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Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist | Work Role ID: 521 (NIST: PD-WRL-004)

32 Courses
4 Labs
46 Hours
Skill IQ

A **cyber defense infrastructure support specialist** tests, implements, deploys, maintains, and administers the infrastructure hardware and software.

This path will get you started on your journey to becoming a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist! Begin with the fundamental concepts of networking and cyber literacy through hands-on labs, dive into the essential skills necessary to perform the day-to-day functions of a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist and then expand your skill set with, automation, deeper/advanced concepts and additional knowledge from adjacent roles!

This path aligns to the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Tasks (KSAs) within the **Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (CSWF)** and the **DoD Cyber Workforce Framework (DCWF)** for the work role of:

**Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist** Work Role 521 or PD-WRL-004

Get started

Content in this path

Fundamentals

Begin your learning journey with the fundamental concepts of networking and security!

Course

Network Security Basics

  • by Ross Bagurdes
  • 2h 58m
  • Oct 27, 2021
Course

Security Engineering: Access Control and Data Protection

  • by Chris Jackson
  • 1h 27m
  • Oct 24, 2024
Course

Network Protocols for Security: TCP and UDP

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 20m
  • Feb 09, 2023
Lab

Network Protocols for Security: TCP and UDP

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 2h 5m
  • Aug 04, 2025
Course

Network Protocols for Security: IPv4 and ARP

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 18m
  • Apr 20, 2023
Lab

Network Protocols for Security: IPv4 and ARP

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 2h 5m
  • Aug 04, 2025
Course

Network Protocols for Security: DNS

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 17m
  • Sep 28, 2023
Lab

Network Protocols for Security: DNS

  • by Brandon DeVault
  • 2h 5m
  • Aug 04, 2025
Course

Identity and Access Management (IAM) for CISSP®

  • by Kevin Henry
  • 1h 31m
  • Mar 27, 2024
Course

Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience: Business Resilience

  • by Kevin Henry
  • 1h 4m
  • Aug 13, 2024
Course

IT Security Champion: Patch Management

  • by Matt Glass
  • 12m
  • Mar 05, 2024

Skill Essentials

Now that you know the fundamentals, dive into the essential skills necessary to perform the day-to-day functions of a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist including detection, analysis, virtualization, and troubleshooting!

Course

IT Professional Fundamentals: Hardware and Network Troubleshooting

  • by Daniel Lachance
  • 1h 52m
  • Mar 18, 2022
Course

Windows 11 Troubleshooting: Hardware and Peripherals

  • by Mike Halsey
  • 23m
  • Jan 25, 2024
Course

Windows 11 Troubleshooting: Networking and Internet

  • by Mike Halsey
  • 18m
  • Jan 24, 2024
Course

Wide Area Networking and VPN Operation

  • by Ross Bagurdes
  • 1h 17m
  • Feb 24, 2020
Course

IT Professional Fundamentals: Virtualization and Cloud Computing

  • by Vlad Catrinescu
  • 1h 27m
  • Mar 16, 2022
Course

Security Engineering: Asset Evaluation and Execution Plan

  • by Chris Jackson
  • 1h 10m
  • Apr 30, 2024
Course

Incident Response: Detection and Analysis

  • by Aaron Rosenmund
  • 2h 19m
  • Dec 16, 2021
Course

Incident Response: Host Analysis

  • by Aaron Rosenmund
  • 1h 37m
  • Jun 14, 2022

Expanded Skillset

It's time to expand your skill set with tools, more advanced concepts and building resilience, security engineering, and event triage! This section gives you a brief introduction into many, additional skills that you will find helpful as a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist. We have full training paths on all of these skills; see the Supplemental Skill Paths section to learn more.

