Entry level assessments for private and public sector organisations
Introducing CSFL: a certified assessment recognising the competency of those starting out in a career in technical cyber.
The Cyber Scheme Foundation Level (CSFL) is a comprehensive assessment designed to teach essential technical skills to staff organisations have identified as needing to become an industry ready technical practitioner. It is aimed at supporting junior testers in their first role of this nature, teaching them essential skills, assessing their competency as quickly and efficiently as possible.
It provides a technical introduction into cyber security in general; it will highlight and enhance the skills and knowledge required at this beginner level, whilst measuring competence. The CSFL is currently being mapped to CyBOK and SFIA.
Practical skills, technical knowledge and a pathway to Professional Registration
This assessment also provides access to the Associate Level Professional Title, allowing individuals to begin their professional career with a recognised pathway endorsed by the UK Government.
Who is this for?
We need to close the skills gap in technical cyber security, by increasing the number of appropriately qualified people entering the industry and supporting industry needs for practical expertise even at beginner level jobs.
This assessment is aimed at consultancies, organisations and public sector bodies who wish to train or upskill their junior technical, or IT support staff, in the fundamentals of security testing.
If you are looking for a fundamentals assessment, with the option to create fully bespoke training modules to suit your staff, get in touch.
Why has The Cyber Scheme created this?
This assessment forms a fundamental part of our talent development programme, enabling us to support our industry partners and Sponsors by increasing the speed to which their juniors reach CSTM.
The Cyber Scheme provides candidates with a meaningful starting qualification from an industry leading, NCSC-Assured assessment body.
This certification supports organisations needing to place technical consultants on external projects, and also businesses which need to protect themselves by providing their in-house teams with technical expertise across many topics.
CSFL (Cyber Scheme Foundation Level) at a glance
Assessment for the CSFL consists of:
- One hour multiple choice exam (closed book) consisting of 100 questions
- Two hour practical assault course. Monitored internet access will be available.
Multiple Choice
You will be faced with a number of theoretical and practical questions answered over a relatively short period of time. This level of challenge ensures the candidate is being challenged at the appropriate level and in keeping with industry standard examination techniques. The questions are structured in such a way as to ascertain knowledge and understanding across a wide variety of subject specific topics, without losing the essence of the subject matter.
Practical Assessment (Network Assault Course)
Candidates are presented with a practical network assault course, where they must demonstrate that they can used the tools and techniques taught in the module to probe a given network infrastructure to gain access to information.
Candidates are permitted access to their own notes and course notes, but unsupervised access to the Internet or the use of mobile phones is not permitted.
Topics include:
- The Laws and Ethics Associated with Security Testing
- Building and Maintaining a Security Testing Device
- Fundamental Linux CLI for the Purpose of Security Testing
- Fundamental Linux Scripting for the Purposes of Security Testing
- Fundamental Python Coding for Ethical Hackers
- Fundamental Windows Operating System Commands
- Computer Networking Fundamentals
- Packet capturing for Security Testing and Ethical Hacking
- Web Application Fundamentals
- Vulnerability Analysis Fundamentals
- Testing Mobile Devices Fundamentals
- An Introduction to Testing in the Cloud.
Inclusion and Accessibility
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 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.
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.
