When you’re trying to land a first job in cybersecurity, or any time you want to spend some time learning and honing new cyber skills, having a good home lab setup is a huge help. There are also some superb (and often free) virtual labs online to make use of, and there is mention of a few of those below. Last week I asked several AI apps to discuss AI generated phishing attacks in 2024.
For today’s post I asked four AI apps for their best guidance on how to setup a home lab for cyber learning. The four tools I queried are Copilot, GPT-4, Perplexity, and Pi. Here’s the prompt I gave them:
You are offering guidance to a person who wants to build up skills to get into the field of cybersecurity. please outline the best ways to setup a home lab environment to test out penetration testing skills, vulnerability scanning, and some cyber defense capabilities like collecting and analyzing network traffic. please include details on the hardware and software needed
All four of the tools gave very good responses, with no hallucinations or nonsensical suggestions. Here are highlights from the responses, and in a couple cases that are concise enough, the entire response, and a few of my thoughts on the best and most interesting points within the responses:
The unanimous mention across all four tools (deservedly so) is the by now legendary Kali Linux penetration testing framework. Segmenting / isolating the test network was also cited by all but one of the tools.
Copilot
I like the way Copilot framed its reply:
There are many ways to build a home lab, depending on your goals, budget, and preferences. Here are some general steps and tips to help you get started:
The whole response is solid, has some good recommendations on the hardware and software to look at, and lists a couple of online platforms where you can test penetration testing skills :
1. Choose a hypervisor: A hypervisor is a software that allows you to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine. This way, you can create and manage different operating systems, applications, and network configurations without needing multiple devices. Some popular hypervisors are VMware Workstation¹, VirtualBox², and Hyper-V³.
2. Choose your host machine: Your host machine is the physical computer that runs the hypervisor and the VMs. You need a host machine that has enough CPU, RAM, storage, and network capabilities to support your lab. The exact requirements depend on how many and what kind of VMs you want to run, but generally, you should aim for at least 8 GB of RAM, a quad-core processor, and a solid-state drive (SSD). You can use your existing computer, buy a new one, or build your own⁴.
3. Choose your VMs: Your VMs are the virtual computers that you will use for your cybersecurity activities. You can choose from a variety of operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, or Mac OS, and install different tools and software on them. Some common VMs for cybersecurity are Kali Linux⁵, a Linux distribution that comes with many pre-installed hacking and security tools; Security Onion⁶, a Linux distribution that provides intrusion detection, network security monitoring, and log management; and Metasploitable⁷, a Linux distribution that is intentionally vulnerable and designed for penetration testing practice. You can also use VMs from Vulnhub⁸ or Hack The Box, which are platforms that offer various cybersecurity challenges and scenarios.
4. Configure your network: Your network is the way your VMs communicate with each other and with the internet. You need to configure your network settings to ensure that your lab is isolated from your home network and the internet, to prevent any accidental or malicious damage. You can use a firewall, such as pfSense, to create and manage different network segments, rules, and policies. You can also use a VPN, such as OpenVPN, to encrypt and secure your network traffic.
5. Start learning and testing: Once you have your home lab set up, you can start learning and testing your cybersecurity skills. You can use your Kali Linux VM to perform penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and ethical hacking on your other VMs. You can use your Security Onion VM to monitor and analyze your network traffic, detect and respond to intrusions, and collect and manage logs. You can also follow online courses, tutorials, blogs, podcasts, and videos to learn more about cybersecurity topics and techniques.
Note: The numbers within the wording above are links to the sources Copilot references - those links don’t work here.
GPT-4
GPT-4 does well in recommending a network switch, router, and wireless access point for WiFI scanning. It also offers a great set of suggestions for tools to use:
Penetration Testing Tools:
Kali Linux comes preloaded with tools like Metasploit, Nmap, Wireshark, Aircrack-ng, etc.
Additional tools like Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP for web vulnerability scanning.
Network Analysis and Monitoring Tools:
Wireshark for analyzing network traffic.
Snort or Suricata for intrusion detection.
Security Onion as a comprehensive suite for network security monitoring, log management, and intrusion detection.
Vulnerability Scanners:
Nessus or OpenVAS for vulnerability scanning.
This is also great advice:
Security Best Practices:
Always keep your lab systems updated.
Do not use real or sensitive data in your lab.
Regularly back up and snapshot your VMs to revert back to a known state.
Perplexity
As usual, Perplexity’s response is concise, clear, and useful:
Steps to Set Up Your Home Lab:
Plan Your Network: Design a network topology that simulates a real-world environment.
Install Virtualization Software: Set up your virtualization platform on your server or computer.
Create VMs: Install various operating systems on VMs to simulate different network components.
Configure Network Security: Set up pfSense or a similar tool to manage network traffic and security.
Install Security Tools: Set up Kali Linux, Security Onion, and other tools on separate VMs.
Practice Scenarios: Use your lab to simulate attacks with Kali Linux, monitor and detect intrusions with Security Onion, and analyze traffic with Splunk.
Remember to keep your home lab isolated from your regular home network to prevent any potential damage or security risks. As you progress, you can expand your lab with more complex setups and additional tools
Pi
Pi’s whole response is spot on and short enough to share all of it. I especially like that it mentions Raspberry Pi, Burp Suite for web application testing, and three good tools for network analysis.
Sure, here's a guide to setting up a home lab environment for cybersecurity training:
Hardware:
Computer: A decent laptop or desktop with at least 8 GB of RAM and a good processor.
Raspberry Pi: A small, affordable computer that can be used to simulate various scenarios, such as setting up a vulnerable web server or IoT device.
Wireless Access Point: A wireless access point or router to set up a home network for testing.
Software:
Virtualization software: VMware, VirtualBox, or Hyper-V to create virtual machines for testing purposes.
Operating systems: Windows, Linux, and macOS virtual machines for testing different operating systems.
Penetration testing tools: Kali Linux (with tools like Metasploit, Nmap, Burp Suite), Parrot Security OS, or BlackArch Linux.
Vulnerability scanners: OpenVAS, Nessus, or Burp Suite.
Network analysis tools: Wireshark, Tcpdump, or Network Miner.
Setup:
Install virtualization software and create virtual machines with different operating systems.
Install Kali Linux or other penetration testing tools on one of the virtual machines.
Install vulnerability scanners on another virtual machine.
Set up a home network using the wireless access point and connect the virtual machines to it.
Practice scanning and attacking the virtual machines using the tools installed.
Capture and analyze network traffic using Wireshark or Tcpdump.
Experiment with different scenarios, such as setting up a vulnerable web server on a Raspberry Pi and trying to exploit it.
This setup will provide a good starting point for learning penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and network analysis skills.
If you’re looking to create a home lab for some cyber skills learning and/or practice, the details above should serve as a great starting point or as solid food for thought on ways to enhance the home lab environment. I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything that stands out to you as something you will look into. If you would like to see the full text of the replies from Perplexity or GPT-4, I can add those in the comments as well.