SOC Analyst Prep Labs - Cover6 Solutions

About Course

SOC Analyst Prep Labs is built for one outcome: you, working a real SOC analyst job — or working it better than you do right now.

This isn’t about getting experience “without a job.” This is about being ready for the job itself. Twelve modules, 88 lessons, 12 hands-on labs built around the same live infrastructure SOC teams actually use: a Splunk SIEM pre-loaded with real events, and watching the wire.

You’ll move through the full analyst workflow — log triage, threat hunting, network forensics, detection engineering, escalation, and incident documentation. Every lab is scoped the way a real shift is scoped: here’s what’s happening on the network, go find out why.

Course Content

Topic 1 — SOC Fundamentals
First day on the job. You are reviewing the alert queue. The team briefs you: three major incidents last semester. They hired you because of them.

Lesson 1.1 — 100 SOC Analyst Terms
Your Four-Certification Roadmap
Lesson 1.2 — What Is a SOC?
Lesson 1.3 — The SOC Analyst Role
Lesson 1.4 — Alert Triage Fundamentals
Lesson 1.5 — You vs. The AI
Exercise 1 — Alert Triage Decision Tree
Lab 1 — Alert Triage in Splunk

Topic 2 — Threat Intelligence and The Landscape
You pull threat intel on groups that targeted universities last year. Two campaigns match TTPs you are seeing in your own logs.

Topic 3 — SIEM Architecture and Splunk Foundations
The Splunk instance was set up six months ago. Nobody has built proper dashboards yet. That is your first project.

Topic 4 — Log Analysis
You find evidence of a brute force campaign that hit the admin network two weeks ago. The previous analyst missed it. You are reconstructing the timeline.

Topic 5 — Network Traffic Analysis
The research network is showing unusual outbound traffic. Dr. Osei's team says nothing has changed. You pull the PCAP.

Topic 6 — Phishing and Email Analysis

Topic 7 — Incident Detection
Three alerts fire in the same 20-minute window. You have to triage all three, determine what is real, and brief Dana before the noon meeting.

Topic 8 — Incident Response
One of those three alerts was real. You are writing the IR report. Marcus wants a brief for the Board by Friday.

Topic 9 — Endpoint Detection and Response
A workstation in the Health Center is behaving strangely. Possible malware. Student health records are at risk. The clock is running.

Lesson 8.1 — 100 EDR Terms
Lesson 8.2 — EDR Fundamentals
Lesson 8.3 — Process Analysis and Malware Behavior
Lesson 8.4 — Persistence Mechanisms
Detecting Credential Access — Stealing Passwords and Tickets
Detecting Lateral Movement — The Pivot Across the Network
Lesson 8.5 — Containment and Remediation Decisions
Exercise 9 — Process Tree Analysis
Lab 8 — Health Center Malware Investigation

Topic 10 — Vulnerability Management
You run the first formal vulnerability scan of the public web server. What you find is worse than expected.

Topic 11 — Security Frameworks and Compliance
Dana asks you to map the current security posture to NIST CSF. The gaps you find will drive next year's budget request.

Topic 12 — Threat Hunting

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About Course

Course Content

Topic 1 — SOC Fundamentals First day on the job. You are reviewing the alert queue. The team briefs you: three major incidents last semester. They hired you because of them.

Lesson 1.1 — 100 SOC Analyst Terms

Your Four-Certification Roadmap

Lesson 1.2 — What Is a SOC?

Lesson 1.3 — The SOC Analyst Role

Lesson 1.4 — Alert Triage Fundamentals

Lesson 1.5 — You vs. The AI

Exercise 1 — Alert Triage Decision Tree

Lab 1 — Alert Triage in Splunk

Topic 2 — Threat Intelligence and The Landscape You pull threat intel on groups that targeted universities last year. Two campaigns match TTPs you are seeing in your own logs.

