CyberSec First Responder

Course Length: 5 days

Overview:

This course covers network defence and incident response methods, tactics, and procedures are taught in alignment with industry frameworks such as NIST 800-61 r.2 (Computer Security Incident Handling), US-CERT’s NCISP (National Cyber Incident Response Plan), and Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 41 on Cyber Incident Coordination Policy. It is ideal for candidates who have been tasked with the responsibility of monitoring and detecting security incidents in information systems and networks, and for executing standardized responses to such incidents. The course introduces tools, tactics, and procedures to manage cybersecurity risks, identify various types of common threats, evaluate the organization's security, collect and analyze cybersecurity intelligence and remediate and report incidents as they occur. This course provides a comprehensive methodology for individuals responsible for defending the cybersecurity of their organization.

This course is designed to assist students in preparing for the CertNexus CyberSec First Responder (Exam CFR-310) certification examination. What you learn and practice in this course can be a significant part of your preparation.

In addition, this course and subsequent certification (CFR-310) meets all requirements for personnel requiring DoD directive 8570.01-M position certification baselines:

•  CSSP Analyst
•  CSSP Infrastructure Support
•  CSSP Incident Responder
•  CSSP Auditor

Course Objectives:

In this course, you will understand, assess and respond to security threats and operate a system and network security analysis platform. You will:

•  Compare and contrast various threats and classify threat profile
•  Explain the purpose and use of attack tools and technique
•  Explain the purpose and use of post-exploitation tools and tactic
•  Explain the purpose and use of the social engineering tactic
•  Given a scenario, perform ongoing threat landscape research and use data to prepare for an incident
•  Explain the purpose and characteristics of various data source

•  Given a scenario, use appropriate tools to analyze log
•  Given a scenario, use regular expressions to parse log files and locate meaningful data
•  Given a scenario, use Windows tools to analyze incidents
•  Given a scenario, use Linux-based tools to analyze incidents
•  Summarize methods and tools used for malware analysis
•  Given a scenario, analyze common indicators of potential compromise
•  Explain the importance of best practices in preparation for incident response
•  Given a scenario, execute the incident response process
•  Explain the importance of concepts that are unique to forensic analysis
•  Explain general mitigation methods and devices

Target Student:

This course is designed primarily for cybersecurity practitioners preparing for or who currently perform job functions related to protecting information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation. It is ideal for those roles within federal contracting companies, and private sector firms who whose mission or strategic objectives require the execution of Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) or DoD Information Network (DODIN) operation and incident handling. This course focuses on the knowledge, ability, and skills necessary to provide for the defence of those information systems in a cybersecurity context, including protection, detection, analysis, investigation, and response processes.

In addition, the course ensures that all members of an IT team—regardless of size, rank or budget— understand their role in the cyber defence, incident response, and incident handling process.

Prerequisites:

To ensure your success in this course, you should meet the following requirements:

•  At least two years (recommended) of experience or education in computer network security technology, or a related field.
•  The ability or curiosity to recognize information security vulnerabilities and threats in the context of risk management.
•  Foundational knowledge of the concepts and operational framework of common assurance safeguards in network environments. Safeguards include, but are not limited to, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and VPNs.
•  General knowledge of the concepts and operational framework of common assurance safeguards in computing environments. Safeguards include, but are not limited to, basic authentication and authorization, resource permissions, and anti-malware mechanisms.
•  Foundation-level skills with some of the common operating systems for computing environments. Entry-level understanding of some of the common concepts for network environments, such as routing and switching.
•  General or practical knowledge of major TCP/IP networking protocols, including, but not limited to, TCP, IP, UDP, DNS, HTTP, ARP, ICMP, and DHCP

