Cyber SecurityBootcamp

Metana's Cybersecurity Bootcamp is a 100% online, part-time program built around live, interactive classes rather than pre-recorded videos, so you're learning alongside instructors and classmates in real time, not working through content alone. The 14-week curriculum runs through seven modules — cybersecurity foundations, network security, Security Operations Center training, digital forensics, governance/risk/compliance, IT project management, and a final capstone — pairing live instruction with hands-on labs in tools like Wireshark, Splunk, Burp Suite, and Autopsy. Every student also gets daily 1:1 mentorship and on-demand help outside of scheduled class time, so questions don't have to wait until the next session. Because the format is part-time and fully remote, it's built to fit around a full-time job or other commitments rather than requiring you to relocate or pause your life. By graduation you'll have a capstone project and a portfolio of hands-on security work ready to show employers, not just a certificate.

This bootcamp is built for complete beginners with no IT, computer science, or STEM background, as well as working professionals pivoting into cybersecurity from an unrelated field. Metana students have come from finance, education, healthcare, hospitality, and plenty of other industries with no technical overlap to security — what matters is motivation, not your resume. The 14-week curriculum starts from first principles (the CIA triad, core terminology, basic Linux) before building toward network security, SOC operations, digital forensics, and governance and compliance, so nobody is assumed to already know the material going in. Daily 1:1 mentorship and on-demand support mean you're rarely stuck without help for long between live sessions. If you're proficient in written and spoken English and ready to commit part-time hours around live classes and labs, the program gives you the structure, coaching, and hands-on tooling experience to credibly compete for entry-level cybersecurity roles without first earning a computer science degree.

The program is structured to be completed in about 14 weeks of part-time study, split across seven modules of increasing depth: a 2-week Foundations of Cybersecurity module covering the CIA triad and core terminology, a 4-week Network Security module with firewalls and packet analysis, a 4-week Security Operations Center module built around SIEM and incident response, a 3-week Digital Forensics module covering evidence acquisition and malware analysis, and shorter Governance/Risk/Compliance and IT Project Management modules before a final capstone. Each week combines live training sessions, hands-on labs using real security tools like Wireshark, Splunk, and Burp Suite, and independent practice to reinforce what you covered live. By the end, you'll have worked through a complete cybersecurity curriculum spanning network security, threat detection, vulnerability assessment, digital forensics, and cloud and application security, capped by a portfolio-ready capstone project you present as if to an employer.

You'll graduate with job-ready technical skills across five core areas: network security and threat detection; vulnerability assessment and penetration testing; cloud and application security; SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) work using tools like Splunk; and encryption and compliance frameworks covered in the governance and risk module. Along the way you'll get hands-on practice with the same tools security operations teams use in production — Wireshark for packet analysis, Burp Suite for vulnerability assessment, Autopsy and FTK Imager for digital forensics, and RegRipper and Chainsaw for registry forensics — rather than just studying them in theory. You'll also strengthen the soft skills that separate hireable analysts from technically-capable ones: clear communication and reporting, structured problem-solving under pressure, and teamwork and adaptability, all practiced through the SOC and incident-response modules and reinforced again in the capstone, where you build and present a full security project end to end.

Yes. Graduates receive a Certificate of Completion from Metana once they finish all seven modules and the capstone project, which validates the specific skills covered in the curriculum — network security, SOC operations, digital forensics, and governance and compliance — for employers reviewing your application. Just as importantly, you'll finish with a portfolio of real, hands-on work: labs built in tools like Wireshark, Splunk, and Burp Suite, plus a capstone project designed to be presented the way you'd present it in a job interview or to a hiring manager. Between the certificate and the portfolio, you have two concrete things to point to that a self-taught study plan typically can't produce — a credential confirming structured, verified completion, and a body of work you can walk an interviewer through. Both are designed to be shared directly on LinkedIn and in interviews as evidence you can do the job, not just that you studied for it.

Metana's Job Guarantee applies once you meet the program's requirements — completing the bootcamp and capstone, staying proficient in English, passing background checks required for the roles you apply to, opting into the guarantee at enrollment, and during Jobcamp, applying to 10 jobs per week and posting 5+ GitHub contributions per week starting in week 12. If you meet those requirements and still haven't secured a job paying $50,000+ a year within 10 months of graduation, you receive a 100% tuition refund. Along the way, Metana's Career Success team actively supports the search rather than just guaranteeing an outcome: resume building, LinkedIn optimization, mock interviews, and direct job search strategy, all part of Jobcamp. There's also a separate, unrelated safety net for anyone who decides the program isn't right for them early on — a 14-day, no-questions-asked refund window from your start date, independent of whether you ever intended to use the job guarantee at all.

No prior coding, IT, or cybersecurity experience is required to enroll — the curriculum is deliberately sequenced to start with foundational topics, like the CIA triad, core security terminology, and basic Linux, before building up to advanced techniques in network security, SOC operations, and digital forensics. What is required is proficiency in spoken and written English, since classes are live and collaborative, and a genuine commitment to the part-time schedule across all 14 weeks, since later modules build directly on earlier ones. You don't need a computer science degree, a technical job history, or prior exposure to security tools — many students arrive having never used Wireshark, Splunk, or Burp Suite before their first lab. The structure, daily 1:1 mentorship, and on-demand support exist specifically to make that gap closeable within the program rather than something you're expected to have already solved before you apply.

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing fields in tech, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting 31% job growth through 2029 — far outpacing most other occupations. Metana graduates typically start as Junior Cybersecurity Analysts earning around $70,000-$90,000 in year one, then progress within two to three years into roles like Security Engineer or Penetration Tester earning $95,000-$130,000, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, PayScale, Salary.com, and Glassdoor. By around year five, experienced graduates can reach Security Architect or Senior Specialist roles paying $150,000-$200,000 or more. Across the program's graduates, average salary lands around $80,000. That earning trajectory reflects both high demand for security talent and the fact that skills gained in the program — SOC operations, digital forensics, vulnerability assessment, compliance — map directly onto the responsibilities of progressively senior security roles, rather than requiring an unrelated credential to advance.

