AP Cybersecurity Unit 4: Securing Devices
Securing Devices
Device types and vulnerabilities, malware, authentication and access control, hardening and configuration, and the unique architectural problem of IoT and embedded devices. Five full lessons with exercises, labs, quizzes, and a capstone exam.
Unit 4 is about the devices themselves — everything from the laptop you’re reading this on to the medical infusion pump that keeps a patient alive. You’ll learn why different device categories have different security profiles, how attackers compromise them, and how defenders systematically reduce risk through hardening and architecture.
The unit builds in a specific order: 4.1 introduces the devices and their generic vulnerabilities, 4.2 covers the malware that targets them, 4.3 covers authentication and access control, 4.4 teaches the six pillars of hardening as a systematic discipline, and 4.5 shows how IoT and embedded devices invert the usual hardening playbook by forcing network-architecture defenses instead.
Course Outline
Device Types and Vulnerabilities
Endpoints, mobile, IoT, and embedded devices. Attack surface, why IoT and embedded are hardest to secure, and the common device vulnerabilities that lead to breaches.
Support pages for 4.1 are part of the legacy 1.x wireless-security support set; they will be refreshed in a future rebuild.
Attack surface, endpoint device, mobile device, IoT, embedded system, default credentials, hardening, vulnerability assessment, firmware.
Malware and Malicious Software
Eight malware categories (virus, worm, trojan, ransomware, spyware, adware, rootkit, botnet), fileless and living-off-the-land attacks, delivery vectors, and signature vs. behavioral detection.
Exercises, Lab, and Quiz (4 pages)
Malware, virus, worm, trojan, ransomware, spyware, rootkit, botnet, fileless malware, payload, zero-day, signature-based detection, behavioral detection, sandbox analysis, EDR.
Authentication and Access Control
Three authentication factors (know/have/are), multi-factor authentication strength ordering, SSO and federation, passwordless and passkeys, access control models (DAC, MAC, RBAC, ABAC), principle of least privilege, separation of duties, and common auth attacks (phishing, MFA fatigue, SIM swap, pass-the-hash).
Exercises, Lab, and Quiz (4 pages)
Authentication, authorization, MFA, factor (know/have/are), SSO, federation, passkey, DAC, MAC, RBAC, ABAC, principle of least privilege, separation of duties, MFA fatigue, SIM swap.
Device Hardening and Configuration
The six pillars of hardening (secure baseline, patch management, service reduction, account hardening, logging, endpoint protection), CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs, endpoint protection ladder (AV, NGAV, EDR, XDR), mobile device management (MDM / COPE / BYOD / MAM), and configuration drift with configuration-management defenses.
Exercises, Lab, and Quiz (4 pages)
Device hardening, secure baseline, patch management, CIS Benchmark, DISA STIG, antivirus, NGAV, EDR, XDR, host-based firewall, MDM, BYOD, MAM, COPE, configuration drift, configuration management.
Securing IoT and Embedded Devices
The four structural constraints of IoT (limited resources, long lifecycles, no patch channel, default credentials), network segmentation and VLAN isolation as the primary defense, device inventory and lifecycle management, firmware integrity via signed updates and secure boot, certificate-based authentication with PKI, and emerging standards (IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, EU Cyber Resilience Act, Matter).
Exercises, Lab, and Quiz (4 pages)
IoT, embedded system, operational technology, VLAN, network segmentation, egress filtering, firmware, secure boot, signed firmware update, PKI, device certificate, device inventory, Matter, IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act.
Unit 4 Final Exam
20 multiple-choice questions spanning all five lessons (four questions per lesson). Timer, instant feedback, and a per-lesson score breakdown so you can see exactly which topics to review. Target: 16 of 20 (80%) or better.
Take the Unit 4 Exam →Work one lesson at a time: read the lesson → do Exercise 1 (predict-first scenarios) → do Exercise 2 (harder applied challenges) → work the Lab in writing before revealing answers → take the Quiz. When all five lessons are at 80%+, take the Unit 4 Exam. The per-lesson breakdown will tell you where to focus for the real AP exam.
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