Curriculum · Cohort 01
Pick your track. Own the curriculum.
Choose one specialist track below and explore every module you will study. Sixteen weeks of live, lab-graded instruction, then two months embedded inside a real digital agency.
01
Your First Program & Git
Set up your dev environment, write your first Python script, and commit code to GitHub.
02
Python Core: Variables, Loops & Functions
Master the building blocks: data types, control flow, and reusable functions.
03
Files, Errors & Debugging
Read and write files, handle exceptions gracefully, and use a debugger like a professional.
04
CLI App Build
Ship a working command-line application as your Phase 1 deliverable.
01
NumPy & Pandas
Manipulate arrays and tabular data at speed, Python's core data libraries end-to-end.
02
Data Cleaning & Visualization
Handle missing values and outliers; plot meaningful charts with Matplotlib and Seaborn.
03
Your First Model
Train a classification and regression model end-to-end with scikit-learn.
04
Evaluation & Pipelines
Accuracy, precision, recall, ROC, and how to build reproducible training pipelines.
01
Neural Networks with PyTorch
Build, train, and debug a neural network from scratch using PyTorch.
02
Calling & Prompting LLMs
Integrate OpenAI and Anthropic APIs and master system prompt engineering.
03
Embeddings & Semantic Search
Turn text into vectors and build a semantic similarity search engine.
04
Retrieval-Augmented Generation
Connect an LLM to a knowledge base and build a working RAG pipeline from scratch.
01
From Notebook to FastAPI
Wrap your model in a production-ready REST API with validation, docs, and error handling.
02
Docker & Cloud Deploy
Containerise your service and deploy to AWS or GCP with a full CI/CD pipeline.
03
MLOps: Tracking & CI/CD
Experiment tracking with MLflow and automated retraining pipelines triggered on data drift.
04
Monitoring & Safe AI
Latency dashboards, bias audits, and graceful degradation patterns for production systems.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
Python from Zero
Variables, loops, functions, and the Python standard library built from the ground up.
02
Linear Algebra with NumPy
Vectors, matrices, dot products, the maths behind every ML algorithm.
03
Calculus & Gradient Descent
Derivatives, the chain rule, and the intuition behind why gradient descent finds the minimum.
04
Probability & Statistics
Distributions, Bayes' theorem, and statistical hypothesis testing for practitioners.
01
Linear & Logistic Regression from Scratch
Implement both models in NumPy before learning to use scikit-learn properly.
02
Evaluation & Bias–Variance
Cross-validation, learning curves, and navigating the bias–variance trade-off in practice.
03
Trees, Forests & XGBoost
Decision trees, random forests, gradient boosting, and hyperparameter tuning strategies.
04
Neural Networks & PyTorch
Multi-layer perceptrons, backpropagation, and your first GPU training run.
01
Structuring ML Projects
Project layouts, reproducibility standards, and experiment management best practices.
02
Data & Model Versioning
DVC, Git-LFS, and model registry patterns with MLflow for reproducible experiments.
03
Automated Training Pipelines
Prefect and Airflow for scheduled retraining and automated data validation steps.
04
Testing, CI/CD & Orchestration
Unit tests for ML code, GitHub Actions for model CI, and pipeline health checks.
01
FastAPI, Docker & Cloud Deploy
Serve predictions with a typed REST API, containerised and deployed to cloud infrastructure.
02
Latency, Cost & Scale
Model quantisation, batching, caching, and cost-per-inference analysis at production scale.
03
Monitoring & Drift Detection
Statistical drift tests, data quality alerts, and operational dashboard construction.
04
Retraining & Responsible ML
Automated retraining triggers, fairness audits, and model cards for accountable AI.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
The SOC & Attacker Playbook
How a SOC is structured, the MITRE ATT&CK framework, and the attacker kill chain.
02
Networking for Defenders
TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP and TLS at the packet level, everything you need to investigate them.
03
Windows & Linux Internals
Processes, registry, event logs, and the artefacts attackers leave behind on each OS.
04
Logs & Endpoint Visibility
Syslog, Windows Event Logs, EDR agents, what to collect, how to store, and why it matters.
01
SIEM Setup & Log Ingestion
Deploy a Splunk/Elastic lab, onboard log sources, and parse raw events into structured fields.
