TN-965 Windows Security Automation with Powershell

Course Overview:

PowerShell is made for Security Operations (SecOps) automation on Windows. SecOps requires automation in order to scale out security changes and monitoring beyond a handful of hosts. For example, when a vulnerability must be remediated but there is no patch for it yet, automation is needed to quickly and consistently enact the changes necessary. PowerShell “remoting” is encrypted remote command execution of PowerShell scripts in a way that can scale to thousands of endpoints and servers.

Imagine being able to hunt for indicators of compromise across thousands of machines with just a few lines of PowerShell code. Or imagine having the local Administrator account password reset every night on thousands of endpoints in a secure way, and being able to retrieve that password securely too.

We will show you to do these tasks and more. Transcription logging for forensics, strong encryption code signing, application whitelisting of scripts, IPSec port control, and Just Enough Admin (JEA).

As more and more of our systems are moved up to the cloud, PowerShell will become even more important. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Hyper-V and VMware already support PowerShell administration for many tasks.

Attendees to TN-965: Windows Security Automation with PowerShell will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

Date/Time	Event
01/06/2025 - 01/10/2025 08:00 -16:00	TN-965 Windows Security Automation with Powershell TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
04/28/2025 - 05/02/2025 08:00 -16:00	TN-965 Windows Security Automation with Powershell TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
07/07/2025 - 07/11/2025 08:00 -16:00	TN-965 Windows Security Automation with Powershell TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX
11/03/2025 - 11/07/2025 08:00 -16:00	TN-965 Windows Security Automation with Powershell TechNow, Inc, San Antonio TX

Duration: 5 days

Intended Audience
This course is intended for IT Professionals already experienced in general Windows Server and Windows Client administration or already experienced in administering and supporting Application servers and services including applications like Exchange, SharePoint, and SQL. It is broadly intended for students who want to use Windows PowerShell to automate administrative tasks from the command line, using any Microsoft or independent software vendor (ISV) product that supports Windows PowerShell manageability.

Course Objectives:

PowerShell Overview and Tips

- Getting started running commands
- Using and updating the built-in help
- Execution policies
- Fun tricks with the ISE graphical editor
- Piping .NET and COM objects, not text
- Using properties and methods of objects
- Helping Linux admins feel more at home
- Aliases, cmdlets, functions, modules, etc.
- Customizing your profile script

What Can We Do With PowerShell

- PowerShell remote command execution
- Fan-out remoting and security
- File copy via PowerShell remoting
- Capturing the output of commands
- Parsing text files and logs with regex patterns
- Searching remote event logs faster with XPath
- Mounting the registry as a drive
- Exporting data to CSV, HTML and JSON files
- Parsing and mining nmap port scanner XML output
- Running scripts as scheduled jobs
- Pushing out scripts through Group Policy
- Importing modules and dot-sourcing functions
- http://www.PowerShellGallery.com

Write your own scripts

- Writing your own functions
- Passing arguments into your scripts
- Function parameters and returning output
- Flow control: if-then, do-while, foreach, switch
- The .NET Framework class library: a playground
- How to pipe data in/out of your scripts

Continuous Secure Configuration Enforcement

- How to use Group Policy and PowerShell together
- Automate with INF security templates
- How to customize INF templates
- Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM)
- SECEDIT.EXE scripting
- Building an in-house security repository for SecOps/DevOps
- NSA’s Secure Host Baseline GPOs

Group Policy Precision Targeting

- Managing Group Policy Objects (GPOs) with PowerShell
- LSDOU, Block Inheritance, Enforced GPOs
- Group Policy permissions for targeting changes
- ADMX templates for mass registry editing
- Deploying PowerShell startup and logon scripts
- WMI item-level targeting of GPO preferences
- GPO scheduled tasks to run PowerShell scripts
- Remote command execution via GPO (not remoting)
- Empowering the Hunt Team to fight back!

