Intro to Computer and Network Security: Curated Learning Resources

Intro to Computer and Network Security

There are many resources, especially the SANS Reading Room, but hands‑on practice is essential; the following list offers papers, tools, virtual machines, and datasets to help you study and apply security concepts.

The Sliding Scale of Cyber Security – A paper defining five categories of security investment and discussing ROI.

VMWare – Guidance on setting up virtual machines (VMware Player, VirtualBox) for security tooling practice.

Security Onion – A free collection of network security monitoring and traffic analysis tools.

SANS’ SIFT – A forensic‑oriented virtual machine with essential analysis tools.

REMnux – A safe environment for malware reverse‑engineering and analysis.

Malware Traffic Analysis – Brad’s blog with sample files and walkthroughs of malicious traffic.

Open Security Training – Free courses covering basics to advanced reverse engineering, often with VMs, slides, and videos.

Sample PCAPs from NETRESEC – Packet captures for practicing network analysis with Wireshark.

DEFCON Capture the Flag Files – CTF challenges and walkthroughs ranging from beginner to advanced offensive security.

Iron Geek – A video archive of security conference talks spanning many topics.

SANS Reading Room – A large collection of papers on virtually every security topic.

Krebs on Security – Blog featuring investigative reporting on breaches and cyber‑security news.

Honeynet Project – Resources for building honeypots and learning related infrastructure, traffic analysis, and incident response.