Information security is a crucial field in the world of business. You have experience in this field, and now you're ready to take that experience to the next level. In this CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) training course, you will expand on your knowledge of information security to apply more advanced principles that will keep your organization safe from the many ways it can be threatened. You'll apply critical thinking and judgment across a broad spectrum of security disciplines to propose and implement sustainable security solutions that map to organizational strategies; translate business needs into security requirements; support IT governance and risk management; architect security for hosts, networks, and software; respond to security incidents; and more.
Today's IT climate demands individuals with demonstrable skills, and the information and activities in this course can help you develop the skill set you need to confidently perform your duties as an advanced security practitioner.
Course Objectives:
In this course, you will analyze and apply advanced security concepts, principles, and implementations that contribute to enterprise-level security.
You will:
- Support IT governance in the enterprise with an emphasis on managing risk.
- Leverage collaboration tools and technology to support enterprise security.
- Use research and analysis to secure the enterprise.
- Integrate advanced authentication and authorization techniques.
- Implement cryptographic techniques.
- Implement security controls for hosts.
- Implement security controls for mobile devices.
- Implement network security.
- Implement security in the systems and software development lifecycle.
- Integrate hosts, storage, networks, applications, virtual environments, and cloud technologies in a secure enterprise architecture.
- Conduct security assessments.
- Respond to and recover from security incidents.
Course-specific Technical Requirements
Hardware:
For this course, you will need one Windows Server® 2016 computer for each student and for the instructor. Make sure that each computer meets the minimum hardware specifications as well as the classroom hardware specifications:
Windows Server 2016
- 2 gigahertz (GHz) 64-bit processor that supports the VT-x or AMD-V virtualization instruction set and Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).
- 8 gigabytes (GB) of Random Access Memory (RAM).
- 80 GB storage device or larger.
- Super VGA (SVGA) or higher resolution monitor capable of a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768 pixels, at least 256-color display, and a video adapter with at least 4 MB of memory.
- Bootable DVD-ROM or USB drive.
- Keyboard and mouse or compatible pointing device.
- Gigabit Ethernet adapter (10/100/1000BaseT) and cabling to connect to the classroom network.
- IP addresses that do not conflict with other portions of your network.
- Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
- Display system to project the instructor's computer screen (instructor computer only).
Additional Hardware
- Mobile devices running Android™ version 5.0 or higher. This is required for students to fully key through the optional activity "Implementing MDM" in the "Implementing Security Controls for Mobile Devices" lesson. Ideally, each student would have their own mobile device. If students are unable or unwilling to use their own mobile device, and you can't provide devices to them, you can still have them tour the MDM solution in the activity. Note that the activity was written and keyed using a Samsung Android smartphone. If students are using a non-Samsung Android device, some of the activity steps will differ. The process for enrolling iOS® devices is more complicated and may not be feasible to do in the classroom.
- One wireless access point (WAP) connected to the classroom network. This is required for mobile devices to connect to the classroom network in the same "Implementing MDM" activity. One example scenario is connecting all of the classroom servers to the same gateway router using Ethernet cables. If this router has wireless functionality, and it is activated, students' mobile devices will be able to connect as long as they know the passphrase.
Software:
- Microsoft® Windows Server® 2016 Standard Edition with sufficient licenses.
Windows Server 2016 requires activation unless you have volume-licensing agreements. There is a grace period for activation. If the duration of your class will exceed the activation grace period (for example, if you are teaching the class over the course of an academic semester), you should activate the installations at some point before the grace period expires. Otherwise, the operating system may stop working before the class ends.
- Microsoft® Office 2016 or an open source alternative such as LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice™.
- Kali Linux™ version 2018.1.
The steps to download the Kali Linux system image are described in the course setup that follows. Note that the URL path to this download may have changed after this course was written.
- Miscellaneous software that is notincluded in the course data files due to licensing restrictions:
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer version 2.3 ( MBSASetup-x64-EN.msi).
Bitvise SSH Server version 7.38 ( BvSshServer-Inst.exe).
ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager Plus version 9 ( ManageEngine_MobileDeviceManager.exe).
ntopng version 3.0.170606 ( ntopng-3.0.170606-x64.zip).
