Course Overview:
The Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate (200-201 CBROPS) certification introduces learners to the world of cybersecurity operations. This course focuses on the foundational knowledge and practical skills needed to monitor, detect, analyze, and respond to security threats within modern network environments. It prepares students to work in Security Operations Centers (SOCs) and understand the tools, techniques, and processes that cybersecurity professionals use daily.
Why We Need This Certification:
With the growing number of cyberattacks and data breaches worldwide, organizations need trained professionals who can detect and respond to threats quickly and effectively. This certification helps bridge the skill gap between IT and cybersecurity, ensuring professionals can safeguard digital assets and maintain network security in real time.
How It Is Useful:
- Builds a strong foundation in cybersecurity operations, including monitoring, detection, and incident response.
- Helps students understand security principles, attack methods, and defense techniques.
- Provides practical knowledge of Cisco’s security tools such as SIEM, firewalls, and network analysis systems.
- Prepares learners for entry-level roles in cybersecurity such as:
- Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst (Tier 1)
- Cybersecurity Analyst
- Security Incident Responder
- Threat Intelligence Analyst
Key Skills You Will Learn:
- Security monitoring and event analysis
- Incident response procedures
- Network intrusion analysis
- Common attack types and defense mechanisms
- Basics of forensics and security automation
Certification Validity and Renewal:
- The Cisco CyberOps Associate certification is valid for 3 years from the date of achievement.
- To renew, candidates must either:
- Retake the same or newer version of the exam, or
- Earn Continuing Education (CE) credits through Cisco’s continuing education program.
Why This Course Matters:
This certification is ideal for beginners entering cybersecurity, as it focuses on operational security rather than complex configuration or design. It provides a hands-on understanding of how real-world SOCs operate, making it a valuable stepping stone toward more advanced Cisco security certifications like CCNP Security or Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional.
Exam Details (Summary):
- Exam Code: 200-201 CBROPS v1.2 (Updated October 2024)
- Exam Duration: 120 minutes
- Question Format: Multiple choice, drag-and-drop, and simulation-based
- Languages: English, Japanese
- Recommended Experience: Basic networking and security fundamentals (CCNA-level knowledge helps)
In short, this course equips you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to start a successful career in cybersecurity operations — protecting organizations from digital threats and contributing to a safer cyber world.
Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate (200-201 CBROPS v1.2, 2025 Update)
Exam Description
The Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (CBROPS 200-201) exam is a 120-minute test associated with the Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate certification.
It validates a candidate’s knowledge and skills in security concepts, security monitoring, host-based analysis, network intrusion analysis, and security policies and procedures.
The v1.2 update (effective January 21, 2025) reflects current technologies and introduces AI’s role in monitoring and analysis.
The certification name will change to Cybersecurity Associate to align with modern cybersecurity practices.
