Academic Policy

Learners are expected to complete all coursework, laboratories, practical exercises, and assessments using their own knowledge, research, and effort.

Independent learning is an essential part of cybersecurity education. While collaboration may be permitted in designated environments, every assessment intended to measure individual competency must be completed independently.

Academic dishonesty undermines both the learning experience and the value of Armour Infosec certifications.

All learners must:

• Complete assessments honestly and independently.
• Follow all course and examination instructions.
• Protect their account credentials and authentication methods.
• Maintain the confidentiality of course content where required.
• Report suspected security issues affecting the platform responsibly.
• Use only authorised software, tools, and resources during assessments.
• Respect other learners, instructors, and the learning environment.
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Unless otherwise specified, learners may use publicly available documentation and references while studying.

Examples include:

• Official vendor documentation
• RFCs
• Security standards
• Programming language documentation
• Public CVE databases
• Public OWASP documentation
• Public MITRE ATT&CK documentation

Resources that disclose assessment answers or protected course material are prohibited.

Artificial intelligence tools can be valuable learning aids when used responsibly.

Unless explicitly prohibited by a course or assessment, learners may use AI tools to:

• Understand cybersecurity concepts
• Learn programming languages
• Explain protocols and technologies
• Improve technical writing
• Generate practice examples
• Review documentation
• Learn defensive techniques

Learners must not use AI systems to:

• Generate answers for graded assessments.
• Solve practical examinations on their behalf.
• Bypass learning objectives.
• Produce or request confidential assessment solutions.
• Generate plagiarism or copied submissions.
• Circumvent examination restrictions.

Course-specific examination rules always take precedence over this policy.

Learners may perform offensive security activities only within:

• Armour Infosec laboratory environments
• Authorised practice targets
• Personal lab environments
• Systems for which they have explicit written authorisation

Learners must never target:

• Public systems without authorisation
• Production environments
• Third-party infrastructure
• Other learners' environments

During examinations, learners must:

• Complete the assessment independently.
• Follow all published examination procedures.
• Use only permitted resources.
• Maintain examination confidentiality.
• Submit original work.

Unless explicitly permitted, learners must not:

• Receive assistance from another person.
• Provide assistance to another candidate.
• Share assessment questions.
• Share examination reports.
• Share proof-of-concept exploits.
• Share flags, credentials, solutions, or walkthroughs.
• Record or livestream examination content.
• Attempt to interfere with the examination infrastructure.

Remote examinations may require additional proctoring requirements.

The following information must not be publicly disclosed unless explicitly authorised:

• Assessment content
• Practical examination scenarios
• Examination reports
• Walkthroughs
• Flags
• Credentials
• Private lab machines
• Internal documentation
• Instructor-only materials
• Proprietary training content

Unauthorised distribution of protected content is strictly prohibited.

If a learner discovers a security vulnerability affecting Armour Infosec infrastructure, they must:

1. Report the issue promptly through the designated reporting process.
2. Avoid unnecessary exploitation.
3. Refrain from publicly disclosing the issue until authorised.
4. Cooperate with Armour Infosec during remediation.

Responsible disclosure will never be penalised when conducted in good faith.

Learners must not use Armour Infosec resources to:

• Launch attacks against unauthorised systems.
• Distribute malware.
• Perform illegal activities.
• Conduct phishing campaigns.
• Abuse cloud resources.
• Harass or threaten others.
• Circumvent platform security controls.
• Disrupt platform availability.

All Armour Infosec course materials, including but not limited to:

• Videos
• Slides
• Documentation
• Laboratory content
• Assessments
• Source code
• Images
• Diagrams
• Scripts
• Exercises

remain the intellectual property of Armour Infosec unless otherwise stated.

Learners may not reproduce, redistribute, publish, sell, or commercially exploit course materials without written permission.

Certification holders must:

• Represent their certifications accurately.
• Use certification titles appropriately.
• Avoid misleading claims regarding certification scope.
• Maintain professional and ethical conduct.
• Comply with all certification requirements.

Armour Infosec reserves the right to suspend or revoke certifications obtained through academic misconduct or ethical violations.

Examples of misconduct include, but are not limited to:

• Plagiarism
• Impersonation
• Cheating
• Unauthorised collaboration
• Sharing assessment solutions
• Using leaked examination materials
• Submitting another person's work
• Unauthorised access to examination systems
• Tampering with assessment infrastructure
• Circumventing platform restrictions
• Falsifying reports or evidence

Violations may result in one or more of the following actions:

• Warning
• Assessment invalidation
• Course failure
• Temporary account suspension
• Permanent account suspension
• Certification suspension
• Certification revocation
• Removal from future training programs
• Legal action where applicable

Disciplinary actions are determined based on the severity, intent, and impact of the violation.

Learners are expected to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and ethics.

Knowledge acquired through Armour Infosec training must be used only for lawful, authorised, and responsible purposes. Any misuse of acquired skills to facilitate illegal activity, unauthorised access, or harm to individuals or organisations is strictly prohibited.

Armour Infosec reserves the right to modify this Academic Policy at any time. Updated versions become effective upon publication. Continued participation in Armour Infosec courses, laboratories, or certification programs constitutes acceptance of the latest version of this policy.

Questions regarding this Academic Policy should be directed to the Armour Infosec Academic and Certification Team through the official support channels.