Talk With an Expert
AI-FOCUSEDNew

SEC411: AI Security Principles and Practices: GenAI and LLM Defense

SEC411Cyber Defense, Artificial Intelligence
  • 14 Hours (Self-Paced)
Course authored by:
Seth Misenar
Seth Misenar
SEC411
Course authored by:
Seth Misenar
Seth Misenar
  • 14 CPEs

    Apply your credits to renew your certifications

  • Intermediate Skill Level

    Course material is geared for cyber security professionals with hands-on experience

  • 3 Hands-On Lab(s)

    Apply what you learn with hands-on exercises and labs

Defend GenAI and LLMs at every stage with SEC411’s hands-on, real-world AI security labs. Always current. Always hands-on. Always relevant.

Course Overview

SEC411 is a living, practitioner-focused AI security course for cybersecurity professionals entering GenAI and LLM defense. No prior AI experience required.

Sign up to be notified when course registration is open.

What You’ll Learn

  • Build essential GenAI and LLM security skills, from tokenization and attack surface analysis to the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs—no AI background required.
  • Identify, exploit, and defend against AI-specific threats like prompt injection, jailbreaking, and RAG manipulation in hands-on labs.
  • Implement practical defenses for training pipelines, inference environments, and RAG systems across enterprise settings.
  • Secure advanced AI architectures, including agentic systems and reasoning models.
  • Apply frameworks such as MITRE ATLAS, OWASP Top 10 for LLMs, and NIST AI RMF in real-world security operations.
  • Integrate AI security into existing SOC workflows and incident response.

Business Takeaways

  • Rapidly upskill cybersecurity teams to address GenAI and LLM security without prior AI experience.
  • Continuous learning: new labs, modules, and recordings expand automatically during the 4-month access window.
  • Gain deployable, real-world skills through Docker-based, hands-on labs.
  • Improve engagement and retention with gamified learning and an integrated Learning Assistant.
  • Reduce AI deployment risk and meet compliance requirements with NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act, and other standards.
  • Stay current on emerging threats through ongoing curriculum updates.

Course Syllabus

Explore the course syllabus below to view the full range of topics covered in SEC411: AI Security Principles and Practices: GenAI and LLM Defense.

Section 1KNOW - Understanding the AI Threat Landscape

Build essential AI literacy for security professionals. Learn how LLMs operate, identify AI-specific attack surfaces, and apply the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs. This foundation bridges traditional security experience to AI threats with hands-on exploration of tokenization security.

Section 2DEFEND – Securing the AI Lifecycle

Secure AI systems from training to runtime. Implement practical defenses for training pipelines, inference environments, and RAG systems. Master input and output filtering, guardrail implementation, and RAG-specific security controls through progressive attack and defense challenges.

Section 3DEPLOY – Integration, Autonomy, and Advanced AI

Integrate AI security into enterprise architecture and protect autonomous systems. Deploy secure LLM applications, implement robust API security, connect AI monitoring with SOC operations, and address new threats in agentic systems and reasoning models using production-ready strategies.

Things You Need To Know

We're updating our course schedule - please check back later.

Benefits of Learning with SANS

Instructor teaching to a class

Get feedback from the world’s best cybersecurity experts and instructors

OnDemand Mobile App

Choose how you want to learn - online, on demand, or at our live in-person training events

Resources

Get access to our range of industry-leading courses and resources