< Shield House
5-DAY INTENSIVE

CYBER ARTS BOOTCAMP

From fundamentals to Red Team operations - master the art of cybersecurity in 5 intensive modules

Bootcamp Progress 0 / 500 XP
01 Foundations
02 Networking
03 Cryptography
04 Blue Team
05 Red Team

"Hacking is not about breaking rules. It's about understanding systems so well that you can make them do things they were never designed to do."

- Anonymous

MISSION OBJECTIVES

  • Understand the difference between ethical and malicious hacking
  • Master the CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
  • Identify common threat types and attack vectors
  • Learn foundational Linux commands for security work

🎭 What is Hacking?

▼

Black Hat

Malicious hackers who exploit systems for personal gain, data theft, or disruption. Their actions are illegal.

White Hat

Ethical hackers who use their skills to improve security. They work with permission to find and fix vulnerabilities.

Grey Hat

Operate in the middle - may find vulnerabilities without permission but report them rather than exploit them.

Key Insight: The difference isn't skill - it's intent and authorization.

🛡 The CIA Triad

▼

The three pillars of information security that every system must protect:

Confidentiality

Only authorized users can access data. Achieved through encryption, access controls, and authentication.

Integrity

Data remains accurate and unaltered. Ensured via hashing, checksums, and digital signatures.

Availability

Systems and data are accessible when needed. Protected by redundancy, backups, and DDoS mitigation.

⚠ Types of Threats

▼
Threat Description CIA Impact
Malware Malicious software: viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware C, I, A
Phishing Social engineering to steal credentials via fake communications C
Man-in-the-Middle Attacker intercepts communication between two parties C, I
DoS/DDoS Overwhelm systems to deny service to legitimate users A
SQL Injection Inject malicious SQL queries to access/modify databases C, I

💻 Linux Command Basics

▼

Essential commands every security professional must know:

Terminal - Navigation & Identity
whoami
analyst
# Who are you logged in as?

pwd
/home/analyst
# Print Working Directory

ls -la
drwxr-xr-x 5 analyst analyst 4096 Dec 27 ..
# List all files with permissions

cd /var/log
# Change directory

mkdir investigation && touch notes.txt
# Create folder and file

Day 1 Lab: Foundations Recon

analyst@cyberops:~
[SYSTEM] Secure connection established...
[SYSTEM] Day 1 Lab: Foundations Recon
> Mission: Complete reconnaissance objectives
Type help for available commands.
analyst@cyberops:~$

CURRENT OBJECTIVE

1
2
3
4
5

RECON: Identify Operator

Every operation starts with knowing who you are. Identify your current user account.

$ whoami

Quick Reference

Navigation and identity commands are your first line of reconnaissance.

$ whoami
analyst

"A very large part of space-time must be investigated, if reliable results are to be obtained."

- Alan Turner

MISSION OBJECTIVES

  • Understand network types and components
  • Master the OSI Model (all 7 layers)
  • Learn IP addressing, subnetting, and routing basics
  • Execute core networking commands

🌐 What is a Network?

▼

A network is a collection of devices connected to share data. Built with hardware and software.

LAN (Local Area Network)

Small geographic area - office, home, building. High speed, low latency.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

Large geographic area - cities, countries. The Internet is the largest WAN.

Components

Router: Routes traffic between networks
Switch: Connects devices in a LAN
Firewall: Filters traffic

📍 IP Addressing

▼
Concept Description Example
IP Address Unique identifier for a device on a network 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask Divides IP into network and host portions 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway Router that connects LAN to other networks 192.168.1.1
DNS Translates domain names to IP addresses 8.8.8.8

📚 The OSI Model

▼

The 7-layer conceptual framework for understanding how data travels across networks:

7ApplicationHTTP, FTP, DNS
6PresentationTLS/SSL, JPEG
5SessionNetBIOS, RPC
4TransportTCP, UDP
3NetworkIP, ICMP
2Data LinkEthernet, ARP
1PhysicalCables, Wi-Fi

Mnemonic: "All People Seem To Need Data Processing"

⌨ Core Networking Commands

▼
Terminal - Network Recon
ifconfig
# Display network interface configuration

ping 8.8.8.8
# Test connectivity to Google DNS

netstat -rn
# Display routing table

arp -a
# Show MAC addresses on network

curl -I https://example.com
# Fetch HTTP headers from a website

Day 2 Lab: Network Reconnaissance

analyst@netops:~
[SYSTEM] Network Operations Terminal Online...
[SYSTEM] Day 2 Lab: Network Reconnaissance
> Mission: Map the network environment
Type help for available commands.
analyst@netops:~$

CURRENT OBJECTIVE

1
2
3
4
5

NET RECON: Check Your IP

Identify your system's network configuration. What is your IP address?

