Challenge: Spiny Shell

Course

You receive an alert about a suspicious command execution on a Windows endpoint. Early analysis suggests PowerShell has not locked down appropriately. Can you validate if anything malicious is underway? Now that you have some basic information discovered, dive deeper into the suspicious command to identify the attacker's infrastructure and setup!
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0

H

30

M
Time

intermediate

i
Designed for learners who have no prior work experience in IT or Cybersecurity, but are interested in starting a career in this exciting field.
Designed for learners with prior cybersecurity work experience who are interested in advancing their career or expanding their skillset.
Designed for learners with a solid grasp of foundational IT and cybersecurity concepts who are interested in pursuing an entry-level security role.
Experience Level

451

Enrollees

200

XP

1

i

Earn qualifying credits for certification renewal with completion certificates provided for submission.
CEU's

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About this course

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Skills you'll gain

Course Outline

1
Module 1: Defense
0
H
50
Min

1.1 Investigate A Suspicious Command

Free

100 XP

H

30m

Module 1: Defense
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Module 1: Introduction
1
Hr
5
Min
1.1 Investigate A Suspicious Command

30m

Module 1: Defense
Course Description

How do you triage and analyze a suspicious PowerShell command?

In this challenge, you will operate in a defensive capacity to investigate this exact scenario:
> - What is the encoding for the base64 character format?
> - What are the three subdomains referenced?
> - What is the first “attack string” file that would aid an attacker?
> - What does the referenced “attack string” in c.ps1 do?
> - What is the $t variable set to?
> - What is the referenced attacker domain?

Who is this for?

> Early to mid-level practitioners operating in an offensive or defensive capacity (advanced practitioners, if looking for some fun). Individuals new to cybersecurity may struggle to complete this as it involves some advanced security concepts.

What resources are available to help solve this challenge?

> Online search, Discord community, colleagues or fellow practitioners.

Are write ups permitted?

> Yes, write ups are permitted; however, please do not post answers directly. All write ups should include an appropriate link back to Cybrary and the Cybrary Course.

Train Your Team

Cybrary’s expert-led cybersecurity courses help your team remediate skill gaps and get up-to-date on certifications. Utilize Cybrary to stay ahead of emerging threats and provide team members with clarity on how to learn, grow, and advance their careers within your organization.

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Included in a Path

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Instructors

Matthew Mullins
Security Researcher - Adversary Emulation
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Learn

Learn core concepts and get hands-on with key skills.

Practice

Exercise your problem-solving and creative thinking skills with security-centric puzzles

Prove

Assess your knowledge and skills to identify areas for improvement and measure your growth

Get Hands-on Learning

Put your skills to the test in virtual labs, challenges, and simulated environments.

Measure Your Progress

Track your skills development from lesson to lesson using the Cybrary Skills Tracker.

Connect with the Community

Connect with peers and mentors through our supportive community of cybersecurity professionals.

Success from Our Learners

"Cybrary really helped me get up to speed and acquire a baseline level of technical knowledge. It offers a far more comprehensive approach than just learning from a book. It actually shows you how to apply cybersecurity processes in a hands-on way"

Don Gates

Principal Systems Engineer/SAIC

"Cybrary’s SOC Analyst career path was the difference maker, and was instrumental in me landing my new job. I was able to show the employer that I had the right knowledge and the hands-on skills to execute the role."

Cory

Cybersecurity analyst/

"I was able to earn my CISSP certification within 60 days of signing up for Cybrary Insider Pro and got hired as a Security Analyst conducting security assessments and penetration testing within 120 days. This certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Cybrary mentor community."

Mike

Security Engineer and Pentester/

"Cybrary really helped me get up to speed and acquire a baseline level of technical knowledge. It offers a far more comprehensive approach than just learning from a book. It actually shows you how to apply cybersecurity processes in a hands-on way"

Don Gates

Principal Systems Engineer/SAIC

"Cybrary’s SOC Analyst career path was the difference maker, and was instrumental in me landing my new job. I was able to show the employer that I had the right knowledge and the hands-on skills to execute the role."

Cory

Cybersecurity analyst/

"I was able to earn my CISSP certification within 60 days of signing up for Cybrary Insider Pro and got hired as a Security Analyst conducting security assessments and penetration testing within 120 days. This certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Cybrary mentor community."

