The three most used endpoint operating systems are Windows, Linux, and Mac. When investigating security incidents, security analysts often encounter these operating systems running on servers or user end hosts. If you are an associate-level cybersecurity analyst who is working in security operation centers, this course will help you understand basic Windows operations principles. By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Endpoints and Systems

Endpoints and Systems
This course is part of Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals Specialization

Instructor: Cisco Learning & Certifications
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There are 3 modules in this course
The three most used endpoint operating systems are Windows, Linux, and Mac. When investigating security incidents, security analysts often encounter these operating systems running on servers or user end hosts. If you are an associate-level cybersecurity analyst who is working in security operation centers, this course will help you understand basic Windows operations principles. By the end of the course, you will be able to: •By the end of the course, you will be able to: • Describe the history of the Windows operating system and vulnerabilities.• Describe the Windows OS architecture and components.• Describe Windows processes, threads, and handles.• Describe virtual memory allocation in the Windows OS.• Describe Windows services and how they are used.• Describe the functionality of Windows NTFS.• Describe the Windows NTFS structure.• Describe Windows domains and local user accounts.• Describe the Windows graphical user interface and its use.• Describe how to perform tasks in Windows which may require administrator privileges.• Describe the Windows command line interface use and features.• Describe the features of the Windows PowerShell.• Describe how the net command is used for Windows administration and maintenance.• Describe how to control Windows startup services and execute a system shutdown.• Describe how to control Windows services and processes that are operating on a host.• Describe how to monitor Windows system resources with the use of Windows Task Manager.• Describe the Windows boot process, starting services, and registry entries.• Describe how to configure Windows networking properties.• Use the netstat command to view running networking functions.• Access Windows network resources and perform remote functions.• Describe the use of the Windows registry.• Describe how the Windows Event Viewer is used to browse and manage event logs.• Use the Windows Management Instrumentation to manage data and operations on Windows-based operating systems.• Understand common Windows server functions and features.• Describe commonly used third-party tools to manage to manage Windows operating systems.• Explore the Windows operating system and services. The knowledge and skills that students are expected to have before attending this course are: 1. Skills and knowledge equivalent to those learned in Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA) v1.0 course 2. Familiarity with Ethernet and TCP/IP networking 3. Working knowledge of the Windows and Linux operating systems 4. Familiarity with basics of networking security concepts.
What's included
26 videos62 readings25 assignments1 discussion prompt
26 videos• Total 113 minutes
- Introduction to Understanding Windows Operating System Basics• 1 minute
- Windows Operating System History• 2 minutes
- Windows Operating System Architecture• 3 minutes
- Windows Processes, Threads, and Handles• 4 minutes
- Windows Virtual Memory Address Space• 2 minutes
- Windows Services• 3 minutes
- Windows File System Overview• 8 minutes
- Windows File System Structure• 8 minutes
- Windows Domains and Local User Accounts• 4 minutes
- Windows GUI• 3 minutes
- Run as Administrator• 2 minutes
- Windows CLI• 3 minutes
- Windows PowerShell• 7 minutes
- Windows net Command• 6 minutes
- Controlling Startup Services and Executing System Shutdown• 6 minutes
- Controlling Services and Processes• 8 minutes
- Monitoring System Resources• 4 minutes
- Windows Boot Process• 3 minutes
- Windows Networking• 4 minutes
- Windows netstat Command• 6 minutes
- Accessing Network Resources with Windows• 6 minutes
- Windows Registry• 6 minutes
- Windows Management Instrumentation• 3 minutes
- Common Windows Server Functions• 4 minutes
- Common Third-Party Tools• 3 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 1 minute
62 readings• Total 355 minutes
- Introduction to Understanding Windows Operating System Basics• 2 minutes
- Windows Operating System History• 3 minutes
- Windows Operating System Architecture• 7 minutes
- User Mode• 7 minutes
- Kernel Mode• 7 minutes
- Windows Processes, Threads, and Handles• 7 minutes
- Windows Task Manager• 2 minutes
- Windows Virtual Memory Address Space• 8 minutes
- Windows Services• 4 minutes
- Windows File System Overview• 8 minutes
- NTFS Basics• 3 minutes
- NTFS Volume Structure• 4 minutes
- NTFS Alternate Data Streams• 8 minutes
- Windows File System Structure• 8 minutes
- File System Paths• 6 minutes
- File Naming Conventions• 5 minutes
- File Properties, Attributes, and Permissions• 9 minutes
- Windows Domains and Local User Accounts• 2 minutes
- Windows Domains• 4 minutes
- Local Users and User Groups• 9 minutes