02
Query Languages & Dashboards
SPL and KQL, correlation searches, and building operational dashboards that tell a story.
03
Detection Engineering with Sigma
Write Sigma rules, convert them to SIEM queries, and manage rule lifecycle end-to-end.
04
Tuning & Detection Quality
False-positive reduction, rule coverage mapping against MITRE, and detection KPIs.
01
Alert Triage & Investigation
Prioritise alerts, pivot through data, and build a complete timeline of attacker activity.
02
Phishing & Malware Triage
Email header analysis, sandbox detonation, and IOC extraction from live samples.
03
The IR Lifecycle
Containment, eradication, recovery, running each phase in a live tabletop exercise.
04
Playbooks & Documentation
Write runbooks, close tickets correctly, and communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders.
01
The Threat Hunting Mindset
Assume-breach philosophy, hypothesis generation, and the iterative hunting loop.
02
Hypothesis-Driven Hunting
Turn MITRE techniques into hunt queries and execute them against real log data.
03
From Hunt to Detection Rule
Codify every successful hunt into a permanent detection rule in your SIEM.
04
Detection-as-Code
Version-control detections, CI test pipelines, and automated rule deployment at scale.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
What Ethical Hacking Is & The Law
Scope, authorisation, legal framework, and the professional tester's code of conduct.
02
Linux & Networking for Hackers
Kali Linux setup, shell fluency, and the networking skills that every attacker relies on.
03
The Pen Testing Methodology
Recon → scanning → exploitation → post-exploitation → reporting, step by step.
04
OSINT & Scope Discipline
Passive recon with Shodan, theHarvester, and Google Dorks, all within authorised scope.
01
Scanning & Service Enumeration
Nmap, banner grabbing, and building a complete picture of the target attack surface.
02
Exploitation: Metasploit & Manual
CVE exploitation, Metasploit modules, and writing a basic exploit from scratch by hand.
03
Linux & Windows Privilege Escalation
SUID binaries, DLL hijacking, kernel exploits, and token impersonation techniques.
04
Lateral Movement & Active Directory
Pass-the-hash, Kerberoasting, BloodHound enumeration, and AD attack paths.
01
HTTP & Burp Suite
Intercept, replay, and modify every request; build a manual web testing workflow.
02
Authentication & Session Attacks
Broken auth, session fixation, JWT vulnerabilities, and OAuth misconfiguration attacks.
03
SQLi, XSS & CSRF
Inject, reflect, and forge, the classic trio with full modern exploitation context.
04
IDOR, SSRF & API Testing
Object reference attacks, server-side request forgery, and REST/GraphQL API abuse.
01
Red Team Tradecraft
C2 frameworks, evasion concepts, and operating with minimal footprint inside a network.
02
Scoping & Pre-Engagement
Rules of engagement, kick-off meetings, and defining deliverables with clients before day one.
03
Writing the Professional Report
Executive summaries, finding templates, CVSS scoring, and evidence appendices that hold up.
04
Debrief & Responsible Disclosure
Presenting findings to clients, managing remediation timelines, and coordinating disclosure.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
What the Cloud Is & Why It Matters
The three major providers, service models (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), and why cloud security is a distinct discipline worth mastering.
02
Just-Enough Linux & Networking
The command line, IPs, ports, subnets, and routing, the exact IT literacy a cloud security engineer needs.
03
The Shared Responsibility Model
The single most important concept in cloud security: what the provider secures, what you secure, and where most breaches happen.
04
Core Services, Logging & Frameworks
AWS core services, CloudTrail fundamentals, CIS Benchmarks, and MITRE ATT&CK for Cloud, the frameworks every engagement maps to.
01
IAM & Least Privilege
Users, groups, roles, policies, cross-account access, federation, and multi-cloud identity across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
02
Network Security: VPCs & Edge
Subnets, security groups, NACLs, segmentation, cloud-native WAF, and DDoS protection.
03
Data Protection & Secrets Management
Encryption at rest and in transit, KMS key management, and removing hardcoded credentials for good.
04
Secure Architecture & Infrastructure as Code
Landing zones, account separation, Terraform basics, and policy-as-code for catching misconfigs before they ship.
