CyberDefenders — The Best SOC Analyst Training Platform for Blue Teams

6 min readJun 8, 2023

With an increasing growth in Cyber Attacks, it is of paramount importance for Skilled individuals to learn to Defend them. Data breaches cost businesses an average of $4.35 million in 2022 and around 236 million ransomware attacks occurred globally in the first half of 2022 itself.

When most individuals enter the field of cybersecurity, they are drawn towards the Offensive side of hacking which involves Attacking web applications and Networks, however there is also a Defensive side of Cybersecurity which is in high demand and has immense scope in terms of career and growth. This Defensive side is known as Blue Teaming.

The Blue Team consists of incident response consultants who provide guidance to the IT security team on where to make improvements to stop sophisticated types of cyberattacks and threats. Functioning as the organization’s line of defense, the blue team makes use of security tools, protocols, systems and other resources to protect the organization and identify gaps in its detection capabilities. Now the question Comes How to Learn Blue Teaming? So I recently came across this Amazing platform called CyberDefenders.

CYBERDEFENDERS

CyberDefenders is a platform which provides Blue Team training for SOC analysts, threat hunters, security blue teams and DFIR professionals to advance Cyber Defense skills. There are No entry restrictions and even a beginner can start learning here.

“Introducing CyberDefenders Blue Team Training Platform” founded by Muhammad Alharmeel & Ahmed Shawky who are both Experienced Professionals in the Cybersecurity Industry.

Introducing CyberDefenders — Defend Smarter, Not Harder

As of Now, the company offers three primary services: a live CTF hosting platform (BlueRing), a professional training platform (BlueDemy), and a hands-on practice area (BlueYard). The also offer a Flagship, Hands on Blue Team exam called Certified CyberDefenders(CCD) which i will cover in details.

The Certified CyberDefenders training has also been presented at BlackHat (one of the most popular Hacker Conference) on Nov, 2022 in Riyadh Front Expo Centre. The services are used by some of the world’s top companies & Organisations as shown below.

To Join CyberDefenders Visit- https://cyberdefenders.org/accounts/signup/

Lets take a Deep look at BlueYard, BlueDemy, BlueRing & CCD Exam -

🔵BLUEYARD - Blue Team Labs, CTF, DFIR & SOC Tools

Play BlueYard Labs — https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/

BlueYard Contains 84+ FREE Practice labs on various topics such as Malware Analysis, Threat Intelligence, Threat Hunting & Digital Forensics. You can select the Lab according to your topic of interest and Also sort it based on Difficulty level & Categories.

Here is what a practice lab called RedLine looks like.It is based on Digital Forensics and you can see the easy to use interface where you can submit answers, get hints and download the challenge. I had tried some labs and they were excellent and learnt a lot by solving them. The best part is that all these labs are free which is hardly provided by any other learning platforms.

🔵BLUEDEMY - Blue Team Courses

BlueDemy Provides Self Paced Interactive Courses from Industry Experts on various Blue Team related topics which provide real-world skills.

Visit - https://cyberdefenders.org/blue-team-training/

The Trainings are Provided by these World Class Instructors who are Certified and Highly Experienced.

🔵BLUERING - CTF Platform

BlueRing is a managed-hosting CTF platform for CTF organizers who want their content to be seen by thousands of security professionals around the world. BlueRing can be used by CTF organizers such as security professionals, communities, universities, conferences, enterprises, and security vendors.

More Info- https://cyberdefenders.org/bluering-ctf-platform/

Features of BlueRing Platform

Certified CyberDefenders (CCD)

The Certified CyberDefender (CCD) is a blue team oriented training course with high quality, in depth material. The learning material is reinforced with multiple hands on, practical, online labs that are very similar to their BlueYard CTF platform. After completing the training material you can attempt the Certified CyberDefender exam which is a practical exam setup just like the online labs.

Visit - https://cyberdefenders.org/blue-team-training/courses/certified-cyberdefender-certification/

The CCD course includes 6 modules covering the following topics:

Security Operations Fundamentals
Incident Response
Threat Intelligence
Digital Forensics
Threat Hunting and Emulation
Perimeter Defense (Email Security)

The course is Self Paced, Contains 25+ hands-on blue team browser labs and more than 350+ Lessons. It includes Two certification exam attempts. The CCD Course gives you Four months access and Instant support and mentorship is also provided.

As per my research, and after talking with the exam takers, this is currently the best Blue Teaming exam in the industry based on the Course materials provided and the hands on exam. Also based on the pricing, it is a complete value for money Certification. You can also have a look at this Detailed Course Review posted by an exam taker-https://www.rufflabs.com/post/certified-cyberdefender-review/

Here is a sneak peek into the CCD Blue Team Labs-

**Hands on Blue Team Practice Labs based on Real World Engagements**

PRICING

Here are the pricing for BlueRing, BlueYard, Bluedemy & CCD Exam-

BlueRing (CTF Hosting Platform)

BlueDemy (Blue Team Courses)

Certified CyberDefender (CCD) Certification - $499

BlueYard (FREE Practice Labs)

**BlueYard is the FREE Practice lab. Contains 84 Labs as of now**

I would Highly Recommend You to use the platform if you are interested in Blue Teaming or even Cybersecurity in General. If you find the platform helpful, you can Start Practicing on the Free BlueYard Labs and go for the Certified CyberDefenders(CCD) Exam which is a value for money Certification for the quality of training and skill provided.