Exam Domains and Objectives
1.0 Security Concepts (20%)
1.1 Describe the CIA triad
1.2 Compare security deployments
• Network, endpoint, and application security systems
• Agentless vs. agent-based protections
• Legacy antivirus and antimalware
• SIEM, SOAR, and log management
• Container and virtual environments
• Cloud security deployments
1.3 Describe security terms
• Threat intelligence, threat hunting, malware analysis, threat actor
• Runbook automation (RBA), reverse engineering, anomaly detection
• Threat modeling, DevSecOps
1.4 Compare security concepts
• Risk, threat, vulnerability, exploit
1.5 Describe the principles of a defense-in-depth strategy
1.6 Compare access control models (DAC, MAC, RBAC, ABAC, etc.)
1.7 Describe terms as defined in CVSS (attack vector, complexity, privileges, etc.)
1.8 Identify challenges of data visibility across network, host, and cloud
1.9 Identify potential data loss from traffic profiles
1.10 Interpret the five-tuple approach to isolate compromised hosts
1.11 Compare rule-based vs. behavioral and statistical detection
2.0 Security Monitoring (25%)
2.1 Compare attack surface and vulnerability
2.2 Identify the types of data provided by these technologies
2.2.a TCP dump
2.2.b NetFlow
2.2.c Next-gen firewall
2.2.d Traditional stateful firewall
2.2.e Application visibility and control
2.2.f Web content filtering
2.2.g Email content filtering
2.3 Describe the impact of these technologies on data visibility
2.3.a Access control list
2.3.b NAT/PAT
2.3.c Tunneling
2.3.d TOR
2.3.e Encryption
2.3.f P2P
2.3.g Encapsulation
2.3.h Load balancing
2.4 Describe the uses of these data types in security monitoring
2.4.a Full packet capture
2.4.b Session data
2.4.c Transaction data
2.4.d Statistical data
2.4.e Metadata
2.4.f Alert data
2.5 Describe network attacks, such as protocol-based, denial of service, distributed denial of
service, and man-in-the-middle
2.6 Describe web application attacks, such as SQL injection, command injections, and cross-
site scripting
2.7 Describe social engineering attacks (manual and generative AI)
2.8 Describe endpoint-based attacks, such as buffer overflows, command and control (C2),
malware, and ransomware
2.9 Describe evasion and obfuscation techniques, such as tunneling, encryption, and proxies
2.10 Describe the impact of certificates on security (includes PKI, public/private crossing the
network, asymmetric/symmetric)
2.11 Identify the certificate components in a given scenario
2.11.a Cipher-suite
2.11.b X.509 certificates
2.11.c Key exchange
2.11.d Protocol version
2.11.e PKCS
3.0 Host-Based Analysis (20%)
3.1 Describe the functionality of these endpoint technologies in regard to security
monitoring utilizing rules, signatures, and predictive AI
3.1.a Host-based intrusion detection
3.1.b Antimalware and antivirus
3.1.c Host-based firewall
3.2 Identify components of an operating system (such as Windows and Linux) in a given
scenario
3.3 Describe the role of attribution in an investigation
3.3.a Assets
3.3.b Threat actor
3.3.c Indicators of compromise
3.3.d Indicators of attack
3.3.e Chain of custody
3.4 Identify type of evidence used based on provided logs
3.4.a Best evidence
3.4.b Corroborative evidence
3.4.c Indirect evidence
3.5 Interpret operating system, SIEM, SOAR platform, application, or command line logs to
identify an event
3.6 Interpret the output report of malware analysis tools such as a detonation chamber or
sandbox
3.7.a Hashes
3.7.b URLs
3.7.c Systems, events, and networking
4.0 Network Intrusion Analysis (20%)
4.1 Map the provided events to source technologies
4.1.a IDS/IPS
4.1.b Firewall
4.1.c Network application control
4.1.d Proxy logs
4.1.e Antivirus
4.1.f Transaction data (NetFlow)
4.2 Compare impact and no impact for these items
4.2.a False positive
4.2.b False negative
4.2.c True positive
4.2.d True negative
4.2.e Benign
4.3 Compare deep packet inspection with packet filtering and stateful firewall operation
4.4 Compare inline traffic interrogation and taps or traffic monitoring
4.5 Compare the characteristics of data obtained from taps or traffic monitoring and
transactional data (NetFlow) in the analysis of network traffic
4.6 Extract files from a TCP stream when given a PCAP file and Wireshark
4.7 Identify key elements in an intrusion from a given PCAP file
4.7.a Source address
4.7.b Destination address
4.7.c Source port
4.7.d Destination port
4.7.e Protocols
4.7.f Payloads
4.8 Interpret the fields in protocol headers as related to intrusion analysis
4.8.a Ethernet frame
4.8.b IPv4
4.8.c IPv6
4.8.d TCP
4.8.e UDP
4.8.f ICMP
4.8.g DNS
4.8.h SMTP/POP3/IMAP
4.8.i HTTP/HTTPS/HTTP2
4.8.j ARP
4.9 Interpret common artifact elements from an event to identify an alert
4.9.a IP address (source / destination)
4.9.b Client and server port identity
4.9.c Process (file or registry)
4.9.d System (API calls)
4.9.e Hashes
4.9.f URI / URL
4.10 Interpret basic regular expressions
5.0 Security Policies and Procedures (15%)
5.1 Describe management concepts
5.1.a Asset management
5.1.b Configuration management
5.1.c Mobile device management
5.1.d Patch management
5.1.e Vulnerability management
5.2 Describe the elements in an incident response plan as stated in NIST.SP800-61
5.3 Apply the incident handling process such as NIST.SP800-61 to an event
5.4 Map elements to these steps of analysis based on the NIST.SP800-61
5.4.a Preparation
5.4.b Detection and analysis
5.4.c Containment, eradication, and recovery
5.4.d Post-incident analysis (lessons learned)
5.5 Map the organization stakeholders against the NIST IR categories (CMMC, NIST.SP800-
61)
5.5.a Preparation
5.5.b Detection and analysis
5.5.c Containment, eradication, and recovery
5.5.d Post-incident analysis (lessons learned)
5.6 Describe concepts as documented in NIST.SP800-86
5.6.a Evidence collection order
5.6.b Data integrity
5.6.c Data preservation
5.6.d Volatile data collection
5.7 Identify these elements used for network profiling
5.7.a Total throughput
5.7.b Session duration
5.7.c Ports used
5.7.d Critical asset address space
5.8 Identify these elements used for server profiling
5.8.a Listening ports
5.8.b Logged in users/service accounts
5.8.c Running processes
5.8.d Running tasks
5.8.e Applications
5.9 Identify protected data in a network
5.9.a PII
5.9.b PSI
5.9.c PHI
5.9.d Intellectual property
5.10 Classify intrusion events into categories as defined by security models, such as Cyber Kill
Chain Model and Diamond Model of Intrusion
5.11 Describe the relationship of SOC metrics to scope analysis (time to detect, time to
contain, time to respond, time to control)
