Hacker Highschool Courses

The HHS Difference

Hacker Highschool wants teens to thrive in cyber. With so much of our lives online now the real advantage is knowing how to succeed in cyber and you can succeed in tomorrow’s world. We teach this by embracing “hacking” as a skill.

Whatever you may have heard about hackers, the truth is they do something really, really well: discover. Hackers are motivated, resourceful, and creative. They get deeply into how things work to the point that they know how to take control of them and change them into something else. This lets them re-think even big ideas because they can dig to the bottom of how things function.

Furthermore, they aren't afraid to make the same mistake twice just out of a kind of scientific curiosity, to see if that mistake always has the same results. That's why hackers don't see failure as a mistake or a waste of time because every failure means something and something new to be learned. And these are all traits any society needs to make progress.

At Hacker Highschool we teach teens: “Hack everything but harm none.” 

Hacker Highschool is not physical school. It is a project to provide cyber skills for teens.

We do this by providing:

FREE LESSONS

free PDF lessons for full freedom to build a course around it

BOOKS

paid, physical books for full freedom to teach within classroom settings

EBOOKS

paid, packaged, lessons by eBook, linking out to web content in Rabbit Hole and the eSports games, ideal for individuals with the freedom to learn at their own pace


LMS

paid, packaged, curriculum as LMS importable shells for schools and home schoolers complete with grading, perfect for classroom settings using an LMS,

COURSES

 paid, online, hosted courses at Quinnipiac University complete with grading

Levels of Hacker Highschool

Four levels of Hacker Highschool are currently available, set as Levels 9-12 and correspond with the USA High School system. These are available in-classroom or online.

Each Level is a self-contained package of instructional material consisting of a self-guided path through books, articles, and videos, AI research support with Rabbit Hole, eSports tactical and strategy games, hands-on cyber range practice, exercises, homework, and grading for a full, school course year.

Empower your teens to deal with cyber issues like security, privacy, bullying, misinformation, fraud, and other attacks while learning how to use the Internet for research and communication like a professional. Help them prepare for their future. Industry-respected certification exams are available after completing Levels 10 and 12. Certified Junior Hacker is recommended for after Level 10 and Certified Hacker Analyst is available after Level 12. This puts students on the track for industry certifications such as the entry level OSSTMM Expert certification, the OSSTMM Professional Security Tester, and the Professional Security Analyst.

These are the kinds of things you can expect to learn in Levels 9-12:

First year students will learn to control computers through the command line, understand the intricacies of the security behind networking, system services, Internet services, and the various operating systems.

• How to research and fact-check any topic effectively
• Developing critical thinking and research skills
• Using Google dorking and AI to support your research
• How to create a strong password and store it safely; Multi-Factor Authentication
• Is it safe to download free games or applications?
• How to check if an app is legitimate; security measures in app stores
• Why do apps require constant updates?
• The evolution of online payments
• Understanding the trade-offs between convenience and privacy when using online platforms
• How to recognize and react to scams
• Sharing pictures and personal information on the Internet
• Basics of Internet privacy; Internet cookies
• How to recognize and respond to cyberbullying behavior
• Mobile threats
• How to quickly determine if a link is safe and if a website is a scam
• Introduction to Linux and the CLI
• Basics of networking
• WiFi and Bluetooth security; using public WiFi securely
• Game cheats and piracy; are game cheats safe to download?
• Can pirate sources be trusted?
• Basics of the OSSTMM
• 4PP Analysis – Four Point Process to Analyze how anything works
• Basics of Trust Analysis 

Level 9 Freshman

Second year students will learn to defend themselves through security analysis techniques with Attack Analysis, Malware Analysis, Traffic Analysis, System Forensics and Counter Forensics.

