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PODCAST

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course

Dr. Jason Edwards

Certified - Security+ 701 is your completely free audio companion for mastering the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 certification exam. Developed by BareMetalCyber.com, this immersive Audio Course transforms every domain of the official exam objectives into clear, practical, and exam-ready lessons you can learn anywhere—whether commuting, exercising, or studying at home. Each episode delivers focused explanations, real-world examples, and proven study strategies designed to build confidence and help you

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All Episodes

7:09

Human Vectors and Social Engineering (Part 1) (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

People are often the weakest link in cybersecurity, and attackers exploit this through carefully crafted manipulation tactics known as social engineering. In this episode, we focus on phishing, vishing, and smishing—three common techniques that deceive users through email, phone, and SMS to trick them into revealing credentials, clicking malicious links, or installing malware. These attacks rely on urgency, authority, and trust to override a user’s better judgment, often imitating trusted

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7:18

Open Ports, Default Credentials, and Supply Chain...

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Even the best-configured systems can fall victim to the most basic security oversights—like open ports and unchanged default passwords. In this episode, we focus on how these simple but dangerous misconfigurations continue to be exploited, providing easy access points for attackers using automated scanning tools. We also explore the broader risk posed by third-party vendors, suppliers, and managed service providers (MSPs) in the supply chain, where security hygiene may vary and trust can be

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7:29

Network-Based Attack Surfaces (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Your network is the digital highway that connects everything in your organization—and if not properly secured, it becomes the perfect path for attackers. In this episode, we explore the many ways that insecure networks create broad attack surfaces, with a focus on both wired and wireless vulnerabilities. We cover threats such as rogue access points, Wi-Fi spoofing, Bluetooth exploitation, and physical network tapping—all of which can provide unauthorized access or enable man-in-the-middle

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6:48

Vulnerable Systems, Software, and Devices (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Many attacks succeed not because of advanced hacking techniques, but because of outdated, misconfigured, or unsupported systems that haven’t been properly maintained. This episode addresses the vulnerabilities introduced by aging operating systems, unpatched applications, and insecure endpoints—including laptops, mobile phones, and IoT devices. We also differentiate between client-based and agentless architectures, highlighting how some designs leave assets exposed or unmanaged. Special

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7:06

Image, File, and Voice-Based Threats (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

While emails and text messages are well-known vectors, attackers also exploit images, file attachments, and voice communication to bypass traditional security controls. In this episode, we explore steganography—embedding malicious code or data within image files—as well as the risks posed by file-based threats hidden in PDFs, Office documents, and ZIP archives that exploit unpatched applications or social engineering weaknesses. We also examine voice-based phishing, or vishing, where

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7:05

Message-Based and Communication Threat Vectors...

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Attackers frequently exploit messaging channels—email, SMS, and instant messaging—to deliver payloads, harvest credentials, or manipulate users into making harmful decisions. In this episode, we explore how communication platforms serve as high-risk threat vectors, focusing on phishing, smishing (SMS phishing), and malicious messaging over tools like Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp. These attacks often use urgency, trust, or impersonation to convince users to click a link, download a file, or

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6:21

Introduction to Threat Vectors and Attack Surfaces...

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Cybersecurity is not just about knowing your enemy—it’s about understanding the paths they take to reach you. This episode introduces threat vectors and attack surfaces, two essential concepts for identifying exposure and hardening defenses. A threat vector is the specific method or route used by an attacker to exploit a vulnerability, such as phishing emails, unpatched software, or rogue USB devices. An attack surface refers to the total number of points in a system where an attacker can

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7:23

Motivations Behind Cyber Attacks (Part 3) (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Not all cyberattacks are launched for money or politics—some are driven by emotion, chaos, or war. In this episode, we examine three additional motivations: revenge, disruption, and warfare. Revenge-driven attacks often originate from disgruntled employees, ex-partners, or individuals with personal grievances, and they may involve sabotage, data deletion, or insider leaks. Disruption for disruption’s sake is another motive—some attackers, especially script kiddies or chaotic actors, simply

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7:24

Motivations Behind Cyber Attacks (Part 2) (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Cyber threats aren’t always driven by stealth or sophistication—sometimes they are fueled by money, ideology, or ethics. In this episode, we continue our exploration of attacker motivations by examining financial gain, political activism, and the blurred lines between ethical and unethical hacking. Financially motivated attackers may use ransomware, banking Trojans, phishing scams, or e-commerce skimming to extract immediate monetary value, often laundering funds through cryptocurrency

