
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: DNS Security: Resolution, Poisoning, DNSSEC and Encrypted DNS

    Free
  16. DNS Attacks, DNSSEC and Encrypted DNS
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: DNS Security: Resolution, Poisoning, DNSSEC and Encrypted DNS

    Free
  17. Layer 2 Attacks and Switch Defences
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Attacker Positions on the Network

    Premium
Show the other 8 questions in this stage
2

Trust: cryptography, certificates, identity

Hashes, encryption and signatures; TLS, roots and intermediates; VPN cryptography; authentication, OAuth, sessions, keys and secrets.

82 questions · 31 essential · 18 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. How Tunnels and VPNs Work
    LessonNetwork Security
  2. Wi-Fi Security and 802.1X
    LessonNetwork Security
    Free
  3. Hashes, MACs and Digital Signatures
    LessonCryptography & PKI
    Free
  4. Symmetric Encryption and AEAD
    LessonCryptography & PKI
    Free
  5. How TLS 1.3 Works
    LessonCryptography & PKI
    Free
  6. PKI and Certificate Chains
    LessonCryptography & PKI
    Free
  7. Free
  8. Free
  9. Free
  10. Sessions, Cookies and Tokens
    LessonIdentity & Access
    Free
  11. OAuth 2.0 and PKCE
    LessonIdentity & Access
    Free
  12. OpenID Connect and ID Tokens
    LessonIdentity & Access
  13. The Confused Deputy
    LessonIdentity & Access
    Free
  14. Free
  15. Premium

Essential questions, in order

  1. Encoding vs Encryption vs Hashing vs Signing
    EssentialeasyCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Hashes, MACs and Digital Signatures

    Free
  2. Symmetric vs Asymmetric Cryptography
    EssentialeasyCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Symmetric Encryption and AEAD

    Free
  3. How to Store Passwords
    EssentialeasyCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Hashes, MACs and Digital Signatures

    Free
  4. Hash Properties and the Birthday Bound
    EssentialeasyCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Hashes, MACs and Digital Signatures

    Premium
  5. Authentication vs Authorization
    EssentialeasyIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Authentication versus Authorization

    Free
  6. Why Passkeys Resist Phishing
    EssentialeasyIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Authentication versus Authorization

  7. Secrets Management for Apps and Agents
    EssentialmediumSecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  8. HSTS and SSL Stripping
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Trust on the Wire: HSTS, Certificate Transparency, Pinning and Interception

    Free
  9. How WireGuard Works
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: How Tunnels and VPNs Work

    Premium
  10. How IPsec Works
    EssentialhardNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: How Tunnels and VPNs Work

    Premium
  11. Packet and Message Signing
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: Trust on the Wire: HSTS, Certificate Transparency, Pinning and Interception · How IPsec Works

    Premium
  12. Hardening Routers and Edge Appliances
    EssentialmediumNetwork Security & ProtocolsWhat-if ladder

    After: How Firewalls Work Underneath · Designing Secure VPN Remote Access

    Premium
  13. Walk Through a TLS 1.3 Handshake
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: How TLS 1.3 Works

    Free
  14. Anatomy of an X.509 Certificate
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: PKI and Certificate Chains

    Premium
  15. How Certificate Validation Works
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: PKI and Certificate Chains · Anatomy of an X.509 Certificate

    Free
  16. Forward Secrecy Explained
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Public-Key Cryptography and Key Exchange · Walk Through a TLS 1.3 Handshake

  17. AEAD and Nonce Reuse
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Symmetric Encryption and AEAD

  18. TLS 1.2 vs TLS 1.3, Message by Message
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: PKI and Certificate Chains · Walk Through a TLS 1.3 Handshake

    Premium
  19. How OpenSSL Works Inside
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: How TLS 1.3 Works · How Certificate Validation Works

    Premium
  20. Certificate Issuance End to End
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Anatomy of an X.509 Certificate · PKI and Certificate Chains