Course Content

Lesson 1: Assessment of Information Security Risks

Topic A: The Importance of Risk Management

Topic B: Assess Risk

Topic C: Mitigate Risk

Topic D: Integrating Documentation into Risk Management

Lesson 2: Analyzing the Threat Landscape

Topic A: Classify Threats and Threat Profiles

Topic B: Perform Ongoing Threat Research

Lesson 3: Computing and Network Environments: Analyzing Reconnaissance Threats

Topic A: Implementation of Threat Modeling

Topic B: Reconnaissance: Assessing the Impact

Topic C: Social Engineering: Assessing the Impact

Lesson 4: Analyzing Attacks on Computing and Network Environments

Topic A: System Hacking Attacks: Assessing the Impact

Topic B: Web-Based Attacks: Assessing the Impact

Topic C: Malware: Assessing the Impact

Topic D: Hijacking and Impersonation Attacks: Assessing the Impact

Topic E: DoS Incidents: Assessing the Impact

Topic F: Threats to Mobile Security: Assessing the Impact

Topic G: Threats to Cloud Security: Assessing the Impact

Lesson 5: Examining Post-Attack Techniques

Topic A: Examine Command and Control Techniques

Topic B: Examine Persistence Techniques

Topic C: Examine Lateral Movement and Pivoting Techniques

Topic D: Examine Data Exfiltration Techniques

Topic E: Examine Anti-Forensics Techniques

Lesson 6: Manage Vulnerabilities in the Organization

Topic A: Implement a Vulnerability Management Plan

Topic B: Examine Common Vulnerabilities

Topic C: Conduct Vulnerability Scans

Lesson 7: Evaluate Security by Implementing Penetration Testing

Topic A: Conduct Penetration Tests on Network Assets

Topic B: Follow Up on Penetration Testing

Lesson 8: Collecting Cybersecurity Intelligence

Topic A: Deployment of a Security Intelligence Collection and Analysis Platform

Topic B: Data Collection from Network-Based Intelligence Sources

Topic C: Data Collection from Host-Based Intelligence Sources

Lesson 9: Analyze Log Data

Topic A: Common Tools to Analyze Logs 

Topic B: SIEM Tools for Analysis

Lesson 10: Performing Active Asset and Network Analysis

Topic A: Analyze Incidents using Windows-Based Tools

Topic B: Analyze Incidents using Linux-Based Tools

Topic C: Analyze Malware

Topic D: Analyze Indicators of Compromise

Lesson 11: Response to Cybersecurity Incidents

Topic A: Deployment of Incident Handling and Response Architecture

Topic B: Containment and Mitigation of Incidents

Topic C: Preparation for Forensic Investigation as a CSIRT

Lesson 12: Investigating Cybersecurity Incidents

Topic A: Use a Forensic Investigation Plan

Topic B: Securely Collect and Analyze Electronic Evidence

Topic C: Follow Up on the Results of an Investigation

Hardware

For this course, you will need one Windows Server® 2016 computer and one Windows® 10 computer for each student and for the instructor. Make sure that each computer meets the classroom hardware specifications: Windows Server 2016

•  2 gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit processor.
•  4 gigabytes (GB) of Random Access Memory (RAM).

Windows 10

 2 GHz 64-bit processor that supports the VT-x or AMD-V virtualization instruction set and Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).

 8 GB of RAM. This client will host a Linux® virtual machine.

Both Computers

•  80 GB storage device or larger.
•  Super VGA (SVGA) or higher resolution monitor capable of a screen resolution of at least 1,024 × 768 pixels, at least a 256-colour display, and a video adapter with at least 4 MB of memory.
•  Bootable DVD-ROM or USB drive. 
•  Keyboard and mouse or a compatible pointing device.
•  Gigabit Ethernet adapter (10/100/1000BaseT) and cabling to connect to the classroom network.
•  IP addresses that do not conflict with other portions of your network.
•  Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
•  (Instructor computer only) A display system to project the instructor's computer screen.
•  (Optional) A network printer for the class to share.

Software

Microsoft® Windows Server® 2016 Standard Edition with sufficient licenses.

Microsoft® Windows® 10 Professional 64-bit with sufficient licenses.

Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 require activation unless you have volume-licensing agreements. There is a grace period for activation. If the duration of your class will exceed the activation grace period (for example, if you are teaching the class over the course of an academic semester), you should activate the installations at some point before the grace period expires. Otherwise, the operating systems may stop working before the class ends.

•  Microsoft® Office 2016 or an open-source alternative such as LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice™.
•  Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 8 or higher.
•  If preferred, a third-party browser such as Google Chrome™ or Mozilla® Firefox®.
•  If preferred, a third-party PDF reader such as Adobe® Acrobat® Reader.
•  Kali Linux™ version 2018.2.

The steps to download the Kali Linux system image are described in the course setup that follows. Note that the URL path to this download may have changed after this course was written.

•  Miscellaneous software that is not included in the course data files due to licensing restrictions:
•  Process Explorer version 16.21 (procexp.exe).
•  Splunk® Enterprise version 7.0.2 (Splunk-7.0.2-03bbabbd5c0f-x64-release.msi).
•  Log Parser version 2.2 (LogParser.msi).
•  Log Parser Studio version 2.0 (LPSDV2.D2.zip).

The steps to download these tools are described in the course setup that follows. Note that the URL paths to these downloads may have changed after this course was written.

The activities in this course were written to the versions of the software noted previously. If new versions of these tools have been released when you present this course, make sure to test them with their corresponding activities to note any keying discrepancies. Miscellaneous software that is included in the course data files:

•  Oracle® VM VirtualBox version 5.1.30 (VirtualBox-5.1.30-118389-Win.exe). 
•  Wireshark version 2.0.1 (Wireshark-win64-2.0.1.exe).
•  Snort® version 2.9.8.0 (Snort_2_9_8_0_Installer.exe).
•  icmpsh (icmpsh.zip). • Greenbone Security Manager Community Edition version 4.1.7 (gsm_ce_4.1.7.iso)
•  XAMPP version 5.6.15 (xampp-win32-5.6.15-1-VC11-installer.exe).
•  SeaMonster version 5 (SeaMonster5_win32.x86.zip).
•  OpenSSH for Windows version 7.1 (setupssh-7.1p2-1.exe).
•  PuTTY version 0.67 (putty.exe).

VirtualBox, Wireshark, Snort, icmpsh, and Greenbone Security Manager are distributed with the course data files under version 2 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). XAMPP is distributed under version 3 of the GNU GPL. SeaMonster is distributed under version 3 of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). OpenSSH for Windows is distributed with the course data files under a Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) license. PuTTY is distributed with the course data files under the MIT License.