Cyber Apprenticeship

Program Overview

Brief Overview

Duration: 12 months (2,000 hours)
Format: Full-time, hands-on, mentor-guided learning
Goal: Produce job-ready cybersecurity professionals with practical experience

Phase 1: Foundation & Orientation

Onboarding & Orientation: Understand organizational policies, expectations, and professional standards.
Security Fundamentals & Policy Development: Learn core security principles, develop security policies and procedures, and understand protection strategies for systems and data.

Phase 2: Defensive Operations

SOC Analyst Operations: Configure access controls across OS platforms, work with security tools (firewalls, antivirus, EDR, SIEM), monitor network traffic, and respond to security violations.
Risk Assessment & Compliance: Perform risk assessments, learn GRC frameworks (HIPAA, FERPA, SOC 2, CMMC), and develop risk mitigation strategies.
Security Collaboration & Issue Resolution: Engage with users to assess access needs, address policy violations, and drive resolution processes.

Phase 3: Offensive Security

Penetration Testing: Conduct internal and external penetration tests on networks and web apps, and present executive-level test reports.
Social Engineering Exercises: Plan and execute phishing campaigns and other social engineering simulations, analyzing behavioral vulnerabilities and user response patterns.

Phase 4: Awareness, Leadership & Research

Security Awareness Training: Develop and deliver user security training, promoting best practices and organizational security culture.
Project Leadership: Lead an end-to-end security project, managing stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables.
Independent Research Project: Conduct research on a cybersecurity topic of personal or organizational relevance, presenting findings in a professional report or presentation.

Phase 5: Professional Development & Capstone

Industry Trends & Career Readiness: Track emerging threats, tools, and strategies in cybersecurity, and prepare for certifications or job transitions.
Capstone Review & Presentation: Synthesize and present major work from the apprenticeship, with a final evaluation of technical, analytical, and professional competencies.