Learn cybersecurity by doing it.
CyberAcad is a free, browser-based curriculum and hands-on training platform for the next generation of digital defenders. Interactive lessons, live labs, capture-the-flag challenges — no expensive hardware, no gatekeeping. Just a laptop and curiosity.
Built for students first. No prior experience required — beginners start at the fundamentals.
A ready-made, zero-cost cyber curriculum and CTF platform for classrooms, clubs, and CyberPatriot teams.
The door is open to any beginner who wants a real, hands-on path into cybersecurity.
From first login to first flag
Learn with interactive lessons
Work through browser-based lessons that introduce a concept and immediately put it into practice — no lecture videos, no passive watching.
Practice in real, sandboxed labs
When a lesson needs a terminal, CyberAcad spins up a live Linux environment in your browser on demand. Nothing to install, nothing to buy, isolated safely for each student.
Prove it in the Gym
Apply your skills against a growing library of capture-the-flag challenges across every category above.
Earn certificates
Completed coursework earns shareable certificates — a concrete record of the skills you have built, for a resume, a club application, or your own motivation.
What you'll learn
Our curriculum spans the disciplines students actually need — the same categories featured in boroCTF. Start with the fundamentals and work toward the advanced tracks at your own pace.
Networking & Systems Fundamentals
How computers and networks actually work — packets, protocols, the Linux command line, and the basics every security practitioner builds on. This is where beginners start.
Web Exploitation
How websites break: injection, broken authentication, and the classes of bugs behind real-world breaches — taught by finding and fixing them in a safe lab.
Cryptography
The math and mistakes behind keeping data secret — from classic ciphers to the flaws that make modern crypto fail when it is used wrong.
Forensics & OSINT
Reading the evidence left behind — file and memory forensics, and open-source intelligence: finding what is hidden in plain sight.
Reverse Engineering & Binary Exploitation
Taking software apart to understand how it really runs, how memory corruption happens, and how attackers turn a bug into control. Our most advanced track.
boroCTF: our international competition
We build and run boroCTF ourselves — an international capture-the-flag competition that drew 2,000+ competitors from 93+ countries in June 2026, with more than a hundred original challenges written by our team.
Read the boroCTF 2026 recapHow to get started
Create a free account and open your first lesson today. No cost, no catch — ever.
> Start freeBring CyberAcad to your classroom, club, or CyberPatriot team. Reach out and we will help you get set up.
> Contact usDonations keep the platform free for every student. CyberAcad is a registered 501(c)(3) — gifts are tax-deductible.
> Donate