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8:22

Motivations Behind Cyber Attacks (Part 1) (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Behind every cyberattack is a motive, and understanding why attackers do what they do is essential for predicting and preventing their behavior. This episode explores some of the most common motivations that drive malicious activity: data exfiltration, cyber espionage, denial of service, and blackmail. Data exfiltration involves stealing sensitive or proprietary data for financial, competitive, or intelligence purposes—often targeting health records, intellectual property, or government

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8:00

Attributes and Capabilities of Threat Actors (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

To effectively model risk and defend systems, cybersecurity professionals must understand not just who the attackers are, but what they are capable of. In this episode, we analyze the key attributes that define threat actors: whether they are internal or external, well-funded or opportunistic, highly skilled or reliant on publicly available tools. These characteristics determine the methods and scale of potential attacks, with well-resourced actors—like nation-states or cybercriminal

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7:53

Insider Threats, Organized Crime, and Shadow IT...

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Some of the most damaging cybersecurity incidents originate not from unknown hackers, but from within—through employees, vendors, or unmanaged systems operating outside official channels. In this episode, we explore insider threats in depth, breaking them into categories like malicious insiders, negligent users, and compromised individuals, each presenting different risks to data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. We also analyze the operations of organized cybercrime groups,

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7:14

Understanding Threat Actors (Domain 2)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Cyber threats come in many forms, and to defend effectively, you must understand the adversaries behind the attacks. This episode explores common categories of threat actors, including nation-state groups, cybercriminal organizations, hacktivists, insiders, and unskilled attackers (often called script kiddies). Each actor type operates with different motivations, levels of funding, technical capabilities, and risk tolerances, which shape their behavior and targeting strategies. Nation-state

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8:12

Introduction to Domain Two — Threats,...

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

If Domain One is the foundation of cybersecurity—built on core principles and frameworks—then Domain Two is where we start applying that knowledge to real-world threats. This is the domain where you learn what we’re actually defending against. You’ll explore how attackers operate, what kinds of vulnerabilities they target, and how defenders recognize and respond to malicious activity. If you’re someone who wants to understand how attacks really happen, what makes systems vulnerable, and how

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7:47

Certificates, Authorities, and Management (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Digital certificates are the backbone of online trust, providing the mechanism for authenticating websites, users, devices, and software in a secure, scalable manner. In this episode, we examine the lifecycle and infrastructure behind certificates, beginning with the role of Certificate Authorities (CAs) in issuing and signing them. We explain how trust is built through a chain of certificates that link end-entities to intermediate and root authorities, forming a hierarchical structure

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7:32

Advanced Cryptographic Techniques (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Modern threats require advanced cryptographic responses, and in this episode, we explore the techniques that strengthen authentication, protect weak credentials, and secure transactional data at scale. We begin with key stretching—methods like bcrypt, PBKDF2, and scrypt that increase the computational time needed to brute-force a password hash, adding layers of defense even when password quality is poor. These functions are particularly important in systems that store massive numbers of

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7:24

Hashing, Salting, and Digital Signatures (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Data integrity and authenticity are two foundational pillars of cybersecurity, and in this episode, we explore how hashing, salting, and digital signatures help uphold both. Hashing generates a fixed-length output from variable input, creating a digital fingerprint that can be used to verify whether data has been tampered with. Common algorithms like SHA-256 are used in password storage, file integrity checks, and digital forensics, providing fast and efficient validation of content

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6:56

Obfuscation and Data Protection Techniques (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

While encryption is the gold standard for confidentiality, it’s not the only method for protecting sensitive information—especially in use cases like software development, privacy regulation, or fraud prevention. In this episode, we examine alternative data protection strategies including obfuscation, steganography, tokenization, and data masking. Obfuscation refers to making data or code difficult to understand, deterring reverse engineering or casual access without the need for

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7:33

Cryptographic Hardware and Secure Storage (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Software-based encryption can be effective, but for high-assurance environments, hardware-based cryptography adds critical layers of tamper resistance and performance optimization. This episode explores devices and technologies that provide physical and logical security for cryptographic keys, including Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs), Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), and secure enclaves. We explain how TPMs are built into endpoints and used for boot integrity checks, disk encryption

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8:08

Comprehensive Encryption Techniques (Domain 1)

Certified: The CompTIA Security+ Audio Course ·

2025/06/15

Encryption is the most widely used method for ensuring data confidentiality, but its implementation must be tailored to the context in which data exists. In this episode, we break down the many forms of encryption, including full-disk, partition, file, volume, and record-level encryption, explaining when and why each is used. We explore symmetric encryption—fast and efficient for large data sets—and asymmetric encryption, which enables secure key exchange and digital signatures. We also

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222 results

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