- Creating a Local User Account• 5 minutes
- Windows GUI• 7 minutes
- Windows Context Menu• 3 minutes
- Windows File Explorer• 7 minutes
- Run as Administrator• 6 minutes
- Windows CLI• 8 minutes
- File and Directory References from the Command Line• 6 minutes
- Windows PowerShell• 8 minutes
- Entering PowerShell• 8 minutes
- Using Windows PowerShell• 8 minutes
- Importing PowerShell Functions• 7 minutes
- Windows net Command• 6 minutes
- Controlling Startup Services • 6 minutes
- Windows System Shutdown• 5 minutes
- Controlling Services and Processes• 8 minutes
- The msconfig Utility• 6 minutes
- Windows 8 (and Greater) Task Manager• 8 minutes
- Monitoring System Resources• 6 minutes
- Resource Monitor• 8 minutes
- Windows Boot Process• 8 minutes
- Starting Services at Boot Time• 6 minutes
- Windows Networking• 2 minutes
- Configuring Basic Networking Properties• 3 minutes
- Network Adapter Properties• 5 minutes
- Testing Network Connectivity• 5 minutes
- The nslookup Command• 4 minutes
- Windows netstat Command• 7 minutes
- Accessing Network Resources with Windows• 8 minutes
- Remote Desktop Protocol• 7 minutes
- Windows Registry• 8 minutes
- Registry Editor• 8 minutes
- Security Concerns Regarding the Windows Registry• 4 minutes
- Windows Management Instrumentation• 5 minutes
- Common Windows Server Functions• 4 minutes
- Common Third-Party Tools• 2 minutes
- PuTTY Application• 5 minutes
- WinSCP• 5 minutes
- Wireshark• 3 minutes
- Sysinternals• 10 minutes
- Process Monitor• 2 minutes
- TCPView• 4 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 1 minute
25 assignments• Total 130 minutes
- Windows Operating System History Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows Operating System Architecture Practice Quiz• 6 minutes
- Windows Processes, Threads, and Handles Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows Virtual Memory Address Space Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows Services Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows File System Overview Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows Domains and Local User Accounts Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Run as Administrator Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows CLI Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows net Command Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Controlling Services and Processes Practice Quiz• 6 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Monitoring System Resources Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows Networking Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Windows netstat Command Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Windows Registry Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Common Windows Server Functions Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Understanding Windows Operating System Basics Course Exam• 34 minutes
1 discussion prompt• Total 10 minutes
- Learner Introduction• 10 minutes
If you are an associate-level cybersecurity analyst who is working in security operation centers, this course will help you to understand Linux Operating System basics. By the end of the course, you will be able to: • Provide brief history and benefits of Linux operating system.• Describe Linux architecture.• Provide an overview of the Linux file system.• Describe basic file system navigation and management commands in Linux.• Describe Linux file properties and permissions.• Describe Linux commands that you can use to manage file permissions and ownership.• Describe root and sudo commands in Linux.• Describe Linux storage disks and file systems.• Describe the Linux boot process.• Describe alternate startup options in case Linux is experiencing problems or has been compromised.• Describe the proper procedure to shut down a Linux-based system for maintenance or troubleshooting.• Describe Linux system processes.• Describe mechanisms for interacting with the Linux operating system.• Explore important concepts about the Linux shell and its usage.• Explore Linux piping command output.• Describe other useful Linux command line tools.• Provide an overview of Secure Shell Protocol.• Describe Linux tools and features for managing every aspect of networking and connectivity configuration.• Describe the process of managing services in SysV environments. • Describe tools to track the services running in your Linux installation. • Provide an overview of the Domain Name System. • Explore the Linux operating system tools to test name resolation. • Explore Linux tools to view network traffic. • Configure remote syslog in context to Linux systems. • Describe requirements to run software in a Linux installation. • Explore Linux executable files and interpreters that can execute code. • Describe package managers to install software in Linux • Describe system applications used to serve clients in context to Linux. • Provide an overview of LDAP. • Explore the Linux operating system and services. To be successful in this course, you should have the following background: 1. Skills and knowledge equivalent to those learned in Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA) v1.0 course 2. Familiarity with Ethernet and TCP/IP networking 3. Working knowledge of the Windows and Linux operating systems 4. Familiarity with basics of networking security concepts.
