Every tool on screen
18 short lessons across Kali, Wireshark and Nmap
Shareable certificate
Add it to your LinkedIn profile when you finish
Ethical and legal framing
Authorised testing only, with the legal framework covered
Five things you can do by the end of six hours.
Each one maps directly to lessons in the two modules — nothing here is aspirational.
Build a foundation in Kali Linux
Understand what Kali Linux is, how it is used in cybersecurity, and how to install and navigate the environment.
Work with essential security tools
Learn command-line operations, network scanning tools and basic security tools.
Monitor and analyze networks
Use Wireshark for network monitoring and Nmap for basic network scans.
Understand ethical hacking
Learn ethical hacking principles, legal considerations and the basics of penetration testing.
Explore vulnerability assessment
Understand the fundamentals of identifying and assessing vulnerabilities in a controlled and ethical context.
Build the Kali Linux foundation behind modern cybersecurity work.
Two modules that start at installation and finish at vulnerability assessment — every topic demonstrated, then assessed.
Kali Linux is the distribution most security work is demonstrated on, and this course treats it as a working environment rather than a curiosity. It starts with what Kali Linux actually is and where it fits in cybersecurity, then walks through installing it, navigating the interface and getting comfortable at the command line.
From there it moves into the tools: network scanning, basic security tools, network monitoring with Wireshark, basic network scans with Nmap, and using VPNs in Kali Linux.
The second half is the part most tool tutorials skip — ethical hacking principles and the legal framework around them, basic penetration testing concepts, and the fundamentals of vulnerability assessment. Coursera lists this as an intermediate-level course, designed for aspiring security analysts, IT professionals and learners moving into cybersecurity.
Authorised, ethical, legal use only
Everything in this course is taught for defensive and authorised security work. Practice only on systems you own or are explicitly authorised to test — a virtual machine on your own computer, or a lab range set up for the purpose.
Use penetration-testing and vulnerability-assessment techniques only in controlled, authorised environments. Scanning, monitoring or testing systems without permission is unlawful in most jurisdictions, and the course covers the legal framework precisely so that boundary is clear.
For people moving into hands-on security work.
If one of these is you, the course is pitched at exactly this starting point.
Aspiring Security Analysts
Build foundational skills with Kali Linux and essential cybersecurity tools.
IT Professionals
Understand a security-focused Linux environment and basic network-security workflows.
Cybersecurity Learners
Develop practical knowledge of network monitoring, scanning and ethical hacking concepts.
Security Enthusiasts
Explore Kali Linux and its role in security testing.
Learners Building Cybersecurity Foundations
Develop a structured understanding before progressing into deeper penetration-testing topics.
Four capabilities, in the order they build.
What you leave with is the ability to work inside Kali Linux and reason about what its tools are actually doing.
Understand Kali Linux
Learn the role of Kali Linux in cybersecurity, install it and navigate its environment.
Use essential Kali tools
Work with command-line operations, network scanning tools and basic security tools.
Monitor and scan networks
Learn the fundamentals of network monitoring with Wireshark and network scanning with Nmap.
Explore ethical security practices
Understand ethical hacking principles, legal considerations, penetration testing concepts and vulnerability assessment.
Turn cybersecurity knowledge into practical capability.
A dedicated Board Infinity coach alongside the course — someone who works in security and can answer the questions a video cannot.
Book a demo session- A coach matched to your goal in 24 hours
- A written roadmap you keep
- Weekly sessions for as long as you want them
60-minute demo session · 100% refundable · no obligation to continue
Get unstuck at the terminal
The command that will not behave, explained by someone who uses it daily.
Read your scan output with you
What a Wireshark capture or an Nmap result is actually telling you.
Set up a safe practice lab
How to build an isolated environment you are allowed to test against.
Aim it at a role
Which security path fits you — analysis, network security or testing — and what to learn next.
Two modules, from Kali Linux fundamentals to practical security applications.
About 6 hours end to end, fully self-paced. Every module lists its learning objectives, exactly what is inside it, and what you leave with.
