------ YOUR GATEWAY TO ONLINE COURSES AT AFFORDABLE COSTS.....

Learn how to become a cybersecurity pro with these online classes

Though unemployment levels are high due to the coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity is one of the few industries seeing a surge in demand for qualified professionals. Similar to learning how to code, picking up fundamental cybersecurity skills can be valuable in today's digital society -- whether you want to start a new career, or better understand how cybersecurity relates to your everyday life.

Before you embark on learning about cybersecurity, it can help narrow your focus if you already know which specific field you're interested in. Understanding cybersecurity can open career opportunities like forensic computer analyst and IT security engineer.

For more like this

Subscribe to the Mobile newsletter, receive notifications and see related stories on CNET.

Read more: Want to learn Python? We found 5 online coding courses for beginners

Here are five online classes that can help you learn about cybersecurity fundamentals. While you may end up needing a college degree or certification to get a job in the field, these courses can help you test the waters and get you started on a new career or learning path.

Skillshare/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Web developer and cybersecurity expert Alexander Oni's beginner cybersecurity course starts from the ground floor with basic terminology and discussion topics. Over 49 lessons, Oni digs into hacking methodology, cybercrime, malware and cyber attacks. He also explains what methods real professionals use to protect systems.

This introductory course is meant to build foundational knowledge for people interested in becoming cybersecurity or information security professionals. Oni also offers two other classes that build on what you'll learn in this one.

What it costs: Some online classes on Skillshare, https://www.skillshare.com/home, <script type="text/javascript">(function(i,m,p,a,c,t){c.ire_o=p;c[p]=c[p]||function(){(c[p].a=c[p].a||[]).push(arguments)};t=a.createElement(m);var z=a.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];t.async=1;t.src=i;z.parentNode.insertBefore(t,z)})('//d.impactradius-event.com/P-A2407468-cb73-4ee6-b169-0dfacf50a03e1.js','script','impactStat',document,window);impactStat('transformLinks');impactStat('trackImpression');</script>, are free when you create an account, but most require a premium membership, which costs $99 annually or $19 a month. You can sign up for 14 free days of unlimited classes. The premium membership is also ad-free and lets you download classes to your mobile device and watch offline.

Skillshare/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Oni also offers a course that's more focused on finding a career in cybersecurity. He recommends his "Start and Grow Your Career as a Cybersecurity Professional" if you're preparing to go to college for cybersecurity. The course can also benefit those currently in the cybersecurity field who are looking for a change.

The 28-lesson course breaks down questions about skills, the types of jobs you can apply for and what different certifications mean.

What it costs: Some online classes on Skillshare, https://www.skillshare.com/home, are free when you create an account, but most require a premium membership, which costs $99 a year or $19 a month. You can sign up for 14 free days of unlimited classes. The premium membership is also ad-free and lets you download classes to your mobile device and watch offline.

Coursera/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

The Introduction to Cybersecurity specialization is offered by New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. Though the course is introductory, some familiarity with IT management and concepts could be helpful. You'll gain skills like cryptography, risk assessment, cyber defense and information security.

The specialization is made up of four courses -- Introduction to Cyber Attacks, Cyber Attack Countermeasures, Real-time Cyber Threat Detection and Mitigation, and Enterprise and Infrastructure Security. Coursera estimates it takes about four months to complete the specialization.

What it costs: Coursera operates more like a traditional online college course with enrollment windows. Sometimes the certificates you earn can apply as a credit at an institution, but it has to be stated. When you sign up for Coursera, you get a seven-day free trial, and then it costs $49 a month. You can also choose to audit the class for free, which lets you read and view the course content only.

The Great Courses/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

This course from Paul Rosenzweig, a professorial lecturer in law at The George Washington University Law School, is meant to help you understand the structure of the internet, the dangers that come with it, and ultimately how to manage and reduce them. Over 18 lectures, Rosenzweig delves into specific cybersecurity topics including vulnerabilities, viruses, big data, the government's role in cybersecurity, how privacy should or shouldn't be defined, and the global spread of information.

What it costs: The Great Courses doesn't have a flat subscription fee like Skillshare. Rosenzweig's course costs $30 on instant video, $20 or $50 on DVD. At the time of publication, there's a sale on The Great Courses website.

When you make a Great Courses account, you can stream the course for free with trial with The Great Courses Plus. The content can then be accessed over the iOS or Android app, or on your TV via the Roku app, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.

