YanoSec Academy teaches cybersecurity from the beginning: how to protect digital information and the systems people use. You can start without knowing security tools or having a practice computer ready.
Every lesson is open to read on your first visit. You can follow the course in order or return to a topic when you need it. Nothing is locked behind an earlier score. In this lesson, you will find your way around before trying the questions.
Before you begin
- Recommended first
- Nothing. No earlier lesson or technical experience is required.
- Estimated time
- 10 min reading, 10 min activity. Setup and optional practice may take longer.
- Where you work
- Use this site in a desktop or mobile browser. You need no account, installation or terminal. A terminal is a place to type computer instructions; you will learn about it later. Paper is enough for the notes in this activity.
- Without a lab
- The course outline, reference entries and lesson text are readable without JavaScript. You can write the navigation decisions and answer reasoning on paper. Checking answers needs JavaScript; keeping progress between visits also needs browser storage.
After this lesson you can:
- Open a lesson from the course outline and return to its stage.
- Distinguish a short Concepts or Tools reference entry from a full lesson.
- Explain where the browser keeps saved learning progress.
01Example
A question gives you a situation and an answer format. This invented sample asks about a desk. Its answer belongs only to that sample; the required question at the end asks about access to lessons.
SAMPLE QUESTION
Situation: a sign on the practice desk says Locked.
Question: is this desk locked or open? Type one word.
Sample answer: locked
Reason: use the sign as the evidence for this sample.
The required question below describes access to lessons instead.02Read any lesson
Course opens the outline of fourteen stages. A stage groups related lessons, and its modules divide that stage into smaller topics. Start is the first stage. Following the stage order helps you learn vocabulary before later activities use it.
Each lesson title links to its teaching page and has a time estimate. The estimate gives you a rough reading and activity budget, not a deadline. You can stop, take notes and return. Opening a lesson does not require completing the previous one.
03A question at the end
Lessons include required questions or checks that ask you to use the teaching. Some lessons have several checks. A typed question tells you what to enter, such as one word or a number; other checks ask you to choose or match options. Select Check to submit your response.
For typed answers here, capitals and spaces before or after the answer are ignored. Internal punctuation can still matter, so follow the prompt's format. A wrong response is a reason to revisit the evidence, not a reason to guess unrelated words.
A correct required response can be saved in this browser when storage is available. Browser storage is information a site keeps on your device between visits. Complete all required checks in a lesson for it to count as finished. Optional questions give extra practice without adding to required completion.
Progress does not automatically follow you to a new device or browser profile through an account. If the browser cannot save, the result is correct for that visit and the page offers Retry saving. Keep a private note of where you stopped if saving remains unavailable.
04Hints
An incorrect attempt that contains an answer displays Not yet and opens the first hint. Another such attempt opens the next hint. There are three, and the earlier ones stay visible. Use each hint to decide what to inspect or try next. Checking a blank answer asks you to enter something without opening a hint.
After the third incorrect attempt, Show the answer becomes available. It displays the answer and an explanation, but does not submit it or save completion. You can still use what you learned to submit a response. The next lesson provides a separate sample where you can practice these controls without changing course progress.
05Find your way around
Concepts contains short definitions of ideas. Tools contains short descriptions of programs and their uses. Both provide reference entries with links under Taught in to the full lessons. Use an entry for a quick reminder and the linked lesson for explanations, evidence and checks.
The activity below practices finding those different kinds of page. A breadcrumb is a small navigation link near a page's title that leads back to a broader page, such as Start or Concepts. You can also use your browser's Back control to retrace a visit.
A reference gives a short reminder; Taught in opens a full lesson, and the Start breadcrumb returns to the stage.Model. A teaching model drawn by hand. It shows the idea, not real tool output.
- Open Course, then Start. Choose a lesson title and note its time estimate. Find the explanation and the question area without submitting an answer.
- Use the Start breadcrumb near the lesson title to return to the stage. You should be able to move between the outline and a lesson without a completed question.
- Open Concepts or Tools from the site's navigation links. Choose a reference entry and find Taught in. Identify a full lesson it links to, then return to this lesson using your browser history or Course.
- Write which page you would use for a short definition and which for a worked explanation. Then predict whether a new learner with no saved answers can open the full lesson. Explain your decision using the opening of this page.
- If you are working from copied text instead of navigating, use these facts: Course lists stages and lessons; a reference entry gives a short description and Taught in links; lessons are readable on a first visit. Make the same two page choices and explain the new learner's access.
06Optional challenge
Allow about 5 extra minutes. Imagine you complete a question on a laptop and later open the course on a new phone. Predict whether the phone automatically has the laptop's saved result. Explain where the original result is kept. You do not need to clear data or switch devices to reason about this case.
07Fresh cases for the checks
Use these fictional cases for the checks below. They have different inputs from the worked examples. Read them here or make notes; no installation or external service is needed.
Navigation case AOwned fixture. An original file made for this course. Follow the activity's instructions in your own lab.
Luz needs a quick definition of a term, then a worked explanation with an activity. She opens a Concepts entry. It has a Taught in link to a full lesson. On that lesson, the Start breadcrumb links to the stage.
Progress case BOwned fixture. An original file made for this course. Follow the activity's instructions in your own lab.
Ari finishes every required check on a laptop; saving succeeds. They reload that same browser with storage intact, then visit on a new phone that has never opened the site. No export/import occurs.
09Common mistakes
If you entered the sample's locked, compare the two situations. The desk's sign is evidence for the sample; the opening is evidence about lessons.
If a typed response is rejected, check the requested format. This page's required question asks for one word, so put your explanation in your notes.
If you reveal an answer and progress does not change, that is expected. A reveal does not submit a response; complete the required checks for saved completion.
If progress is missing on another device, return to the browser where you completed the work. An account does not automatically synchronize the two browsers.