Mike

Security Engineer and Pentester/

"Becoming a Cybrary Insider Pro was a total game changer. Cybrary was instrumental in helping me break into cybersecurity, despite having no prior IT experience or security-related degree. Their career paths gave me clear direction, the instructors had real-world experience, and the virtual labs let me gain hands-on skills I could confidently put on my resume and speak to in interviews."

Cassandra

Information Security Analyst/Cisco Systems

"I was able to earn both my Security+ and CySA+ in two months. I give all the credit to Cybrary. I’m also proud to announce I recently accepted a job as a Cyber Systems Engineer at BDO... I always try to debunk the idea that you can't get a job without experience or a degree."

Casey

Cyber Systems Engineer/BDO

"Cybrary has helped me improve my hands-on skills and pass my toughest certification exams, enabling me to achieve 13 advanced certifications and successfully launch my own business. I love the practice tests for certification exams, especially, and appreciate the wide-ranging training options that let me find the best fit for my goals"

Angel

Founder,/ IntellChromatics.

courses

Challenge: Spiny Shell

You receive an alert about a suspicious command execution on a Windows endpoint. Early analysis suggests PowerShell has not locked down appropriately. Can you validate if anything malicious is underway? Now that you have some basic information discovered, dive deeper into the suspicious command to identify the attacker's infrastructure and setup!
5
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Start Course for FreeNeed to train your team? Learn more
0
H 
30
M
Time
intermediate
difficulty
1
ceu/cpe

Course Content

Course Description

How do you triage and analyze a suspicious PowerShell command?

In this challenge, you will operate in a defensive capacity to investigate this exact scenario:
> - What is the encoding for the base64 character format?
> - What are the three subdomains referenced?
> - What is the first “attack string” file that would aid an attacker?
> - What does the referenced “attack string” in c.ps1 do?
> - What is the $t variable set to?
> - What is the referenced attacker domain?

Who is this for?

> Early to mid-level practitioners operating in an offensive or defensive capacity (advanced practitioners, if looking for some fun). Individuals new to cybersecurity may struggle to complete this as it involves some advanced security concepts.

What resources are available to help solve this challenge?

> Online search, Discord community, colleagues or fellow practitioners.

Are write ups permitted?

> Yes, write ups are permitted; however, please do not post answers directly. All write ups should include an appropriate link back to Cybrary and the Cybrary Course.

This course is part of a Career Path:
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Instructed by

Provider
Cybrary Logo
Certification Body
Certificate of Completion

Complete this entire course to earn a Challenge: Spiny Shell Certificate of Completion

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Start CourseNeed to train your team? Learn More
Start Path for FreeNeed to train your team? Learn More
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Purpose Statement

Cybrary Career Paths are comprehensive training programs designed to prepare you for the most in-demand roles in the cybersecurity workforce. Each path follows a Learn, Practice, Prove model and includes different activity types aligned to key topics within the path’s security domain. As you progress through the path, your progress will be measured in real time using Experience Points (XP) that serve as a comprehensive capability score for each topic. Upon completing all of the requirements for a path, you will be rewarded with a shareable digital badge via Credly.
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Overview

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Frequently Asked Questions
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What Will I Learn?
Foundations
Focused on the core IT competencies that cybersecurity professionals need to succeed in any career path.
Defensive Security
Focused on trying to find the bad guys. Topics such as threat intelligence, threat hunting, network monitoring, incident response. Defensive security is a reactive measure taken once a vulnerability is found through prevention, detection, and response.
Engineering and Operations
Focused on building and operating information systems.
Governance, Risk, and Compliance
Focused on the core IT competencies that cybersecurity professionals need to succeed in any career path.
Leadership and Management
Focused on program design and oversight. Covers project and program management.
Offensive Security
Focused on validating security controls by trying to break them (i.e. penetration testing or ethical hacking). Topics such as Kali Linux, metasploit, scanning, and privilege escalation. Offensive security seeks out the problem or vulnerability through ethical hacking and finds a solution to disable the operation.
Offensive Security
Focused on the core IT competencies that cybersecurity professionals need to succeed in any career path.
Path Outline

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Course Outline

What Our Learners Are Saying

Join 3 million+ users, including 96% of Fortune 1000 companies who use our platform to upskill their teams. See what the buzz is about - start learning for free!

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