The steps to download these tools are described in the course setup that follows. Note that the URL paths to these downloads may have changed after this course was written. The activities in this course were written to the versions of the software noted previously. If new versions of these tools have been released when you present this course, make sure to test them with their corresponding activities to note any keying discrepancies.
- Miscellaneous software that isincluded in the course data files:
Oracle® VM VirtualBox version 5.1.30 ( VirtualBox-5.1.30-118389-Win.exe).
XAMPP version 7.2.0 ( xampp-win32-7.2.0-0-VC15-installer.exe).
MultiChain version 1.0.1 ( multichain-windows-1.0.1.zip).
MultiChain Web Demo version 1.0 ( multichain-web-demo-master.zip).
7-Zip version 16.04 (7z1604-x64.msi).
PuTTY version 0.70 (putty.exe).
Autopsy® version 3.0.10 ( autopsy-3.0.10-64bit.msi).
OPNsense® version 17.7.5 ( OPNsense-17.7.5-OpenSSL-dvd-amd64.iso.bz2).
VirtualBox is distributed with the course data files under version 2 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). XAMPP and MultiChain are distributed under version 3 of the GNU GPL. MultiChain Web Demo is distributed under version 3 of the GNU Affero GPL. 7-Zip is distributed under version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). PuTTY is distributed under the MIT License. Autopsy is distributed under Apache License 2.0. OPNsense is distributed under the FreeBSD License.
- If necessary, software for viewing the course slides (instructor machine only).
Lesson 1: Supporting IT Governance and Risk Management
Topic A: Identify the Importance of IT Governance and Risk Management
Topic B: Assess Risk
Topic C: Mitigate Risk
Topic D: Integrate Documentation into Risk Management
Lesson 2: Leveraging Collaboration to Support Security
Topic A: Facilitate Collaboration across Business Units
Topic B: Secure Communications and Collaboration Solutions
Lesson 3: Using Research and Analysis to Secure the Enterprise
Topic A: Determine Industry Trends and Their Effects on the Enterprise
Topic B: Analyze Scenarios to Secure the Enterprise
Lesson 4: Integrating Advanced Authentication and Authorization Techniques
Topic A: Implement Authentication and Authorization Technologies
Topic B: Implement Advanced Identity and Access Management
Lesson 5: Implementing Cryptographic Techniques
Topic A: Select Cryptographic Techniques
Topic B: Implement Cryptography
Lesson 6: Implementing Security Controls for Hosts
Topic A: Select Host Hardware and Software
Topic B: Harden Hosts
Topic C: Virtualize Servers and Desktops
Topic D: Protect Boot Loaders
Lesson 7: Implementing Security Controls for Mobile Devices
Topic A: Implement Mobile Device Management
Topic B: Address Security and Privacy Concerns for Mobile Devices
Lesson 8: Implementing Network Security
Topic A: Plan Deployment of Network Security Components and Devices
Topic B: Plan Deployment of Network-Enabled Devices
Topic C: Implement Advanced Network Design
Topic D: Implement Network Security Controls
Lesson 9: Implementing Security in the Systems and Software Development Lifecycle
Topic A: Implement Security throughout the Technology Lifecycle
Topic B: Identify General Application Vulnerabilities
Topic C: Identify Web Application Vulnerabilities
Topic D: Implement Application Security Controls
Lesson 10: Integrating Assets in a Secure Enterprise Architecture
Topic A: Integrate Standards and Best Practices in Enterprise Security
Topic B: Select Technical Deployment Models
Topic C: Integrate Cloud-Augmented Security Services
Topic D: Secure the Design of the Enterprise Infrastructure
Topic E: Integrate Data Security in the Enterprise Architecture
Topic F: Integrate Enterprise Applications in a Secure Architecture
Lesson 11: Conducting Security Assessments
Topic A: Select Security Assessment Methods
Topic B: Perform Security Assessments with Appropriate Tools
Lesson 12: Responding to and Recovering from Incidents
Topic A: Prepare for Incident Response and Forensic Investigations
Topic B: Conduct Incident Response and Forensic Analysis
Appendix A: Mapping Course Content to CompTIA® Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) Exam CAS-003