Overview

Level Effect announces significant curriculum updates, revealing that SOC100 fundamentals training has exceeded performance expectations, necessitating modifications to CDA prerequisite structures.

Key Announcements

SOC200 Course Reveal - A new advanced course focusing on Digital Forensics and Incident Response launches this Friday, designed for students progressing beyond CDA.

CDA Winter 2025 - Registration remains open with spots filling quickly ahead of the March 10th start date. Scholarship deadline extended to February 24th at 9 AM EST.

SOC100 Performance & Restructuring

SOC100 has proven significantly more effective than anticipated. Students are "getting over-qualified for starting CDA than anticipated by halfway through SOC100-2." The organization observed that some students secure employment after just SOC100-1, and many perform advanced triage work before completing prerequisites.

New Exam Structure:

  • SOC100-1 through -5 each receive individual certification exams
  • SOC100-3 awards certification upon VSOC completion
  • SOC100-4 features heavy technical scenario questions

Revised CDA Requirements

Hard Requirements:

  • Complete SOC100-1 and pass exam
  • Complete SOC100-2 content

Optional:

  • SOC100-2 exam
  • SOC100-3 VSOC certification
  • SOC100-4 exam

Students may pursue all modules before or after CDA without bottlenecking progression.

Upcoming Content

  • SOC100-2 Certification unlocks Monday with enhanced VSOC features
  • LinkedIn Event: "Elevating Alert Classification" featuring instructor Jonathan Johnson discussing SOC200
  • Class 28 Recording: Introduction to Cyber Threat Intelligence now available
  • Community celebrations of SOC100-1 certification achievements

Tools & Resources

Featured home lab tools include Ludus environment guides and Lume, a CLI for managing virtual machines on Apple Silicon.

Philosophy

"Do you want to work ON your home lab, or IN your home lab?" - emphasizing practical application over setup overhead.