HANDS-ON SECURITY LABS

Build. Test. Investigate.

The Labs section brings together the hands-on environments, experiments, and practical exercises used to turn cybersecurity concepts into working skills.

The environment is built as an integrated security laboratory — combining infrastructure, enterprise systems, defensive activity, telemetry, detection, investigation, automation, and operational validation.

BUILD / TEST Windows Linux Kali enterprise · attack TELEMETRY Sysmon Auditd Suricata Zeek DETECTION Elastic · Wazuh INVESTIGATE TheHive MISP evidence · intelligence RESPOND ✓ Evidence ✓ Response ✓ Validate BUILD → TEST → OBSERVE → INVESTIGATE → RESPOND → VALIDATE SECURITY LAB / CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT PSV

ONE CONNECTED ENVIRONMENT

Integrated Lab Architecture

The laboratory is designed as one connected environment, where activity in one part of the lab can become telemetry, evidence, and investigation elsewhere.

EXTERNAL Internet / WAN Controlled connectivity
↓
NETWORK CONTROL pfSense Routing · Segmentation · Firewall
ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT
Windows Active Directory · Clients
Linux Servers · Services
ATTACK ENVIRONMENT
Kali Linux Security testing
Simulation Controlled activity
SERVICES
Applications Lab services
Infrastructure Core services
SECURITY VISIBILITY
System Activity Endpoints & network
Telemetry Sysmon · Auditd · Suricata · Zeek
Centralization Agents · Beats · Log pipeline
SECURITY OPERATIONS
Elastic Security SIEM & analytics
Wazuh Endpoint security
Suricata / Zeek Network visibility
TheHive / MISP Cases & intelligence
BUILD → ATTACK → DETECT → INVESTIGATE → RESPOND → VALIDATE

Exact virtual networks, addressing, host configuration, and deployment procedures are documented inside the individual laboratory phases.

30 PHASES

The Seven Lab Areas

The complete laboratory is organized into seven connected areas covering the build, operation, testing, investigation, and validation of the environment.

01 PHASES 01–06 Foundation & Lab Platform Build the host platform, virtualization environment, storage, networking, and base operating systems. View phases
01 · Host Platform Preparation 02 · VMware Workstation Pro Installation & Configuration 03 · Lab Storage & Project Organization 04 · Virtual Network Infrastructure 05 · Base Operating System Installation 06 · Base Operating System Configuration
02 PHASES 07–10 Enterprise Infrastructure Establish identity, Windows and Linux systems, services, clients, and the infrastructure required for security operations. View phases
07 · Active Directory & Core Services 08 · Enterprise Server Configuration 09 · Windows Client Deployment 10 · Linux Server Configuration
03 PHASES 11–16 Security Visibility & SOC Introduce SIEM, endpoint telemetry, network monitoring, EDR, centralized logging, and SOC platform capabilities. View phases
11 · SIEM Platform Installation 12 · Endpoint Telemetry Collection 13 · Network Security Monitoring 14 · Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) 15 · Log Collection & Centralization 16 · SOC Platform Configuration
04 PHASES 17–19 Offensive Security & Simulation Build the controlled offensive environment and generate security activity that can be observed and investigated. View phases
17 · Penetration Testing Platform 18 · Vulnerable Lab Targets 19 · Attack Simulation
05 PHASES 20–22 Detection, Investigation & Hunting Turn telemetry into detections, investigations, and practical threat-hunting workflows. View phases
20 · Detection Engineering 21 · Incident Investigation 22 · Threat Hunting
06 PHASES 23–27 Threat Intelligence, Automation & Resilience Connect intelligence, optional cyber-fraud activity, automation, monitoring, backup, and recovery. View phases
23 · Threat Intelligence Integration 24 · Cyber Fraud Environment (Optional) 25 · Security Automation 26 · Monitoring & Health Checks 27 · Backup & Recovery
07 PHASES 28–30 Validation, Capstone & Operations Validate the environment, bring the components together, exercise the resulting capability, and maintain it operationally. View phases
28 · Enterprise Validation 29 · Capstone Exercises 30 · Operations & Maintenance

THE LAB ENVIRONMENT

Explore the complete laboratory phases and detailed implementation documentation inside the Labs Vault.
EXPLORE LAB PHASES →