Key Takeaways
- Security breaches and cyberattacks have become increasingly common for businesses in 2026, with 88% of incidents occurring due to human error.
- Cybersecurity training can provide employees with the basic and advanced information they need to stop attacks before they happen.
- Courses from Google and Microsoft are available, as well as more accessible programs from experts on Coursera and Udemy.
The last thing your business needs is a cyber attack. The cost alone can ruin even the most successful companies, and if that doesn’t do it, the reputational damage will.
The good news is that, even with a little bit of training, you can shore up your cybersecurity to keep your business as safe as possible from cyber threats. More importantly, that cybersecurity training doesn’t have to cost you as much as a security breach.
Below, I’ve outlined some of the best free cybersecurity courses available online this month, so you can learn exactly how to stop these attacks before it’s too late.
Foundations of Cybersecurity with Google
Summary:
- Learn how to identify how security attacks impact business operations, use common tools of the industry, and understand security ethics.
- 4 modules, 1 week to complete at 10 hours per week
- Beginner level course
- 12 language available
- Shareable certificate available on completion
- Available through Coursera
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If you’re looking for a good jumping off point from one of the world’s most reputable tech companies, this is the cybersecurity training course you’re looking for.
Foundations of Cybersecurity with Google covers all the basics, including the most common threats to expect, what kind of tools you’ll use to protect your business, and what kind of negative impacts businesses see as a result of security breaches and cyber attacks.
The four-module course isn’t too long either, at only 10 hours, and it’s available in 12 different languages, so you have options if you aren’t a native English speaker.
Cyber Security Awareness Training Course For Beginners
Summary:
- Learn the basics of cybersecurity, including common threats and tools, safe internet practices, incident reporting, and AI in security.
- 10 modules, 30 minutes total
- Beginner level
- Available through Udemy
Cyber Security Awareness Training Course For Beginners is an extremely accessible way to get introduced to cybersecurity.
In just half an hour, you’ll grasp everything you need to know to get started, including online safety practices, cybersecurity tools, and the most common threats.
This course isn’t taught by a big corporation, but rather, it’s taught by Dathathreyalu TP, the Head of Cybersecurity Operations at JOYNEXT, who has extensive IT experience and has taught over 20,000 students through Udemy.
AI for Cybersecurity Specialization with Johns Hopkins University
Summary:
- Learn to use AI in a way that betters you
- 3 modules, 12 weeks at 5 hours per week
- Learn how to use advanced AI techniques to detect and prevent cybersecurity threats, ensuring robust protection against evolving digital risks.
- Intermediate level
- Available through Coursera
I’m not talking about beginners courses anymore, with the AI for Cybersecurity Specialization with Johns Hopkins University representing more of an intermediate option for those already familiar with the basics of cybersecurity.
More specifically, this course takes on AI in cybersecurity, helping learners to develop skills that use the modern technology to recognize and fend off cyber attacks that are likely using AI as well.
It is an intermediate class, which means it’s quite a bit longer than the beginner options at 60 total hours (12 weeks at five hours per week). Still, if you want to take cybersecurity seriously, you’ll need AI to get it done.
Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect
Summary:
- Learn to evaluate cybersecurity strategies and to design solutions using zero trust principles and specify security requirements for cloud infrastructure.
- 4 modules, 4 days at 8 hours per day
- Advanced, expert-level course
- Shareable certificate available on completion
- Available through Microsoft
To be clear, when they say this is an advanced-level course, they mean it. Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect is reserved for “experienced cloud security engineers who have taken a previous certification in the security, compliance and identity portfolio,” from Microsoft, so don’t start here.
If you are interested and advanced enough, though, this course can help teach you how to design security systems that fit with your particular business needs, focusing on compliance, infrastructure, and data.
Despite the advanced nature of the class, it is completely free if you are willing to partake in self-directed learning. If you’d like someone to actually train you, you’ll have to pay around $3,000 for the additional help.
The Importance of Cybersecurity Training
With all the advancements over the last few years, you may not think that your business needs to establish training procedures when it comes to cybersecurity.
Unfortunately, the reality is that 88% of cyber attacks and security breaches stem from some kind of human error. That means that training can have a huge impact on your ability to protect your business.
Suffice to say, the training courses listed above — and the thousands of others available online for specific industries and niches — could be the difference between an unbothered and successful companies and one that’s trying to pay off ransomware hackers.