    Premium
  21. Root Programs and Trust Stores
    EssentialhardCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: PKI and Certificate Chains · How Certificate Validation Works

    Premium
  22. Root vs Intermediate CAs
    EssentialmediumCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Certificate Issuance End to End · Root Programs and Trust Stores

    Premium
  23. OAuth Authorization Code Flow with PKCE
    EssentialmediumIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: OAuth 2.0 and PKCE

    Free
  24. OIDC vs OAuth, ID Token vs Access Token
    EssentialmediumIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: OpenID Connect and ID Tokens · OAuth Authorization Code Flow with PKCE

    Free
  25. Sessions vs Bearer Tokens
    EssentialmediumIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Sessions, Cookies and Tokens

    Free
  26. JWT Validation Pitfalls
    EssentialmediumIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Sessions, Cookies and Tokens · Sessions vs Bearer Tokens

  27. Code Signing Guarantees and Key Theft
    EssentialmediumSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder
    Free
  28. Envelope Encryption for Multi-Tenant Data
    EssentialhardCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Symmetric Encryption and AEAD

  29. Mutual TLS Between Services
    EssentialhardCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Hashes, MACs and Digital Signatures · Walk Through a TLS 1.3 Handshake

    Premium
  30. HSM vs Cloud KMS
    EssentialhardCryptography, PKI & TLSWhat-if ladder

    After: Hardware Roots of Trust and Key Custody

    Premium
  31. WebAuthn and Passkeys, Step by Step
    EssentialhardIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Authentication versus Authorization · Why Passkeys Resist Phishing

    Premium
Show the other 51 questions in this stage
3

Platforms

Linux, Windows and Active Directory, macOS, Android, iOS, browsers and containers: how each enforces isolation, signing and privilege.

53 questions · 22 essential · 14 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Free
  2. Validating JWTs Safely
    LessonIdentity & Access
    Premium
  3. Premium
  4. HTTP/2, HTTP/3 and Request Smuggling
    LessonApplication Security
    Premium
  5. Free
  6. Free
  7. Premium

Essential questions, in order

  1. Vertical and Horizontal Privilege Escalation
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes · Unix Permissions, setuid and the Sticky Bit

    Free
  2. Android vs iOS Security Models
    EssentialeasyMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: The Mobile Platform Security Model

    Free
  3. Android Sandbox, Signing and Permissions
    EssentialeasyMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: The Mobile Platform Security Model

    Free
  4. Linux Capabilities and CAP_SYS_ADMIN
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: The Linux Privilege Model: Permissions, setuid, Capabilities and MAC

  5. DAC vs MAC: SELinux and AppArmor
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

  6. Windows Tokens, Privileges and UAC
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Windows and Active Directory Security for Interviews

    Premium
  7. ASLR, DEP, Canaries, PIE and RELRO
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  8. Secure Boot, Measured Boot and TPMs
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  9. macOS Platform Security
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Windows and Active Directory Security for Interviews

    Premium
  10. Secure Storage on Android and iOS
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Protecting Data on Mobile Devices

    Free
  11. Root and Jailbreak Detection
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Trusting a Mobile Client: Pinning, Tamper Detection and Attestation · Android vs iOS Security Models

    Premium
  12. How Android Rooting Works
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Android Sandbox, Signing and Permissions · Secure Boot, Measured Boot and TPMs

    Premium
  13. Containers vs gVisor vs MicroVMs
    EssentialmediumCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Free
  14. Active Directory and Kerberos Attacks
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Windows and Active Directory Security for Interviews · Windows Tokens, Privileges and UAC

    Premium
  15. How Operating Systems Enforce Code Signing
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  16. seccomp-bpf, From Filter to Policy
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: The Linux Privilege Model: Permissions, setuid, Capabilities and MAC

    Premium
  17. NTLM, Relay and Coercion
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Windows and Active Directory Security for Interviews · Windows Tokens, Privileges and UAC