Lesson 2.1 — 100 Threat Intelligence Terms

Lesson 2.2 — Threat Intelligence: What It Is and What It Is Not

Lesson 2.3 — MITRE ATT&CK Framework

Lesson 2.4 — Common Attack Vectors: Phishing, Credential Theft and Initial Access

Lesson 2.5 — Operationalizing Threat Intelligence in the SOC

Exercise 2 — Threat Intel Enrichment

Lab 2 — Threat Intel Mapping

Live Threat Intel — Hunting Real Attackers on Odapeeka

Topic 3 — SIEM Architecture and Splunk Foundations The Splunk instance was set up six months ago. Nobody has built proper dashboards yet. That is your first project.

Lesson 3.1 — 100 SIEM and Splunk Terms

Lesson 3.2 — How a SIEM Works

Lesson 3.3 — SPL: The Language of the SOC

Lesson 3.4 — Indexes, Sources, and Sourcetypes

Lesson 3.5 — Building SOC Dashboards

Exercise 3 — Build the OSU Investigation Dashboard

Lab 3 — Build the Odapeeka State Dashboard

Topic 4 — Log Analysis You find evidence of a brute force campaign that hit the admin network two weeks ago. The previous analyst missed it. You are reconstructing the timeline.

Lesson 4.1 — 100 Log Analysis Terms

Lesson 4.2 — Linux Logs: What They Tell You

Lesson 4.3 — Windows Logs: Event IDs That Matter

Lesson 4.4 — Timeline Reconstruction

Lesson 4.5 — Log Gaps and Evidence Gaps

Exercise 4 — Timeline Reconstruction

Lab 4 — Brute Force Reconstruction

Topic 5 — Network Traffic Analysis The research network is showing unusual outbound traffic. Dr. Osei's team says nothing has changed. You pull the PCAP.

Lesson 5.1 — 100 Network Security Terms

Lesson 5.2 — Network Traffic Fundamentals

Lesson 5.3 — Reading PCAPs with Wireshark

Lesson 5.4 — Network Traffic in Splunk

Lesson 5.5 — The Odapeeka State PCAP Challenge

Exercise 5 — C2 Channel Identification

Lab 5 — Research Network Investigation

Topic 6 — Phishing and Email Analysis

100 Phishing and Email Security Terms

Email Architecture and Header Analysis

Phishing Indicators and Social Engineering Tactics

Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

IOC Extraction and Correlation from Phishing Artifacts

Exercise 6 — Phishing Email Deep Dive

Lab 6 — Phishing Investigation: The Odapeeka State University Campaign

Topic 7 — Incident Detection Three alerts fire in the same 20-minute window. You have to triage all three, determine what is real, and brief Dana before the noon meeting.

Lesson 6.1 — 100 Detection Engineering Terms

Lesson 6.2 — Detection Engineering Fundamentals

Lesson 6.3 — Splunk Alerts and Correlation Rules

Lesson 6.4 — Multi-Alert Triage

Lab 6 — Three-Alert Triage

Exercise 7 — Detection Rule Development

Topic 8 — Incident Response One of those three alerts was real. You are writing the IR report. Marcus wants a brief for the Board by Friday.

Lesson 7.1 — 100 Incident Response Terms

Lesson 7.2 — The IR Lifecycle

Lesson 7.3 — Containment Strategy

Lesson 7.4 — Writing the IR Report

Lesson 7.5 — Chain of Custody and Evidence Handling

Exercise 8 — IR Playbook Execution

Lab 7 — Write the Odapeeka State IR Report

Topic 9 — Endpoint Detection and Response A workstation in the Health Center is behaving strangely. Possible malware. Student health records are at risk. The clock is running.

Lesson 8.1 — 100 EDR Terms

Lesson 8.2 — EDR Fundamentals

Lesson 8.3 — Process Analysis and Malware Behavior

Lesson 8.4 — Persistence Mechanisms

Detecting Credential Access — Stealing Passwords and Tickets

Detecting Lateral Movement — The Pivot Across the Network

Lesson 8.5 — Containment and Remediation Decisions

Exercise 9 — Process Tree Analysis

Lab 8 — Health Center Malware Investigation

Topic 10 — Vulnerability Management You run the first formal vulnerability scan of the public web server. What you find is worse than expected.

Lesson 9.1 — 100 Vulnerability Management Terms

Lesson 9.2 — Vulnerability Management Fundamentals