Chapter 02 — Security Departments
Scene 01 : Security Tour
“Good morning, Joe,” David said warmly as he spotted Joe entering the office for his second day. Joe returned the greeting with a smile.
“How was your evening?” David inquired.
“It was pretty good. After dinner, I got caught up in some reading — interesting stuff,” Joe replied.
“Oh? What kind of interesting stuff?” David was curious.
“Well, I looked more into Threat Hunting. Remember what you showed me yesterday? I found some fascinating insights on threat intelligence,” Joe explained with enthusiasm.
“That’s great to hear! How about we grab a coffee from downstairs? I’d love to give you a tour of the place. And don’t worry about lunch; our manager Justin plans to take you out. It’ll be a good opportunity to chat with him,” David suggested.
Carrying their coffee mugs, the two made their way to the café. As they walked, David began introducing Joe to the various security teams. They soon stopped by the IT infrastructure security team’s area.
“Joe, meet George, our lead security engineer,” David introduced as they walked through the office. “He’s crucial for keeping our network safe, handling things like security updates and managing our defenses, including firewalls and endpoint systems. If you’re ever stuck with anything related to that, George is the person to ask. He’s always ready to help and easy to talk to,” he added, helping Joe connect with the team. Joe nodded, absorbing the new faces and names, feeling optimistic on his second day.
Continuing their tour, they passed a conference room where a team was intently focused on a screen displaying code. “That’s our Application Security Team,” David pointed out. “They work closely with developers to find and fix vulnerabilities in our code before it’s deployed.”
Joe’s eyes lit up. “I’m really interested in application security,” he said. “I’ve read about bug bounty programs and penetration testing. It’s fascinating stuff, and it’s all part of Application Security Engineering, right?”
“Yes, exactly,” David confirmed. “It’s a broad field. If you want to dive deeper, I can arrange for you to meet with one of our engineers. They can give you a more in-depth understanding.”
They moved on to another section, where people were busy with Azure AD (now known as Microsoft Entra) and Active Directory, alongside a colleague working on AWS IAM. “These are the IAM (Identity and Access Management) engineers,” David explained. “They play a crucial role in ensuring the right people have the right access. They’re hard to find in the market because they specialize in specific technologies.”
David then concluded the tour. “That’s most of our departments. As a threat hunter, you’ll get to know these teams better through your work. Let’s grab some coffee and head back. I’ll introduce you to some key tools and concepts in threat hunting.” With that, Joe nodded, and they enjoyed some great coffee on their way back to the office.
Scene 02 : Shadows in the Network
As they were leaving, a sense of urgency filled the air when Martin, from the Security Operation Center, approached them with a concerning look on his face.
“Hey David, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Martin said, slightly out of breath. “There’s something you need to see.”
David introduced Joe to Martin, and they quickly got down to business. Martin explained that they had detected suspicious activity from an internal user at one of their client companies. It was crucial for the threat hunting team to investigate this and check for any other compromised accounts or traces of malicious files.
David’s interest peaked. “What kind of suspicious activity are we talking about?” he asked.
Martin led them to the Security Operations Center, where several monitors displayed streams of data. He pointed to one screen, which showed an unusual pattern of access requests from a single user account. These requests were for sensitive data that the user normally wouldn’t need.
David and Joe exchanged a look. This wasn’t just a case of a forgotten password or a mis-click. Something more evil was at play. David decided to dive deeper, running a series of forensic analyses on the network traffic.
As they sifted through the data, Joe’s sharp eyes caught an anomaly. “Look here,” he said, pointing to a series of encrypted files being transferred out of the network. “This could be the smoking gun.”
And the Hunt Begins ……………….
As our story with Joe and David continues, we’re left on the edge of our seats, eagerly waiting to see how they tackle their first big cybersecurity challenge together. What twists and turns will their digital adventure take? How will they use their skills to outsmart the cyber threats lurking in the shadows? The anticipation is high, and we can’t wait to share their journey with you. Make sure you don’t miss a beat of this thrilling ride — subscribe to Secure Nutshell and stay connected to the heart of cybersecurity stories that are as human as they are technical.
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