CSFL Joining Instructions
These instructions are for delegates attending either the CSFL training, the assessment, or the training and assessment bundle, and should contain all the information you need to organise your course and/or exam with us.
Please contact us if you have any queries.
General Information
All our CSFL courses and exams currently take place at our assessment centre in central Cheltenham:
The Cyber Scheme, Eagle Tower, Montpellier Drive, Cheltenham GL50 1TA
Please organise your own accommodation if needed.
Bath Terrace Car Park (SatNav GL50 2BA) offers reasonable all day parking a few minutes’ walk away.
Our rooms are all accessible via lift. Please let us know if you have any accessibility issues.
Training begins at 9.00am, please arrive 15 minutes before your start time to register.
If you are only attending the CSFL exam, please arrive at 12.30pm for a 1pm start time.
Non-attendance
Please notify us if you are unable to attend or if you have any enquiries prior to the course date. Please read our terms and conditions for our cancellation policy.
Refreshments and lunch break
Drinking water is available onsite. Please note you will have a 60-minute lunch break. You can bring your own food, purchase from the onsite café (food, snacks, tea/coffee) or you can pop out for lunch. (We do not provide tea/coffee in the training room, please purchase from the onsite café.)
Equipment
Please supply your own laptop and pen testing distro. We do not provide or have loan laptops. All tools and software must be licensed appropriately.
Essential/mandatory:-
- A laptop with at least 8Gig of memory with administrator credentials – so you can add software
- A NIC (network interface card) – so you can connect to the network
- A wireless NIC (network interface card) – so you can connect to the wireless network
- A HDMI port – so you can attach a monitor
- A working power supply – so you can use your laptop for extended periods of time
Ideally please bring:-
- An office package for opening Word documents, PDFs and spreadsheets.
Optional:-
- External mouse and keyboard
- Spare laptop
- External WIFI adapter for WIFI testing (i.e. an alpha card)
- USB Stick – for easy transfer of data /notes / slides / etc
Exam Environment
Please note tools can not be added or installed to your laptop during the assessment. You will connect to the environment using a wired network connection.
Exam Format
The CSFL examination is split into two parts:
- One hour multiple choice exam (closed book) consisting of 100 questions
- Two hour practical assault course. Monitored internet access will be available.
Mobile Phones
You will be asked to put phones / tech on silent and away during exams, you will not be contactable via teams, slack etc during the assessment.
Additional Information
What you need to know about the training
The training course associated with the CSFL assessment is an entry level course and as such has no prerequisites. However, candidates should bring a working laptop (i.e. Windows 11), with a security testing distro (i.e. Kali Linux), some form of VA software (i.e. Nessus) and a working power supply, wired Ethernet port and have admin rights to add and remove software as required. You will need to use the USB ports to copy data.
Base Operating System – Microsoft Windows 11 (or 10), is advised. Apple mac and other operating systems are allowed but you will need to provide your own IT support. You will need admin rights to the base OS. A copy of Microsoft Word or something similar would be beneficial.
Virtualisation – Research and get to know a virtualisation solution. We recommend Oracle VirtualBox, but other software is available however you will need to provide your own IT support.
In particular you should get to know:
- How to install the software
- How to install the extension pack
- How to instal the Guest Additions software.
It would be useful to get to know how to clone and snapshot a virtual machine.
Kali Linux – Research and install a copy of Kali Linux as a virtual machine. You should have at least 8G of Ram for your virtual machine, at least 200G of disk space and take some time getting to know the networking settings. (i.e NAT, Bridged, etc)
Nessus – You don’t have to use Nessus; you can use any vulnerability assessment (VA) software you like however you will need to support it yourself. Nessus has a variety of licence options and for the training and assessment the free versions are fine. (Full version free trial or Essentials version). It doesn’t really matter if you install Nessus onto the base OS or onto the virtual Kali machine. If unsure, add it to Kali.
In summary you should bring a working laptop, with a virtualised working copy of Kali Linux and a working copy of Nessus. (Other options / configurations are available.)
If you want to start researching some of the topics, take a look at the laws and ethics around ethical hacking and some basic computer networking concepts. We will cover all this in the training, but some people like to get a head start.
What you need to know about the assessment/exam
You must supply your own laptop, with a security testing distro, Nessus (or some form of VA software) and a working powers supply, wired ethernet port and have admin rights to add and remove software as required. You will need to use the USB ports to copy data.
- The exam begins at 1pm – please arrive 15 minutes before the start time to get set up.
- The multiple-choice element is closed book and the practical element is open book.
- MC – 1 hour – 100 questions – answer all questions.
- Practical – 2 hours – answer all assignment questions. Use of the internet is allowed.
We do not currently wipe hard drives during this assessment, but the assessment data must be removed from your laptop at the end of the assessment.
Click on the link below to access the full syllabus.
Before your course
Please look at these videos for in-depth instruction on how to set up Linux (essential for attendance on this training course).
Inclusion and Accessibility during exams and training
The Cyber Scheme believe everyone should have access to a career in security testing. We are available to discuss any concerns you have and are more than happy to make reasonable adjustments for any candidate who requires them during training and examinations.
These reasonable adjustments are to ensure you are given an equal opportunity to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours required. We recognise that not all disabilities are visible.
We have a range of reasonable adjustments we can offer depending on what difficulty you might face. If you request an adjustment which we are unable to offer, we will give you a reason why we cannot offer it. This might be because it maps to a key Knowledge, Skill or Behaviour that we have to assess against within the certification. If that is the case, we will tell you which aspect we think would not be properly assessed.
There may be background noise during an assessment. Please bring (or ask for) ear plugs / ear defenders or listen to music if background noise is likely to affect your concentration (please note this doesn’t apply to our training courses).
Mobility
Access to all of our facilities is suitable for people with mobility issues. Should any other special facilities be required please get in touch at time of booking. For some reasonable adjustments, such as access to a disabled parking space, we will need to see supporting documentation around the condition to allow us to apply for this access for you. No information will be retained or stored once the request is validated.
Walking directions to the nearest Pay & Display car park can be found here.
There are two entry points to the Eagle Tower building where our training rooms are located. Please make your way to the main entrance on Montpellier Drive – look for the large eagle statue outside the revolving doors. When you arrive, please introduce yourself at reception and make your way to the seats shown here, where you will be met by one of our training team.
Our training rooms are full of natural light, with window blinds and overhead fluorescent lights when needed.
We have drinking water in our rooms. There is an onsite cafe selling hot and cold food in the ground floor reception area. If you have any allergies please let us know at time of booking.
There are accessible toilets on every floor.
Our rooms are designed specifically to allow for maximum interaction between trainer and delegate.
CSFL training and exams – maximum of 12 delegates plus trainer/assessor.