Course

Security Engineering: Secure Networks

  • by Chris Jackson
  • 1h 43m
  • Aug 13, 2024
Course

Advanced Cyber Defense Analysis with Wireshark

  • by Sean Wilkins
  • 2h 31m
  • Jan 26, 2023
Course

Identify Common Cyber Network Attacks with Wireshark

  • 2h 34m
  • Oct 12, 2021
Course

Zero Trust Identity and Access Management

  • by Phil Chapman
  • 1h 2m
  • Aug 01, 2024
Course

Secure OT Network Architecture

  • 1h 19m
  • Aug 13, 2024
Course

Security Event Triage: Operationalizing Security Analysis

  • by Aaron Rosenmund
  • 54m
  • Jul 31, 2025
Course

Security Event Triage: Leveraging Existing Security Device Alerts

  • by Daniel Lachance
  • 1h 18m
  • Jul 31, 2025
Course

Specialized Attacks: Hardware Product Testing

  • by Matthew Lloyd Davies
  • 53m
  • Jul 27, 2022
Course

Specialized Engineering: Enterprise Hybrid Cloud

  • by Michael Brown
  • 1h 9m
  • Dec 05, 2022
Course

Network Security Monitoring with Suricata

  • by Kevin James
  • 1h 14m
  • Dec 06, 2024

Adjacent Skill Knowledge

Now that you've mastered all the skills for a cyber defense infrastructure support specialist , learn about additional cyber roles and their responsibilities.

Course

Governance and Management of IT: Governance

  • by Kevin Henry
  • 1h 43m
  • Aug 08, 2024
Course

Information and Cyber Security GRC: Risk Management

  • 1h 36m
  • Feb 27, 2024
Course

OWASP Top 10: The Big Picture

  • by Hampton Paulk
  • 1h 24m
  • Oct 27, 2023
Course

IT Security Champion: Encryption

  • by Kevin James
  • 17m
  • Jan 30, 2024
Course

IT Security Champion: Cyber Threat Intel and Emerging Threats

  • by Christopher Rees
  • 16m
  • Feb 29, 2024
Course

Sandworm: C2 over HTTP Emulation

  • by Matthew Lloyd Davies
  • 5m
  • Nov 12, 2024
Lab

Sandworm: C2 over HTTP Emulation Lab

  • by Matthew Lloyd Davies
  • 55m
  • Aug 05, 2025
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What You'll Learn
Prerequisites
  • None
Related topics
  • nice framework
  • cswf
  • dcwf
  • IT Admin
  • Cyber Security
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Learn with the best

