Palo Alto Networks Firewall Training Course Lab

Working with the TechNow lab for the PA-215: Palo Alto Networks Firewall Essentials FastTrack course has been nothing less than a techie's idea of fun.  When students come in we are immediatly configuring the Cisco 3750 switches for access ports, VLANS, and trunks.  We then cable the switch to the Palo Alto Networks Firewall.  Each student gets their own Palo Alto Firewall Pod of hardware and software.  What we find as fun is the VLAN environment, with an array of virtual machines hosted on an ESXi server that can really exercise the abilities of the Palo Alto Firewall.  The DMZ VLAN hosts virtual machines that support enterprise services and also potentialy vulnerable web services.  The Trust VLAN has Windows and Linux clients.  The UnTrust VLAN has Web services and a VM of Kali. The hardware Firewall is additionally connected to a Management VLAN.  All those VLANs are trunked into an ESXi server where the student also has a VM-Series Palo Alto Networks Firewall for High Availability.  

After configuring all the trunking, VLANs, and network interfaces we learn about the firewall and configure it for the lab environment.  Using Metasploitable and Kali/Metasploit nefarious penetration attempts are executed.  Using packet captures, custom APP-ID's  and custom signatures are generated.  Custom logging and reporting are created to similate and enterprise and assist the desired Incident Response.  It is always fun in a training environment to learn all about the controls available in a product, even though specific controls may not be used in the operational environment.  In the end we have a good understanding of the Palo Alto Networks Firewall.

TN-765: Automating Administration with Windows Powershell

 

Course Overview:

This course provides students with the fundamental knowledge and skills to use PowerShell for administering and automating administration of Windows servers. This course provides students the skills to identify and build the command they require to perform a specific task. In addition, students learn how to build scripts to accomplish advanced tasks such as automating repetitive tasks and generating reports. This course provides prerequisite skills supporting a broad range of Microsoft products, including Windows Server, Windows Client, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft 365. In keeping with that goal, this course will not focus on any one of those products, although Windows Server, which is the common platform for all of those products, will serve as the example for the techniques this course teaches.

Attendees to TN-765: Automating Administration with Windows Powershell will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Course Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

 

  • Describe the functionality of Windows PowerShell and use it to run and find basic commands
  • Identify and run cmdlets for server administration
  • Work with Windows PowerShell pipeline
  • Describe the techniques Windows PowerShell pipeline uses
  • Use PSProviders and PSDrives to work with other forms of storage
  • Query system information by using WMI and CIM
  • Work with variables, arrays, and hash tables
  • Write basic scripts in Windows PowerShell
  • Write advanced scripts in Windows PowerShell
  • Administer remote computers
  • Use background jobs and scheduled jobs
  • Use advanced Windows PowerShell techniques

 

Course Prerequisites:

 

  • Experience with Windows networking technologies and implementation.
  • Experience with Windows Server administration, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

 

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VM-345: VMware Infrastructure Security: VMware Install, Configure, and Manage with Security Objectives

 

Course Overview:

This course explores the VMware Infrastructure and related security, which consists of VMware ESX Server & VMware Virtual Center Server. We will look at both the design environments and operational processes of the VMware Infrastructure including security. This course provides IT architects with the insight needed to tackle tough issues in server virtualization such as virtual machine technologies, storage infrastructure, and designing clustered environments with security practices included. Extensive hands-on labs provide for a rich student experience.

Hypervisors and their supporting environment require attention to security due to the aggregated risk of hosting multiple virtual servers. This course explores the security of virtualized environments. Student configure ESXi by learning to manage the security and risk between ESXi, virtual servers and security integration of ESXi to the physical network infrastructure including appropriate segregation from other sensitive networks and management networks. How to configure virtual networks when some hosts are dual or multi homed, but internally segregate between the two or more connected networks with different security levels. Appropriate integration of zero-clients and thin clients. Configuration of defensive measures on hosts, servers, hypervisors within the virtual environment and practices for those guarding it externally. Integration of Active Directory and other AAA/CIA related services relative to a virtualized environment.

Students are also walked through DoD ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG). Introduction to the impact of Intel Trusted Execution Technology integrated with ESXi to create a trusted platform for virtual machines. Additionally the instructor walks the students through NIST Special Publication 800-125A: Security Recommendations for Hypervisor Deployment on Servers, and NIST Special Publication 800-125B: Secure Virtual Network Configuration for Virtual Machine (VM) Protection.

Attendees to “VM-345: VMware Infrastructure Security: VMware Install, Configure, and Manage with Security Objectives” will receive TechNow approved course materials and expert instruction.

Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 Days

Course Objectives:

• Virtual Infrastructure Overview
• ESX and ESXi Server Installation
• Configuration of Networking, Scalability and Security
• Storage
• Install and Configure vCenter Server and Components
• Creation, Deployment, Management, and Migration of Virtual Machines
• Utilize vCenter Server for Resource Management
• Utilize vCenter Server for Virtual Machine Access Control and User Managment
• Use vCenter Server to increase scalability
• Monitoring Your Environment
• Data & Availability Protection Troubleshooting
• Use VMware vCenter Update Manager to apply ESXi patches
• Use vCenter Server to manage vMotion, HA, DRS and data protection.

TN-855: Advanced and In-Depth ICD 503 RMF, Controls, and Assessments

Course Overview:

This course is very hands-on with respect to SP 800-53 controls as related to ICD-503, leveraging experience with DCD 6/3, and incorporating a broad array of technologies found in the field.  Assessors and Auditors have to face many technologies that are not part of the main stream.  TechNow has gone to great efforts to build a very broad, comprehensive, and complex lab to simulate many scenarios and architectures.  Technologies such as a network appliance that is not a typical infrastructure product, a radio/satellite communications device, or many other technologies that build up a weapon system.  Students learn how controls are integrated into many different devices and how they fit in the overall security architecture of monitoring, reporting, and compliance testing.

