AP PLTW New 2026–27

AP Cybersecurity

Brand new for 2026–27 — learn how attacks work so you can stop them.

Grades 10–12

Credits 5

Length Full Year

Prerequisite CSE, AP CSP, or AP CSA

Pathway Computer Science

Student working through a virtual cybersecurity lab — Virtual Security Lab

Network diagram on screen during a defense exercise — Network Defense Exercise

Students analyzing a simulated threat report — Threat Analysis Briefing

Capture-the-flag practice round in the computer lab — Capture-the-Flag Practice

About the Course

AP Cybersecurity is a brand-new, year-long high school course that provides a comprehensive introduction to cybersecurity, closely aligned with a college-level introductory course. Students examine common threats, vulnerabilities, and risks, learning how individuals and organizations manage and mitigate risk using defense-in-depth strategies. The course covers vulnerabilities, attacks, defenses, and detection across physical spaces, networks, devices, and data and applications, while emphasizing the real-world impacts of cybersecurity on individuals, organizations, and governments.

Instruction aligns with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Workforce Framework, preparing students with skills and knowledge for postsecondary study and careers in the rapidly growing cybersecurity field.

MTHS is offering AP Cybersecurity for the first time in the 2026–27 school year, taught through PLTW’s hands-on virtual labs — you’ll practice on simulated machines and networks where it’s safe to attack, defend, and break things. Completing Computer Science Essentials, AP CSP, or AP CSA first means you arrive with the programming and systems background the labs build on.

Why Take AP Cyber

Be in the first MTHS class ever to take the College Board’s newest AP course.
Learn defense-in-depth: securing physical spaces, networks, devices, and data.
Train in virtual labs that simulate real attacks and real defenses — safely.
Study a curriculum aligned with the NICE Workforce Framework used across the cybersecurity industry.
Strong preparation for industry certifications and one of the fastest-growing career fields.
Earn potential college credit with a qualifying AP exam score.

Requirements & Logistics

Grades: 10–12
Credits: 5 (Full Year)
Prerequisite: Computer Science Essentials, AP Computer Science Principles, or AP Computer Science A
Level: AP · taught with the PLTW curriculum
AP Exam: College Board AP exam in May
First Offered: 2026–27 school year

Your Instructors

Marissa McLaughlin

Teacher of Industrial Arts mmclaugh@monroe.k12.nj.us

What Students Say

Aisha Thompson

MTHS '25 · Penn State '29

“AP Cyber applies everything from CSP to real-world security scenarios. Breaking into our own virtual networks to learn how to defend them was unlike anything I'd done in a classroom before.”

Devon Park

MTHS '26

“The labs feel like puzzles with real stakes. By the second semester I could read a network diagram and immediately spot where an attacker would go first.”

Course Highlights

Enterprise Security Labs

Virtual environments that scale from a single machine to full corporate networks as the year progresses.

Hands-On

PLTW + AP Dual Credential

One course, two nationally recognized credentials on your transcript.

Academic

CompTIA Security+ Alignment

Coursework maps toward the industry's most common entry-level security certification.

Career

NICE Workforce Framework

Skills mapped to the national framework employers use to define cybersecurity jobs.

Industry