This module introduces Kali Linux and its role in cybersecurity. Learners install and navigate Kali Linux, work with basic command-line operations, explore network scanning tools and become familiar with basic security tools.
- Understand what Kali Linux is
- Understand its role in cybersecurity
- Install Kali Linux
- Navigate the Kali Linux interface
- Perform basic command-line operations
- Understand network scanning tools
- Explore basic security tools
This module moves from fundamentals into practical cybersecurity applications. Learners explore network monitoring with Wireshark, network scanning with Nmap, VPNs, ethical hacking principles, legal considerations, penetration testing concepts and vulnerability assessment.
- Set up and use Wireshark for network monitoring
- Perform basic network scans using Nmap
- Understand VPN usage in Kali Linux
- Understand ethical hacking principles
- Understand the legal framework around ethical hacking
- Understand basic penetration testing concepts
- Understand vulnerability assessment
Module durations, lesson titles and item counts are taken from the Coursera course page. .
The cybersecurity skills behind practical Kali Linux work.
Coursera lists Command-Line Interface and Linux as the tools for this course. These are the environments and utilities the lessons actually work in.
Kali Linux
Installed and navigated in module one, then used as the working environment for everything that follows.
Command-Line Interface
Basic command-line operations in Kali Linux — one of the two tools Coursera lists for this course.
Wireshark
Set up and used in module two for network monitoring — reading what is actually crossing the wire.
Nmap
Basic network scans in module two, run against systems you own or are authorised to test.
Skills you leave with
The seventeen capabilities Coursera lists for this course, grouped the way security work actually splits — the environment you work in, the network you watch, and the assessment you produce.
Kali & Linux
The environment security work is demonstrated in.
- Linux
- Linux Administration
- Linux Commands
- Command-Line Interface
- Software Installation
Network security
Watching a network and understanding what you see.
- Network Analysis
- Network Security
- Network Monitoring
- Vulnerability Scanning
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
- Information Systems Security
Assessment & ethical hacking
Testing within a legal, authorised framework.
- Cyber Security Assessment
- Vulnerability Assessments
- Security Testing
- Penetration Testing
- Cyber Operations
- Cybersecurity
Proof you can link to.
Complete the course and Coursera issues a shareable certificate from Board Infinity, with a one-click path onto your LinkedIn profile.
This is a Coursera shareable course certificate. It is not a Kali Linux certification, and it is not an Offensive Security certification or qualification.
Shareable certificate
Show completion of your Kali Linux learning experience.
Add it to LinkedIn
Add your certificate to your professional profile.
Demonstrate your cybersecurity learning
Show structured learning across Kali Linux, network monitoring, ethical hacking and vulnerability assessment.
Backed by five assignments
The course includes 5 assignments across the two modules, including a graded quiz.
Build a stronger foundation for cybersecurity work.
These are the areas where the skills in this course get applied. They are application areas, not job guarantees.
Security Analyst
Apply foundational knowledge of network monitoring, security tools and vulnerability assessment.
Cybersecurity Professional
Build familiarity with Linux-based security tools and core cybersecurity concepts.
IT Security
Use Linux, network analysis and security-testing knowledge in broader IT security workflows.
Network Security
Develop foundational knowledge of network monitoring, scanning and security assessment.
Penetration Testing Foundations
Build introductory knowledge of ethical hacking and penetration-testing concepts.
Cybersecurity Operations
Understand tools and workflows used in security-focused environments.
Learning Kali Linux is more useful when the tools and concepts fit together.
Every topic in this course exists free somewhere online. Nobody is pretending otherwise. What a course adds is the order you learn it in, the assessment that tells you whether it stuck, and the legal and ethical framing that a random tutorial usually leaves out.
This is the foundation. Here is what builds on it.
Four directions that follow naturally from what this course covers. Board Infinity runs its full catalogue on Coursera — browse it there rather than taking a recommendation from this page.