Server Hardening for SecOps/DevOps

- Server Manager scripting with PowerShell
- Adding and removing roles and feature
- Remotely inventory roles, features, and apps
- Why Server Nano or Server Core
- Running PowerShell automatically after service failure
- Service account identities, passwords, and risks
- Tools to reset service account passwords securely

PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC)

- DSC is Configuration Management built in for free
- Using DSC for continuous reinforcement of settings
- Writing your own DSC configuration scripts
- Free DSC resource modules: www.PowerShellGallery.com
- How to push DSC configurations to many targets
- DSC background job processing in push mode
- Examples: sync files, install roles, manage groups
- Auditing a remote target against a DSC MOF template
- “ApplyAndAutoCorrect” mode for continuous enforcement

PowerShell Just Enough Admin (JEA)

- JEA is Windows sudo, like on Linux
- JEA is Windows setuid root, like on Linux
- Restricting commands and arguments
- Verbose transcription logging
- How to set up and configure JEA
- Privilege Access Workstations (PAWs)

PowerShell and WMI

- Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service
- What is WMI and why do hackers abuse it so much?
- Using PowerShell to query WMI CIM classes
- WMI authentication and traffic encryption
- Inventory operating system versions and installed software
- WMI remote command execution versus PowerShell remoting
- PowerShell security best practices
- PowerShell transcription logging to catch hackers

Prerequisites:

Previous Windows Server and Windows Client management knowledge and hands on experience.
Experience installing and configuring Windows Server into existing enterprise environments, or as standalone installations.
Knowledge and experience of network adapter configuration, basic Active Directory user administration, and basic disk configuration.
Knowledge and hands on experience specifically with Windows Server 2012/Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8/Windows 8.1 would be of benefit but is not essential.

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TN-989: Advanced Penetration Testing, Exploits, and Ethical Hacking Course

Course Overview:

This course engages students by providing in-depth knowledge of the most prominent and powerful attack vectors and an environment to perform these attacks in numerous hands-on scenarios. This course goes far beyond simple scanning for low-hanging fruit, and shows penetration testers how to model the abilities of an advanced attacker to find significant flaws in a target environment and demonstrate the business risk associated with these flaws.

A skills focus enables the student to better absorb the subject matter and perform successfully on the job. This is not death by power point. The course is aligned with information assurance operators and executing hands-on labs. Lecture and labs walk the student through the knowledge required to truly understand the mechanics of the attacks and the effectiveness.

Attendees to TN-989: Advanced Penetration Testing, Exploits, and Ethical Hacking course will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Course Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

Accessing the Network
Advanced Fuzzing Techniques
Advanced Stack Smashing
Attacking the Windows Domain – Enumeration
Attacking the Windows Domain – Restricted Desktops
Attacking the Windows Domain – The Attacks
Building a Metasploit Module
Crypto for Penetration Testers
Exploiting the Network
Fuzzing Introduction and Operation
Introduction to Memory and Dynamic Linux Memory
Introduction to Windows Exploitation
Manipulating the Network
Python and Scapy For Penetration Testers
Shellcode
Smashing the Stack
Windows Heap Overflow Introduction
Windows Overflows

Course Prerequisites:

GSEC or equivalent experience
UNIX, Windows, Networking, and Security Experience
This is a hands-on skill course requiring comfort with command line interaction and network communications

Comments

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User: ryanv

Instructor comments: Great.

Facilities comments: N/A. Hotel.

User: sean.hollinger

Instructor comments: Instructor is technically knowledgeable as he has been on every course I've taken with TechNow.

Facilities comments: adequate

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Linux

Here are our Linux course offerings:

Test2

http://technow.www162-254-253-232.a2hosted.com/palo-alto-firewall-essentials-fasttrack-training-class-course-pa-215/

Course Overview:

PA-215: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Essentials FastTrack Training Class is a five-day course that teaches students to configure and manage the entire line of Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls. Through hands-on training, students learn high end skills of how to integrate Palo Alto next-generation firewalls into their network infrastructure.This is not a virtualized theoretical course. This is hands-on, real world instruction, directly relevant to the DoD and Commercial implementations of Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls.

Each student is issued a physical Palo Alto firewall and a Cisco layer 3 switch at their desk. Real hardware per student for real experience and real skill development. TechNow provides a very comprehensive client infrastructure that includes Windows, Linux, and multiple packet sniffer agents.

This course sets up the foundation for the two day course PA-222: Palo Alto Networks Panorama Essentials.

The instructor for this course has been a lead in Unix kernel development to implement firewall and intrusion detection technologies. Additionally, the instructor has taught several security appliance products and carries several SANS, Cisco, Unix, and Windows certifications.

