Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
Beginner 180 hours English Professional CertificateFREE
What you'll learn
Identify common cybersecurity risks and frameworks
Use SIEM tools to detect and triage events
Apply network security and access controls
Use Linux and SQL on the command line
Recognize phishing, malware and social engineering
Manage incidents and document findings
Use Python to automate security tasks
Prepare for entry-level analyst interviews and CompTIA Security+
This course includes
180h
On-demand video
200+
Readings
50+
Hands-on labs
Yes
Certificate + badge
Comparison · LBS
Compare alternatives for Python
Same topic, different providers. We surface the trade-offs others hide so you can pick the course that actually fits your time, budget, and goals.
CCoursera4.8(38,000)
Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
- Price
- FREEAudit free · Cert $49/mo
- Duration
- 180 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
- Certificate
- Professional
CCoursera4.6(24,000)
IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate
- Price
- FREEAudit free · Cert $49/mo
- Duration
- 140 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
- Certificate
- Professional
CCoursera4.8(32,000)
Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate
- Price
- FREEAudit free · Cert $49/mo
- Duration
- 190 hrs
- Level
- Beginner
- Certificate
- Professional
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Syllabus· 7 courses · 21+ lessons
- Career paths in security
- Core security concepts and ethics
- Threats, attacks and frameworks (NIST, CISSP)
- CIA triad
- Risk and asset management
- Intro to SIEM
- TCP/IP, ports, protocols
- Network attacks (DDoS, MITM)
- Firewalls and proxies
- Linux command line basics
- File and user permissions
- SQL for analysts
- Threat modeling
- Vulnerability management
- Cryptography basics
- Incident response lifecycle
- Hands-on with Splunk and Chronicle
- Documentation and reporting
- Python fundamentals for security
- Automating log parsing
- Resume and interview prep
Instructor
G
Google Career Certificates
Google Security curriculum team
12M learners24 courses 4.8 instructor rating
Built by Google's security engineers and educators including Toni James, Dion Johnson and Kim Aumann. Launched in 2023, the Google Cybersecurity certificate is the company's newest career-switch program and the first to include hands-on labs in SIEM and SQL.
Requirements
- No prior security or IT background required
- High school education
- A computer with internet access
- 7–10 hours per week for 6 months
Who this course is for
- Career switchers entering security
- IT support staff moving into security analyst roles
- Students preparing for CompTIA Security+
- Anyone targeting an entry-level SOC analyst role
About this provider
C
Coursera
University-backed online learning platform · 142M learners · 7,000+ courses
4.6 trust score·Refund within 14 days
Frequently asked questions
Google is newer, has better hands-on labs (Linux, SQL, Splunk) and connects to employer hiring networks. IBM is older, broader and offers an IBM digital badge. Take Google for entry-level SOC jobs; IBM if you want IBM brand recognition.
Partly — content overlap is around 60-70%. You will still need additional Sec+ specific prep (Jason Dion or Professor Messer). The cert itself does not include the Sec+ exam voucher.
Yes for tier-1 SOC roles, but it is competitive. Pair the cert with home-lab projects (TryHackMe, HackTheBox) and the Sec+ exam for best results.
Coursera says 6 months at 7 hours/week. Full-time learners can finish in 8–10 weeks. The Python and SQL modules are the longest.
Audit all 8 courses free. Combine with TryHackMe's free SOC Level 1 path for hands-on practice — together they replicate ~90% of what this cert provides.