What's included
31 videos95 readings29 assignments
31 videos• Total 158 minutes
- Course Introduction to Understanding Linux Operating System Basics• 1 minute
- History and Benefits of Linux• 4 minutes
- Linux Architecture• 5 minutes
- Linux File System Overview• 13 minutes
- Basic File System Navigation and Management Commands• 5 minutes
- File Properties and Permissions• 7 minutes
- Editing File Properties• 7 minutes
- Root and Sudo• 4 minutes
- Disks and File Systems• 7 minutes
- System Initialization• 5 minutes
- Emergency/Alternate Startup Options• 5 minutes
- Shutting Down the System• 3 minutes
- System Processes• 7 minutes
- Interacting with Linux• 4 minutes
- Linux Command Shell Concepts• 13 minutes
- Piping Command Output• 3 minutes
- Other Useful Command-Line Tools• 8 minutes
- Overview of Secure Shell Protocol• 3 minutes
- Networking• 6 minutes
- Managing Services in SysV Environments• 5 minutes
- Viewing Running Network Services• 8 minutes
- Name Resolution: DNS• 6 minutes
- Testing Name Resolution• 3 minutes
- Viewing Network Traffic• 4 minutes
- Configuring Remote Syslog• 3 minutes
- Running Software on Linux• 4 minutes
- Executables vs. Interpreters• 6 minutes
- Using Package Managers to Install Software in Linux• 4 minutes
- System Applications• 2 minutes
- Lightweight Directory Access Protocol• 2 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 1 minute
95 readings• Total 429 minutes
- Introduction to Understanding Linux Operating System Basics• 1 minute
- History and Benefits of Linux• 4 minutes
- Linux Architecture• 4 minutes
- Linux Architecture• 6 minutes
- User Space• 4 minutes
- Kernel Space• 2 minutes
- Kernel/User Relationship to the Hardware• 3 minutes
- Linux File System Overview• 6 minutes
- Special File System Structures• 6 minutes
- Fully Qualified vs. Relative File References• 5 minutes
- How Devices Are Represented as Files in the Linux File System• 5 minutes
- Basic File System Navigation and Management Commands• 1 minute
- Changing Directories• 5 minutes
- Copying and Moving Files• 4 minutes
- File Properties and Permissions• 5 minutes
- Permissions• 7 minutes
- Ownership• 5 minutes
- Editing File Properties• 7 minutes
- Root and Sudo• 6 minutes
- Disks and File Systems• 3 minutes
- Disk Partitions• 6 minutes
- File System Types• 6 minutes
- Mounting Devices• 6 minutes
- System Initialization• 1 minute
- System Initialization• 5 minutes
- How Linux Controls the Boot Process• 4 minutes
- Run Levels• 5 minutes
- Common Boot Management Processes• 2 minutes
- Traditional System V Bootup• 3 minutes
- The systemd Command• 2 minutes
- Emergency/Alternate Startup Options• 1 minute
- Single User• 1 minute
- Live CD• 4 minutes
- Shutting Down the System• 5 minutes
- System Processes• 2 minutes
- Identifying the Processes• 4 minutes
- Linux Process Creation• 5 minutes
- Monitoring Running Processes• 2 minutes
- Displaying Processes and Process Threads• 7 minutes
- The ps Command• 7 minutes
- Displaying Open Files• 7 minutes
- Monitoring CPU and Memory Utilization• 8 minutes
- Monitoring I/O• 6 minutes
- Copy of Monitoring Running Processes• 2 minutes
- Interacting with Linux• 2 minutes
- GUI vs. Shell• 5 minutes
- Linux Command Shell Concepts• 1 minute
- Environment Variables and Shell Variables• 5 minutes
- General Command Structure• 6 minutes
- STDIN, STDOUT, and STDERR• 8 minutes
- Piping Command Output• 6 minutes
- Other Useful Command-Line Tools• 1 minute
- The history Command• 6 minutes
- The awk command• 6 minutes
- The sed Command• 6 minutes
- The vi command• 10 minutes
- Nano Text Editor• 3 minutes
- Overview of Secure Shell Protocol• 8 minutes
- Securely Copying Files Between Hosts• 5 minutes
- Networking• 1 minute
- Viewing Basic Network Properties• 6 minutes
- Configuring Network Properties• 4 minutes
- Configuring Basic Properties (IP, Subnet Mask, Gateway)• 4 minutes
- Viewing and Configuring Routes• 5 minutes
- Testing Connectivity• 5 minutes
- Managing Services in SysV Environments• 6 minutes
- Systemd Service Manager• 6 minutes
- Viewing Running Network Services• 2 minutes
- Viewing Running Network Services• 6 minutes
- Viewing Connection Status• 2 minutes
- The lsof Command• 5 minutes
- Name Resolution: DNS• 1 minute
- Configuring DNS• 5 minutes
- Name Resolution Configuration Files• 7 minutes
- Topic Introduction• 2 minutes
- Testing Name Resolution• 6 minutes
- Viewing Network Traffic• 3 minutes
- Tcpdump Basics• 10 minutes
- Configuring Remote Syslog• 4 minutes
- Testing Your Logging Configuration• 5 minutes
- Running Software on Linux• 3 minutes
- Overview of the Process for Compiling Code• 5 minutes
- Overview of the Process for Compiling Code• 3 minutes
- Types of Files Used in Compiling Software• 6 minutes
- Compiling Code• 6 minutes
- Topic Introduction• 2 minutes
- Executables vs. Interpreters Practice Quiz• 6 minutes
- Using Package Managers to Install Software in Linux• 6 minutes
- Using Package Managers to Install Software in Linux• 3 minutes
- Package Managers• 5 minutes
- System Applications• 2 minutes
- Web• 5 minutes
- Database• 6 minutes
- Lightweight Directory Access Protocol• 6 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 2 minutes
