Engineer Information Security study plan
Engineer Information Security · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Network Security & Cryptography and Authentication
Map the OSI and TCP/IP layers to concrete attack surfaces, listing at least two attacks per layer
Explain symmetric vs asymmetric encryption, hashing, and MACs, and state which security property each provides
Trace a TLS 1.2/1.3 handshake step by step and identify where authentication, key exchange, and forward secrecy occur
Classify common network attacks (spoofing, sniffing, MITM, DoS, DNS poisoning) by layer and required precondition
Your checkpoint
A one-page protocol-to-attack matrix covering all seven OSI layers plus a hand-drawn TLS handshake diagram with annotations
Network Security & Cryptography and Authentication
Configure and compare firewall types (packet filter, stateful, application proxy) and justify placement in a DMZ topology
Describe IPsec AH vs ESP, transport vs tunnel mode, and IKE phases with correct terminology
Differentiate digital signature, certificate, and PKI trust chain roles, and explain CRL vs OCSP revocation
Diagnose given scenarios of certificate validation failure and prescribe remediation
Your checkpoint
A written incident-style analysis of two PKI failure scenarios (expired intermediate, name mismatch) with root cause and fix for each
Cryptography and Authentication & Application Security
Select appropriate authentication factors and explain MFA, FIDO2/WebAuthn, and OTP replay resistance
Identify and mitigate the OWASP Top 10 categories with a concrete control per category
Explain input validation, output encoding, parameterized queries, and CSRF tokens in request-handling terms
Distinguish stored, reflected, and DOM-based XSS and state the correct defense for each
Your checkpoint
A vulnerability triage sheet mapping eight sample findings to OWASP category, severity rationale, and remediation
Operating System Security & Database Security
Harden a Linux host baseline: accounts, sudo, file permissions, SUID audit, and service minimization
Compare DAC, MAC, and RBAC with examples from Windows ACLs and SELinux/AppArmor
Explain database privilege models, views, stored procedures, and least-privilege role design
Describe SQL injection defenses and the difference between inference and aggregation attacks in statistical databases
Your checkpoint
A host-and-database hardening checklist with at least 20 verifiable items, each with a check command or setting
Information Security Fundamentals and Laws and Regulations & Security Management and Risk Assessment
Summarize core legal duties around personal data protection, breach notification, and confidentiality obligations relevant to engineers
Distinguish asset, threat, vulnerability, and risk, and compute a simple risk score from likelihood and impact
Compare qualitative, quantitative, and hybrid risk assessment approaches and when each is appropriate
Map controls to a recognized framework's control families and explain defense in depth and least privilege as design principles
Your checkpoint
A risk register with ten realistic assets, scored likelihood/impact, treatment choice, and owner
Security Engineering and Operations & Operating System Security
Build an incident response runbook following preparation, detection, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned
Explain logging, SIEM correlation, and time synchronization requirements for forensic soundness
Describe backup strategies (full/incremental/differential), RTO/RPO, and restoration testing
Outline patch management and change management workflow with rollback criteria
Your checkpoint
A tabletop incident response report for a ransomware scenario, including timeline, containment decisions, and RTO/RPO analysis
Emerging Security Technologies and Trends & Application Security
Explain zero trust architecture, microsegmentation, and identity-centric access in contrast to perimeter models
Describe cloud shared responsibility and the security implications of containers, orchestration, and IaC
Summarize secure SDLC practices: threat modeling (STRIDE), SAST/DAST, dependency scanning, and secrets management
Assess AI/LLM-specific risks such as prompt injection and data leakage and propose mitigations
Your checkpoint
A threat model using STRIDE for a small web-plus-cloud application, with at least 12 identified threats and mitigations
Information Security Fundamentals and Laws and Regulations & Network Security & Operating System Security & Database Security & Application Security & Cryptography and Authentication & Security Management and Risk Assessment & Security Engineering and Operations & Emerging Security Technologies and Trends
Re-derive the highest-weight domains' key facts from memory and correct gaps against your own notes
Solve timed mixed-domain practice sets and classify every error by domain and cause
Revisit the two weakest domains and rewrite their summary sheets from scratch
Consolidate a one-page formula-and-fact sheet covering crypto, risk, and availability metrics
Your checkpoint
A timed 100-question mixed mock exam with an error log showing domain-level accuracy and a remediation note per miss
Milestones
Week 2: Can explain a full TLS handshake and PKI validation path aloud in under five minutes without notes
Week 4: Scores at least 70% on a self-made 40-question set drawn only from domains 2, 3, 4, and 6
Week 6: Delivers the risk register and incident runbook, and can map any given control to its framework family
Week 8: Mock exam accuracy at or above 75% overall with no single domain below 60%