    Premium
  18. Browser Sandboxing and Site Isolation
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  19. macOS TCC and XPC Explained
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: macOS Platform Security

    Premium
  20. Running Untrusted Code Safely
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Containers vs gVisor vs MicroVMs · seccomp-bpf, From Filter to Policy

    Premium
  21. Certificate Pinning Design and Rotation
    EssentialhardMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Trust on the Wire: HSTS, Certificate Transparency, Pinning and Interception · What to Pin, and Why HPKP Failed · How Certificate Validation Works

  22. Device and App Attestation
    EssentialhardMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Trusting a Mobile Client: Pinning, Tamper Detection and Attestation · Root and Jailbreak Detection

    Premium
Show the other 31 questions in this stage
4

Applications, data and cloud

Web and API vulnerabilities, databases, cloud identity and storage, Kubernetes and the software supply chain.

67 questions · 20 essential · 34 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Free
  2. Premium
  3. Free
  4. Free
  5. Injection Vulnerabilities
    LessonApplication Security
    Free
  6. Free
  7. Content Security Policy in Depth
    LessonApplication Security
  8. Server-Side Request Forgery
    LessonApplication Security
    Free
  9. Broken Access Control and IDOR
    LessonApplication Security
  10. Insecure Deserialization
    LessonApplication Security
  11. Free
  12. Free
  13. Free
  14. Sandboxing Untrusted Code
    LessonInfrastructure Security
    Free
  15. Cloud IAM and Privilege Escalation Paths
    LessonInfrastructure Security
  16. Protecting Model Weights
    LessonInfrastructure Security
    Free
  17. The Inference Stack as Attack Surface
    LessonInfrastructure Security
    Premium
  18. Free
  19. Free
  20. Free
  21. Free
  22. Free
  23. Free
  24. How Code Signing Works
    LessonSupply Chain Security
    Free
  25. Sigstore and Keyless Signing
    LessonSupply Chain Security
    Free
  26. Free
  27. SLSA and Build Provenance
    LessonSupply Chain Security
  28. SBOMs and AI Bills of Materials
    LessonSupply Chain Security
  29. Free
  30. Free
  31. Free

Essential questions, in order

  1. Injection as a Vulnerability Class
    EssentialeasyApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Injection Vulnerabilities

    Free
  2. XSS, Output Encoding and CSP
    EssentialeasyApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Cross-Site Scripting and Output Encoding

    Free
  3. OWASP Top 10:2025 for Web Apps
    EssentialeasyApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  4. Database Security Fundamentals
    EssentialeasyApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Least Privilege and Defence in Depth · Injection as a Vulnerability Class

    Premium
  5. Cloud IAM Privilege Escalation Paths
    EssentialmediumIdentity, OAuth & Access ControlWhat-if ladder

    After: Least Privilege, Defence in Depth and Fail-Safe Defaults

    Premium
  6. SSRF and LLM Fetch Tools
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Server-Side Request Forgery

    Free
  7. How to Run a Security Code Review
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Free
  8. Finding BOLA and IDOR at Scale
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Broken Access Control and IDOR

  9. Same-Origin Policy, CORS and CSRF
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder
  10. Why Deserialization Can Execute Code
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Insecure Deserialization

  11. Reviewing an API for Security
    EssentialmediumApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Broken Access Control and IDOR

    Premium
  12. Cloud Metadata Endpoints and SSRF
    EssentialmediumCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Cloud IAM and Privilege Escalation Paths · SSRF and LLM Fetch Tools

    Free
  13. Kubernetes Security Basics
    EssentialmediumCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  14. Threat Modelling a Storage Bucket
    EssentialmediumCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Protecting Model Weights

    Premium
  15. Typosquatting and Dependency Confusion
    EssentialmediumSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder

    After: SLSA and Build Provenance

  16. SLSA Provenance and Build Levels
    EssentialmediumSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder

    After: SLSA and Build Provenance

  17. Designing a Secure Web Login
    EssentialhardApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  18. Race Conditions and Limit Overruns
    EssentialhardApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  19. Container Escape Paths and Controls
    EssentialhardCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: What Containers Isolate, and What They Do Not · Containers vs gVisor vs MicroVMs

    Premium
  20. Responding to a Package Worm
    EssentialhardSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder

    After: Typosquatting and Dependency Confusion · Hardening CI/CD Pipelines · Package Ecosystem Attacks: npm, PyPI and Beyond

    Premium
Show the other 47 questions in this stage
5

How attacks and testing work

How bugs become control, reverse engineering, software protection and its limits, malware behaviour and penetration-test method.

40 questions · 20 essential · 8 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Free
  2. Reverse Engineering as a Security Method
    LessonSystems & OS Security
  3. Software Protection and Its Limits
    LessonSystems & OS Security
  4. Premium
  5. Model Registries and Promotion Pipelines
    LessonSupply Chain Security
    Premium
  6. Infostealers and Session Theft
    LessonDetection & Response
    Free
  7. Denial of Wallet: Cost as an Attack Surface
    LessonLLM Application Security

Essential questions, in order

  1. How a Penetration Test Runs
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Threat Modeling with DFDs and STRIDE · How Scanning Sees Your Exposure

    Premium
  2. Memory-Safety Bug Classes
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Memory Corruption and the Mitigations Against It

    Premium
  3. Static vs Dynamic Analysis in Reversing
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  4. How Vulnerabilities Arise
    EssentialeasySystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Memory Corruption and the Mitigations Against It · Injection as a Vulnerability Class

    Premium
  5. Malware Triage and YARA Rules
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder
    Premium
  6. Reverse Shells and Command and Control
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder
  7. How Malware Works, Stage by Stage
    EssentialeasyDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Malware Triage and YARA Rules · Reverse Shells and Command and Control

    Premium
  8. How Real Intrusions Unfold
    EssentialmediumSecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Attack Trees and Kill Chains · How a Penetration Test Runs

    Premium
  9. Fuzzing and Crash Triage
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  10. Approaching a Stripped Binary
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Reverse Engineering as a Security Method

    Premium
  11. How Hooking and Instrumentation Work
    EssentialmediumSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Software Protection and Its Limits

    Premium
  12. Reverse Engineering Mobile Apps
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Reverse Engineering as a Security Method · Android Sandbox, Signing and Permissions

    Premium
  13. Testing Without Root
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Reverse Engineering Mobile Apps · How Android Rooting Works

    Premium
  14. How Mobile Malware Works
    EssentialmediumMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Android vs iOS Security Models · The Mobile Platform Security Model

    Premium
  15. ROP, CFI and Shadow Stacks
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Memory Corruption and the Mitigations Against It · Memory-Safety Bug Classes · ASLR, DEP, Canaries, PIE and RELRO

    Premium
  16. Obfuscation Techniques and Their Limits
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Software Protection and Its Limits

    Premium
  17. Side Channels and Fault Injection
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: How the Kernel Isolates Processes

    Premium
  18. From Memory Bug to Exploit, Conceptually
    EssentialhardSystems, OS & Memory SafetyWhat-if ladder

    After: Memory-Safety Bug Classes · ASLR, DEP, Canaries, PIE and RELRO

    Premium
  19. Pinning Bypass Classes and Resistance
    EssentialhardMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Trusting a Mobile Client: Pinning, Tamper Detection and Attestation · Certificate Pinning Design and Rotation

    Premium
  20. How Android Gets Exploited
    EssentialhardMobile Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Android vs iOS Security Models · From Memory Bug to Exploit, Conceptually

    Premium
Show the other 20 questions in this stage
6

AI systems and their attacks

How LLM apps, RAG and agents work; prompt injection, context and data theft, instruction override, poisoning, extraction; red teaming AI.