Linux administration and networking fundamentals
The two things every later security topic quietly assumes you already have.
- Deepen Linux administration skills
- Study networking fundamentals
Ethical hacking and penetration testing
Module two introduces the concepts. The next step is depth — always within an authorised scope.
- Explore penetration testing
- Explore ethical hacking
Vulnerability management and security monitoring
Where assessment turns into an ongoing practice rather than a one-off scan.
- Learn vulnerability management
- Practice security monitoring
Controlled labs and advanced concepts
The safest way to keep going: an environment that is entirely yours to break.
- Build controlled cybersecurity labs
- Study advanced cybersecurity concepts
Board Infinity runs 270+ courses and 57 specializations on Coursera — browse the full catalogue.
Know exactly what you're signing up for.
Common questions
Everything learners ask before enrolling, answered plainly.
Kali Linux is a Linux distribution built around security work — it ships with the command-line environment and tooling that security testing and network analysis are normally demonstrated in. The first lessons of module one cover what it is and the role it plays in cybersecurity, then walk through installing it and navigating the interface.
Coursera lists this course at Intermediate level. It does start at the beginning of Kali Linux itself — what it is, how to install it, how to move around the interface — but it then moves fairly quickly into practical cybersecurity concepts: network monitoring, scanning, ethical hacking principles, penetration testing and vulnerability assessment. Complete newcomers to computing will find the second module demanding.
The Coursera course page does not list a specific prerequisite, so we won't invent one. What we can say is what the course itself covers: installation, interface navigation and basic command-line operations are all taught inside module one, and the course is rated at intermediate level overall.
Coursera currently lists 6 hours to complete. Module one is about 2 hours and module two about 3 hours. It is fully self-paced with a flexible schedule, so you can spread it across evenings or finish it in a weekend.
Two. Module 1: Exploring the Basics of Kali Linux and Module 2: Practical Applications and Security Basics.
Five assignments in total — two in module one and three in module two, the last of which is a graded quiz on the fundamentals of Kali Linux. There is also 1 plugin activity and 1 discussion prompt.
The Coursera page lists Command-Line Interface and Linux as the tools for this course. Within the lessons you also work with Wireshark for network monitoring and Nmap for basic network scans, and the course covers VPN usage in Kali Linux.
Yes. Module 2 covers setting up and using Wireshark, in a 9-minute lesson followed by a reading and a practice quiz on network monitoring and management.
Yes. Module 2 covers implementing basic network scans with Nmap. Run those scans only against systems you own or are explicitly authorised to test.
Yes. Module 2 includes a lesson on understanding and using VPNs in Kali Linux.
Yes. Module 2 covers ethical hacking principles and the legal framework around them, and closes with a discussion prompt: Why Do Ethics Matter in Cybersecurity?
It introduces basic penetration testing concepts — enough to understand what penetration testing is and how it is structured. It does not make you a professional penetration tester, and it is not a substitute for supervised, authorised practice.
Yes. Module 2 includes an introduction to vulnerability assessment — the fundamentals of identifying and assessing vulnerabilities in a controlled and ethical context.
No. Practise only on systems you own or are explicitly authorised to test — a virtual machine on your own computer, or a lab range set up for the purpose. Scanning, monitoring or testing systems without permission is unlawful in most jurisdictions. The course covers the legal framework for exactly this reason.
Yes. Coursera lists a shareable certificate for this course.
Yes. Coursera lists the option to add the certificate to your LinkedIn profile.
No. This is a Coursera shareable course certificate issued for completing a Board Infinity course. It is not a Kali Linux certification of any kind.
No. This course is an independent educational resource developed by Board Infinity and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or officially associated with Offensive Security Limited or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. It is also not official preparation material of Offensive Security Limited.
Yes — this page is Board Infinity's own overview of our course. Enrollment, payment, video lessons, grading and the certificate all happen on Coursera, where the course is hosted.
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2 modules · 18 videos · 6 readings · 5 assignments · 6 hours · shareable certificate