Ross Bagurdes
Ross Bagurdes
Ross has had a diverse career. He has a Structural Engineering degree from Milwaukee School of Engineering, but gave up the career shortly after graduating from college. Beginning in 1997, Ross began officially working in IT, implementing and supporting a paperless work order system for a Natural Gas Utility in Illinois. Since then, Ross has spent his years teaching and managing data networks. Ross spent 7 years at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, supporting and managing the large ...
Chris Jackson
Chris Jackson
Chris Jackson is a cybersecurity professional with years of experience in identifying security incidents, securing applications and security training. Over the years, he has tested web applications for vulnerabilities, helped deploy SIEM platforms and more. He is passionate about teaching cybersecurity and committed to learning new technologies.
Brandon DeVault
Brandon DeVault
Brandon DeVault is a Security Researcher focused on threat hunting at CrowdStrike. He is also a member of the Florida Air National Guard with a variety of offensive and defensive experience. Prior to joining CrowdStrike, Brandon worked full-time as an author with Pluralsight and at Elastic, creating and delivering security content. He also worked with Special Operations Command, where he had two deployments to Afghanistan on deployable communications teams. His experience spans incident response...
Kevin Henry
Kevin Henry
Kevin Henry is a well-known and respected educator and lecturer in the fields of information security and audit. Kevin uses his more than 30 years of practical experience as a network technician, computer programmer, and information systems auditor to deliver outstanding presentations that make each topic interesting, relevant, and useful. Often described by students as "The best instructor I have ever had," Kevin has the ability to provide quality instruction that engages the audience and provi...
Matt Glass
Matt Glass
Matt Glass is a Service Delivery Manager in Naples, Italy, working as a government contractor. Matt has 17 years of IT experience in a variety of roles. Consistently finding joy in developing the skills of others and helping their careers, he joined Pluralsight in 2017 to pass on the lessons he learned. Matt is married and the father of four children.
Daniel Lachance
Daniel Lachance
Daniel Lachance, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA A+®, CompTIA Network+®, CompTIA Server+, CompTIA Cloud Essentials, MCITP, MCTS, MCSA, is the owner of Lachance IT Consulting Inc. He is the author of the CompTIA Server+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, CompTIA Cloud Essentials Certification Study Guide, and co-author of CompTIA Security+ Certification Practice Exams. Mr. Lachance is an experienced trainer having delivered IT training in Canada and the Caribbean since the 1990s on topics ranging f...
Mike Halsey
Mike Halsey
Mike is a current Microsoft MVP awardee, and was first awarded in 2011. He is a recognized technical expert in the Windows desktop and troubleshooting with more than twenty books published, including Windows 10 Troubleshooting (second edition), Troubleshooting and Supporting Windows 11, and The Green IT Guide. Can be contacted on Twitter/X @MikeHalsey, BlueSky @MikeHalsey.bsky.social and Mastodon @[email protected]
Vlad Catrinescu
Vlad Catrinescu
Vlad is a Microsoft 365 and Power Platform expert specializing in empowering organizations to securely and effectively integrate AI-powered tools, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI Agents, into their digital workplaces. An IT professional at heart, Vlad excels at preparing, securing, and governing modern environments, enabling IT administrators and business users to automate processes, enhance productivity, and drive digital transformation with confidence. As a Microsoft Certified Trainer, a...
Aaron Rosenmund
Aaron Rosenmund
Aaron M. Rosenmund is a cyber security operations subject matter expert, with a background in federal and business defensive and offensive cyber operations and system automation. Leveraging his administration and automation experience, Aaron actively contributes to multiple open and closed source security operation platform projects and continues to create tools and content to benefit the community. As an educator & cyber security researcher at Pluralsight, he is focused on advancing cyber secur...
Sean Wilkins
Sean Wilkins
Sean Wilkins, with over two decades of experience in the IT industry, serves as a distinguished networking consultant and contributor at Tech Building Blocks. His professional journey spans multiple prominent enterprises, underlining his extensive field expertise. Sean's credentials include esteemed certifications from Cisco (CCNP/CCDP), Microsoft (MCSE), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+). Academically, he has achieved a Master’s of Science in Information Technology, specializing in Network Architec...
Phil Chapman
Phil Chapman
Phil Chapman is a senior instructor. He is responsible for the delivery of a range of courses including official Microsoft, CompTIA, EC Council and BCS official certifications. He is also the subject matter expert and project lead for the bespoke Law Enforcement Cyber Security training packages which are delivered to UK Law Enforcement agencies and forces. He holds a variety of IT Technical and Security qualifications across many fields. Phil spent 23 years in the Royal Air Force as an Intellige...
Matthew Lloyd Davies
Matthew Lloyd Davies
Matt is a cyber security author and researcher here at Pluralsight. A certified penetration tester and incident handler, he created Pluralsight's CompTIA Pentest+ Specialized Attacks courses as well our courses on wireless, ICS/OT and hardware hacking. Matt has also helped to build our security labs portfolio; labs that help you get hands-on to understand the threats and vulnerabilities your organization faces today. With a background in Chemical Engineering, Matt's focus is on the security ...
Michael Brown
Michael Brown
I have worked in IT for 25 years, for 22 of those years I have delivered IT Training. I have delivered Microsoft, CISCO and Amazon Web Services courses across Europe. For the last 4 years I have focused on Cloud technologies delivering cloud training to some of Europe’s biggest organisations. I have been a Microsoft Certified Trainer since 1997 and currently hold certifications from Microsoft, CompTIA and AWS. When not working on training material or delivering courses I spend time in the nort...
Kevin James
Kevin James
As a seasoned technologist with over 30 years of wide-ranging expertise in information technology roles across diverse industries, Kevin is passionate about finding effective and economical solutions to business problems. His passion for teaching technical subjects allows him to have a particular style that imparts information yet teaches at the same time. He enjoys working with Linux, Unix and Windows Operating Systems and combined with a deep knowledge of software platforms as varied as Ap...
Hampton Paulk
Hampton Paulk
Hampton brings 25+ years of hands-on technology experience to every course he creates. His teaching philosophy is simple: meet learners where they are and make complex topics accessible. Whether breaking down emerging technologies, explaining foundational concepts, or exploring advanced implementations, he draws from decades of real-world experience building, breaking, and fixing systems. His approach combines practical insights with clear explanations, helping professionals at all levels gain t...
Christopher Rees
Christopher Rees
Chris is a professional information technologist, author, trainer, manager and a lifelong learner. He is married with 3 beautiful children and interested in working out, spending time with family and friends and being creative whenever possible. He has been an author for over 25 years and has created over 60 IT Certification training courses. Chris really enjoys helping people advance in their careers through training and personal development.

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