29 assignments• Total 124 minutes
- History and Benefits of Linux Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Linux Architecture Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Basic File System Navigation and Management Commands Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- File Properties and Permissions Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Editing File Properties Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Root and Sudo Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Disks and File Systems Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- System Initialization Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Emergency/Alternate Startup Options Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Shutting Down the System Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- System Processes Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Interacting with Linux Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Linux Command Shell Concepts Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Piping Command Output Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Other Useful Command-Line Tools Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Overview of Secure Shell Protocol Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Networking Practice Quiz• 10 minutes
- Managing Services in SysV Environments Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Viewing Running Network Services Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Name Resolution: DNS Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Testing Name Resolution• 4 minutes
- Viewing Network Traffic Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Configuring Remote Syslog Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Running Software on Linux Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- Using Package Managers to Install Software in Linux Practice Quiz• 2 minutes
- System Applications Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Practice Quiz• 4 minutes
- Understanding Linux Operating System Basics Course Exam• 28 minutes
If you are an associate-level cybersecurity analyst who is working in security operation centers, this course will help you understand endpoint security and familiarity with common endpoint security technologies. By the end of the course, you will be able to: • Describe the host-based personal firewall. • Describe a host-based antivirus. • Describe HIPS software. • Describe application allowed lists and blocked lists. • Describe host-based malware protection. • Describe sandboxing in the context of network security. • Describe how security analysts use file integrity checking tools and sandboxing in the context of network security. • Explore the behavior of two endpoint security applications that are part of the base Windows operating system distribution: Windows Defender and Windows Firewall. • Understand common endpoint security technologies. To be successful in this course, you should have the following background: 1. Skills and knowledge equivalent to those learned in Implementing and Administering Cisco Solutions (CCNA) v1.0 course 2. Familiarity with Ethernet and TCP/IP networking 3. Working knowledge of the Windows and Linux operating systems 4. Familiarity with basics of networking security concepts.
What's included
9 videos13 readings8 assignments
9 videos• Total 34 minutes
- Lesson Introduction• 1 minute
- Host-Based Personal Firewall• 8 minutes
- Host-Based Antivirus• 5 minutes
- Host Intrusion Prevention System• 4 minutes
- Application Allowed Lists and Blocked Lists• 5 minutes
- Host-Based Malware Protection• 5 minutes
- Sandboxing• 3 minutes
- File Integrity Checking• 2 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 1 minute
13 readings• Total 84 minutes
- Lesson Introduction• 3 minutes
- Host-Based Personal Firewall• 12 minutes
- Host-Based Antivirus• 8 minutes
- Host Intrusion Prevention System• 8 minutes
- Application Allowed Lists and Blocked Lists Introduction• 1 minute
- Application Allowed Lists and Blocked Lists• 8 minutes
- Host-Based Malware Protection• 3 minutes
- Host-Based Malware Protection• 12 minutes
- Next-Generation Endpoint Security• 10 minutes
- Sandboxing Introduction• 2 minutes
- Sandboxing• 10 minutes
- File Integrity Checking• 6 minutes
- Wrap-Up• 1 minute
8 assignments• Total 52 minutes
- Host-Based Personal Firewall Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- Host-Based Antivirus Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- Host Intrusion Prevention System Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- Application Allowed Lists and Blocked Lists Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- Host-Based Malware Protection Practice Exam• 8 minutes
- Sandboxing Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- File Integrity Checking Practice Exam• 4 minutes
- Understanding Endpoint Security Technologies Course Exam• 20 minutes
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Reviewed on May 29, 2025
This course taught me a lot about security technologies surrounding endpoints.
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