SEC673: Advanced Information Security Automation with Python

Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions.

A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will not be able to fully participate in hands-on exercises in your course. Therefore, please arrive with a system meeting all of the specified requirements.

Back up your system before class. Better yet, use a system without any sensitive/critical data. SANS is not responsible for your system or data.

Mandatory System Hardware Requirements

• CPU: 64-bit Intel i5/i7 (8th generation or newer), or AMD equivalent. A x64 bit, 2.0+ GHz or newer processor is mandatory for this class.
• CRITICAL: Apple Silicon devices cannot perform the necessary virtualization and therefore cannot in any way be used for this course.
• BIOS settings must be set to enable virtualization technology, such as "Intel-VTx" or "AMD-V" extensions. Be absolutely certain you can access your BIOS if it is password protected, in case changes are necessary.
• 8GB of RAM or more is required.
• 15GB of free storage space or more is required.
• At least one available USB 3.0 Type-A port. A Type-C to Type-A adapter may be necessary for newer laptops. Some endpoint protection software prevents the use of USB devices, so test your system with a USB drive before class.
• Wireless networking (802.11 standard) is required. There is no wired Internet access in the classroom.

Mandatory Host Configuration And Software Requirements

• Your host operating system must be the latest version of Windows 10, Windows 11, or macOS 10.15.x or newer.
• Fully update your host operating system prior to the class to ensure you have the right drivers and patches installed.
• Linux hosts are not supported in the classroom due to their numerous variations. If you choose to use Linux as your host, you are solely responsible for configuring it to work with the course materials and/or VMs.
• Local Administrator Access is required. (Yes, this is absolutely required. Don't let your IT team tell you otherwise.) If your company will not permit this access for the duration of the course, then you should make arrangements to bring a different laptop.
• You should ensure that antivirus or endpoint protection software is disabled, fully removed, or that you have the administrative privileges to do so. Many of our courses require full administrative access to the operating system and these products can prevent you from accomplishing the labs.
• Any filtering of egress traffic may prevent accomplishing the labs in your course. Firewalls should be disabled or you must have the administrative privileges to disable it.
• Download and install VMware Workstation Pro 16.2.X+ or VMware Player 16.2.X+ (for Windows 10 hosts), VMware Workstation Pro 17.0.0+ or VMware Player 17.0.0+ (for Windows 11 hosts), or VMWare Fusion Pro 12.2+ or VMware Fusion Player 11.5+ (for macOS hosts) prior to class beginning. If you do not own a licensed copy of VMware Workstation Pro or VMware Fusion Pro, you can download a free 30-day trial copy from VMware. VMware will send you a time-limited serial number if you register for the trial at their website. Also note that VMware Workstation Player offers fewer features than VMware Workstation Pro. For those with Windows host systems, Workstation Pro is recommended for a more seamless student experience.
• On Windows hosts, VMware products might not coexist with the Hyper-V hypervisor. For the best experience, ensure VMware can boot a virtual machine. This may require disabling Hyper-V. Instructions for disabling Hyper-V, Device Guard, and Credential Guard are contained in the setup documentation that accompanies your course materials.
• Download and install 7-Zip (for Windows Hosts) or Keka (for macOS hosts). These tools are also included in your downloaded course materials.

Your course media is delivered via download. The media files for class can be large. Many are in the 40-50GB range, with some over 100GB. You need to allow plenty of time for the download to complete. Internet connections and speed vary greatly and are dependent on many different factors. Therefore, it is not possible to give an estimate of the length of time it will take to download your materials. Please start your course media downloads as soon as you get the link. You will need your course media immediately on the first day of class. Do not wait until the night before class to start downloading these files.

Your course materials include a "Setup Instructions" document that details important steps you must take before you travel to a live class event or start an online class. It may take 30 minutes or more to complete these instructions.

Your class uses an electronic workbook for its lab instructions. In this new environment, a second monitor and/or a tablet device can be useful for keeping class materials visible while you are working on your course's labs.

If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact customer service.

SEC673 training is recommended for a diverse range of individuals, including:

• Security professionals who know how to code in Python and are ready to take their coding skills to the next level
• Tool developers who want to be able to publish installable and easy-to-use Python packages
• Network defenders who want to be able to extend the capability of popular Python packages to create new detection capabilities
• Security professionals who need their tools to run faster by adding multi-processing and multi-threading capabilities

• A USB containing a virtual machine filled with sample code and working examples
• MP3 audio files of the complete course lecture

This course teaches advanced Python coding skills. You are not required to have taken SEC573: Automating Information Security with Python, but there will be an assumption that you understand all of the skills taught in the class. Those skills include using built-in data types, for loops, while loops, Bytes, UTF-8, File IO, regular expressions, Scapy, and basic exception handling as well as writing functions and developing a single file module.

SEC673 is part of the Cyber Defense curriculum. It’s an Advanced defense course focused on arming you with the skills to harder specific defenses. Other Advanced Defense courses include SEC595, which covers Applied Data Science, and SEC566, which covers the CIS Controls.

Python is one of the most widely used programming languages in cybersecurity due to its simplicity, flexibility, and extensive libraries. It enables security professionals to automate tasks, analyze data, develop security tools, and even exploit vulnerabilities in ethical hacking scenarios.

Python is essential for cybersecurity for a number of reasons:

• Automation – Speeds up tasks like log analysis, network scanning, and malware detection.
• Penetration Testing – Helps ethical hackers develop custom scripts for exploits.
• Forensic Analysis – Extracts and analyzes data from logs, memory, and disk images.
• Threat Intelligence – Collects and processes security threat data.
• Reverse Engineering – Decompiles and analyzes malware behavior.

SEC673: Advanced Information Security Automation with Python is designed for cybersecurity professionals looking to enhance their skills in security automation, threat analysis, and offensive security. Here’s how this course can benefit your career:

• Automate Security Tasks – Save time, reduce errors, and improve efficiency.
• Enhance Offensive Security – Build custom penetration testing and red teaming tools.
• Strengthen Threat Detection – Automate malware analysis, log review, and threat hunting.
• Boost Career Prospects – Python automation skills are in high demand.
• Advance to Senior Roles – Gain expertise for roles like Security Engineer and Threat Hunter.