01
CSPM: Prowler, ScoutSuite & Security Hub
Running open-source and native posture tools against real cloud accounts and triaging findings like an auditor.
02
Hardening to CIS Benchmarks
Systematic remediation from CSPM findings to a benchmark-compliant, production-grade environment.
03
Detection: GuardDuty, Sentinel & SIEM
Native cloud detection services and how to ship cloud telemetry into a SOC SIEM stack end-to-end.
04
Cloud Incident Response
Containment via API call, evidence preservation in ephemeral environments, and the cloud IR playbook.
01
Cloud Attack Patterns & CloudGoat
IAM privilege escalation, IMDS abuse, and misconfiguration exploitation in intentionally vulnerable lab environments.
02
Cloud Pen Testing Methodology
Scoping with cloud providers, rules of engagement, and the methodology that distinguishes a cloud pen test from traditional.
03
Cloud Security Assessments & Reporting
Architecture review, CSPM audit findings, and a professional report written to Veenode delivery standard.
04
Scoping, Advising & The Senior Consultant
Turning vague client cloud concerns into deliverable engagements and defending findings under cost pushback.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
What GRC Is & Why It Exists
Governance, risk, and compliance as a discipline: history, scope, and career paths in the field.
02
Three Lines of Defense
Management, risk/compliance, and internal audit, how the three lines interlock in practice.
03
Risk & Control Language
Risk appetite, risk register, control objectives, and how to express residual risk clearly.
04
IT & Security Literacy
The technical vocabulary a GRC practitioner needs: networks, cloud, and how vulnerabilities work.
01
ISO 27001 & SOC 2
Information security management systems and Trust Services Criteria, clause by clause.
02
NIST CSF, 800-53 & PCI DSS
US federal and payment-card frameworks: structure, control domains, and applicability.
03
NDPA, POPIA & the African Landscape
Nigerian and South African data protection laws and practical compliance steps for each.
04
Cross-Framework Mapping
Map controls between frameworks to eliminate duplicated assessment work and reduce fatigue.
01
Writing Policies & Designing Controls
Acceptable-use, data-classification, and incident-response policies built from professional templates.
02
Testing Controls
Walkthroughs, sampling, and evidence collection for design and operating effectiveness.
03
Risk Assessment & Risk Register
Qualitative and quantitative methods; building and maintaining a live risk register.
04
Internal Audit & Audit Report
Planning an audit, fieldwork execution, recording findings, and writing the final report.
01
Modern GRC Platforms
Vanta, Drata, ServiceNow GRC, demo, compare, and configure a real tool end-to-end.
02
Building a GRC Program
Roadmap construction, stakeholder buy-in, and the first 90 days of a new GRC role.
03
Scoping & Advising Clients
Consulting engagements: scope calls, gap assessments, and prioritised remediation plans.
04
Continuous Compliance & Maturity
Monitoring cadence, maturity models, and how to grow a GRC program over time.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
What Digital Forensics Is & The Three Flavors
DFIR, traditional forensics, and corporate investigations, the same technical methods serving three very different audiences.
02
The Legal Framework & Chain of Custody
NIST 800-86, ISO 27037, ACPO Principles, and what 'admissible' actually demands from your evidence handling.
03
Evidence Handling: Hashing & Integrity
Cryptographic hashes (MD5, SHA-256), write-blocking, and the workflow that proves your image is identical to the original.
04
The Forensic Methodology
Acquire, preserve, analyze, report, and the note-taking discipline that makes every finding defensible in a boardroom or court.
01
Disk Forensics & Windows Artifacts
File systems (NTFS, ext4), $MFT, registry hives, Prefetch, Amcache, and Event Logs in Autopsy end-to-end.
02
Recovering Deleted Data
Unallocated space, file carving with photorec, and shadow copies, why 'deleted' rarely means gone.
03
Memory Forensics with Volatility
Running processes, injected code, network connections, and the Volatility 3 plugins that surface malicious activity.
04
Super-Timelines & Triage with KAPE
Build unified timelines across disk, registry, and memory with plaso, and collect targeted artifacts fast with KAPE.
01
Network Forensics: Wireshark, Zeek & NetworkMiner
Analyzing captured traffic to reconstruct what happened on the wire, including credential and file extraction.
