SOC Analyst Training For Beginners (Cheapest Way to Become a Cyber Pro!)

Practical Experience is important in getting cybersecurity work, and a home lab is a great option, but how do you do this for a SOC Analyst or cyber defender lab? Eric Capuano of Recon Infosec spells it out in a blog post. I will show you exactly why this Home SOC lab will give you an incredible advantage in learning practical cybersecurity skills.
📒 Show Notes 📒
Eric Capuano, So You Want to Be A SOC Analyst Blog: blog.ecapuano.com/p/so-you-wa...
LimaCharlie limacharlie.io/
Simply Cyber's mission is to help purpose-driven professionals make and take a cybersecurity career further, faster.
📱 Social Media
Let's Connect: linktr.ee/SimplyCyber
🔥 The Best Free Cyber Resources
simplycyber.io/
📷 🎙 💡 MY STUDIO SETUP
kit.co/GeraldAuger/simply-cyb...
🙌🏼 Donate
Like the channel and got value? Please consider supporting the channel
www.buymeacoffee.com/SimplyCyber
😎 Merch 😎
👉🏼 Simply Cyber Branded Gear: www.simplycyber.io/store
Disclaimer: All content reflects the thoughts and opinions of Gerald Auger and the speakers themselves and are not affiliated with the employer of those individuals unless explicitly stated.

[@farhansyed4144]

have had the opportunity to meet Eric in person and learn a lot from him in only a brief discussion at Texas Cyber Summit in Austin '23. It was a brilliant conversation.

[@mikeboss8936]

He had me at, “Free Home Lab” 🥶

[@andymutale368]

He had me at free

[@SameLif3]

@@andymutale368 is it?

[@bradrickrobinson7452]

This video is most definitely one of those "Better late than never" videos. I'm so glad I came across this video in a perfect timing fashion. Thank you so much for making this video and shout out to you and Eric Capuano for a HUGE NUGGET DROP!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

[@RobertMoritz1]

Thank you so much for this Gerry. I can't wait to get home and set this up.

[@jayromeazurin4428]

Thank you, i needed this, i had interview for SOC didnt get the job because inexperience.

[@satheeshkumarkv]

This is a Gold mine for aspiring SOC analysts. Thanks a lot for this Gerald 🔥

[@akinwilks759]

Great stuff! I can’t wait to gain SOC experience through this lab.

[@TheEtrepreneur]

Thank you Gerald for this. Your Quality is super high as well! 💪🙏

[@laneh7449]

Wow Eric’s blog post was already gold but this is icing on the cake! Can’t wait to get some labs stood up and running this is huge value!

[@intrnlstranger4646]

And another great video from Gerry!🎉 Thanks a lot, every video is just like a bomb after a bomb, they are all invaluable!

[@anthonycyber96]

ive done this lab a couple times now, i love it. I just have to keep going over it retain the process and information. I appreciate you and Eric for this resource!

[@SimplyCyber]

Glad it was helpful! He’s added more to the blog post too fyi

[@csyb23]

Hey Gerry! This is great! I'm 37 and going back to school to get my bachelor's in Cyber Security and I cannot wait to try this out and get some REAL experience. I hope this can help me get a job in the field before I graduate so I can get some real world experience and knowledge. I'd love to see a video of you actually doing what is in his blog.

[@tone396]

Same!!

[@Agroth2333]

So this did turn into a video. Gerry did it last week I believe. He also did an interview with Eric who developed this lab and walked you through it. There should be a play list for this.

[@desmonda.pringle1737]

I am 47 and just got started too... I was a physical security professional but now I switched domains.

[@esculap12]

Amazing stuff! Thank you and Eric!!

[@luisevidal]

Thanks for sharing this Doc. Great resource!

[@AdHdEntertainmentLLC]

Gr8 video with awesome educational tools. My degree is for Digital Forensics but I have to add this to my homelab

[@alimohsen5561]

Thank you so much, i am grateful for your assistance 🎉

[@tenphel7715]

Very excited to try out

[@surkewrasoul4711]

Great video, Much appreciated Gerry.

[@alexthornburg7156]

This is sweet! I'll be trying this this week.

[@thenotoriouscam1]

Thank you for sharing this information with us

[@carloszuniga2728]

Thanks! Great work.

