Free Social Engineering Courses And Resources For Cybersecurity Education

The provided source material identifies multiple free online courses and resources focused on social engineering within cybersecurity. These offerings are primarily educational in nature, designed for professionals, penetration testers, and individuals seeking to understand social engineering tactics for defensive purposes. The courses are hosted on major e-learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight, and Udemy, and typically range from less than one hour to 13 hours of content. Upon completion, many of these courses provide e-certificates. Additionally, the source material lists a curated GitHub repository containing tools and resources intended for controlled educational or professional use.

Free Online Courses on Social Engineering

Several platforms offer no-cost courses covering social engineering concepts. These courses vary in duration, instructor, and specific focus, but all are described as free of charge.

LinkedIn Learning Courses

LinkedIn Learning provides at least two free courses regarding social engineering: * Cybersecurity Awareness: Social Engineering: This course, taught by Stephanie Ihezukwu, lasts for 1-2 hours. It is conducted in English, and participants receive an e-certificate upon completion. * Ethical Hacking: Social Engineering: Taught by Lisa Bock, this course also lasts for 1-2 hours. It is free, taught in English, and results in an e-certificate from LinkedIn Learning.

Pluralsight Courses

Pluralsight offers a variety of free courses focused on social engineering and related topics: * Ethical Hacking: Social Engineering: This course, taught by Troy Hunt, is a comprehensive 4-5 hour program. It is free, taught in English, and provides a Pluralsight e-certificate. * Social Engineering: Executive Briefing: Taught by Stephen Haunts, this course is less than 1 hour long. It is free, conducted in English, and offers an e-certificate. * People Information Gathering with the Social Engineering Toolkit (SET): This course, taught by Rishalin Pillay, is less than 1 hour long. It is free, taught in English, and provides a certificate. * Specialized Attacks: Physical and Social Engineering: Taught by FC, this course is less than 1 hour long. It is free, taught in English, and provides a certificate.

Udemy Courses

Udemy hosts both free and paid courses regarding social engineering: * The Art of Hacking Humans: Intro to Social Engineering: Taught by Dauda Sule, this course lasts for 2-3 hours. It is described as a free online course taught in English. * Learn Social Engineering From Scratch: Taught by Zaid Sabih and z Security, this is a comprehensive 13-hour course. Unlike the other listed courses, this is a paid course requiring a visit to the Udemy page for pricing details. It provides an e-certificate upon completion.

Curated Resources and Tools

Beyond formal courses, the source material references a GitHub repository titled "awesome-social-engineering." This repository is described as a curated list of resources inspired by the "awesome-*" trend. It is intended strictly for cybersecurity professionals, penetration testers, and educational use in controlled environments.

Resource Categories

The repository organizes resources into several categories, including: * Online Courses * Capture the Flag * Psychology Books * Books * Documentation * Tools * Miscellaneous * OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)

Specific Tools and Platforms

The GitHub list includes several specific tools and platforms relevant to social engineering education and testing: * Cybrary: Offers a free course on "Social Engineering and Manipulation." * The Social-Engineer portal: A website containing comprehensive information for social engineers. * Layer 8 conference and podcast: Focused on OSINT and Social Engineering. * Tor: Free software for online anonymity. * SET (Social-Engineer Toolkit): Developed by TrustedSec. * Gophish: An open-source phishing framework. * King Phisher: A toolkit for creating and managing phishing campaigns. * wifiphisher: Automated phishing attacks against Wi-Fi networks. * PhishingFrenzy: An open-source Ruby on Rails application for managing phishing campaigns. * Evilginx2: A Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack framework for phishing credentials. * Lucy Phishing Server: A commercial tool for performing phishing tests.

Important Considerations for Users

The source material explicitly states that resources and tools listed in the curated repository are intended only for cybersecurity professionals, penetration testers, and educational use in a controlled environment. The documentation notes that "No humans were manipulated to make this list," emphasizing the educational and defensive intent of the materials. Users interested in these resources should understand that they are designed for learning and testing security systems, not for malicious purposes.

Conclusion

The provided source material identifies a selection of free online courses and curated resources for individuals interested in social engineering within the context of cybersecurity. Platforms such as LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight, and Udemy offer courses ranging from brief introductions to multi-hour comprehensive programs, often providing e-certificates upon completion. Additionally, the "awesome-social-engineering" GitHub repository serves as a directory of tools, books, and other resources intended for professional and educational use. All identified materials emphasize the importance of using this knowledge for defensive cybersecurity and educational purposes.

Sources

1. GetYourEducation.net - Social Engineering Courses
2. GitHub - awesome-social-engineering