$ ip addr

Quick Reference

Network reconnaissance reveals your position and the landscape around you.

$ ip addr
inet 192.168.1.100/24

"The problem with passwords is that the people who need them most are the least likely to remember them."

- Anonymous

MISSION OBJECTIVES

  • Understand encryption fundamentals (symmetric vs asymmetric)
  • Learn hashing and its role in data integrity
  • Master Linux file permissions (chmod, chown)
  • Practice encryption/decryption with OpenSSL

📁 CASE FILE: CryptoLocker Ransomware (2013-2014)

One of the first major ransomware attacks. Encrypted victims' files using RSA-2048 and demanded Bitcoin payment.

  • Vector: Email attachments and Gameover Zeus botnet
  • Impact: 500,000+ systems infected, $3M+ in ransom collected
  • Lesson: Encryption is powerful - in the wrong hands, it's devastating

🔐 Types of Encryption

▼

Symmetric Encryption

Same key for encryption and decryption. Fast but key distribution is challenging.

Example: AES-256

Asymmetric Encryption

Public key encrypts, private key decrypts. Slower but solves key distribution.

Example: RSA

# Hashing

▼

Hashing converts data into a fixed-size string. It's one-way - you cannot reverse a hash to get the original data.

Algorithm Output Size Status
MD5 128 bits Deprecated (collisions found)
SHA-1 160 bits Legacy only
SHA-256 256 bits Recommended

🔒 Linux File Permissions

▼

Permissions control who can read (r), write (w), and execute (x) files:

- r w x r - x r - -

Owner: rwx (7) | Group: r-x (5) | Others: r-- (4) = chmod 754

Terminal - Permissions
chmod 600 secret.txt
# Owner read+write only

chmod u+x script.sh
# Add execute for owner

chown analyst:security file.txt
# Change owner and group

🗝 OpenSSL Encryption

▼
Terminal - Symmetric Encryption
echo "SECRET DATA" > secret.txt
# Create a file to encrypt

openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -salt -in secret.txt -out secret.enc
# Encrypt with AES-256

openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -in secret.enc -out decrypted.txt
# Decrypt the file
Terminal - Hashing
sha256sum file.txt
e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb924...

md5sum file.txt
# Legacy - avoid for security

Day 3 Lab: Crypto Operations

analyst@cryptolab:~
[SYSTEM] Cryptography Lab Initialized...
[SYSTEM] Day 3 Lab: Crypto Operations
> Mission: Master hashing and encoding
Type help for available commands.
analyst@cryptolab:~$

CURRENT OBJECTIVE

1
2
3
4
5

HASH: Generate MD5 Checksum

Create an MD5 hash of the secret.txt file to verify its integrity.

$ md5sum secret.txt

Quick Reference

Hashing creates a unique fingerprint of data for verification.

$ md5sum file.txt
d41d8cd98f00b204e980...

"Security is always excessive until it's not enough."

- Robbie Sinclair

MISSION OBJECTIVES

  • Understand defensive (Blue Team) security operations
  • Learn network scanning with Nmap
  • Master packet analysis with Wireshark
  • Analyze traffic like a real security analyst

📁 CASE FILE: WannaCry / EternalBlue (2017)

Ransomware that exploited SMB vulnerability on port 445. Over 200,000 systems infected in 150+ countries.

  • Exploit: EternalBlue (NSA tool leaked by Shadow Brokers)
  • Impact: Billions in damages, hospitals shut down
  • Detection: Nmap scan would have revealed open port 445

🛡 What Does Blue Team Do?

▼

Defensive Security

Firewalls, IDS/IPS, antivirus, endpoint protection, network segmentation.

Monitoring

SIEM, log analysis, network traffic monitoring, anomaly detection.