254 questions · 47 essential · 44 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Premium
  2. Free
  3. How LLM Applications Work
    LessonHow LLM Systems Work
    Free
  4. Free
  5. How LLMs Are Trained and Aligned
    LessonHow LLM Systems Work
    Free
  6. Free
  7. Tool Calling and the Agent Loop
    LessonHow LLM Systems Work
    Free
  8. Premium
  9. Premium
  10. The OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications
    LessonHow LLM Systems Work
    Free
  11. What Is Prompt Injection?
    LessonPrompt Injection
    Free
  12. Indirect Prompt Injection
    LessonPrompt Injection
    Free
  13. Free
  14. Jailbreak Technique Families
    LessonPrompt Injection
  15. System Prompt Leakage
    LessonPrompt Injection
  16. Premium
  17. Premium
  18. Premium
  19. Premium
  20. Insecure Output Handling
    LessonLLM Application Security
    Free
  21. Free
  22. RAG Security
    LessonLLM Application Security
    Free
  23. Sensitive Information Disclosure
    LessonLLM Application Security
  24. Guardrails and Their Limits
    LessonLLM Application Security
  25. Agentic AI Security
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Free
  26. The Lethal Trifecta
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Free
  27. Excessive Agency
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Free
  28. MCP Security
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Free
  29. Tool Poisoning and Rug Pulls
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
  30. Human Approval That Holds
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Premium
  31. Premium
  32. Premium
  33. Agent and MCP Gateways Explained
    LessonAgent & MCP Security
    Free
  34. Adversarial Examples and Evasion
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
    Free
  35. Data Poisoning
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
    Free
  36. Membership Inference Attacks
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
    Free
  37. Training-Data Memorisation and Extraction
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
    Free
  38. Model Extraction
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
    Free
  39. Backdoors and Trojaned Models
    LessonAdversarial ML & Privacy
  40. What AI Red Teaming Is
    LessonRed Teaming & Response
    Free
  41. Scoping an AI Red Team Engagement
    LessonRed Teaming & Response
  42. Statistics for AI Security Evaluations
    LessonRed Teaming & Response
  43. AI Incident Response
    LessonRed Teaming & Response
    Free

Essential questions, in order

  1. Why the System Prompt Isn't a Boundary
    EssentialeasyHow LLM Systems WorkWhat-if ladder

    After: System Prompt Leakage

    Free
  2. Applying the OWASP LLM Top 10
    EssentialeasyHow LLM Systems WorkWhat-if ladder

    After: The OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications

    Free
  3. RAG as a Data Flow for Attackers
    EssentialeasyHow LLM Systems WorkWhat-if ladder

    After: Retrieval-Augmented Generation as a Data Flow

    Premium
  4. Function Calling and Agent Authority
    EssentialeasyHow LLM Systems WorkWhat-if ladder

    After: Tool Calling and the Agent Loop

    Premium
  5. Instructions and Data in One Channel
    EssentialmediumHow LLM Systems WorkWhat-if ladder

    After: How LLM Applications Work

    Free
  6. Prompt Injection vs SQL Injection
    EssentialeasyPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: What Is Prompt Injection? · Instructions and Data in One Channel

    Free
  7. Direct vs Indirect Prompt Injection
    EssentialeasyPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: Indirect Prompt Injection · Prompt Injection vs SQL Injection

    Free
  8. Jailbreak or Prompt Injection?
    EssentialeasyPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: Prompt Injection versus Jailbreaking

    Free
  9. System Prompt Extraction
    EssentialeasyPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: System Prompt Leakage · Why the System Prompt Isn't a Boundary

  10. Evasion vs Poisoning Attacks
    EssentialeasyAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Data Poisoning

    Free
  11. AI Red Teaming vs Pentesting vs Benchmarks
    EssentialeasyAI Red Teaming, Evaluation & ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: What AI Red Teaming Is

