PLTW Cybersecurity gives students a broad exposure to the many aspects of digital and information security, while encouraging socially responsible choices and ethical behavior. It inspires algorithmic thinking, computational thinking, and especially, “outside-the-box” thinking. Students explore the many educational and career paths available to cybersecurity experts, as well as other careers that comprise the field of information security.

Unit 1 - Personal Security - Students learn the basic concepts of cybersecurity by leveraging their familiarity with technology they use every day, such as mobile devices and apps, as well as exploring the risks associated with how they use their email, personal files, and social networking habits.

Unit 2 - System Security - Students broaden their cybersecurity knowledge from a personal system to a networked system. They learn how to assess the value of information security and delve deeper into types of malware. They learn the security vulnerabilities of web services and how to secure an Ecommerce site.

Unit 3 -  Network Security - Students learn the technical aspects of a highly networked world and the risks to information we all share. They learn operating system and networking concepts, security frameworks, and packet analysis. They learn the types of malware that can attack systems on a network and how to secure and protect a system against them.

Unit 4 -  Applied Cybersecurity -  Students explore cybersecurity in an applied field. They learn methods of cryptography and practice basic tenets of digital forensics. They process a crime scene to solve the mystery and explore the possible consequences of the crime.