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Labs

Inside the M&S Ransomware Attack

In this lab, you’ll practice analyzing and responding to a modern ransomware attack using real-world threat actor techniques. When you’re finished, you’ll have a deeper understanding of identity-based compromises as well as practical steps to detect, contain, and mitigate enterprise-scale ransomware incidents.

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Lab Info
Rating
(18)
Level
Beginner
Last updated
Aug 04, 2025
Duration
55m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Getting Started in the Lab Environment

    Here are the initial instructions and explanation of the lab environment. Read this while your environment is busy creating itself from nothing. Yes, this violates physics; we know. How fun!

  2. Challenge

    Emulate Active Directory Credential Dumping

    In this challenge, you’ll take on the role of an attacker with access to a compromised domain controller and emulate credential dumping behavior by extracting the NTDS.dit file and associated SYSTEM registry hive. This activity reflects a real-world adversary technique used to harvest Active Directory credentials offline.

  3. Challenge

    Detect Active Directory Credential Dumping

    Now step into the defender’s role. You’ll pivot to the ELK stack and examine system logs and telemetry data to detect indicators of credential dumping from the previous stage. You’ll analyze logs for both direct evidence and supporting behaviors that point to lateral movement or domain compromise.

  4. Challenge

    The Last Challenge

    Welcome to the final challenge! This is your last chance to experiment in the environment. Clicking Finish Lab will end this little world that flittered into existence just for you.

About the author

Michael Teske is an Author Evangelist with Pluralsight helping people elevate their skills. He has 20+ years of experience in IT Ops, including 17 as an IT instructor at a community college.

Real skill practice before real-world application

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

Learn by doing

Engage hands-on with the tools and technologies you’re learning. You pick the skill, we provide the credentials and environment.

Follow your guide

All labs have detailed instructions and objectives, guiding you through the learning process and ensuring you understand every step.

Turn time into mastery

On average, you retain 75% more of your learning if you take time to practice. Hands-on labs set you up for success to make those skills stick.

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