AI-Powered Security Operations & Cyber Defense
The program closes on the Blue Team side of the discipline — how a modern Security Operations Center runs when AI and machine learning are part of the detection stack. Alert triage, AI-assisted threat detection and executive reporting, built on the same findings you've spent the program learning to produce.
What You Will Learn
A detailed, industry-aligned breakdown of every topic covered in this module.
- AI and machine learning fundamentals for security use cases
- Security Operations Center (SOC) structure, roles and workflows
- SIEM fundamentals — log collection, correlation and alerting
- AI-powered threat and anomaly detection techniques
- Phishing detection and email security using AI-assisted controls
- Malware analysis workflows using AI/ML-based techniques
- Incident response process — detection, containment, eradication, recovery
- Automated incident response and SOC workflow orchestration
- Building and executing incident response playbooks
- Vulnerability classification and CVSS-based prioritisation
- Threat intelligence fundamentals and intelligence-led defence
- Adversarial attacks against AI models and securing AI systems
- Professional security reporting and executive documentation
- Blue Team vs Red Team operational concepts
- Building and maintaining a vulnerability prioritisation dashboard
Tools You Will Use
Hands-on time with the same tools used in professional security operations and penetration-testing engagements.
AI Threat-Detection Platforms
Machine-learning-driven monitoring tools used to flag anomalous behaviour, phishing and malware patterns across SOC telemetry.
SIEM & Log Platforms
Centralized log collection and correlation tooling used to detect and triage security events.
Wireshark
Network protocol analyzer used to capture and inspect live traffic at the packet level.
OpenVAS
Open-source vulnerability scanner used to identify and score security weaknesses across a target estate.
Nessus
Enterprise vulnerability scanner used for in-depth assessment and compliance-driven scanning.
Netcat
Networking utility used for port testing, banner grabbing and building lightweight listeners during engagements.
Hands-On Labs
Enterprise and SOC-style lab scenarios, run inside your isolated penetration-testing environment.
Triage and investigate alerts inside a simulated SOC/SIEM environment.
Build and test an AI/ML-based workflow that flags phishing emails or anomalous network activity.
Build and execute an incident response playbook against a simulated breach.
Classify and prioritise a batch of vulnerabilities using CVSS scoring.
Configure and tune AI-assisted detection rules to reduce false-positive alert volume.
Produce an executive-level security assessment report from raw findings.
Assessment
Knowledge Assessment
Quiz covering SOC workflows, AI-assisted threat detection concepts and CVSS-based prioritisation.
Practical Evaluation
A full incident-response simulation — including one AI-assisted detection task — from initial alert through to a delivered executive report.
Projects
Industry-style deliverables added directly to your project portfolio.
SOC Incident Analysis Simulation
Investigate a simulated breach end-to-end and produce a formal SOC incident report.
AI-Assisted Threat Detection Mini-Project
Build a mini AI/ML-based workflow that flags phishing emails or anomalous network activity.
Vulnerability Prioritisation Dashboard Report
Classify a vulnerability backlog by CVSS and business impact, and present a remediation roadmap.
What This Module Builds
Students learn to apply structured security-operations practice — including AI-assisted threat detection — to detect, respond to and report on threats within a SOC environment.