SEC565: Red Team Operations and Adversary Emulation

The concepts and exercises in this course are built on the fundamentals of offensive security. An understanding of general penetration testing concepts and tools is encouraged, and a background in security fundamentals will provide a solid foundation upon which to build Red Team concepts.

Many of the Red Team concepts taught in this course are suitable for anyone in the security community. Both technical staff as well as management personnel will be able to gain a deeper understanding of Red Team exercises and adversary emulations.

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 likely leave the class unsatisfied because you will not be able to participate in hands-on exercises that are essential to this course. Therefore, we strongly urge you to arrive with a system meeting all the requirements specified for the course.

It is critical that you back up your system before class. It is also strongly advised that you not bring a system storing any sensitive data.

CPU

64-bit Intel i5/i7 2.0+ GHz processor

CRITICAL NOTE: Apple systems using the M1 processor line cannot perform the necessary virtualization functionality and therefore cannot in any way be used for this course.

Your system's processor must be a 64-bit Intel i5 or i7 2.0 GHz processor or higher. To verify on Windows 10, press Windows key + I to open Settings, then click System, then About. Your processor information will be listed near the bottom of the page. To verify on a Mac, click the Apple logo at the top left-hand corner of your display and then click About this Mac.

BIOS

• Enabled Intel-VT
• Intel's VT (VT-x) hardware virtualization technology must be enabled in your system's BIOS or UEFI settings. You must be able to access your system's BIOS to enable this setting in order to complete lab exercises. If your BIOS is password-protected, you must have the password. This is absolutely required.

RAM

• 16 GB RAM is highly recommended for the best experience. To verify on Windows 10, press Windows key + I to open Settings, then click System, then About. Your RAM information will be toward the bottom of the page. To verify on a Mac, click the Apple logo at the top left-hand corner of your display and then click About this Mac.

Hard Drive Free Space

• 100 GB of FREE space on the hard drive is critical to host the VMs and additional files we distribute. SSD drives are also highly recommended, as they allow virtual machines to run much faster than mechanical hard drives.

Operating System

• Your system must be running either the latest version of Windows 10, macOS 10.15.x or later, or Linux that also can install and run VMware virtualization products described below.

Additional Software Requirements

VMware Player Install

• VMware Workstation Player 16, VMware Fusion 12, or VMware Workstation 16
• Install VMware Player 16, VMware Fusion 12, or VMware Workstation 16. Older versions will not work for this course. Choose the version compatible with your host OS. If you do not own a licensed copy of VMware Workstation or Fusion, 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 on its website. VMware Workstation Player is a free download that does not need a commercial license but has fewer features than Workstation. THIS IS CRITICAL: Other virtualization products, such as Hyper-V and VirtualBox, are not supported and will not work with the course material.

If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact laptop_prep@sans.org.

"Organizations are maturing their security testing programs to include Red Team engagements and adversary emulations. These engagements provide a holistic view of an organization's security posture by emulating a realistic adversary to test security assumptions, measure the effectiveness of people, processes, and technology, and improve detection and prevention controls. This course will teach you how to plan Red Team engagements, leverage threat intelligence to map against adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures, build a Red Team program and plan, execute a Red Team engagement with a strong emphasis on operational security and tradecraft, and report and analyze the results. Direct application of the lessons in this course will give Red Team operators the skills necessary to improve the overall security posture of an organization."

- Barrett Darnell

"With this course we provide students with a blueprint they can use to set up a realistic Red Team operation against a client environment. Students will be able to consume threat intelligence, formulate a plan of attack, execute it, and ultimately create a debrief package that will provide maximum value for their organization. This course truly brings together a wide variety of knowledge and aims to equip the students with state-of-the-art tradecraft, keeping up to date with the latest and greatest TTPs. No other course brings together such a wide variety of knowledge of all things Red Team."

- Jean-Françis Maes