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Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist | Work Role ID: 521 (NIST: PD-WRL-004)

27 courses
33 hours

A cyber defense infrastructure support specialist tests, implements, deploys, maintains, and administers the infrastructure hardware and software.

This path will get you started on your journey to becoming a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist! Begin with the fundamental concepts of networking and cyber literacy through hands-on labs, dive into the essential skills necessary to perform the day-to-day functions of a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist and then expand your skill set with, automation, deeper/advanced concepts and additional knowledge from adjacent roles!

This path aligns to the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Tasks (KSAs) within the Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (CSWF) and the DoD Cyber Workforce Framework (DCWF) for the work role of:

Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist Work Role 521 or PD-WRL-004

Courses in this path

Fundamentals

Begin your learning journey with the fundamental concepts of networking and security!

Network Security Basics

by Ross Bagurdes
2h 58m
(50)

Network Protocols for Security: TCP and UDP

by Brandon DeVault
20m
(18)

Network Protocols for Security: IPv4 and ARP

by Brandon DeVault
18m
(17)

Network Protocols for Security: DNS

by Brandon DeVault
17m

Identity and Access Management (IAM) for CISSP®

by Kevin Henry
1h 31m

IT Security Champion: Patch Management

by Matt Glass
12m

Enterprise Security: Executive Briefing

by Aaron Rosenmund
39m
(101)

Skill Essentials

Now that you know the fundamentals, dive into the essential skills necessary to perform the day-to-day functions of a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist including detection, analysis, virtualization, and troubleshooting!

IT Professional Fundamentals: Hardware and Network Troubleshooting

by Daniel Lachance
1h 52m
(14)

Windows 11 Troubleshooting: Hardware and Peripherals

by Mike Halsey
23m

Windows 11 Troubleshooting: Networking and Internet

by Mike Halsey
18m

Wide Area Networking and VPN Operation

by Ross Bagurdes
1h 17m
(36)

IT Professional Fundamentals: Virtualization and Cloud Computing

by Vlad Catrinescu
1h 27m
(31)

Security Engineering: Asset Evaluation and Execution Plan

by Chris Jackson
1h 10m

Incident Response: Detection and Analysis

by Aaron Rosenmund
2h 19m
(39)

Incident Response: Host Analysis

by Aaron Rosenmund
1h 37m
(14)

Expanded Skillset

It's time to expand your skill set with tools, more advanced concepts and building resilience, security engineering, and event triage! This section gives you a brief introduction into many, additional skills that you will find helpful as a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist. We have full training paths on all of these skills; see the Supplemental Skill Paths section to learn more.

Security Engineering: Secure Networks

by Chris Jackson
1h 43m

Identify Common Cyber Network Attacks with Wireshark

by Chris Greer
2h 34m
(53)

Advanced Cyber Defense Analysis with Wireshark

by Sean Wilkins
2h 31m

Security Event Triage: Operationalizing Security Analysis

by Aaron Rosenmund
54m
(40)

Security Event Triage: Leveraging Existing Security Device Alerts

by Daniel Lachance
1h 18m
(16)

Specialized Attacks: Hardware Product Testing

by Matthew Lloyd Davies
53m

Specialized Engineering: Enterprise Hybrid Cloud

by Michael Brown
1h 9m

Adjacent Skill Knowledge

Now that you've mastered all the skills for a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist , learn about additional cyber roles and their responsibilities.

Governance and Management of IT: Governance

by Kevin Henry
1h 43m

Information and Cyber Security GRC: Risk Management

by Po Yau
1h 36m

OWASP Top 10: The Big Picture

by Hampton Paulk
1h 24m
(183)

IT Security Champion: Encryption

by Kevin James
17m

IT Security Champion: Cyber Threat Intel and Emerging Threats

by Christopher Rees
16m

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Supplemental Skill Paths:

Security Engineering

Incident Response

Security Event Triage

Security Champion for IT Admins

Experience

None

Learn with the best

Ross Bagurdes

Ross has had a diverse career. He has a Structural Engineering degree from Milwaukee School of Engineering, but gave up the career shortly after graduating from college. Beginning in 1997, Ross began officially working in IT, implementing and supporting a paperless work order system for a Natural Gas Utility in Illinois. Since then, Ross has spent his years teaching and managing data networks. Ross spent 7 years at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, supporting and managing the large ... more

Brandon DeVault

Brandon DeVault is a Security Researcher focused on threat hunting at CrowdStrike. He is also a member of the Florida Air National Guard with a variety of offensive and defensive experience. Prior to joining CrowdStrike, Brandon worked full-time as an author with Pluralsight and at Elastic, creating and delivering security content. He also worked with Special Operations Command, where he had two deployments to Afghanistan on deployable communications teams. His experience spans incident response... more

Kevin Henry

Kevin Henry is a well-known and respected educator and lecturer in the fields of information security and audit. Kevin uses his more than 30 years of practical experience as a network technician, computer programmer, and information systems auditor to deliver outstanding presentations that make each topic interesting, relevant, and useful. Often described by students as "The best instructor I have ever had," Kevin has the ability to provide quality instruction that engages the audience and provi... more

Matt Glass

Matt Glass is a Service Delivery Manager in Naples, Italy, working as a government contractor. Matt has 15 years of IT experience in a variety of roles. Consistently finding joy in developing the skills of others and helping their careers, he joined Pluralsight in 2017 to pass on the lessons he learned. Matt is married and the father of four children.