Attendees to the PA-215: Palo Alto Firewall Essentials FastTrack Training Course will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration 5 days

Course Objectives:

Students attending this foundational-level training course will gain an in-depth knowledge of how to configure and manage their Palo Alto Networks firewall, including hands-on experience in configuring the security, networking, threat prevention, logging, and reporting features of the Palo Alto Networks Operating System (PAN-OS).

Day 1 Module 0 – Introduction & Overview Module 1 – Administration & Management Configuration Management PAN-OS & Software Updates Service Route Configuration Log Forwarding GUI, CLI, and API Module 2 – Interface Configuration L2 & L3 Vwire Tap Interface Management in Security Zones VLANs QoS	Day 2 Module 3 – Layer 3 Configuration L3 Configuration and DHCP NAT DNS Proxy Policy Based Forwarding in Introduction to IPv6 Module 4 – App-ID App-ID Process Policy Administration Module 5 – Content-ID Antivirus Anti-spyware Vulnerability URL Filtering File Blocking and Wildfire Data Filtering DoS Protection Botnet
Day 3 Module 6 – VM Firewall Downlaod VM Template Configure ESXi Configure VM Module 7 – Decryption SSL Inbound and Outbound Module 8 – Custom Signatures Defining New Application Signatures Application Override Custom Threat ID	Day 4 Module 9 – User-ID User-ID Agent Terminal Server Agent XML API Captive Portal Module 10 – VPN and GlobalProtect Psec Tunnels GlobalProtect Agent Portal Gateway HIP
Day 5 Module 11 – High Availability Active/Passive Active/Active Module 12 – Panorama Device Groups & Objects Shared Policy Configuration Management Reporting

Prerequisites:

Security+, Network+, CCNA and networking experience is recommended.

This course is in no way associated with Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

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P-325: Python Programming

Course Overview:

This is an introductory course into the Python scripting language. This class uses a hands-on approach in teaching the Python language. This course builds the prerequisite skills for TechNow's P-345: Python for Pentration Testers course. Getting comfortable with Python is important to understanding how Python can be utilitized for offensive measures.

This course is hands-on with the instructor walking the students through many short examples to exemplify an objective. Dexterity with the language comes through many small code examples to produce the desired result. Students have fun acquiring points for all the code examples they get correct. We must be having fun because TechNow is always amazed at how competitive students are in trying to acquire the most points!

The instructor will focus on the level that each student is currently at, and ensure the student absorbs the subject matter. Programming is not a daily tasking of administrators or offensive operators and TechNow understands that. As an instructor led course TechNow is very successful in making Python accessible to those who do not live eat and breath programming. If a student's ultimate goal is to attend a course like TechNow's P-345: Python for Pentration Testers course, then not being bogged down in the Python language is critical, and this course (P-325: Python Programming) meets that objective.

Recently we have introduced Raspberry Pi's and multiple sensors to the P-325: Python Programming course. This enables the student to actually see productive results from their coding skills in the physical world! Some examples that students create programs for are: Motion detectors, distance, temperature, cameras and keypads.

Attendees to P-325: Python Programming will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 Days

Course Objectives:

How Python Runs Programs
Introducing Python Object Types
- Numeric Types
- Dynamic Typing
Variables
Regular Expressions
Strings
Conditionals
- if Tests and Syntax Rules
Lists and Dictionaries
Tuples and Files
Introducing Python Statements
Assignments, Expressions, and Prints
while and for Loops
Iterations and Comprehensions
Documentation
Function Basics
Built-In Functions
Scopes
Arguments
Modules
Module Packages and Importing
Classes and OOP
Operator Overloading
Recursion
Exception Coding Details
Exception Objects
Unicode and Byte Strings
Working with Raspberry Pi
- Writing code for sensors

Prerequisites:

Experience with some form of programming is preferred

Comments

Latest comments from students

User: slewis8435

Instructor comments: Very good instructor - he was excited about the material, very knowledgeable, and explained things clearly.

Facilities comments: The facilities were fine - plenty of room for each student to set up an extra computer and have room for note taking

User: nathan.karras

Instructor comments: Instructor was extremely knowledgeable in programming and scripting. He encouraged students to explore and ask questions. He would work with individuals to troubleshoot lab problems sets. Would highly recommend as an instructor.

Facilities comments: Room got a little warn. Instructor purchased fans to cool things off for the class. Projector had over scan.