AP Cybersecurity is a yearlong high school course that introduces students to cybersecurity in an introductory college-level experience. Developed in alignment with College Board's AP Career Kickstart Cybersecurity course, it gives students a rigorous structured pathway into one of the fastest-growing fields in tech. Students explore threats, vulnerabilities, risk, and defense-in-depth strategies across physical, digital, and data-focused domains through hands-on, scenario-based learning. Visit the AP Cybersecurity Course Overview or view the full course syllabus for a detailed breakdown of course content.

AP Cybersecurity is designed for high-school students who are interested in pursuing cybersecurity or a related field. This course is a great fit for students who want to:

This course is part of the Cybersecurity pathway. While there are no official prerequisites for the AP Cybersecurity course, we recommend that students first take Fundamentals of Cybersecurity and Advanced Cybersecurity.

Below is a summary of what's covered across the course's modules:

Students explore the fundamentals of cybersecurity, including social engineering, password best practices, public network threats, and the growing role of AI in both cyber attacks and cyber defense.

Students examine physical and cyber vulnerabilities, risk management strategies, and how to build layered defenses. Topics include attack anatomy, risk response, physical security threats, and detection methods for physical spaces.

Students learn how network traffic moves, how adversaries exploit networks, and how to defend against those threats. Topics include firewalls, network segmentation, wireless security, and automated and AI-powered threat detection.

Students investigate device vulnerabilities, authentication methods, and host-based defenses. Topics include malware, password attacks, multi-factor authentication, security policies, and log analysis for detecting device attacks.

Students explore application and data vulnerabilities, access control models, cryptography, and secure application design. Topics include SQL injection, encryption standards (AES and RSA), Linux file permissions, input sanitization, and log analysis for application attacks.

This course is 100% aligned to the AP Cybersecurity Course Framework from the College Board.

Note: College Board has not endorsed any curriculum providers for the AP Cybersecurity course.

The CodeHS Cyber Range is a secure, simulated, and interactive environment where students apply their cybersecurity skills through hands-on labs and gamified challenges. Students work with real Linux commands and practice defensive and analytical techniques across a range of cybersecurity topics.

The Cyber Range supports the AP Cybersecurity course with hands-on activities, and will be available as an add-on purchase.

Is the Cyber Range required? It is not required to teach the AP Cybersecurity course, but it is strongly recommended. Without it, students won't have access to the recommended lab activities.

To learn more or express interest, visit our CodeHS Cyber Range article or fill out the Cyber Range Interest Form.

CodeHS is offering the 2026–27 AP Cybersecurity Teaching Cohort, a year-long professional learning experience designed to build teacher confidence, content knowledge, and classroom readiness for AP Cybersecurity. The cohort is strongly recommended for teachers new to the course.

For more information, visit our AP Cybersecurity 2026–27 Teaching Cohort article. You can also watch the AP Cybersecurity Webinar recording for an overview of the course, Cyber Range, and PD cohort.