02
Log Analysis & Sysmon Endpoint Forensics
Windows Event Logs, Linux syslog, and reading Sysmon event trees to reconstruct an attack chain with timestamps.
03
Cloud Forensics: AWS, Azure & GCP
CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, Azure Activity Logs, what cloud-native evidence survives and how to preserve and analyze it.
04
Container & Kubernetes Forensics
Kubernetes audit logs, container snapshots, and the artifacts that remain after pods are terminated.
01
Mobile Forensics: Acquisition, iOS & Android
Logical to physical acquisition levels; ALEAPP and ILEAPP analysis of real Android and iOS extractions.
02
Writing the Forensic Report
Evidence-first reporting for boards, regulators, and courts: methodology, findings, and staying within what the evidence supports.
03
Presenting & Defending Findings
Presenting under cross-examination-style questioning and the professional discipline of standing behind your work honestly.
04
Operating as a Forensic Consultant
Scoping DFIR engagements, managing case files, expert witness basics, and working with clients in crisis.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
01
The OSI Model & IP Addressing
What a network is, the seven OSI layers, IPv4 from binary up, IPv6, and setting up your first Packet Tracer lab.
02
Subnetting by Hand
CIDR notation, subnet masks, VLSM: the core skill every network engineer must own without reaching for a calculator.
03
TCP, UDP & Transport Protocols
The three-way handshake, ports, and the discipline of knowing when each transport protocol is the right choice.
04
Application Protocols & The Lab
HTTP, DNS, and DHCP captured in Wireshark, plus GNS3 and an AWS free-tier account set up and confirmed running.
01
Switching, VLANs & Trunking
MAC address tables, 802.1Q trunking, inter-VLAN routing with SVIs, and Spanning Tree Protocol.
02
Routing: Static, OSPF & EIGRP
Routing tables, longest-prefix match, OSPF neighbor relationships converging in real time, and EIGRP comparison.
03
Network Design Principles
Three-tier model (access, distribution, core), redundancy strategies, naming conventions, and IP plans that last.
04
Multi-Site Network Build
Design and implement a multi-site network with VLANs, inter-VLAN routing, and OSPF in GNS3.
01
Firewalls, ACLs & Segmentation
Stateful firewalls, Cisco ACLs, security zones (DMZ/internal/restricted), and the principles of zero-trust segmentation.
02
VPNs: Site-to-Site & Remote Access
IPsec site-to-site VPNs, SSL/TLS remote access, and the trade-offs of each, built and tested in a live lab.
03
Monitoring & IDS/IPS with Suricata
SNMP device health, NetFlow/IPFIX traffic analysis, and real-time intrusion detection with Suricata rules.
04
Device Hardening & Security Assessments
CIS Benchmarks for network devices, SSH-only management, and running a full network security assessment end-to-end.
01
AWS VPCs & Hybrid Connectivity
Multi-tier VPCs, internet/NAT gateways, Direct Connect, transit gateways, and the hybrid patterns Veenode clients use.
02
Azure, Multi-Cloud & SD-WAN
Azure VNets, GCP VPCs, SD-WAN and SASE concepts, and where the modern enterprise network is heading.
03
Network Automation: Ansible & Terraform
Ansible playbooks for multi-device configuration, Terraform for cloud network-as-code, and why manual config doesn't scale.
04
Design Reviews, Docs & Consulting
Professional network design documents, running client design reviews, and scoping real networking engagements.
01
Agency Onboarding
Get productive inside Veenode's methodology, tooling, and client-facing standards before the first live engagement.
02
Live Client Engagements
Join real client work in your track under direct senior supervision, real briefs, real deadlines, real accountability.
03
Open-Source & Internal Builds
Contribute to Veenode's internal capability and the open-source community in your specialism.
04
Capstone & Reference Letter
Deliver a polished portfolio piece, a contribution that outlives you, and earn a professional reference letter on graduation.
Months Three & Four · All Tracks
The Internship · Embedded in a Live Agency
Whichever track you choose, your final eight weeks are spent embedded inside Veenode Digital Agency, working on real client projects alongside senior practitioners. No simulations. No sandboxed labs. Real briefs, real deadlines, and a reference letter when you graduate.
8
weeks embedded in a live agency
Real
client projects and deadlines
1
reference letter on completion