Udemy/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

The Cybersecurity in 90 Minutes course can help out beginners or professionals in the field, according to instructor Mohammad Adly, who has a PhD in computer networks. Adly notes that the course's goal is to point out security essentials for IT organizations. By the end of the course, you should be able to set up a secure base for your IT environment or be able to thoroughly review any existing ones.

What it costs: Udemy's course prices are set by the individual instructors from a price tier, unless they choose to offer them for free. This course costs $12. At the time of publication, there's a sale on Udemy's website.

To learn more digital skills, check out the free classes you can take through Microsoft and LinkedIn Learning. And for more, check out five Masterclass classes to become a filmmaker, and other online classes to help you learn to play guitar, learn to code and learn to draw.

Read more on TechRepublic: How to become a cybersecurity pro: A cheat sheet

The 9 most popular online courses people are taking on Coursera from Stanford, Yale, and Princeton

When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.

a screen shot of an open laptop computer sitting on top of a table: Alyssa Powell/Business Insider

Millions of students of all ages use Coursera to learn something new, whether for personal enjoyment or professional advancement.

The online classes are completely free to audit, or, you can pay an affordable monthly fee in order to receive an official course certificate of completion.

The most enrolled classes on Coursera include Stanford's Machine Learning, Yale's The Science of Well-Being, and the University of Michigan's Programming for Everybody.

With people worldwide staying at home, the question of how to keep busy inevitably comes up.

Online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, edX, and Skillshare offer a refuge, both from the boredom of sitting indoors all day and the anxiety of everything going on in the world right now. E-learning sites like these aren't new, but they're even more important now because of the resources and learning opportunities they offer to students of all ages.

Coursera offers individual courses, specializations, professional certificates, and full online degrees from top universities and companies. They're free if you audit the course (meaning you won't get access to certain course materials like graded assignments, and you won't receive an official certificate of completion), but if you want to earn a course certificate, you can pay an affordable monthly fee.

Through the end of March 2020, 100 of these courses are completely free. They include all course materials and a course certificate.

Since Coursera is home to so many different types of courses, it may be overwhelming to decide what your first online class will be.

Below, check out the most popular Coursera classes, ranked by the number of students enrolled, for some guidance. All enrollment numbers are as of March 2020.

1. Machine Learning, Stanford University | 3.3 million enrolled

Learn about the most effective machine learning techniques and how to implement them. The intro course covers machine learning, data mining, and statistical pattern recognition, as well as a look into how machine learning and AI lead to innovation in Silicon Valley.

2. The Science of Well-Being, Yale University | 2.7 million enrolled

One of Yale's most famous classes is basically a crash course on how to be happier in your life. Topics include misconceptions about happiness, how to overcome our biases, and practical strategies to make you happier.

3. Learning How to Learn, McMaster University and UC San Diego | 2.3 million enrolled

The practice of learning is a class in itself. Take this popular class and you'll be set up with the best learning techniques to tackle and master any topic in the future. It's also available in fully translated versions in Spanish, French, Chinese, and Portuguese.

4. Programming for Everybody, University of Michigan | 1.5 million enrolled

Although programming can sound intimidating, this course assures you there are no significant pre-requisites and uses only simple math. If you have moderate computer experience, you'll be able to make a program from a series of simple instructions in Python.

5. Successful Negotiation, University of Michigan | 825,000+ enrolled

Negotiating is engrained in our everyday lives, from deciding where to eat with your significant other to asking for a few more days to pay rent. And, it's essential to business. You'll learn about the four steps to a successful negotiation so that both parties emerge satisfied.

6. Chinese for Beginners, Peking University | 786,000+ enrolled

Mandarin Chinese is an essential global language to learn. This spoken language class includes basic conversations that you'll be able to use in everyday life.

7. Neural Networks and Deep Learning, deeplearning.ai | 711,000+ enrolled

Deep learning is a highly sought after skill in the job market right now. Part of the larger Deep Learning Specialization, this is an opportunity to understand the foundations of a skill that's been called a "superpower."

8. Algorithms, Part 1, Princeton University | 669,000+ enrolled

If you want to be a serious programmer, you can learn elementary data structures, sorting, searching algorithms, and graph- and string-processing algorithms. This course doesn't offer a certificate, so all the features are free.

9. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies, Princeton University | 416,000+ enrolled

We've all heard the craze around bitcoin, but confusion and misconceptions run rampant. Basics like "how does bitcoin work" and "how secure are your bitcoins" are among the many lessons you'll learn.

