PC Security Fundamentals

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$389

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$599 AUD

Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
7121 Students

learn from a security expert who teaches the fundamentals of PC and network security.

What you don't know about PC security really can hurt you! Learn why you're at risk and what you can do to protect your precious personal and business data from the outside world. This course, taught by a security expert, will quickly bring you up to speed on the fundamentals of PC and network security.

You'll understand and explore the many vulnerabilities of operating systems, software, and networks. Then, you'll get into the minds of hackers and crackers, developing an understanding of the exploits they use to access your computer without your knowledge. You'll find out why, where, and how viruses, worms, and blended threats are created. You'll be able to identify and work to prevent DoS, SYN flooding, and other network attacks. You'll learn a safe way to share files and data across the Internet through a virtual private network. And you'll be able to install and configure a firewall to build an impenetrable moat around your computer or network.

Courses are delivered to you through expertly executed lessons, online instruction and interaction with like-minded students. Our courses are designed to deliver all of the benefits of studying in a classroom whilst giving you the flexibility to study at a time and place to suit your needs. You can access your classroom 24/7 from any device with an internet connection.

This course has a 3 month duration. You'll complete comprehensive lessons, quizzes and assignments before submitting your final exam at the end of the course to achieve your certificate. Courses must be completed within the 3 month access period.

In our first lesson, you'll learn the facts--and the myths--about PC security. Then, I'll introduce you to the language of security and explain what you need to know about each acronym. By the end of this lesson, you'll also be able to assess your own risk, whether you're an individual or manage a network of any size. You'll also perform a self-assessment to evaluate just how vulnerable you are to security flaws.

If you ever wondered what technical gurus are speaking about when they talk about LANs, WANs, VPNs, and P2P, you'll find detailed answers in this lesson. Discover the basics of networks and how your PC connects to them.

Most of us don't stop to think about how a Mac can talk to a PC and vice versa. Yet, different types of machines talk to each other on a daily basis across networks. They also talk to printers, fax machines, and a host of other devices. The OSI model for network connections lets you accomplish this, and you'll learn all about it in this lesson. I'll also teach you how, why, and where the weak links of security are in software and operating systems.

Get ready to investigate the world of viruses, worms, and blended threats. You'll learn what they are and the differences between all three. I'll also show you why people create them and where they come from. Of course, all this knowledge will also teach you how to protect yourself and your network from the hackers and crackers of the world.

We’ll introduce you to the ware family in this lesson. Who is the ware family? They are the products that download themselves onto your computer without your consent or knowledge—spyware, scumware, malware, and adware. You'll meet them and learn all about their family traits and values. I'll also show you where they live, places they frequent, and how to remove these unwelcome guests that inhabit your PC.

You may have heard of them: vulnerabilities, exploits, and exposure. But what are they? Have you ever wondered if someone really can control your computer without your knowledge? If you've been pondering these questions lately, then you'll find your answers here, along with priceless information on protecting your computer and your network to keep your business and personal data private.

Have you ever tried to access the Web but received an error saying the page can't be displayed, you aren't connected, or you don't have access? If so, you may have been under an attack! Denial of Service attacks and SYN flooding are two types of network attacks that seem to go unnoticed on personal PCs and small networks. Why? Because beginners don't know what they are, why they're happening, or where they're coming from. After this lesson, you'll no longer be left wondering what happened to your Internet connection.

This lesson will introduce you to firewalls. Join me in this lesson, and you'll soon start building an impenetrable moat around your network.

Now that you have your moat built, it's time to arm up and defend yourself. In this lesson, you'll learn how to configure your firewall and maximize your network security.

You may want to check out this lesson before you grab your laptop and run off to the next Internet café, because what you learn today may surprise you! Laptops and wireless connectivity are the buzzwords of the moment, but these two technologies aren't as secure as they appear. You'll understand why in this lesson.

I'm going to share my love for VPNs with you today. You'll learn what a Virtual Private Network is, how it's different from standard networks, how it works, how to secure it, and how to set up your own. Just think about the possibilities! You can share files with family across the miles by allowing them to connect remotely to your designated shared folders. You can share music files, family pictures, and anything else you choose to give them access to.

Now that you know what's out there, how can you possibly keep on top of security issues? There's so much information out there, how will you know what applies to you? Have no fear, for I'll show you a simple method for staying up-to-date with those security issues that only pertain to you. You'll also learn about emerging security technology, sources to use that will help make the job of managing and securing your network easier, and creating a checklist to keep handy. Finally, you can test yourself against the first security assessment to see how well you've secured your own PC or network.

Debbie Mahler

Debbie Mahler teaches students at college and university level on a wide range of business-related topics. She worked for nearly 15 years in the PC repair business, has a successful online IT business, has written six books, and writes for s... Read more

Read Debbie Mahler's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Online learning is a flexible way to study that fits around your schedule, giving you the freedom to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. You'll have 3 months to complete the course and can take the multiple-choice questions and final exam whenever it suits you.

