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-812: Information Systems Security Engineering Professional (ISSEP)

Course Overview:

This concentration was developed in conjunction with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) providing an invaluable tool for any systems security engineering professional. CISSP®-ISSEP is the guide for incorporating security into projects, applications, business processes, and all information systems. Security professionals are hungry for workable methodologies and best practices that can be used to integrate security into all facets of business operations. The SSE model taught in the IATF portion of the course is a guiding light in the field of information security and the incorporation of security into all information systems.

Attendees to TN-812: Information Systems Secuirty Engineering Professional (ISSEP) will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 Days

Course Objectives:

  • Systems Security Engineering
  • Certification and Accreditation
  • Technical Management
  • U.S. Government Information Assurance Governance

Prerequisites:

Comments

Latest comments from students

User: fsarisen

Instructor comments: Thank you Tim for all the great information! I am confident that I'll do well on the ICND exam.

User: storoy30

Instructor comments: The instructor, Tim Burkard, was very knowledgeable on the course material and skilled at explain more complex ideas.

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N-455: Securing Networks with ASA Fundamentals (SNAF)

Course Overview:

In this course, you will gain the knowledge and skills needed to configure, maintain, and operate Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliance.

Attendees to N-455: Securing Networks with ASA Fundamentals (SNAF) will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 Days

Course Objectives:

  • Introducing Cisco Security Appliance Technology and Features
  • Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and PIX Security Appliance Families
  • Getting Started with Cisco Security Appliances
  • Essential Security Appliance Configuration
  • Configuring Translations and Connection Limits
  • Using ACLS and Content Filtering
  • Configuring Object Grouping
  • Switching and Routing on Security Appliances
  • Configuring AAA for Cut-Through Proxy
  • Configuring the Cisco Modular Policy Framework
  • Configuring Advanced Protocol Handling
  • Configuring Threat Detection
  • Configuring Site-to-Site VPNS Using PreShared Keys
  • Configuring Security Appliance Remote Access VPNs
  • Configuring Cisco Security Appliance for SSL VPN
  • Configuring Transparent Firewalls Mode
  • Configuring Security Contexts
  • Configuring Failover
  • Managing Security Appliances

Prerequisites:

 

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TN-905: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analysis

 

Course Overview:

TechNow has worked worldwide enterprise infrastructures for over 30 years and has developed demos and labs to exemplify the techniques required to demonstrate technologies that effectively support CTI.  This course integrates well with our courses TN-575: Open Source Network Security Monitoring and TN-865: Wireshark Network Traffic and Security Analysis .

TechNow develops Cyber Ranges and makes them available for conferences in support of annual meetings for Cyber Threat Response Teams.  Developing scenarios and reacting to them appropriately is a big part of the value in understanding the contexts required to comprehend valuable CTI.   As with many advanced TechNow security courses, there is a large hands-on ratio.  This course helps Cyber Protection Teams (CPT), Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO), and Mission Defense Teams (MDT) to collect, analyze and apply targeted cyber intelligence to defensive operations in order to proactively act on and tune response to attacks by cyber adversaries.  CPT, DCO, and MDT can take preemptive action by utilizing CTI, understanding CTI tools, techniques and procedures (TTPs) needed to generate and consume timely and relevant intelligence to improve resilience and prevention.

This course focuses on the collection, classification, and exploitation of knowledge about adversaries and their TTPs. .  MDT puts us close the mission and helps define the internal context to be analyzed against the CTI.  TechNow pushes the student to truly understand how to think about and use CTI to make a difference.

Attendees to TN-905: Cyber Threat Intelligence Analysis will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Course Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Learn to comprehend and develop complex scenarios
  • Identify and create intelligence requirements through practices such as threat modeling
  • Utilize threat modeling to drive intelligence handling and practices 
  • Breakdown tactical, operational, and strategic-level threat intelligence
  • Generate threat intelligence to detect, respond to, and defeat focused and targeted threats
  • How to collect adversary information creating better value CTI
  • How to filter and qualify external sources, mitigating low integrity intelligence
  • Create Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) in formats such as YARA, OpenIOC, and STIX
  • Move security maturity past IOCs into understanding and countering the behavioral tradecraft of threats
  • Breaking down threats mapped against their tradecraft to tweak IOCs
  • Establish structured analytical techniques to be successful in any security role
  • Learn and apply structured principles in support of CTI and how to communicate that to any security role.

Course Prerequisites:

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TN-999: Reverse Engineering Malware Course

Course Overview:

This course is designed for professionals that are expected to do malware analysis. 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 Reverse Engineering Malware.

Attendees to TN-999: Reverse Engineering Malware will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Toolkit and Lab Assembly
  • Malware Code and Behavioral Analysis Fundamentals
  • Malicious Static and Dynamic Code Analysis
  • Collecting/Probing System and Network Activities
  • Analysis of Malicious Document Files
  • Analyzing Protected Executables
  • Analyzing Web-Based Malware
  • DLL Construction and API Hooking
  • Common Windows Malware Characteristics in x86 Assembly
  • Unpacking Protected Malware
  • In-Depth Analysis of Malicious Browser Scripts, Flash Programs and Office
  • In-Depth Analysis of Malicious Executables
  • Windows x86 Assembly Code Concepts for Revers-Engineering Memory Forensics for Rootkit Analysis

Prerequisites:

  • Strong understanding of core systems and network concepts
  • Exposure to programming and assembly concepts
  • Comfortable with command line access

Comments

Latest comments from students

User: marcus.osullivan

Instructor comments: Good stuff. I like the beginning half where there was help from an additional instructor to facilitate fixing computer errors that inevitably popped up.

Facilities comments: The baby deer were neat! I like the resort.

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