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Welcome (Start Here)

whoami

Hello! My name is Barrett Busch and I am the full-time cybersecurity & digital forensics instructor at Stark State College.

About this repository

If you are here, that means you are a student enrolled in our Cybersecurity & Computer Forensics program, or just taking some of the CFS classes for fun (I get it, they are a blast).

This repository is pretty new (development began Fall 2025 semester), and I consider it a very fluctuating and living document. It is hosted on my GitHub and utilizes MkDocs which is a static site generator designed for building project documentation. (I have plans to create a workshop for you all to do this yourself -- it would look great on a resume).

My goals behind this repository of information and resources for the CFS program are:

  • To cut costs for students by supplying "textbook free" courses and supplying reading material here. NOTE: Not all courses may be "textbook free" ready, please consult your instructor and syllabus at the start of the semester to identify.
  • To "open source" the information you learn and to make it easily accessible even after you complete a course or graduate, moving into your career.
  • To give myself full control over the content you learn from.
  • To take advantage of AI which allows me to make continuous updates and iterations as trends/tech changes. This is paramount in the realm of cybersecurity and forensics and gives me the ability to do it at scale.
  • To have an organized, centralized repository. A "single source of truth" for your information and resources that will best aid your academic journey.

Tip

Yes, there is a dark mode! Look at the icon just to the left of the Search bar.

How content is created

As a disclaimer, the use of LLMs have absolutely been used for parts of content. This has largely been a combination of Claude (Sonnet 4.5), ChatGPT 5, and Google Gemini 3.

As someone who feels like they are starting to develop a strong allergic reaction to "AI slop", I will explain my general content creation workflow and how I use AI to ensure the best output.

1) Begin with the syllabus and course learning outcomes. This program and its courses were designed with the guidance of:

  • Faculty's subject matter expertise
  • Industry partners
  • Requirements to receive and maintain Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense accreditation from the NSA
  • Certification exam objectives

This is the foundation. Any significant course changes must go through a strict approval process and Course Curriculum Committee. As of this writing, no major changes have been made to the curriculum (although there are some works in progress).

2) If the course aligns with an industry certification like CompTIA, the exam objectives become the course's North Star.

All of the content is intended to prepare you to pass the industry certification while also giving you hands-on experience to prepare you for the workforce.

3) Based on the course learning objectives, are there specific industry standards & frameworks that should be a source of truth?

Industry partners will often point us in the right direction of specific standards and frameworks that they want potential employees to be familiar with. Often times this ties back to standards and guidelines from NIST, ISO, OWASP, etc.

4) On top of all of that, I add my own industry knowledge and experience to make sure what you are learning is optimal and relevant for workforce development.

From my time working with MGM Studios and Amazon, my work included multiple domains:

  • Security Operations (IAM, email security, managing security awareness trainings, incident response, SIEM log analysis)
  • Cloud Security Engineering (Deploying and integrating security tools, cloud compliance and auditing)
  • Digital forensics and eDiscovery
  • GRC (policy writing, documentation, third-party risk assessments)

5) You know what they say, Garbage In, Garbage Out.

It is at this point that I approach content creation at the weekly/module/chapter level based on the overall learning objectives of the class. I create detailed prompts around main topics and sub-topics, with detailed notes about what specific concepts to include. This process goes through many iterations until I have a solid starting point of information. "One and done" prompts in generative AI, in my opinion, is what leads to boring, lifeless AI slop.

  • I then export from ChatGPT and/or Claude the information in markdown (md) format to upload to my GitHub repository.
  • I start to edit and fully validate that the information is correct, factual, and relevent.
  • I fill in any gaps that are missing.
  • I locate as many relevant visual images that are publicly available (with sources) or create my own where I can.
  • I allocate relevent lab work that matches the material either with available TryHackMe rooms, building custom labs, or build simulated activities using Claude Artifact or Gemini Canvas.

6) Continuous Improvement

Based on student performance and/or feedback, I can identify areas of confusion that might need more clarification. This could include rewriting of the text, addition of clear examples or case studies, or building additional interactive activities using Claude Artifact or full-on custom technical labs.

Note

Fun Fact: AI was NOT used in the making of this Welcome Page :) Except for creating the very meta meme.

Future Plans

The goal is to have menu folders to your left of all of the CFS courses in our program. This will include eBooks, study guides, interactive activities, CompTIA practice exams, etc. I will send announcements once I have made significant updates for a specific class.