If you need help, you can contact us anytime. You can also join the discussion area where you can interact with other students. The discussion area for each lesson is open for the entire duration of the course.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

We do not offer extensions or transfers for this self-paced course. However, you will have 3 months to complete the course, and if you need to cancel within the first 10 days of enrolment, we offer a money back guarantee.

What people are saying about our courses

Besides learning a lot of valuable information regarding how to maintain the security of my PC, I also enjoyed the instructor's writing style and especially her positive and friendly attitude! Thanks for a great class!

Verified Student

This course has made my decision to further my interest in pc security for possible future employment. I have learned so much from you these past 6 weeks. I will definitely recommend your course to friends and relatives.

Verified Student

This course was excellent. Every lesson kept me interested. The assignments taught me very useful things to be done on my computer. The material is challenging, and I expect to want to review it many times in the future. The instructor demonstrated that she really knows her stuff!

Verified Student

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The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the PC Security Fundamentals you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

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Our Values

Learn At Your Own Pace

We believe in personalised learning. That's why we provide all the tools and support you need to succeed at your own pace. With flexible learning, you'll stay motivated and retain more information. Plus, you can balance your studies with work and family commitments to make your dreams a reality.

We Won't Break The Bank

Education should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn. That's why we offer some of the most competitive prices in the industry with payments plans for just $25 per week. Investing in your future is a smart choice and doesn’t have to break the bank.

Industry-Led Courses

There's no better way to learn than from experts with years of experience in your field. That's why each of our 200+ industry-led courses are designed to give you a real-life perspective on your industry. With our expert mentors, you'll learn from people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and who are passionate about sharing it with you.

Get The Personal Support You Deserve

At Vibe Learning, we're real people who are dedicated to providing you with personal support every step of the way. Our industry experts are not only professional and knowledgeable but also incredibly passionate about sharing their expertise with you. With their guidance, you'll gain invaluable insights and practical knowledge to help you succeed.

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PC Security Fundamentals

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Microsoft Excel 2010 Advanced

Quick Facts

Delivery Method Online
Professional Certificate
24hrs Suggested Study Time
3 Months Access
Tutor Support
Study On Any Device
2292 Students

Discover the advanced features and functions of Microsoft Excel 2010, including data analysis tools, database techniques, and advanced methods for using PivotTables.

Any proficient Microsoft Excel user will agree that this program is a very powerful analytical tool. Wouldn't it be great to learn how to effectively use all the advanced Excel features? In this practical and information-packed course, you'll see how to maximize this program's functions and capabilities.

Most organizations rely heavily on Excel to consolidate, analyze, and report financial information. Your company is probably no exception. By learning these advanced techniques, you can become more valuable to your organization.

You'll see how to work with the additional analytical tools provided by Excel add-ins and become skilled in using validation to protect the integrity of your worksheets from less experienced users. Impress your coworkers by learning how to add functional and eye-catching custom controls to any worksheet and how to use scenarios and data tables to quickly perform what-if data analyses. You'll discover advanced techniques for PivotTables, such as creating calculated fields and calculated items. Become adept at consolidating and importing external data, and master the art of conditional formatting to highlight duplicate entries and other common worksheet problems.

Learn how Excel 2010 table tools take the complexity out of table creation and management. As you become proficient at nesting functions within other functions, you'll be able to accomplish just about anything Microsoft Excel has to offer!

Over the next six weeks, we're going to explore Microsoft Excel 2010's new and advanced features. You'll learn how to use data analysis tools and techniques to improve your decision making, and you'll practice generating accurate data more quickly. By the end of this course, you'll be well prepared to contribute more value to your organization with your advanced understanding of Excel. To kick things off, we'll spend this first lesson exploring how you can modify Excel to streamline processes and make your work easier. You'll use the Excel Options dialog box to customize some of Excel's behind-the-scenes behavior, set up your Quick Access Toolbar, and take a look at the new and improved status bar and its customizable features. Mastering these processes will lay the foundation for our exploration of advanced topics throughout the course.

Today we'll explore some new table management features in Excel 2010, discuss how to use data forms with Excel databases, and look at a few alternative database techniques. You'll be glad to know that formatting and working with tables has gotten much easier in this latest version of Excel. Now, instead of applying filters, total rows, and formats separately, you can perform these actions through a single user interface. We'll delve into how it's done. You'll also learn how data forms provide a more user-friendly method for adding, deleting, and editing records in a table, and you'll practice using a data form to search for and view records that match specific criteria. We'll wrap things up with a brief look at some of the practical applications for data forms.

In this lesson, we'll tackle data validation techniques—your first line of defense against incorrect or missing data and the logical next step after data forms. You'll practice using whole number, decimal, date, time, list, and other forms of validation. After that, we'll explore the possibilities of custom validation, which allows you to apply validation on a cell or range of cells based on a formula you create. The possibilities for using it are limitless! You'll also learn how to create input messages and error alerts to guide the user's data entry, how to keep track of validation rules, and how to apply a custom validation rule to other cells so that you don't have to create it all over again.