[@dennisreynolds9202]

I already went to college for it. I'm only missing one class to be done. But I do have a lack of experience. Thinking getting hands-on training from Udemy crouse

[@kustoinfosec]

Thank you!! Can’t wait to run through this lab and learn hands-on🙌

[@s.c342]

Good day Gerry! Can you make a video on tech jobs you’re experiencing firsthand to be surviving tech layoffs? I’m sure everyone would appreciate your insight in these trying times. Please and thank you 🙏

[@Agroth2333]

Thank you for the ideas

[@KenPryor]

This is just so great. I'm finally going to be having a little more free time coming up so hopefully I can start working on this.

[@jesseC0806]

Amazing!

[@dustinhxc]

Whoa thank you!!

[@arguy2021]

I had to look up a ton of these terms. Geez, This stuff makes me feel incompetent Lol Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

[@SimplyCyber]

incompetent: No, Just learned a lot of new industry terms: Yes! 🥳

[@meenana2050]

I don't know if you read the comments but a video randomly going on indeed and browsing SOC roles then explaining each requirement step by step would be amazing. For example, a lot of roles mention needing Linux / Windows. What would that mean practically? Learning sysinternals or something else? An explanation like that would be invaluable

[@SimplyCyber]

i do read comments. thank you for taking time @meenana2050. i love this video concept. i could do it with my buddy joe hudson that is a crazy good cyber recruiter. besides linux/windows, any other details that jump out to you? any particualr type of cyber role or any/all of them?

[@meenana2050]

@@SimplyCyber Appreciate you man, I've really learned a lot from you >besides linux/windows, any other details that jump out to you? any particualr type of cyber role or any/all of them? I can't speak for anyone else but I'm primarily interested in soc roles as I'm trying to break into the field. Perhaps someday I'll be asking for IR stuff too :) In terms of soc roles I've seen on indeed, I'd say there's two different pathways. One is a Microsoft stack where they want you to know Sentinel, Azure, M365 and then the other which is typically catered towards Linux and AWS. You could speak about which pathway makes more sense or whether it even matters at all. I've read online that job recruiters mention a laundry list of requirements but they don't expect the applicant to know it all. I know you've tackled impostor syndrome before too but while going through the job ad, maybe also talk about how many of those job requirements are critical to the role and how many are desirable for an applicant to have.

[@SimplyCyber]

What’s a job req saying must know windows Linux mean in cyber? #cybersecurity #career

[@pbrown22]

Hey Gerry, are you going to do a walk-through of the installation and set up?

[@SimplyCyber]

I did. It’s here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYDdmpuimbGtbbc best wishes!

[@johnvardy9559]

could you tell me 5 tools i have to learn so good, as s splunk wireshark which others?

[@priyanshuroy4861]

Thank you Gerald. Just a quick question, I am having a laptop with 8 gb ram and i5, will I be able to complete this assignment?

[@Keyumiz]

​@SimplyCyber I have been working as a soc analyst for about 1 1/2 years. What are some good examples of next jobs/positions I could pivot to and increase my pay (or at least stay about the same).

[@ryanramil7281]

Dont understand any of this but I know this gonna be good 😅

[@joshman844]

Are there other projects similar to Eric Cupano's?

[@quietcontender6969]

Got a bachelor's degree in IT and a Security + cert. Both of these have gotten me nothing. I realized from youtube and an interview for a job that they want you to actually know how to do the work. luckily the person that was interviewing me went to the same college and chose to give me this nugget of info to help a fellow graduate

[@pkagent14]

"you to actually know how to do the work" is an interesting way of saying that company lacks the resources to properly train and develop cybersecurity professionals. I have friends who have a degree and sec+ who landed jobs at gov't contracting firms because they have the resources to train new grads. Best of luck 🫡

[@seetsamolapo5600]

But then how do they expect you to get experience without experience

[@lynxthesphynx7592]

this is bullshit, all high level Sec jobs wont even consider ppl without a degree, sure you may be able to get an entry level IT role but good luck getting into cyber security or high level IT job without a degree, unless youre a savant whom can display their skills. Im tired of these "get a cybersec job with no degree" videos. youre earning potential is capped for 99 percent of ppl without a degree

[@kylemcgowan1]

This kind of echoes Eric Capuano of Recon Infosec blog post for guide on how to become a SOC analyst that he wrote last month.

[@SimplyCyber]

Yes. This video was made in concert w Eric and his post

[@abrent2478]

Looking forward to the other videos breaking this down!

[@SimplyCyber]

It’s going down tomorrow!!!

[@H351gbgone]

Can I use Virtual box instead as my lecturer told me to use it instead of VM

[@SimplyCyber]

U can but can’t guarantee no issues. This is a fully free lab so no reason not to try it both ways

[@larryallen9416]

good job

[@Blomvi]

How is credit score and collections will affect your possibilities to get into soc analyst position?