    Free
  12. How AI Security Differs from AppSec
    EssentialmediumSecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder
    Free
  13. Threat-Model a Support Chatbot
    EssentialmediumSecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: Threat Modeling AI Systems

    Free
  14. Pickle Model Files and Safetensors
    EssentialmediumSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder

    After: Unsafe Model Files: Pickle versus Safetensors

    Free
  15. Evaluating Injection Immunity Claims
    EssentialmediumPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: Design Patterns That Bound Prompt Injection

    Free
  16. Layered Defences for Indirect Injection
    EssentialmediumPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: Indirect Prompt Injection

    Free
  17. Handling LLM Output Safely
    EssentialmediumLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Insecure Output Handling

    Free
  18. Text-Only Assistants That Still Leak
    EssentialmediumLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Data Exfiltration Channels in LLM Applications · Handling LLM Output Safely

    Free
  19. How LLM Context Gets Stolen
    EssentialmediumPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: System Prompt Extraction · Text-Only Assistants That Still Leak

    Premium
  20. Diagnosing Instruction-Priority Failures
    EssentialmediumPrompt Injection & JailbreaksWhat-if ladder

    After: Instructions and Data in One Channel · Spotlighting and Instruction Hierarchy

    Premium
  21. Where LLM Apps Leak Data
    EssentialmediumLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Sensitive Information Disclosure

    Free
  22. RAG and Vector Store Poisoning
    EssentialmediumLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: RAG Security

  23. Lethal Trifecta Triage
    EssentialmediumAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: The Lethal Trifecta · Direct vs Indirect Prompt Injection

    Free
  24. Containing Excessive Agency
    EssentialmediumAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Excessive Agency · Function Calling and Agent Authority

    Free
  25. MCP Security Risks in Interviews
    EssentialmediumAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: MCP Security

    Free
  26. Designing Agent Tool Permissions
    EssentialmediumAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Excessive Agency · Delegated Authorization for AI Agents

    Free
  27. Defending Against MCP Tool Poisoning
    EssentialmediumAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Tool Poisoning and Rug Pulls · MCP Security Risks in Interviews

  28. Membership Inference and Overfitting
    EssentialmediumAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Membership Inference Attacks · Evasion vs Poisoning Attacks

    Free
  29. Model Extraction: Gains and Defences
    EssentialmediumAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Model Extraction · Evasion vs Poisoning Attacks

    Free
  30. Detecting Data Poisoning in a Pipeline
    EssentialmediumAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Data Poisoning

    Free
  31. Training Data Extraction in LLMs
    EssentialmediumAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Model Extraction

  32. How ML Models Get Broken
    EssentialmediumAdversarial ML & Model PrivacyWhat-if ladder

    After: Evasion vs Poisoning Attacks · Model Extraction: Gains and Defences

    Premium
  33. Red-Teaming a Customer Chatbot End to End
    EssentialmediumAI Red Teaming, Evaluation & ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Scoping an AI Red Team Engagement · AI Red Teaming vs Pentesting vs Benchmarks

    Free
  34. Reporting Attack Success Rates
    EssentialmediumAI Red Teaming, Evaluation & ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Attack Success Rate and Probabilistic Findings · Red-Teaming a Customer Chatbot End to End

    Free
  35. Detecting and Investigating AI Incidents
    EssentialmediumAI Red Teaming, Evaluation & ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: AI Incident Response

    Free
  36. How AI Vulnerability-Discovery Agents Work
    EssentialhardApplication & API SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: SAST, DAST, SCA and Fuzzing Compared · LLM-Assisted Security Code Review

    Premium
  37. Threat-Model an LLM Inference API
    EssentialhardCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: The Inference Stack as Attack Surface

    Free
  38. Sandboxing Agent-Generated Code
    EssentialhardCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Sandboxing Untrusted Code