Metana offers several ways to pay for the Cybersecurity Bootcamp. You can pay upfront tuition of $7,500, discounted from the standard $9,400 rate. You can split it into an installment plan of $2,000 due at enrollment followed by five monthly payments of $1,272. You can finance through 0% interest loans starting from $69-$214 per month with instant approval, so there's no interest cost added on top of tuition. Crypto payments are also accepted for students who prefer that route. Whichever option you choose, every plan includes the same 14-day risk-free refund window from your start date — if the program isn't the right fit, you can withdraw for a full refund, no questions asked, regardless of which payment plan you originally chose. An advisor can walk you through which structure fits your budget best on a call before you commit to anything.

Yes. Students who don't want to pay the full tuition upfront can apply for 0% interest financing with instant approval, spreading payments out from as little as $69-$214 per month depending on the plan. Personal loans are another option some students use to cover the $7,500 upfront cost (discounted from $9,400) in a single lump sum while paying the loan back on their own schedule. Many employers also offer tuition reimbursement or Learning & Development stipends that can cover part or all of the cost — Metana's admissions team can provide documentation you'd need to submit for employer reimbursement. Whichever route you take, the 14-day risk-free refund policy still applies, so committing to a payment plan doesn't lock you in before you've had a chance to confirm the program is the right fit. Talk to an advisor about which financing option makes the most sense for your situation.

Yes, a cybersecurity bootcamp is worth it if your goal is to break into tech quickly rather than spend years on a broader degree. Metana's Cybersecurity Bootcamp is 14 weeks, part-time, and built entirely around practical, job-focused training — hands-on labs in tools like Wireshark, Splunk, and Burp Suite, a SOC-focused module, digital forensics, and a capstone project — rather than general computer science theory. Graduates land roles averaging $80,000 in a field the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will grow 31% through 2029, with a realistic path from Junior Analyst ($70K-$90K) to Security Engineer ($95K-$130K) within a few years. The program also includes a tuition-backed Job Guarantee: if you meet the requirements and don't land a qualifying job within 10 months of graduation, you get a full refund. Combined with the shorter timeline and lower upfront cost compared to a degree, that makes the bootcamp path financially lower-risk for most career changers.

A traditional computer science or cybersecurity degree takes three to four years, is broad and theory-heavy, and is generally more expensive with a slower path to earning your first paycheck in the field. Metana's Cybersecurity Bootcamp is completed in about 14 weeks, part-time, and is deliberately narrow and practical — every module maps to a real security function (network security, SOC operations, digital forensics, governance and compliance) using the same tools professionals use in production, like Wireshark, Splunk, and Burp Suite. If your goal is broad academic depth or a career in security research, a degree may still make sense. But if your goal is to launch a job-ready career as fast as possible, the bootcamp offers a faster, more affordable path, backed by a tuition refund guarantee if you meet program requirements and don't land a qualifying job within 10 months of graduating — a safety net most degree programs don't offer at all.

Yes. The bootcamp is 100% online, so you can join from any US state, from Ohio and Pennsylvania to California and Hawaii, or from anywhere in the world, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Singapore and India. Classes are live and interactive, sessions are recorded if you miss one, and your 1:1 mentoring is booked around your time zone. Students from every country can enroll, and the job guarantee applies to graduates outside the US as well as inside it.

Yes. Four of the 14 weeks are dedicated to the Security Operations Center (SOC): SIEM fundamentals with Splunk, threat detection and monitoring, incident response workflows, log analysis and alerting, and vulnerability assessment with Burp Suite. Combined with the network security and digital forensics modules, that is the day-to-day work of an entry-level SOC analyst or cybersecurity analyst. Graduates also apply for roles such as network security analyst, information security analyst and junior incident responder.

Yes. You spend four weeks on network security: protocols and architecture, firewall configuration with Sophos, packet analysis with Wireshark, Cisco Packet Tracer labs, and intrusion detection and prevention. Data security and information security run through the whole program, starting with the CIA triad (confidentiality, integrity and availability) in the foundations module and continuing through encryption, incident response, digital forensics, and the governance, risk and compliance module, where you learn the policies and frameworks organizations use to protect their data. So whether a job posting says cybersecurity, IT security, information security or data security, the skills are covered.

Yes. The curriculum prepares you for the CompTIA Security+ exam, one of the most requested entry-level certifications in cybersecurity job postings. The foundations, network security, SOC, and governance, risk and compliance modules cover the core Security+ topics, including threats and vulnerabilities, security architecture, security operations, and security program management. You also finish with a Metana Certificate of Completion and a portfolio of hands-on lab work to show employers alongside your certification.

Yes. Many Metana cybersecurity graduates come from fields with zero technical overlap — teaching, retail, finance, hospitality, and more — and the curriculum is built assuming exactly that starting point, opening with foundational terminology and Linux basics before progressing to network security, SOC operations, and digital forensics. Employers hiring for entry-level security roles increasingly care more about demonstrated, hands-on ability than a traditional IT résumé: whether you can work a SIEM tool like Splunk, read a packet capture in Wireshark, or run a vulnerability scan in Burp Suite, and whether you have a portfolio and capstone project that prove it. That's exactly what the program is built to produce. Career support through Jobcamp — resume building, LinkedIn optimization, mock interviews, and structured job search coaching — also helps position a non-IT background as a strength (real-world problem-solving experience) rather than something to explain away in interviews.