Practical Cyber Threat Hunting: Purple Team Techniques

Cyber threat hunting has emerged as a crucial skill in modern cybersecurity, especially for professionals looking to join Blue or Purple Teams. This Practical Cyber Threat Hunting course offers an in-depth look at how to proactively search for advanced persistent threats (APTs) and conduct incident response. Designed for aspiring threat hunters, this course is packed with real-life attack scenarios, practical techniques, and hands-on training.

What You’ll Learn:

1. Network and Memory Forensics: Gain critical skills in both network and memory forensics, essential for detecting and analyzing malicious activity on systems.
2. Threat Hunting Using ELK: Understand how to conduct threat hunting using the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) to monitor, detect, and investigate security incidents.
3. Incident Response for Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs): Learn the process of identifying and responding to APTs, a sophisticated form of cyber threat that often evades traditional security measures.
4. Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI): Become familiar with key concepts in CTI, such as Indicators of Compromise (IOC), Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), and how to leverage the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

Course Overview:

Module 1: Real-Life Attack Simulation

This module kicks off with an adversary simulation in a demo lab, giving students a hands-on understanding of how attackers operate in real-world scenarios. Topics include:

• Cyber Threat Intelligence: Learn about different sources and types of threat intelligence, how to use IOCs, and the Cyber Kill Chain Model.
• Security Monitoring & SIEM: Understand why monitoring and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) infrastructures are critical for detecting cyber threats.

Module 2: Analyzing Real Attack Techniques

In the second module, you’ll dive into real attack techniques such as:

• SQL Injection, Buffer Overflow, and SSH Tunneling: Explore these common attack vectors and learn how to analyze them from a forensic standpoint.
• PCAP Analysis: Learn how to collect and analyze full packet capture (PCAP) data to detect web attacks, remote code execution (RCE), and malicious tunnels.

Module 3: Memory Forensics & Process Injection

Memory forensics is crucial for detecting advanced malware that hides in a system’s memory. In this module, you’ll cover:

• Windows Processes & Process Injection: Learn about process hollowing, PE injection, and thread injection, along with tools and techniques to dump and analyze memory samples.
• Real-World Case Studies: Analyze the memory images of infamous malware like Stuxnet, Cridex, Zeus, and Darkcomet RAT, using these real-world examples to develop your forensic investigation skills.

Module 4: Threat Hunting Over ELK

In the final module, you’ll learn how to perform threat hunting over ELK, a popular open-source tool for log management and threat detection:

• Event ID Analysis: Understand which event IDs are commonly used for hunting and how to analyze logs to detect malicious activities such as the presence of malicious Word documents, hta files, unsigned executables, and VBScript files.
• Persistence Techniques: Detect and investigate common persistence techniques such as registry modifications, scheduled tasks, and services.
• MITRE ATT&CK Mapping: Learn how to map attack techniques using the MITRE ATT&CK framework for better threat detection and response.

Additionally, you’ll get hands-on practice with Google Rapid Response and Osquery, tools widely used for incident response and endpoint monitoring.

Requirements:

To get the most out of this course, students should have a basic understanding of:

• TCP/IP Networking: Fundamental knowledge of how networks function.
• Attack Techniques: Familiarity with SQL injection, remote code execution (RCE), and other common cyberattacks.

Who This Course is For:

This course is ideal for individuals who aim to become members of a Blue or Purple Team, with roles such as:

• Threat Intelligence Analyst: Specialize in identifying and analyzing threat actors and their methodologies.
• Incident Responder: Focus on responding to and mitigating security incidents in real-time.
• Threat Hunter: Proactively search for and neutralize advanced cyber threats within networks and systems.

Conclusion: A Hands-On Approach to Threat Hunting

The Practical Cyber Threat Hunting course provides a comprehensive learning experience, offering both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. By the end of the course, you will have a solid understanding of how to detect, investigate, and respond to cyber threats using tools like ELK, PCAP analysis, and memory forensics. Whether you’re new to cybersecurity or looking to enhance your skills, this course is a valuable resource for building expertise in threat hunting and incident response.

Ready to become a cyber threat hunter? Enroll now and take your first step towards mastering Purple Team techniques!