CCNA Cyber Ops Tools: Sec Onion, Wireshark, and Kali Linux (Udemy.com)
Build home labs for the Cisco CyberOps Associate Exam CBROPS 200-201 using Security Onion, Sguil, ELSA, Metasploit, Nmap
Created by: Bassam Alkaff
Last updated January 2025
What you will learn
- Very Similar to my INE Course: CCNA Cyber Ops Labs - Create Your Labs
- Build CCNA Cyber Ops labs using different tools
- Learn how to install and use Security Onion
- Learn how to work with ELSA and PCAP files
- Learn how to work with Sguil and Squert
- Learn about Elastic Stack and Kibana
- Learn how to install and use Wireshark
- Learn how to install and use Kali Linux
- Learn how to install and use VirtualBox
- Learn how to install and use GNS3
- Learn how to use Metasploit
- Learn how to use Nmap
- Practice test included
- Practical assignments included to give you thorough and comprehensive understanding of the related topics and tools .
- This course will be updated frequently. Lectures about theory concepts, tools' usage, and practical labs will be added to the course gradually.
Course Description
*** Very Similar to my INE Course: CCNA Cyber Ops Labs - Create Your Labs ***
Note: This course will be updated frequently. Lectures about theory concepts, tools' usage, and practical labs will be added to the course gradually
It is estimated that there will be about 1.5 million unfilled jobs in cyber security by the year 2020. A more recent statistic increased this number for cyber security unfilled jobs to be 3.5 million by the year 2021. In addition, recent article highlights Cisco Systems intention to become a cyber security force. For these reasons, Cisco created the CCNA Cyber Ops certification, which can become one of the most certifications in demand in the near future. Furthermore, Cisco created a scholarship program for this certification, which emphasis its importance.
In this course you will learn about the tools that you can use for your study of the CCNA Cyber Ops certification and the current Cisco CyberOps Associate certification. Learning the theory side is important, but the hands on side is more important, since the main purpose of your study is to apply your knowledge in production, and since your hands on will enforce your theory knowledge. You can not teach someone how to drive a car by showing him or her how to do it, but you have to let him try and practice how to do that. Furthermore, showing you hands on labs and how to use tools without teaching you how to create these labs and install these tools, might not give you the ultimate benefit from your study . For this reason, I have created this course to teach you how to create your own home labs, and to understand the core usage and important features of the tools used in them. I believe in the saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". If you have access to online labs, such as that offered by Cisco through their scholarship, you still need to know how to create your own home labs to continue practicing and experimenting, which is what this course will help you to achieve. On the other hand, this course will prepare you to go through these online labs quickly, and with confidence, since you will be familiar with the tools used in them. And not just online labs, but any other hands on Cyber Ops courses, like what I intend to publish in the near future.
This course will teach you how to use the following tools:
Security Onion (Including VM installation, working with PCAP files, ELSA, Sguil. Squert, and Kibana).
Wireshark.
Kali Linux.
Metasploit.
Nmap.
VirtualBox.
GNS3.
This course includes several practical assignments and a practice test, in order to asses your understanding of the material included. I strongly recommend that you try the assignments and answer the question included in them, after trying solving the task practically, or even after watching the solution video. Each assignment will give you thorough and comprehensive understanding of the related topic.
I hope that you will join me in this course and start your Cyber security journey. Happy learning!
Very Important: How to use this course
Based on students' feedback, you can view this course by going directly to the section you are interested in. However, it is recommended that you at least skim quickly over the other preceding sections.
For example, you can go to the ELSA and Sguil sections (the core of the course) directly if you are already familiar with VirtualBox and the Security Onion installation process, or skim quickly over those sections as a review.
Instructor Details
- 4.9 Rating
292 Reviews
Bassam Alkaff
Hello, My name is Bassam Faisal Alkaff and I am here to help YOU become a better network engineer in the right way by learning through a hands-on approach.
I have worked in the field of IT for more than 20 years. I specialize in networking and information security and hold several certifications such as CCDP, CCNPx3 (R&S, Sec, SP), VCPx2 (DC & NV), ITILv3.
I have trained in IT training centers like APTECH, New Horizons, and ExecuTrain. Currently I work as Remote Author @ INE (Authored the following courses: CCNA Cyber Ops Labs - Create Your Labs and MTA : Networking Fundamentals (Exam 98-366) ) & publish Cisco courses on Udemy platform.
I was the Top IEOC Contributor in July 2012 ( Internetwork Expert Online Community from INE).
Beside technology, I like reading, creative writing, learning new languages, playing chess, and watching soccer games.
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Reviews
By Anthony Hanna on 8/11/2023
good tutorial and introduction to various network tools
By Dave Hinds on 8/4/2023
The courses at Udemy can sometimes have a VERY POOR delivery which can be frustrating. Within a matter of minutes, I knew this course was going to be amazing. You are an exceptional instructor and very passionate about your work. Please keep providing these great learning experiences. Thank you Sir.
By Walter Anderson on 7/8/2023
Great course for beginners! If you would like to start learning about security analysis and malware detection, then you have come to the right place. Just jump to the core of the course (ELSA and Sguil) if you are already familiar with VirtualBox and the installation process, or you may just skim over this part of Security Onion installation quickly to get where the action is.
By Robert Lowrance on 6/22/2023
It was my pleasure to purchase and watch this course. The instructor seems very knowledgeable, and he is excellent at explaining topics with practical demos at the right pace for me to follow. I think I came to the right place to start learning about blue team techniques.
By Katherine Simon on 5/18/2023
This course is absolutely beginner friendly, at least to me, because it focuses on the practical side of things from scratch with an easy way of explanation. Even the theoretical lectures with slides are just preparation for the practical ones. At the same time, the necessary core theoretical concepts of cyber ops were explained briefly and implicitly through both types of lectures.
By David Michael on 3/12/2023
Having learned from this course, my cyber security journey begins and I am ready to advance my career. Multiple tools are covered well in such a way that you can practice with them again and again using the same techniques used in the lectures and assignments.
By Edmond Samuel on 12/27/2021
Good mixture of theory and practice. The theory side of this course is not that much, but it is enough to establish the practice side, which is the core of the course. And again, the practice side, as it seems to me, is for establishing the base needed for building the cyber labs and understanding the usage of the tools that can be used in those labs. I have learned a lot from this course, and I am very glad that I have purchased it.
By Bruce Ferguson on 4/9/2021
In production, every IT employee has to know about other specialties, at least a little. As a junior network engineer, I wanted to learn about cyber security operations, and this course was my choice for that purpose since I have never tried using Security Onion before. Even for other tools that I know about, it was perfect in the essence of focusing on explaining the core usage and main commands of those tools in an excellent way. Therefore, that was also a good refresh. In a nutshell, this course contains great content and easy-to-follow lectures.
By Julian Wirth on 3/8/2021
For me, that was a good match, since it helped me to learn how to build cyber labs and start analyzing incidents like being in a security operation center. My goal is to work there, and this course gave me the feeling of how the environment is in the SOC. I am so excited!
By Karl Henry on 8/23/2019
Very nice! I already know about the installation part, although it might be useful for beginners who do not know about that. However, there is some good information and tips here and there. The ELSA part is the real deal here, especially the assignment, which was an awesome summary of the whole concept of ELSA. Watching the Sguil part, I can say that using this tool for malware analysis is really helpful. I liked that part so much.
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 98 / 100






