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Introduction:
In the high-stakes world of cybersecurity, traditional incident response (IR) tabletop exercises can often feel scripted and predictable. A innovative training tool, the Backdoors & Breaches card game, is breaking this mold by injecting chaos, creativity, and hands-on tactical practice into security team preparedness. Created by Black Hills Infosec, this game simulates dynamic security incidents, forcing players to think like both defenders and attackers.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how gamified learning accelerates incident response procedure mastery.
- Learn to deconstruct real-world attack scenarios into actionable investigative steps.
- Apply critical commands and tools to simulate the forensic and containment actions drawn during gameplay.
You Should Know:
- The Core Mechanics: From Card Draw to IR Workflow
The game operates by building a unique incident chain: an Adversary card defines the threat actor, an Objective card sets their goal, and a Backdoor card reveals the initial compromise vector. Players then draw Breach cards that detail unfolding events and must respond with appropriate Incident Response action cards.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
1. Setup: Divide into teams (Red vs. Blue or collaborative). Shuffle the Adversary, Objective, Backdoor, Breach, and IR decks separately.
2. Construct the Incident: Draw one card each from the Adversary, Objective, and Backdoor decks. This forms your scenario. Example: “A Competitor (Adversary) seeks Financial Theft (Objective) via a Phishing Link (Backdoor).”
3. Escalate & Respond: Draw a Breach card (e.g., “C2 Beaconing detected from HR workstation”). The responding team must now select and play an IR card from their hand that logically counters the event, such as “Isolate Host” or “Capture Network Traffic.”
4. Execute Tactically: This is where technical simulation begins. For an “Isolate Host” action, a player should articulate the exact commands.
On Windows (via Admin PowerShell):
Isolate host by blocking all outbound traffic at the firewall New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "QUARANTINE_ISOLATION" -Direction Outbound -Action Block -Enabled True Disable the affected network adapter Disable-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet0" -Confirm:$false
On Linux (via iptables):
Flush existing rules and set default policy to DROP for isolation sudo iptables -P INPUT DROP sudo iptables -P FORWARD DROP sudo iptables -P OUTPUT DROP Alternatively, bring the interface down sudo ip link set eth0 down
2. Simulating Forensic Analysis with Open-Source Tools
When an IR card like “Acquire Disk Image” or “Analyze Memory” is played, teams should reference specific tools. This bridges the game’s strategic layer with practical, hands-on skill development.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
1. Scenario: A Breach card reveals “Suspicious PowerShell Execution.”
2. IR Response: Play the “Collect Forensic Artifacts” card.
3. Technical Execution: Detail the process for collecting relevant logs and memory.
Windows (PowerShell Logging & Memory Capture):
Extract PowerShell operational logs from the last 24 hours
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Windows PowerShell'; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddHours(-24)} | Export-Csv -Path .\PSLogs.csv -NoTypeInformation
Capture a full memory dump using built-in tools (requires administrative privileges)
winpmem.exe --output .\memdump.raw
Linux (Process Examination & Disk Imaging):
Capture running processes and network connections ps aux > /tmp/process_snapshot.txt lsof -i > /tmp/network_connections.txt Create a raw disk image of a compromised system using dd sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/evidence/disk_image.img bs=4M status=progress
3. Emulating Attacker Tradecraft for Proactive Defense
Understanding the adversary’s next move is crucial. The game’s Breach deck often forces defenders to anticipate attacker actions based on the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
1. Scenario: Adversary is “APT29” with a “Backdoor” of “Supply Chain Compromise.”
2. Breach Card Draw: “Credential Dumping.”
- Proactive Hunting: Before playing a containment IR card, a savvy team might first hunt for signs of Mimikatz or LSASS exploitation.
Windows Detection Commands:
Scan for known credential dumping tools via hash
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\, C:\Windows -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Get-FileHash | Where-Object {$<em>.Hash -eq "KNOWN_MIMIKATZ_HASH"}
Check for LSASS abnormal memory access
Get-Process lsass | Select-Object ProcessName, @{Name="ThreadCount";Expression={$</em>.Threads.Count}}
Linux (Detecting /etc/shadow access):
Audit who has recently accessed the shadow password file sudo auditctl -w /etc/shadow -p war -k shadow_access sudo ausearch -k shadow_access | aureport -f -i
- Building a Custom Incident Response Playbook from Game Sessions
Each game session generates a unique narrative. Documenting the flow of cards creates a custom, scenario-based playbook that can be formalized for real-world use.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
1. Record the Game: Use a template to log the drawn cards in sequence: Adversary -> Objective -> Backdoor -> Breach 1 -> IR Response 1 -> Breach 2 -> IR Response 2.
2. Map to a Framework: Post-game, map the card sequence to the NIST Incident Response Lifecycle (Preparation, Detection, Analysis, Containment, Eradication, Recovery, Post-Incident).
3. Convert to Runbook: Transform a successful game response into a procedural runbook. For example, if the sequence involved containing a ransomware outbreak, document the isolation, detection, and eradication steps with the exact commands used during the game’s technical simulation phase.
5. Integrating Threat Intelligence Feeds into Game Scenarios
Elevate the game by seeding it with real-world Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) from open-source threat intelligence feeds. This makes scenarios immediately relevant.
Step‑by‑step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
1. Preparation: Before the game, pull recent IoCs (IPs, domains, file hashes) from a feed like AlienVault OTX or MISP.
2. Customize Breach Cards: Append these real IoCs to custom-drawn Breach cards. E.g., “C2 Traffic detected to IP [Real Malicious IP from Feed].”
3. Technical Validation: When such a card is drawn, players must validate the finding.
Querying Threat Intelligence via CLI (using `curl` and jq):
Check an IP against AlienVault OTX OTX_API_KEY="your_key_here" IP_TO_CHECK="185.220.101.141" curl -s -H "X-OTX-API-KEY: $OTX_API_KEY" https://otx.alienvault.com/api/v1/indicators/IPv4/$IP_TO_CHECK/general | jq '.pulse_info.count' A count > 0 indicates the IP is known in threats.
Hunting with IoCs on an Endpoint (Velociraptor Example):
-- A Velociraptor VQL query to hunt for a malicious file hash SELECT FROM glob(globs="C:\Users\\AppData\\", accessor="ntfs") WHERE hash.sha1 = "MALICIOUS_FILE_HASH_FROM_FEED"
What Undercode Say:
- Gamification Demystifies Complex IR Frameworks: Backdoors & Breaches succeeds by translating abstract concepts like the MITRE ATT&CK framework or the NIST IR lifecycle into tangible, scenario-based decisions. The stress and time pressure of the game mirror real incident chaos, building muscle memory for strategic thinking.
- The “What-If” Engine Builds Adaptive Teams: Unlike linear tabletop scripts, the card-based randomness ensures no two incidents are alike. This forces teams out of procedural ruts and trains adaptive, creative problem-solving—the exact skill needed to combat evolving threat actors. The integration of actual command-line tools during play closes the loop between strategy and tactical execution.
Prediction:
The future of cybersecurity training is interactive, scenario-driven, and seamlessly blends strategic decision-making with hands-on technical validation. Tools like Backdoors & Breaches are pioneers in this shift. We predict a convergence where such gamified platforms will integrate directly with Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms and cyber ranges. Future iterations could involve drawing a “Breach” card that automatically deploys a simulated artifact in a lab environment, requiring players to use real investigation tools to find it and then “play” the correct automated response from the SOAR playbook. This will create a dynamic training loop that continuously sharpens both the strategic and technical edges of cyber defense teams.
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Reported By: Jasonsblanchard This – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