Directly discussed are overlays for different requirements i.e.: tactical, medical, network type: JWICS, SIPR; IC or AF.  TechNow has developed a funnel concept to overlays to exemplify the encapsulation of a control within different requirements.  TechNow has over 15 years experience in Trusted Solaris/Trusted Extensions and labeled security.  Cross Domain overlays are presented that fits the work flow of an assesor.  PII overlays and any overlays that an organization uses and can be made available are also presented.  

This course allows the student to leverage years of experience in DoD DCD 6/34 for transition to the Risk Management Framework (RMF) applied to the Intelligence Community as mandated by ICD 503.  Utilizing NIST SP 800-37 to establish a baseline of RMF knowledge, the student learns how to integrate the NIST pubs to provide cohesive information assurance architectures and compliance.  ICD 503 scorecard evaluations are integral in demonstrating a successful ICD 503 compliance program.  TechNow's ICD 503 course provides students with the skill to assess security programs and evaluate ICD 503 compliance to build an improvement and sustainable program for score consistency.  TechNow's instructors have unparralleled expertise in federal compliance initiatives, and we bring this expertise instructing students on the complete life cycle of RMF.

More than a simple checklist, we instruct students not only how to validate essential security controls, programs, and metrics, but that they are operating effectively.  The student leaves the course knowing how to: identify gaps where controls, programs, or metrics are incomplete, missing or ineffective, and provide actionable findings and recommend remediation strategies.  Students learn to internalize NIST pubs to meaningul and effective IA guidelines and work with the Body of Evidence templates which include: Risk Assessment Report (RAR), Systems Security Plan (SSP), Security Assessment Report (SAR), and Plans of Action and Milestone (POAM).

TechNow training materials are aligned with the most recent set of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS), and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) policies standards, processes, policies and instructions to be addressed/explained include ICD 503, ICS 503-1, ICS 500-16, ICS 500-18, ICS 500-27, ICD 502, NIST SP 800-37, NIST SP 800-30, NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-53A, NIST SP 800-137, NIST SP 800-47, CNSSP 22, CNSSI 1253, and CNSSI 4009.

A majority of time is spent on in-depth compliance review of NIST SP 800-53 controls.  Instruction discusses which method should be used to test and validate each security control and what evidence should be gathered.  This course is not theory or death by power point.  Real scenarios are presented as exercises.  A complete live cyber range simulating the IC is utilized for hands-on labs for techniques of validating and documenting compliance of NIST SP 800-53 controls as related to ICD 503.

Date/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 days

Course Objectives:

  • Establish a baseline of RMF knowledge
  • Validate essential security controls, programs, and metrics
  • DoD DCD 6/3 to ICD 503 Transition
  • Lab Environtment and the Cyber Range
  • Overlays: Tactical, Medical, Network type(JWICS, SIPR; IC or AF), Cross Domain, PII
  • Risk Assessment Report (RAR)
  • Systems Security Plan (SSP)
  • Security Assessment Report (SAR)
  • Plans of Action and Milestone (POAM)

Prerequisites:

Experience in the field of auditing and assesments.

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DO-375: Automation with Ansible and Ansible Tower

 

Course Overview:

Through hands-on labs, you will learn to automate system administration tasks on managed hosts with Ansible, learn how to write Ansible playbooks to standardize task execution, and manage encryption for Ansible with Ansible Vault. This course will also teach you how to deploy and use Red Hat® Ansible Tower to centrally manage existing Ansible projects, playbooks, and roles; perform basic maintenance and administration of the Ansible Tower installation; and configure users and teams and use them to control access to systems, projects, and other resources through role-based access controls. You will learn to use Ansible Tower’s visual dashboard to launch, control, and monitor Ansible jobs; use the Ansible Tower application programming interface (API) to launch jobs from existing templates; automatically schedule Ansible jobs; and dynamically update host inventories.

Course Objectives:

  • Install and troubleshoot Ansible on central nodes and managed hosts
  • Automate administration tasks with Ansible playbooks and ad hoc commands
  • Write effective Ansible playbooks
  • Protect sensitive data used by tasks with Ansible Vault.
  • Install and configure Ansible Tower for enterprise Ansible management
  • Use Ansible Tower to control access to inventories and machine credentials by users and teams
  • Create job templates in Ansible Tower to standardize playbook execution.
  • Centrally launch playbooks and monitor and review job results with Ansible Tower

 

Course Outline:

  • Introduce Ansible
  • Deploy Ansible
  • Implement playbooks
  • Manage variables and inclusions
  • Implement task control
  • Implement Jinja2 templates
  • Implement roles
  • Configure complex playbooks
  • Implement Ansible Vault
  • Troubleshoot Ansible
  • Install Ansible Tower and describe Ansible Tower’s architecture
  • Create users and teams for role-based access control
  • Create and manage inventories and credentials
  • Manage projects for provisioning with Ansible Tower
  • Construct advanced job workflows
  • Update inventories dynamically and compare inventory members
  • Maintenance and administration of Ansible Tower

 
Dates/Locations:

No Events

Duration: 5 Days

Prerequisites:

  • Become a Red Hat Certified System Administrator, or demonstrate equivalent experience

Target Audience:

This course is designed for Linux system administrators, cloud administrators, and network administrators needing to automate configuration management, application deployment, and intraservice orchestration at an enterprise scale.