In the first three lessons, we covered what you might call intro-level advanced Excel topics, and now it's time to head into more complex territory. So, today, let's start working with custom controls—graphical objects that help facilitate data input and are sure to impress users. We'll start by getting your Ribbon set up to work with custom controls, and then we'll walk through some practice exercises. You'll learn how to create standard and drop-down list boxes, check boxes, option buttons, and group boxes. You'll also master the process of creating a dynamic list box, which allows you to control the values in one list box based on the values chosen by your user in a separate custom control.

Today you'll discover how to use conditional formatting. And I'm not just talking about creating validation based on cell values. We'll do a quick review of that process, just as a refresher, but after that we're going to focus on formula conditional formatting. We'll work through nine different practice exercises that explore row conditional formatting, and we'll briefly discuss how the formula works after each exercise. You'll see how to use conditional formatting to hide errors, to highlight records based on multiple criteria, to track and alert you about due dates, to find the differences between two lists, to shade every other row (my personal favorite), and more. I think you'll especially enjoy learning how to set up a scorecard, which will show you problem areas in red, possible problems in yellow, and everything running smoothly in green. (Your manager will love this.)

In this lesson, you'll learn how to use Excel's consolidation function to efficiently summarize data from multiple sources. A lot of people do this the hard way, but with Excel's automatic consolidation feature, you'll no longer need to develop a web of formula links to multiple sources. Goodbye, potential for human error! We'll begin with an exercise on consolidating data within the same workbook, and after that, you'll practice consolidating using an advanced technique with category labels and wildcards. Next, we'll step things up with a practice exercise on consolidating from multiple workbooks. You'll also learn how to use automatic and manual outlining to view or hide different levels or sections of your information.

Excel's functions (or predefined calculations) are too numerous to completely cover in one lesson, so today we'll just focus on a few important ones spanning four categories: <em>Logical, Database, Math & Trig</em>, and <em>Lookup & Reference</em>. We'll start today with an overview of functions, take a look at the Insert Function dialog box, and then practice working with the IF function, nesting functions, the DSUM function, and the VLOOKUP function—all of which will come in handy when you need to perform a quick, thorough analysis of your data.

In this lesson, you'll find out all about importing external data. We'll begin with a practice exercise to get you comfortable with importing data from another Excel file, during which you'll see how to use the Microsoft Query Wizard. You'll test two methods for refreshing the target area for the imported data and find out how to edit an Excel query. After that, you'll do an import from an external database. Finally, you'll learn how to perform a Web query, which—you guessed it—allows you to import data from the Internet. The Web query feature is another fantastic feature in Excel 2010<a name="_GoBack"></a>.

It's time to look at data tables, which let you compare the outcomes of different versions of the same formula without slogging through the process of calculating each of them. Data tables are very powerful what-if analysis tools that are great for analyzing potential outcomes of personal or business financial decisions. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use two types of data tables: a one-variable data table (which lets you substitute just one variable into the formula calculation) and the two-variable data table (which allows you to change multiple aspects of the formula).

Today we'll explore three more of Excel's what-if analysis tools: Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, and Solver. You'll find out how to use Goal Seek to solve formulas backward—for example, you might want to do this if you knew the result you wanted but needed to determine how to change a single input cell in order to get that desired result. After that, we'll practice using Scenario Manager to create and save different input values and their results as scenarios (great for working on budgets). And finally, you'll put Excel's Solver to work to discover the optimal solution to models that have multiple variables and constraints.

In this lesson, you'll discover how to use PivotTables, which are excellent for summarizing massive amounts of data and viewing different cuts of the information quickly. There are two methods for creating PivotTables, and you'll practice using both. You'll also learn how to edit a PivotTable, how to filter the table to create individual reports, how to format a PivotTable to make it reader-friendly, and how to create and use calculated fields and items. After this, you'll create a PivotChart based on the data fields in your PivotTable. We may not be quite done with the course, but after mastering PivotTables and PivotCharts, you'll certainly be able to count yourself an advanced Excel user.

We'll begin our final lesson with a look at the functions available in the Analysis ToolPak, including two of my favorites: the Moving Average and Sampling tools. You'll complete an exercise using advanced filters, and then I'll show you some of my favorite Excel tips and tricks. You'll find out how to work with the View Side by Side tool and how to use the Watch Window to keep tabs on your data when you're updating a workbook. We'll wrap things up with practice exercises using array formulas and the AutoSum Tool. When you're done with this lesson—and the course—you'll want to pass along the techniques you've learned to friends and colleagues who are still wrestling with Excel!

Chad Wambolt

Chad Wambolt is a graduate of Boise State University, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in accounting. He has spent his entire professional career in the finance field, working for both privately and publicly held companies with sales rangin... Read more

Read Chad Wambolt's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

What people are saying about our courses

I would definitely recommend this course to my friends and co-workers. I really appreciated the way the instructor explained and taught the class. I feel I learned tremendously about using Excel and look forward to putting it to use!

Verified Student

I have learned so much from taking this course, and my new skills will make me a better Excel teacher!

Verified Student

This was by far the best Excel class I have taken. Of course, the others were one-day, 8-hour classes and more expensive and much less detailed information. The course workbook provided was excellent.

Verified Student

See More Reviews

The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Microsoft Excel 2010 Advanced you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.