About the Skills Programme

The Occupational Skills Programme Cybersecurity Defender (SP-220330) is a QCTO skills programme at NQF Level 4 (60 credits, 600 notional hours; curriculum 900103-000-00-00). Cybersecurity Defenders proactively protect organisations’ systems: they are the first line of defence against cyberattacks, the first responders to breaches, and responsible for hardening information systems while ensuring compliance with legislation.

You learn how attacks work in order to defend against them — and the one thing that separates a security professional from an offender: authorisation. All practical work is done in the isolated Tonex laboratory, against laboratory targets, under supervision.

What you will learn

• Core concepts, the CIA triad, threat actors, the South African legal and governance frame, and threat intelligence
• Social engineering, business email compromise, physical security, malware and ransomware
• Endpoint controls, security tooling, encryption, authentication, mobile and password security
• Backups, wireless security, daily habits, incident response, evidence and the POPIA notification duty
• In the laboratory: protecting, detecting, and authorised security testing — and reporting so that an organisation acts

Course content

Pre-course assessment (21 questions, no pass mark) · Start here: Programme Overview

Knowledge modules (26 credits)

1. Cyber Defence Introduction (KM-01, 7 credits)
2. Cyber Threats and Attacks (KM-02, 7 credits)
3. Cybersecurity (KM-03, 7 credits)
4. Responding to Cybersecurity Incidents (KM-04, 5 credits)

Practical modules (34 credits)

1. Protect Against Cybersecurity Threats, Intrusions and Attacks (PM-01, 11 credits)
2. Detect Cybersecurity Threats, Intrusions and Attacks (PM-02, 11 credits)
3. Conduct Penetration Testing Techniques to Determine Security (PM-03, 12 credits)

Post-course assessment (35 questions, pass mark 70%)

Every topic has short on-screen lessons taken from the Tonex combined Learner Guide and Practical Guide, with diagrams, a downloadable PDF and a four-question quiz (pass mark 75%, unlimited attempts). Technical procedure is taught only in the laboratory.

Who should enrol?

• IT support staff and junior administrators moving into security
• People preparing for roles such as Cybersecurity Defender or junior penetration tester
• IT staff responsible for security in small and medium organisations

Entry requirement: NQF Level 3 (Grade 11) with Computer Literacy, English and Mathematical Literacy. Recognition of Prior Learning for access is available.

Certificates

Tonex Certificate of Completion: pass the post-course assessment with 70% or more. This is a Tonex certificate and carries no NQF credits.

QCTO Skills Programme certificate (60 credits, NQF Level 4): also requires the eighteen workbook activities, the Combined Knowledge Module Summative Assessment, the fifteen laboratory activities and the supervised Final Integrated Supervised Assessment (FISA), which has a written part and a practical part. Tonex, as the QCTO-accredited provider, conducts the FISA and submits learner results to the QCTO for approval for certification. These assessments are in the separate course Practical Assessment and FISA – Cybersecurity Defender SP.