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Free short course · Technology & IT

Inside a Security Operations Centre: Logs and Alerts

Find out how a Security Operations Centre works: read sign-in logs, triage alerts, separate false positives from real problems and escalate clearly. Five short lessons and a quiz, with a certificate of completion.

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The short version

  • Free, no payment details

    Sign up with your name and e-mail and confirm it with a 6-digit code. There is nothing to buy.

  • About 60 minutes

    5 short lessons and one final quiz. Your progress is saved, so you can stop and come back on any device.

  • Certificate of completion

    Finish every lesson and score 70% or more on the final quiz. Retakes are unlimited.

  • Not a program

    This free short course is not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program and gives no program credit.

What you will learn

  • Explain what a SOC does, the tools it uses and how Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 work fits together
  • Read a Linux SSH log line and a Windows sign-in event and say who, what, where and with what result
  • Recognize brute force, password spraying and credential stuffing by counting accounts, addresses and attempts
  • Triage an alert with a five-step routine and classify it as a true or false positive
  • Write a clear escalation message and a shift handoff note
  • Describe when a breach involving personal information may need to be reported in Alberta and Canada

Who it is for

Adults who are curious about security analyst work, IT support staff who want to see what the security side looks like, and career changers in Alberta considering cybersecurity. No security experience is needed.

What you need

  • A computer with an internet connection
  • Basic comfort using a computer; no programming or security experience is needed
  • About 60 minutes in total, which you can split across several days

Lessons

  1. 1What a Security Operations Centre does12 min
  2. 2Reading logs: Linux and Windows sign-in records12 min
  3. 3Spotting suspicious sign-ins12 min
  4. 4Alert triage and false positives12 min
  5. 5Escalation, handoffs and reporting12 min
  6. ✓Inside a Security Operations Centre: final quizfinal quiz

Where this course can lead

Security Analyst Certificate

This course is a short, practical introduction. The full program goes much further: 420 hours online of focused security monitoring and analysis training.

Related reading

Frequently asked questions

Yes. You create a free Ucademy account, take the five lessons and the quiz, and pay nothing.

Yes. When you finish the lessons and the quiz you receive a certificate of completion from Ucademy. The course is not part of a diploma or certificate program.

About 60 minutes in total. The course is online and self-paced, so you can split it across several days.

No. The lessons start from the basics and explain every term. Basic comfort with a computer is enough.

No. The course is defensive only. You learn to read logs, recognize suspicious patterns and report them, not to break into anything.

No. It is a free short course, not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program, and it does not give program credit.

Start Inside a Security Operations Centre: Logs and Alerts today

Free, online and at your own pace, with a certificate of completion.

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