Homelabs
I started my security journey in July 2020 by taking the CompTIA Security+ then with homelabs in September 2020. Some of the homelabs have been practicing tools in Kali, spinning up an Windows Server and VMs, setting up and monitoring Splunk, and analyzing Wireshark logs from devices in my network. All are pretty foundational, but unfortunately, I didn't document anything - forgot how to do a lot of them and forgot what worked vs. what didn't work. I've studied for different certifications on and off since July 2020 such as CompTIA CySA+, Cisco CCNA, and Cisco CyberOps, but ultimately, I was tired of reading a book.
I took to CTFs and homelabs. In trying to tackle more advanced homelabs and CTFs, I still didn't learn to document in one place or have semi-formal documentation. In doing these CTFs and homelabs, I noticed there was a lack in networking foundations - I went after the Juniper JNCIA-Junos. My company uses Juniper equipment, their training includes free labs, and had a wonderful foundational class. I completed the Juniper JNCIA-Junos in December 2021.
After passing the exam, I wanted to setup a firewall. It was so frustrating that I didn't document it before because I had tried it already, I couldn't remember the different setups I had tried. My goal in starting these homelabs and documentation in 2022 is to learn, see fails and progress, train of thought, and fingers crossed, a security position.
Project 1: 2 Router Homelab (1/11/22-1/15/22) - Firewall homelab that failed.
Project 2: New Network Setup (1/21/22, 1/23/22-1/27/22) - Firewall homelab that works.
Project 3: Unexpected Power Outage (2/1/22-2/2/22) - Troubleshooting a power outage.
Project 4: Some Fail to Connect (2/6/22-2/7/22) - Troubleshooting some devices don't connect to wifi.
Project 5: NSM Failing (2/9/22) - Troubleshooting NIC and battery failing on NSM.
Project 6: Controller Replaced (2/12/22) - Swapped out the network controller with a new device.
Project 7: Slow Wireless (3/15/22 - 3/19/22) - Troubleshooting slow wireless speeds.
--Break to study for Juniper JNCIA-Sec--
Project 8.1: NSM Setup - Splunk (5/29/22, 6/15/22) - Setting up Splunk Enterprise to monitor Snort, pfSense, and auth.log.
Project 8.2: NSM Setup - SSH (6/4/22) - Setting up SSH for remote access.
Project 8.3: NSM Setup - Snort (6/7/22, 6/15/22) - Setting up Snort and creating rules to understand attacks and IOCs.
Project 8.4: NSM Setup - Nagios Core (5/15/22-) - Setting up Nagios Core to monitor router/firewall and switch.
Project 9: Snort Rules - Win (6/4/22, 7/10/22-7/12/22) - Configuring my own Snort rules.
Project 10: Automating Homelab Deployment (8/24/22) - Creating an image of the homelab.
Project 11: Automating Homelab Deployment - Docker (8/25/22-8/27/22, 8/29/22) - Using containers for the homelab image.
--Python Homelab--
Project 12: A Full Unifi Reset Homelab (9/6/22-9/7/22) - Starting Unifi from scratch
--Python Homelab--
Project 13: CIS Controls on NSM - Adapting the CIS Benchmarks to my network