• What is biometric authentication and the ethical issues associated with it?
• Can biometrics be stolen?
• How to conduct advanced research and document it properly
• Markdown language for reporting
• How to track down the author of an online post
• How to not get doxxed
• What is social engineering?
• Basic types of networks and network devices and how they work
• How to perform a thorough analysis of a URL
• How to securely investigate a phishing message
• How web browsing works
• How to view and search for hidden onion websites
• How Internet users are tracked and how to prevent it
• Encryption and how to communicate securely
• The impact of tech giants on digital privacy
• Time management and its benefits
• How to balance screen time and real-world activities for mental wellbeing
• Malicious uses and risks of AI
• Basic file management, networking commands and scans with the command line
• How to make your computer more secure (hardening)
• How a computer system is built and how to obtain detailed information about it
• How network services work
• How email works and how to secure it
• Basics of Windows scripting
• What are the common web vulnerabilities and zero-days?
• The OSSTMM and Controls
• Basics of HTML and CSS
• Basics of Python 

Level 10 Sophomore

Third year students will learn what it means to be a Hacker and learn proper problem solving, security analysis, and researching techniques. The main focus will be on the security of Email, Web Technology, Password Technology, Privacy, and Encryption.

• Advanced research: data leaks, leaked databases; password and credential hunting
• TOR network, onion browsing and darknet forums
• E2E encryption; setting up anonymous means of contact
• AI and LLMS; data modelling
• How Blockchain technology, Web3 technologies and NFTs work
• Email threats and prevention
• Remote protocols: FTP, SSH, telnet; SSH for secure connections
• Basic network troubleshooting
• How to analyze the traffic in your home network or any network
• Types of network protocols
• Command line text editors
• Basics of Powershell
• Types of malware; malware case study
• Malware delivery techniques and detection methods
• Malware countermeasures
• Threat Hunting
• Basics of forensics - pictures, phones, meta data
• Data recovery and permanent data deletion
• Password physics and how to crack a password
• Cyber security and critical infrastructure
• How to tell you're under an attack
• State-level cyber attacks
• The OSSTMM - Limitations
• The OSSTMM – Interactions 

Level 11 Junior

Fourth year students will be focusing on examining the vulnerabilities in systems, hardening systems like Windows 10 and Linux, and learn basic operations in to compete in CTFs and work as a Junior SOC Analyst.

• The OSSTMM: Trust Analysis
• HTTP and HTTPS protocol
• Secure web applications; web app hardening
• Network hardening
• Windows hardening
• Filesystem and the registry
• Vulnerability scanners
• Advanced encryption; quantum computing and cryptography
• Modern password cracking: hashes, wordlists, dictionaries, salts
• Vulnerability databases, bug bounty programs
• Computer forensics
• Cyber incident case studies
• Malware analysis
• Wireshark and advanced network forensics
• Network scanning and packet-crafting
• Types of attacks, attack vectors and attack analysis
• Web technologies and common web attacks
• NIST and other security standards
• OSSTMM: How to define the scope for a pen test
• OSSTMM: How to analyze interactions
• OSSTMM: How to analyze anything for weakness
• OSSTMM: Writing security reports
• Defensive Hacking - SOC
• Securing AI 

Level 12 Senior

Pricing

eBook Lessons

You can work with a course ebook that links out to all the same features as the LMS courses except for the self-contained grading and proctoring inherent in an LMS. Using a PDF ebook, students click the link and go to the content online to learn and build skills as needed. This includes the content in Rabbit Hole and the browser-based eSports games for developing skills. Cyberranges Browser-based skills platform learning access available at an additional cost.

1 Year eBook Subscription: TBD

1 Year eBook Subscription with Cyberranges
TBD 

Locally-hosted Courses for Schools and Homeschoolers

If you prefer to host our packaged course on your own LMS, you can have full control over all the materials and how they are taught in the classroom. You may purchase a subscription to our LMS shell to import into your school’s LMS Includes Cyberranges access, browser-based eSports games, and Rabbit Hole access.

1 Year LMS Shell Subscription: TBD per student for up to 10 students.

15% of each student after 10 

Online Courses for Individuals and Classrooms

We are collaborating with Quinnipiac University to provide these Four Levels as self-guided, asynchronous courses hosted within their university network LMS. Includes Cyberranges access, browser-based eSports games, and Rabbit Hole access. Be part of the Quinnipiac experience and join students from all over the world in a unique setting as part of the online classroom experience.

You can subscribe directly here. 

TBD

Provided With Assistance From

Hacker Highschool

Cybersecurity for Teens