Project 37: C2 Detection Lab

Module: Module 4: Vulnerability Scanning & Web Exploitation Defense  |  Level: Intermediate  | 
Primary tool: LetsDefend (free tier) or a sample beacon pcap  |  Estimated time: 75–120 minutes

Objective: Learn the traffic and log signatures of command-and-control beaconing.

Free lab environment

LetsDefend (free tier) + CyberDefenders (free challenges) — https://letsdefend.io/ and https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/

Both platforms offer free-tier SOC-analyst simulations with real (sanitized) logs, alerts, and packet captures, so you can practice detection and triage without needing your own production environment.

Lab workflow

1. Access the free lab scenario (LetsDefend’s free-tier network-alert scenarios) and read the provided context before looking at any alert.
2. Using LetsDefend (free tier) or a sample beacon pcap, review the available logs/alerts with the specific goal of learning to learn the traffic and log signatures of command-and-control beaconing.
3. For each candidate indicator, write down why it is suspicious in plain English before deciding it’s a true positive — this discipline avoids alert-fatigue-driven guessing.
4. Draft the detection rule or logic (in plain English or pseudocode) that would have caught this automatically in the future.
5. Cross-check your conclusion against the platform’s model answer or scoring, if provided, and note any gap between your reasoning and the expected answer.
6. Write up your finding as a short incident note: what happened, how you knew, what you’d do next.

Evidence & screenshot requirements

Submit the following with your report (see this module’s practical assignment for exact upload details):

• the alert/log entry you identified as beacon-like (e.g. regular interval callbacks)
• your written detection rule idea (e.g. a Zeek/Suricata-style condition) that would have caught it

Expected deliverable

A concise lab-report entry containing: scope/target, exact commands or payloads used, your key
observation, the required screenshots above, and — where applicable — the specific remediation for what
you found. Vague answers (“sanitize input”, “use a firewall”) without naming the exact mechanism will not
receive full credit.

Safety & authorization

Only test the specific free lab target named above, or infrastructure you personally own. Do not target
third-party systems, real user accounts, or production services without explicit written authorization.
Never deploy anything from this project outside an isolated lab environment.