[@SimplyCyber]

Shouldn’t unless ur getting a job w clearance or at a casino/financial services. Not a promise but that level of detail isn’t always covered in bg check if they even donit

[@user-pc2ml5pr6m]

Hi Gerry, how do I get started with this? I'm very interested but I don't know how to get started. Please help.

[@SimplyCyber]

This video shows every click an step: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYDdmpuimbGtbbc

[@4EVRTRB]

Will you be adding this to your training course GRC Analyst Master Class? I just purchased your course..?...

[@SimplyCyber]

no it will not be added to the grc course. this is a soc analyst lab.

[@4EVRTRB]

@@SimplyCyber thanks for your quick response... but do you think I should learn this for GRC?

[@theaqueen6280]

Hey Gerry! I'm a career shifter without any experience in cybersecurity except thru online courses (fundamentals of cybersecurity). I'm an aspiring SOC analyst and so I came across your vlog. I just want to ask, is it possible to build a machine lab or set up a hands-on enviroment with a laptop having these specifications: Intel core i5, Hard disk drive 1TB, 8GB RAM, win 10, clockspeed 2.5 GHz, Turbospeed 3.1 GHz? I honestly can't afford to buy a new one but I'm eager to learn this and jump right into the role. Thanks!

[@SimplyCyber]

To get this lab built you need the vm player. Your specs sound solid enough to support. I would try it. If it doesn’t work check out Josh makador video on setting up azure sentinel in azure, that was free and used the cloud

[@theaqueen6280]

@@SimplyCyber wow! Thanks! I'll try this one!

[@nahomegirma3596]

I have had my security+ cirtification since June 2021 & couldn’t crush interviews! Any suggestions?

[@edwardjaycocks5497]

Do you have experience?

[@Agroth2333]

There’s a video that Gerry did on this. I think it’s called, how to get experience in cyber security with out a job in cyber security. It’s a catch 22 issue

[@ConsciousFella]

I'm 9 months late but these videos have recently been popping up in my recommendations because I'm looking to get into Cyber Security but let me ask you a question since you're knowledgeable in the field. I'm turning 38 this year not old but I really can't see myself going for a bachelor's if I focus on the certs do you think I could still get many jobs offers in the field?

[@SimplyCyber]

Yes. Some certs will Help, getting practical labs will help, you must must must network within community to have an advantage. You don’t need a college degree but networking will help you find opportunities and fast track to a job vs mass applying to open req

[@ConsciousFella]

@@SimplyCyber makes sense, thanks you made my morning 👍🏼

[@SimplyCyber]

NP. Going live at 8am est for my daily live. Great networking in there. :) kzbin.info6l8Dm9-fPUw?feature=share @@ConsciousFella

[@darnellmorris3622]

Hi Gerry, how do I get started? I purchase the $80 a yr subscription. I don't know what to do next.

[@SimplyCyber]

Idk what subscription ur referring too. This is a free lab. Every step can be seen here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYDdmpuimbGtbbc

[@edpressley653]

Hi Gerry. I am a career shifter and I set up this lab to get more hands-on experience, but every time I power down my host machine it won't allow me to open it back up. Linux VM powers up no problem, but the host Windows machine gives me this Application error every time: [The instruction at 0x00007FF947041634 referenced memory at 0x000000000000. The memory could not be read.] I've tried to fix the error by customizing the memory with no luck. I have not come across a video that solves this problem yet, do you know of one, because I really want this hands on experience. Thanks!!!

[@SimplyCyber]

Idk 🤷‍♂️. Maybe redeploy windows vm to start anew?

[@MISTYEYED.]

#teamreplay. This video has CLOSED CAPTIONING GERRY?

[@lancasterchrisekwueme8226]

The site is down

[@SimplyCyber]

Which?

[@dukenorris7]

#teamreplay

[@iam0jordan0JE0edmund]

misleading title

[@weniweedeewiki.6237]

why?

[@arguy2021]

Not really. It's a cheap/free way to get experience which can lead you to be a pro.

[@SimplyCyber]

Building a home lab for $0 that will blow the mind of a soc analyst interviewer you'll understand how to see, respond, and tune for common malicious behavior..... I respectfully disagree that its misleading.

[@weniweedeewiki.6237]

Well said. Thanks again

[@weniweedeewiki.6237]

Thanks man

[@pbrown22]

Again, Thanks Gerry, I wish you was my neighbor lol