Welcome to the Ultimate Hands-On Threat Hunting & SOC Analyst Series

Welcome to the go-to resource for anyone serious about breaking into the world of Threat Hunting and SOC (Security Operations Center) Analysis. This blog series is built to help you acquire real-world, job-ready skills – no endless theory, just practical and actionable knowledge you can use.

Why This Series?
The question I hear most often from aspiring cybersecurity professionals is:

“What can I do to land a job in this field?”

The short answer is:

👉 Build the right practical skills.

Do you have the right practical skills?

The cybersecurity landscape evolves fast. TOOLS CHANGE! TECHNIQUES ADAPT!! CERTIFICATIONS COME AND GO!!! But one thing remains constant:

Hands-on experience is king.

Unfortunately, gaining that experience-especially without already working in a cybersecurity role-can feel almost impossible.

That’s the exact gap this series is designed to fill.

The Problem with Most Online Courses

There are plenty of cybersecurity courses online, but here’s the issue:

• Many are locked behind paywalls.
• A lot are more focused on profits than practical value.
• They often teach theory instead of real-world application.

In my own journey, I’ve tried countless platforms. Some do offer solid content-TryHackMe, HackTheBox, Cybrary.it, and LetDefend among them. In fact, some even provide Continuing Education credits (like Cybrary’s CPEs for CompTIA renewals). I’m a big believer in lifelong learning, and these platforms have definitely helped along the way.

But they still have some limitations:

• Simplified Challenges: Platforms like HTB and TryHackMe design labs around specific, known vulnerabilities. Great for learning—but they don’t always reflect real-world complexity.
• Lack of Customization: You’re often locked into preset labs with fixed objectives. You can’t easily tailor them to your specific goals or tools.

Why Self-Hosted Labs Are a Game-Changer

If you want full control over your learning, building your own lab is the way to go.

Self-hosted It may take more time and technical effort, but it will massively boost your skills and confidence. With a self-hosted lab, you can:

• Simulate realistic attack and defense scenarios.
• Build enterprise-like environments (EDR, SIEM, Windows, Linux, Active Directory, firewalls, IDS/IPS, etc.).
• Experiment with both offensive and defensive tools.
• Get hands-on with real-world misconfigurations, noise, and complexity.

💡 Yes, it’s more work—but if you’re serious about becoming a Threat Hunter or SOC Analyst, it’s worth every minute.

What This Series Delivers

This is not just another tutorial series. It’s a practical roadmap to mastering threat hunting and SOC analysis from the ground up.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• ✅ Step-by-step lab walkthroughs you can build at home.
• ✅ Red and blue team techniques (adversary emulation + detection/response).
• ✅ Cross-platform tools and detection strategies.
• ✅ Realistic attack simulations you’ll actually learn from.

If you’re willing to put in the effort, this series will help you build a solid foundation as a Threat Hunter or SOC Analyst.

Tools & Technologies We’ll Use (All Free)

To make this series accessible and effective, we’ll use freely available tools:

• VirtualBox – Virtualization platform.
• Ubuntu Server & Windows – OS diversity for real-world scenarios.
• LimaCharlie – EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response).
• YARA – Threat hunting and malware classification.
• Metasploit Framework – C2 and exploitation.
• Sliver – Lightweight C2 framework for red team exercises.

Lab Series Breakdown

Part 1 – Building your self-hosted lab environment.
Part 2 – Adversary emulation & detecting initial access.
Part 3 – Custom detection & response with Sliver C2.
Part 4 – Advanced emulation & detection (continued with Sliver)
Part 5 – Threat hunting with YARA.
Part 6 – Tuning alerts and reducing false positives.

The End Goal

This isn’t just a tutorial series—it’s a practical roadmap to mastering the real-world skills that hiring managers are actually looking for.

If you’re ready to do the work, this blog series will help you:

• Build your skills.
• Stand out from the crowd.
• Get job-ready for a role in threat hunting or SOC analysis.

Let’s get started

💪 Real skills. Real tools. Real impact. 🔥

Part 1 – Setting up your lab.