Security+ exam prep: threats, vulnerabilities and mitigations
You get to know attackers, attack vectors and vulnerability types, find weaknesses yourself on badly configured targets and see which mitigation works.
Level 201 · 16 lessons · 12 practice labs
Lessons
Threat actors and the attack surface
- Threat actors: who attacks, why and with what means
- Attack surface and vectors: messages, files, voice, supply chain
- Dissecting a phishing email from its headers
- Supply chain and third-party risks
- Short task: map a company’s attack surface on one page
Types of vulnerability
- Application vulnerabilities: injection, memory overflow, race conditions
- Recognising web attacks in logs: traces of SQL injection and XSS
- Operating system, firmware and end-of-life system vulnerabilities
- Finding misconfigurations: default passwords, open directories, needless services
- Wireless and mobile vulnerabilities: rogue access points and sideloading
- Short task: find three vulnerabilities on the target and rank them
Indicators and mitigation
- Malware indicators: ransomware, worms, rootkits, logic bombs
- Recognising password attacks in logs: spraying and brute force
- Network attack signs: denial of service, DNS poisoning, on-path attacks
- Mitigation techniques: segmentation, patching, least privilege, allow lists
- Capstone: find, prove and close the weaknesses of a vulnerable server
Practice labs
- Find the real sender of a phishing email: You compare the display name with the real sender and return path in an email's headers and prove it is forged.
- Trace the servers a message passed through: You read the Received lines in order, identify the server the message first left and the SPF result and write a short analysis note.
- Analyse an invoice from a lookalike domain: You examine an invoice email from a domain imitating a supplier through headers, links and attachment and write a blocking proposal.
- Find SQL injection traces in a log: You find requests containing SQL injection attempts in a web log and report the source IP and targeted parameter.
- Pick out XSS attempts against a comment form: You decode encoded and plain script attempts and determine from status codes which ones got a successful response.
- Build the timeline of a web attack: You order the scanning, injection and file-upload steps in the log and show at which stage the attacker succeeded.
- Find a panel with a default password: You check management panels on the lab network, identify the one that opens with a factory password and change it.
- Close an open directory listing: You find a web server directory with listing on and the sensitive file in it, turn listing off and retest access.
- Find and rank three weaknesses on a target: On a weakly configured target you find three weaknesses, rank them by impact and ease of exploitation and propose a mitigation for each.
- List packages past end of support: You list packages awaiting updates and past end of support on a server and report them in priority order.
- Allow only approved scripts to run: You remove execute permission from a shared directory, leave only the approved script directory executable and test it.
- Limit damage with segmentation and least privilege: You cut a compromised web server's access to every network except the database, narrow its service account's rights and test the effect.
About this course
You get to know attackers, attack vectors and vulnerability types, find weaknesses yourself on badly configured targets and see which mitigation works.
What you will learn
- Threat actors and the attack surface
- Types of vulnerability
- Indicators and mitigation
Prerequisites
Finishing the level 101 courses of the same path, or knowing those topics, is enough.
Lab environment
Lessons run in your own Kali Linux terminal in the browser, connected to a private lab network. Nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this course right for my level?
- The course is at level 201; it assumes you know the topics of the lower-level courses.
- Is there anything to install?
- No. Every lesson runs in your own lab environment that opens in the browser.
- How do lessons work?
- Each lesson has 8 to 10 steps and a short quiz. Early steps show the command to type, later steps give less help; if two attempts fail, the solution opens.
- Can I try it for free?
- Yes. The first three lessons of every course are free.