Incident Response

Investigate breaches, contain threats, recover systems, document lessons learned.

🔍 Nmap - Network Mapper

▼

The essential tool for network discovery and security auditing:

Terminal - Nmap Scanning
nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24
# Ping sweep - find live hosts

nmap -sV 192.168.1.100
# Service/version detection

nmap -O 192.168.1.100
# OS detection

nmap -A 192.168.1.100
# Aggressive scan (all of the above)

nmap -p 445 192.168.1.0/24
# Check for open SMB ports (WannaCry)

🦈 Wireshark - Packet Analysis

▼

Capture and analyze network traffic in real-time:

Key Concepts

Packet: Unit of data on a network
Protocol: Rules for communication (HTTP, DNS, ICMP)
Filter: Display specific traffic

Common Filters

http - Web traffic
dns - DNS queries
tcp.port == 445 - SMB traffic

Lab Task: Open Wireshark, capture traffic, filter for DNS requests to see what domains your machine is resolving.

Day 4 Lab: Blue Team Analysis

analyst@soc:~
[SYSTEM] Security Operations Center Terminal...
[SYSTEM] Day 4 Lab: Blue Team Analysis
> Mission: Analyze logs and detect threats
Type help for available commands.
analyst@soc:~$

CURRENT OBJECTIVE

1
2
3
4
5

HUNT: Search Auth Logs

Search the authentication logs for failed login attempts.

$ grep "Failed" /var/log/auth.log

Quick Reference

Log analysis is fundamental to threat detection and incident response.

$ grep "Failed" auth.log
Failed password for root...

"To know your enemy, you must become your enemy."

- Sun Tzu

MISSION OBJECTIVES

  • Understand offensive (Red Team) security operations
  • Learn password cracking fundamentals
  • Practice with John the Ripper
  • Understand social engineering tactics

📁 CASE FILE: Twitter Breach (July 2020)

Attackers used social engineering to compromise high-profile accounts including Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Apple.

  • Method: Phished Twitter employees with fake VPN login pages
  • Access: Gained access to internal admin tools
  • Result: Posted Bitcoin scam from verified accounts, $120K+ stolen
  • Lesson: Humans are often the weakest link

⚔ What Does Red Team Do?

▼

Penetration Testing

Authorized attacks to find vulnerabilities before real attackers do.

Social Engineering

Testing human vulnerabilities through phishing, pretexting, and manipulation.

Password Cracking

Testing password strength using dictionary and brute-force attacks.

Reporting

Document findings so Blue Team can improve defenses.

🔑 Password Cracking

▼

Passwords are stored as hashes, not plaintext. Crackers try to find a password that produces the same hash.

Attack Type Method Speed
Dictionary Try common passwords from a wordlist Fast
Brute Force Try every possible combination Slow
Hybrid Dictionary + rules (password1, P@ssw0rd) Medium

🔪 John the Ripper

▼

Classic password cracking tool. Reads hashes and compares against wordlists.

Terminal - John the Ripper
openssl passwd -6 'password123'
# Generate a SHA-512 hash to crack

echo '$6$rounds=...' > hashes.txt
# Save hash to file

john --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt hashes.txt
# Crack using rockyou wordlist

john --show hashes.txt
?:password123
# Display cracked passwords

Ethical Warning: Only crack passwords you have authorization to test. Unauthorized access is illegal.

🧰 Other Red Team Tools

▼
Tool Purpose Skill Level
John the Ripper Offline hash cracking Beginner
Hashcat GPU-accelerated cracking Intermediate
Hydra Online brute-force (SSH, FTP, HTTP) Advanced
Metasploit Exploitation framework Advanced

Day 5 Lab: Red Team Operations

operator@redteam:~
[SYSTEM] Red Team Operations Terminal...
[SYSTEM] Day 5 Lab: Offensive Operations
> Mission: Practice password cracking
Type help for available commands.
operator@redteam:~$

CURRENT OBJECTIVE

1
2
3
4
5

RECON: Examine Hash File

View the contents of the captured hash file. What type of hash is it?

$ cat hashes.txt

Quick Reference

Understanding hash types is crucial for selecting the right cracking approach.

$ cat hashes.txt
$6$rounds=5000$...

LAB COMPLETE!

You've successfully completed all objectives.

+100 XP