Gallery: 54 free online courses from the best colleges in the US — including Princeton, Harvard, and Yale (Business Insider)

Want to learn to code? Check out these 5 online coding courses for beginners

My husband is a tech guy through and through -- tinkering in code to build simple apps and websites just for fun. I'm not. I knew my way around MySpace HTML back in the day (enough to change my background at least) and could navigate WordPress for my college newspaper, but those skills, https://www.skillshare.com/home, are quite rusty now.

Learning to code is a valuable skill for almost anyone working in our digital world. And though unemployment levels are high due to the coronavirus pandemic, tech companies like Apple and Amazon are still hiring. Picking up some coding skills could help you get a foot in the door.

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

Before you get started, it's important to know that the language you'll want to learn -- Python, Javascript, C# or one of hundreds of others -- hinges on what you want to do with it, like build a website, an app or a game. For example, if you're interested in learning coding to working in a professional setting, you might want to explore Python, Java or C#, which are all in demand by many companies.

Read more: Want to become a successful YouTuber? Start here

We've pulled together five beginner online classes that explore the foundational concepts of coding. Some touch on specific languages, and some stay more general. But all can help you get your start learning a programming language. We'll update this list periodically.

Skillshare/ https://www.skillshare.com/home , Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

The Coding for Beginners course describes itself as a foundational level course for complete beginners that introduces students to common coding concepts like bugs, pseudo code and how code runs. The concepts can then be applied to whichever programming language you go on to learn. Over 30 lectures will help you build the skillset to build a simple app in both coding languages Scratch and Python, the final project of the course.

What it costs: Some online classes on Skillshare are free when you create an account, but most require a premium membership, which costs $99 annually or $19 a month. You can sign up for 14 free days of unlimited classes. The premium membership is also ad-free and lets you download classes to your mobile device and watch offline.

Udemy/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Digital agency founder Evan Kimbrell's preprogramming course also starts with foundational concepts, like how the computer itself, the internet and operating systems fit into programming. This might sound too basic, but if you're just starting on your learning journey, it's helpful context.

Eventually, the lesson focus is on the core concepts of coding, different programming languages, front-end and back-end frameworks, application programming interfaces, content management systems and other more advanced concepts.

What it costs: Udemy's course prices are set by the individual instructors from a price tier, unless they choose to offer them for free. The course cost $14 during a special sale.

Skillshare/ https://www.skillshare.com/home, Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Software engineer Cas Van Gool's course focuses on the basics of programming found in any software language. The class tackles topics like variables, strings, integers, if-statements, while-statements, for-statements and for each-statements. Van Gool provides step-by-step exercises and build projects with C#, from shopping lists to minigames. You'll also need to download the free Visual Studio Code source code editor program from Microsoft for this course.

This course would be useful if you're interested in coding for games or getting started on a professional level.

Coursera/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

The Programming Foundations with Javascript, HTML and CSS course, offered through Duke University, explores skills like HTML, JavaScript, Java programming and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). You'll learn how to write programs, solve complex problems, design algorithms, and test and debug your programs.

The programming foundations course is part of the five-course Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization. You can enroll in a single course to get started and earn a certificate, or audit the class and review the materials for free. The Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization is considered a beginner specialization, and if you subscribe to one course, you'll be included in the whole specialization.

The course requires a laptop or desktop computer for Java programming and that you make a free account on CodePen.io. If you choose to continue with the other courses, you'll need to install Bluej, free software for Java development.

This course would be most useful if you're interested in coding for websites.

What it costs: In comparison with Skillshare or Udemy, Coursera operates more like a traditional online college course with enrollment windows. Sometimes the certificates you earn can apply as a credit at an institution, but it has to be stated. When you sign up for Coursera, you get a seven-day free trial and then it costs $49 a month. You can also choose to audit the class for free, which lets you read and view the course content only.

Udemy/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Again, what you ultimately want to do with your programming skills will determine what coding language you'll want to learn. What I liked about the Coding for Beginners course on Udemy is that it touches on the basics of five different programming languages -- Javascript, Python, Ruby, HTML and CSS. You'll get to dabble in each language and build applications like calculators, digital clocks, music players and blog pages. This helps give you a taste of how each operates while also giving you some hands-on experience and projects.

What it costs: Udemy's course prices are set by the individual instructors from a price tier, unless they choose to offer them for free. This course costs $14 during a special sale.

For more, check out five Masterclass classes to become a filmmaker and other online classes to help you learn to play guitar or learn to draw.

Search This Blog

SKYTRAX GROUP