Announcing the Investigation Theory Online Course

I’m excited to announce my newest training course, with a portion of the proceeds supporting multiple charities.

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When I first started out, learning how to investigate threats was challenging because there was no formal training available. Even in modern SOCs today, most training is centered around specific tools and centers too much around on the job training. There has never been a course dedicated exclusively to the fundamental art and science of the investigation process…until now.

If you’re a security analyst responsible for investigating alerts, performing forensics, or responding to incidents then this is the course that will help you gain a deep understanding how to most effectively catch bad guys and kick them out of your network. Investigation Theory is designed to help you overcome the challenges commonly associated finding and catching bad guys.

I’ve got so many alerts to investigate and I’m not sure how to get through them quickly.
I keep getting overwhelmed by the amount of information I have to work with an investigation.
I’m constantly running into dead ends and getting stuck. I’m afraid I’m missing something.
I want to get started threat hunting, but I’m not sure how.
I’m having trouble getting my management chain to understand why I need the tools I’m requesting to do my job better.
Some people just seem to “get” security, but it just doesn’t seem to click for me.

Course Format

Investigation Theory is not like any online security training you’ve taken. It is modeled like a college course and consists of two parts: lecture and lab. The course is delivered on-demand so you can proceed through it at your convenience. However, it’s recommended that you take a standard 10-week completion path, or an accelerated 5-week path. Either way, there are ten modules in total, and each module typically consists of the following components:

1 Core Lecture: Theory and strategy is discussed in a series of video lectures. Each lecture builds on the previous one.
1 Bonus Lecture: Standalone content to address specific topics is provided in every other module.
1 Reading Recommendation: While not meant to be read on pace with the course, I’ve provided a curated reading list along with critical questions to consider to help develop your analyst mindset.
1 Quiz: The quiz isn’t meant to test your knowledge, but rather, to give you an opportunity to apply it to reinforce learning through critical thinking and knowledge retrieval.
1 Lab Exercise: The Investigation Ninja system is used to provide labs that simulate real investigations for you to practice your skills.

Investigation Ninja Lab Environment

This course utilizes the Investigation Ninja web application to simulate real investigation scenarios. By taking a vendor agnostic approach, Investigation Ninja provides real world inputs and allows you to query various data sources to uncover evil and decide if an incident has occurred, and what happened. You’ll look through real data and solve unique challenges that will test your newly learned investigation skills. A custom set of labs have been developed specifically for this course. No matter what toolset you work with in your SOC, Investigation Ninja will prepare you to excel in investigations using a data-driven approach.

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Get stuck in a lab? I’m just an e-mail away and can help point you in the right direction. Enjoy the labs and want to go farther? You can purchase additional access to more labs, including our upcoming “Story Mode” where you create a character and progress through eight levels of investigation scenarios while trying to attain the rank of Investigation Ninja!

Instructor Q&A

This isn’t a typical online course where we just give you a bunch of videos and you’re own your own. The results of your progress, quizzes, and labs are reviewed by me and I provide real time feedback as you progress. I’m available as a resource to answer questions throughout the course.

Syllabus

Metacognition: How to Approach an Investigation
Evidence: Planning Visibility with a Compromise in Mind
Investigation Playbooks: How to Analyze IPs, Domains, and Files
Open Source Intel: Understanding the Unknown
Mise en Place: Mastering Your Environment with Any Toolset
The Timeline: Tracking the Investigation Process
The Curious Hunter: Finding Investigation Leads without Alerts
Your Own Worst Enemy: Recognizing and Limiting Bias
Reporting: Effective Communication of Breaches and False Alarms
Case Studies in Thinking Like an Analyst

Plus, several bonus lectures!

Cost

The course and lab access are $597 for a single user license. Discounts are available for multiple user licenses where at least 10 seats are purchased (please contact me to discuss payment). A significant portion of the purchase price will go to support multiple charities including the Rural Technology Fund, the Against Malaria Foundation, and others.

You’ll receive:

6-mo Access to Course Videos and Content
6-mo Access to Investigation Ninja
A Certification of Course Completion
Continuing Education Credits (CPEs/CEUs)

Sign Up Now!

This course is only taught periodically and space is limited.