book

Effective Threat Investigation for SOC Analysts

Name: Effective Threat Investigation for SOC Analysts
Author: Mostafa Yahia
ISBN: 9781837634781

by Mostafa Yahia

August 2023

Intermediate to advanced

314 pages

8h 6m

English

Packt Publishing

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Effective Threat Investigation for SOC Analysts
ContributorsAbout the authorAbout the reviewers
Preface
Who this book is for What this book coversTo get the most out of this bookConventions usedDisclaimerGet in touchShare Your ThoughtsDownload a free PDF copy of this book
Part 1: Email Investigation Techniques
Chapter 1: Investigating Email Threats
Top infection vectorsWhy do attackers prefer phishing emails to gain initial access?Email threat typesSpearphishing attachmentsSpearphishing LinkBlackmail emailBusiness Email Compromise (BEC)Attacker techniques to evade email security detectionSocial engineering techniques to trick the victimThe anatomy of secure email gateway logsInvestigating suspicious emailsInvestigating the email sender domain and SMTP server reputationSpoofing validationEmail sender behaviorEmail subject and attached filenameInvestigating suspicious email contentSummary
Chapter 2: Email Flow and Header Analysis
Email flowEmail header analysisEmail message content and metadataEmail X-headersThe header that was added by the hop serversEmail authenticationInvestigating the email header of a spoofed messageSummary
Part 2: Investigating Windows Threats by Using Event Logs
Chapter 3: Introduction to Windows Event Logs
Windows event typesSecurity event log typesSystem event log typesApplication event log typesOther event log typesWindows event log analysis toolsThe investigative approach for this part of the bookHELK installationSummary
Chapter 4: Tracking Accounts Login and Management
Account login trackingWindows accountsTracking successful loginsTracking successful administrator loginsTracking logon sessionsTracking failed loginsLogin validation eventsLogin validation Event IDs (NTLM protocol)Login validation Event IDs (Kerberos protocol)Account and group management trackingTracking account creation, deletion, and change activitiesTracking creation and account adding to security groupsSummary
Chapter 5: Investigating Suspicious Process Execution Using Windows Event Logs
Introduction to Windows processesWindows process typesCommon standard Windows processesWindows Process Tracking eventsCreator SubjectTarget SubjectProcess InformationInvestigating suspicious process executionsHiding in plain sightLiving Off The Land (LOTL)Suspicious parent-child process relationshipsSuspicious process pathsSummary
Chapter 6: Investigating PowerShell Event Logs
Introducing PowerShellWhy do attackers prefer PowerShell?PowerShell usage in different attack phasesPowerShell execution tracking eventsInvestigating PowerShell attacksFileless PowerShell malwareSuspicious PowerShell commands and cmdletsSummary

Chapter 7: Investigating Persistence and Lateral Movement Using Windows Event Logs
Understanding and investigating persistence techniquesRegistry run keysWindows scheduled tasksWindows servicesWMI event subscriptionUnderstanding and investigating lateral movement techniquesRemote Desktop connectionWindows admin sharesPsExec – a Sysinternals toolPowerShell remotingSummary
Part 3: Investigating Network Threats by Using Firewall and Proxy Logs
Chapter 8: Network Firewall Logs Analysis
Firewall logs valueFirewall logs anatomyLog TimestampSource IPSource PortDestination IPDestination PortSource Interface ZoneDestination Interface ZoneDevice ActionSent BytesReceived BytesSent PacketsReceived PacketsSource Geolocation countryDestination Geolocation countrySummary
Chapter 9: Investigating Cyber Threats by Using the Firewall Logs
Investigating reconnaissance attacksPublic-facing IPs and port scanningInternal network service discoveryInvestigating lateral movement attacksRemote desktop application (RDP)Windows admin sharesPowerShell RemotingInvestigating C&C and exfiltration attacksInvestigating suspicious traffic to external IPsInvestigating DNS tunnelingInvestigating data exfiltrationInvestigating DoS attacksSummary
Chapter 10: Web Proxy Logs Analysis
Understanding the value of proxy logsThe significance of proxy log investigationThe anatomy of proxy logsThe source IP (src)The source port (srcport)The destination IP (dst)The destination port (dstport)The username (username)The log timestamp (devicetime)The device action (s-action)The response status code (sc-status)The HTTP method (cs-method)The received bytes from the server by the client (sc-bytes)The sent bytes from the client to the server (cs-bytes)The web domain (cs-host)The MIME type (Content-Type)The user agent (cs(User-Agent))The referrer URL (cs(Referer))The website category (filter-category)The accessed URL (cs-uri)Summary
Chapter 11: Investigating Suspicious Outbound Communications (C&C Communications) by Using Proxy Logs
Suspicious outbound communications alertsInvestigating suspicious outbound communications (C&C communications)Investigating the web domain reputationInvestigating suspicious target web domain namesInvestigating the requested web resourcesInvestigating the referrer URLInvestigating the communications user agentInvestigating the communications' destination portInvestigating the received and sent bytes, the HTTP method, and the Content-TypeInvestigating command and control techniquesSummary
Part 4: Investigating Other Threats and Leveraging External Sources to Investigate Cyber Threats
Chapter 12: Investigating External Threats
Investigating web attacksThe command injection vulnerabilityThe SQL injection vulnerabilityPath traversal vulnerabilityXSS vulnerabilityInvestigating WAF logsInvestigating suspicious external access to the remote servicesInvestigating unauthorized VPN and RDP accessInvestigating compromised mailboxesInvestigating suspicious authentications to web servicesSummary
Chapter 13: Investigating Network Flows and Security Solutions Alerts
Investigating network flowsInvestigating IPS/IDS alertsInvestigating endpoint security solutions alertsInvestigating AV alertsInvestigating EDR alertsInvestigating network sandbox and AV alertsSummary
Chapter 14: Threat Intelligence in a SOC Analyst’s Day
Introduction to threat intelligenceStrategic levelOperational levelTactical levelThe role of threat intelligence in SOCsInvestigating threats using VirusTotalInvestigating suspicious filesInvestigating suspicious domains and URLsInvestigating suspicious outbound IPsInvestigating threats using IBM X-Force ExchangeInvestigating suspicious domainsInvestigating suspicious IPsInvestigating the file hashInvestigating suspicious inbound IPs using AbuseIPDBInvestigating threats using GoogleSummary
Chapter 15: Malware Sandboxing – Building a Malware Sandbox
Introducing the sandbox technologySandbox typesSandbox installation requirementsRequired tools for analysisStatic analysis toolsDynamic analysis toolsPreparing the guest VMGuest preparation stepsTips to evade the sandbox’s detectionAnalysis tools in actionStatic analysis phaseDynamic analysis phaseHands-on demo labScanning the file using YARAConducting static analysisConducting dynamic analysisAnalyzing the outputsSummary
Index
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Content preview from Effective Threat Investigation for SOC Analysts

1 Investigating Email Threats

Email threats are among the most common types of attacks encountered by Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts, and they often occur multiple times during a working shift. Moreover, malicious emails are often the first step in an attacker’s attempt to gain access to a target environment. Given the increase in these types of threats, SOC analysts and cyber investigators must understand attackers’ techniques to initiate attacks via email and how to investigate and respond to email threats.

The objective of this chapter is to learn why attackers prefer phishing emails to gain initial access, the most common email threats, the most common techniques by attackers to evade detection and trick the victim, how to analyze ...

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Effective Threat Investigation for SOC Analysts

by Mostafa Yahia

1

Investigating Email Threats

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.