    Free
  39. Securing the Model Supply Chain
    EssentialhardSoftware, Data & Model Supply ChainWhat-if ladder

    After: SLSA and Build Provenance

    Free
  40. Securing a RAG Application End to End
    EssentialhardLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: RAG Security

    Free
  41. Document-Level Permissions in RAG
    EssentialhardLLM Application SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: RAG Security

    Free
  42. Securing an Agent with Tools
    EssentialhardAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Excessive Agency

    Free
  43. Stopping Agent Memory Poisoning
    EssentialhardAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Agent Memory Security: Poisoning, Provenance and Forgetting

  44. How AI Agents Get Corrupted
    EssentialhardAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Stopping Agent Memory Poisoning · Defending Against MCP Tool Poisoning

    Premium
  45. Responding to a Cross-Tenant LLM Leak
    EssentialhardAI Red Teaming, Evaluation & ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: AI Incident Response

    Free
  46. Protecting Model Weights from Theft
    EssentialexpertCloud, Container & AI Infrastructure SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Protecting Model Weights

  47. Governing a Fleet of AI Agents
    EssentialexpertAgent, Tool & MCP SecurityWhat-if ladder

    After: Governing Non-Human Identities · Rate Limits and Budgets for Agents · Kill Switches for AI Features

    Premium
Show the other 207 questions in this stage
7

Defend, respond, lead

Detection engineering, incident response and forensics, vulnerability management, governance and regulation, and leading a programme.

93 questions · 12 essential · 19 lessons

Start with the lessons

  1. Free
  2. Free
  3. Free
  4. Free
  5. Free
  6. Free
  7. Free
  8. Free
  9. Free
  10. Free
  11. The NIST AI Risk Management Framework
    LessonAI Governance & Risk
    Free
  12. The EU AI Act for Engineers
    LessonAI Governance & Risk
    Free
  13. ISO/IEC 42001
    LessonAI Governance & Risk
    Free
  14. Assessing an AI System's Risk
    LessonAI Governance & Risk
  15. Free
  16. Free

Essential questions, in order

  1. Incident Response: a Leaked API Key
    EssentialeasySecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder

    After: AI Incident Response

  2. Event, Alert and Incident
    EssentialeasyDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Incident Handling: Declare, Contain, Scope, Recover, Learn

    Free
  3. Triaging an Endpoint Alert
    EssentialeasyDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Endpoint and Network Telemetry for Detection · Event, Alert and Incident

    Free
  4. Explaining AI Risk to a CISO
    EssentialmediumSecurity Foundations & Threat ModelingWhat-if ladder
  5. Writing a Good Detection
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Detection Engineering: From Hypothesis to Tested Alert · Event, Alert and Incident

    Free
  6. Forensics Basics for Incident Response
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Incident Handling: Declare, Contain, Scope, Recover, Learn

  7. Prioritising Vulnerabilities
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Vulnerability Management by Risk: CVSS, EPSS, KEV and Context

    Premium
  8. How Patching Works in Practice
    EssentialmediumDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Prioritising Vulnerabilities · Vulnerability Management by Risk: CVSS, EPSS, KEV and Context

    Premium
  9. NIST AI RMF vs ISO 42001 vs EU AI Act
    EssentialmediumAI Governance, Risk & ComplianceWhat-if ladder

    After: The NIST AI Risk Management Framework

    Free
  10. EU AI Act Risk Tiers and High-Risk Duties
    EssentialmediumAI Governance, Risk & ComplianceWhat-if ladder

    After: The EU AI Act for Engineers

    Free
  11. Ransomware Response
    EssentialhardDetection Engineering & Incident ResponseWhat-if ladder

    After: Incident Response: a Leaked API Key

  12. An AI Security Operating Model
    EssentialhardAI Governance, Risk & ComplianceWhat-if ladder
    Premium
Show the other 81 questions in this stage