Aaron Rosenmund

Aaron M. Rosenmund is a cyber security operations subject matter expert, with a background in federal and business defensive and offensive cyber operations and system automation. Leveraging his administration and automation experience, Aaron actively contributes to multiple open and closed source security operation platform projects and continues to create tools and content to benefit the community. As an educator & cyber security researcher at Pluralsight, he is focused on advancing cyber secur... more

Daniel Lachance

Daniel Lachance, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA A+®, CompTIA Network+®, CompTIA Server+, CompTIA Cloud Essentials, MCITP, MCTS, MCSA, is the owner of Lachance IT Consulting Inc. He is the author of the CompTIA Server+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, CompTIA Cloud Essentials Certification Study Guide, and co-author of CompTIA Security+ Certification Practice Exams. Mr. Lachance is an experienced trainer having delivered IT training in Canada and the Caribbean since the 1990s on topics ranging f... more

Mike Halsey

Mike is a current Microsoft MVP awardee, and was first awarded in 2011. He is a recognized technical expert in the Windows desktop and troubleshooting with more than twenty books published, including Windows 10 Troubleshooting (second edition), Troubleshooting and Supporting Windows 11, and The Green IT Guide. Can be contacted on Twitter/X @MikeHalsey, BlueSky @MikeHalsey.bsky.social and Mastodon @[email protected]

Vlad Catrinescu

Vlad is an Office 365 consultant helping organizations get the most out their Microsoft 365 Digital Workplace. IT Professional at heart, Vlad focuses on helping administrators deploy, manage, automate, and configure governance across services such as SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams. As an author, Microsoft Certified Trainer and recognized international speaker, Vlad has helped over a million IT Professionals and end-users across the globe to better understand and to ge... more

Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson is a cybersecurity professional with years of experience in identifying security incidents, securing applications and security training. Over the years, he has tested web applications for vulnerabilities, helped deploy SIEM platforms and more. He is passionate about teaching cybersecurity and committed to learning new technologies.

Chris Greer

Chris Greer is a network analyst for Packet Pioneer, delivering training and packet analysis consulting services to customers all over the world. He specializes in using Wireshark to combat network and application performance problems on networks of all sizes. Chris leverages his 20 years of practical experience in network monitoring, analysis, and troubleshooting to heighten the experience of any attendee to his interactive and energetic courses. When he is not digging deep into packets or te... more

Sean Wilkins

Sean Wilkins, with over two decades of experience in the IT industry, serves as a distinguished networking consultant and contributor at Tech Building Blocks. His professional journey spans multiple prominent enterprises, underlining his extensive field expertise. Sean's credentials include esteemed certifications from Cisco (CCNP/CCDP), Microsoft (MCSE), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+). Academically, he has achieved a Master’s of Science in Information Technology, specializing in Network Architec... more

Matthew Lloyd Davies

Matt is a cyber security author and researcher here at Pluralsight. A certified penetration tester and incident handler, he created Pluralsight's CompTIA Pentest+ Specialized Attacks courses as well our courses on wireless, ICS/OT and hardware hacking. Matt has also helped to build our security labs portfolio; labs that help you get hands-on to understand the threats and vulnerabilities your organization faces today. With a background in Chemical Engineering, Matt's focus is on the security ... more

Michael Brown

I have worked in IT for 25 years, for 22 of those years I have delivered IT Training. I have delivered Microsoft, CISCO and Amazon Web Services courses across Europe. For the last 4 years I have focused on Cloud technologies delivering cloud training to some of Europe’s biggest organisations. I have been a Microsoft Certified Trainer since 1997 and currently hold certifications from Microsoft, CompTIA and AWS. When not working on training material or delivering courses I spend time in the nort... more

Po Yau

Po was born and educated in Wales, UK before going to Royal Holloway, University of London. It was during his year-in-industry placement, when responding to an incident to recover from a cyber attack, that started a journey of over 20 years in information security. Currently broadening to multiple types of technology and operational risk in the Financial sector, looking for ways to improve risk management, governance and communication to promote innovation and work with the ever changing ways ... more

Hampton Paulk

Hampton is an old fart dev that dabbles in data and security, and now teaches full time here at PS. He is bound to teach you something - leading through example and subjective opinion. He is an acquired taste, sweet on the inside with a sour exterior. He also loves honest feedback, so don't hold back.

Kevin James

As a seasoned technologist with over 30 years of wide-ranging expertise in information technology roles across diverse industries, Kevin is passionate about finding effective and economical solutions to business problems. His passion for teaching technical subjects allows him to have a particular style that imparts information yet teaches at the same time. He enjoys working with Linux, Unix and Windows Operating Systems and combined with a deep knowledge of software platforms as varied as Ap... more

Christopher Rees

Chris is a professional information technologist, author, trainer, manager and a lifelong learner. He is married with 3 beautiful children and interested in working out, spending time with family and friends and being creative whenever possible. He has been an author for over 25 years and has created over 60 IT Certification training courses. Chris really enjoys helping people advance in their careers through training and personal development.

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