Night Shift · cybersecurity job simulator

Get the experience employers ask for, before your first security job.

Work real-feeling incidents at a bank, a hospital, a law firm and a retailer. You use the tools yourself, handle the people, and face an attacker who reacts to every move. Then you build it for real and add it to your resume.

No sign-up · about 35 minutes · runs in your browser · a mentor guides your first time

Night Shift: a colleague messages mid-incident while you run live response on an infected laptop; a Solo debrief marked Proven; a real-world project unlocked with a resume entry
How it works

Learn it. Practice it. Prove it.

Every scenario plays three ways, so complete beginners and experienced IT people both feel at home.

1 · Guided

A mentor beside you

Sam walks you through every step and explains why it matters, in plain English. No background needed.

2 · Assisted

You take the lead

Your goals are listed and a nudge is one click away. You decide the order and how to use the tools.

3 · Solo

The clock is running

No help, and the attacker keeps moving. Contain it in time and the skill is marked Proven.

What makes it different

Closer to the real job than any course

Most labs teach you to solve a puzzle. Night Shift teaches you to do the job: tools, people, pressure and proof.

🛠 Real work, done by you

Read email headers, detonate attachments, write your own log searches, isolate laptops, patch and rescan, change AI guardrails. Nothing is pre-filled.

💬 People and pressure

Interview users and managers. Mid-incident, an employee asks to restart their infected laptop and your boss wants a status update. Handle it well, or learn why not.

⚡ An attacker who reacts

Block their domain too early and they switch domains. Reset a password but leave the session open and they set up mail forwarding. Order matters.

🔁 Different every replay

Replay a scenario and the people, machines, attacker addresses and numbers change. You practice the skill, not memorize answers.

🧭 Job paths that match real postings

Pick a role. See what job postings ask for, which scenarios build each skill, and the certifications that cover the same ground.

📄 From simulation to resume

Every scenario unlocks a real-world project with free tools, clear steps and a resume entry. Prove it Solo to unlock a harder stretch level.

Skills transfer to the tools employers name, like Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, CrowdStrike, Microsoft Entra ID, Tenable Nessus and AWS. Night Shift is independent and not affiliated with any vendor.

14 scenarios · new ones every month

The work real security teams do

Set in four fictional workplaces: a retailer, a credit union, a hospital and a law firm.

SOC & INCIDENT RESPONSE
  • The Invoice That Wasn't Free
  • Malware on the Medication Cart
  • The Chatbot That Gave Refunds Away
IDENTITY & ACCESS
  • Last Day, Still Logged In
  • The Partner Who Lost His Phone
  • The Quarterly Access Review
VULNERABILITY, GRC & CLOUD
  • Patch Tuesday, Proven
  • The Scanner You Can't Patch
  • The Auditors Are Here
  • The Key in the Repo
AI SECURITY
  • Go or No-Go: The Member Chatbot
  • The Agent With the Master Key
ENGINEERING
  • The Rule That Cried Wolf (detection engineering)
  • Ship It Safely (AI security engineering)
EVERY SCENARIO INCLUDES
  • Guided, Assisted and Solo modes
  • An expert walkthrough of every step
  • A real-world project + resume entry
Night Shift AI Lab: a retest matrix showing prompt injection, data leakage and excessive agency tests passing after the learner's fixes

AI security, hands-on: run the attacks yourself, fix permissions and guardrails, then retest until it's safe and still useful.

Job paths

Train for the job you actually want

Each path lines up scenarios and real-world projects with what employers list in job postings, plus the certifications that cover the same ground.

ENTRY LEVEL

SOC Analyst

ENTRY LEVEL

IAM Analyst

ENTRY LEVEL

Vulnerability Management

ENTRY LEVEL

GRC & AI Governance

HOT ROLE

Detection Engineer

HOT ROLE

AI Security Engineer

HOT ROLE

Cloud Security Analyst

Linked to Security+, CySA+, SecAI+, SC-200, SC-300, AWS Security, CISA, AIGP and more.

Pricing

Start free. Go Pro when you're hooked.

One membership unlocks everything, with new scenarios every month. Cancel anytime.

Try it

Free

$0

One complete scenario

  • "The Invoice That Wasn't": a full phishing investigation
  • Guided, Assisted and Solo modes
  • Its real-world project and resume entry
  • No sign-up
Play
One-time

Career Toolkit

$39

Includes 6 Night Shift scenarios

  • 6 scenarios to keep: SOC, identity, patching, audit
  • 13 guided projects and 8 premium resume templates
  • 105 interview questions, job search system
  • No subscription
See the Toolkit

Secure checkout via Payhip. See our terms and refund policy.

Straight answers

Questions people ask

I'm not technical. Can I do this?

Yes. Start in Guided mode: Sam explains each step and why in everyday language, and the Field Guide explains every term. There's a larger-text button too. Nurses, teachers, lawyers and retirees use it.

Will this help me get hired?

It builds the skills and judgment entry-level roles ask for, and every scenario turns into a real project you build with free tools and can put on your resume honestly. It doesn't guarantee a job, and it isn't work experience, so describe it as training.

How does the membership work?

Join on Payhip and download that month's Night Shift Pro file from your member library. It opens in any browser, even offline. Each month brings a new edition with new scenarios; your progress carries over in the same browser.

Can I cancel?

Yes, anytime, from your Payhip account. You keep your current edition until it expires and won't be charged again.

How is this different from other cyber labs?

It trains the whole job: tools, procedure, people, pressure and proving your fix worked. The attacker reacts to you, scenarios change on every replay, and each one ends with a real-world project.

Is my progress saved?

Yes, in your own browser on that device. Nothing is sent to us.