As an aspiring cybersecurity hopeful, I'm on a continuous quest to find training to help me develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will equip me to be a productive security pro right out of the gate. Since I'm pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, the training I'm looking for are ones that complement my "book and theory" education with hands-on practical skills. My latest training endeavor, and the subject of this post, is RangeForce.
Disclaimer
This blog post is in no way endorsed or supported by RangeForce. Since I've started using the training platform, I've received a lot of questions from my social network regarding the platform. I decided to document my experiences with the RangeForce training thus far for those who are curious about it, and hopefully answer the questions that have been asked of me. I realized that there isn't any first-hand accounts that anyone can read about (from what I was able to find), so I'd like to start filling that void with this blog post.
What is RangeForce?
RangeForce is a "scalable cloud-based platform providing hands-on measurable simulation training for cybersecurity and IT operations professionals."
Their goal is to "reduce cyber attacks and cybercrime by empowering IT & security professionals with real-life security skills".
Backstory
RangeForce is NEW to me. I first heard about this company from the DFIR Diva's Free Cybersecurity Training webpage. I think someone blasted it out on the "Ask Me Anything" portion of John Strand's class "Intro To Security with MITRE ATT&CK and BHIS" in the Discord chat in early November as well.
The first thing I did was visit the website. On the homepage, they had a link to their Community Edition which is their FREE training model where interested people can sign up and have access to 20 modules ranging in topics from "Tools Used in the SOC", "Windows Security", "Web Application Security", and "DevOps". I didn't sign up right away. I was intrigued, but still skeptical because I have not heard of this company before in my 2 months of searching for training resources.
Next, I visited their LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. I was pleased to see that they had regular updates. I was also surprised to find out that they have been regularly sending updates regarding their free Community Edition and it didn't come across any of my networks. Still, at that time, I was busy completing my Security Blue Team Intro courses and didn't have room in my schedule to fit in another training platform. So I never did sign up for a free account. BUT, I did add them to my social media to start getting updates from them.
Sign Me Up! RangeForce Community Edition
Fast forward to a couple of weeks later, I have now completed my SBT Intro courses and and was considering taking the Blue Team Level 1 certification. But with the 3-month time limit on the BTL1 training materials, I was not confident that I could make the time I needed to squeeze it in (it has since been changed to a 4-month time limit). During this same time, I started seeing posts from RangeForce about their brand new Workforce Ready Cybersecurity Certificate Program. Now my interest is renewed, and even more-so now that I'd have something tangible to show to prospective employers if I decided to go this route. But what good would that be if I didn't like the platform? It was at this point that I decided to finally sign up for the Community Edition. It was FREE after all.
After verifying my e-mail address, the access to the platform was immediate. I was impressed by the the look, feel, and layout. The platform was clean and well-organized. I won't go too much further into the layout. My words won't do it justice, and if after reading this post you're interested, then you can create your own free account and see for yourself. Additionally, I'll link a few videos below that I found on YouTube of someone going through the actual platform, and it'll give you the best video overview of what the courses are like short of signing up for an account.
RangeForce Experience
So what initially captured my attention with RangeForce was their emphasis on Blue Team training. I saw that their Community Edition had a "Tools of the SOC" and "Windows Security" courses. At the time of this writing, these are the courses I have completed out of the free training, and what my opinions are based on. The RangeForce Learning Paths are designed to follow NIST/NICE role standards which I thought was awesome. The NIST/NICE work roles are arguably the only framework out right now to try and standardize cybersecurity work roles here in the U.S. I feel like it adds much needed structure to entry-level cybersecurity roles.
Each module has a difficulty rating: Foundational, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert. Each module also has an estimated time of completion which is primarily 45 minutes. These bite sized modules ensure that you don't lose focus, and that you can actually complete training after work or in between university studies. After having finished 15 modules so far, I can tell you that each one was fun and interesting -- even the modules that only dealt with the command lines! I can also tell you that if you are not familiar with the material covered, you can easily go over the 45 minutes and spend hours on a module.
Each module has a server connection to a virtual environment. The system automatically parses the server options to you with the server that has the most available resources at that time (but you can also pick one by location if you so choose). The virtual environment is fully in-browser -- no need to download any tools or applications, or to setup your own VPN connection. It is literally click-and-go giving you the most efficient use of your time to train. In my experience, the Tools of the SOC modules loaded in less that a couple minutes. The Microsoft Security modules took a while longer to load. But once the virtual instance was loaded, it is probably the most responsive virtual environment I've experienced in a training environment. I noticed that it starts to lag a little bit if I've been on for a couple hours, but the performance of the virtual environment was never a hindrance to my learning. I take a copious amount of notes whenever I work on projects, and even copying and pasting information from the virtual environment to my native environment is as easy and right-click copy, right-click paste.
Each instance has a Virtual Training Assistant (VTA) that guides you through the module. The VTA is an application within the VM much like any other application and starts up automatically once the instance spins up. Everything from instructions, overviews, procedures, materials, network topology diagrams, hints, and solution entries happen in this application. The solutions in the Community Edition are predominately fill-in-the-blank where you do the hands-on practical skills within the virtual environment to find your answer. But there are also challenges where all the tasks that need to be completed are done with the skills you perform in the VM and are registered automatically by the platform; you don't get the green check mark indicating successful completion until you actually perform the work to remediate the problem!
The modules introduce the concepts in increasing difficulty, and have built-in hints to help you out if you get stuck. If all else fails and you are still having trouble, you can also choose to reveal the solution. Even with that said, there were times that I went "off-roading" on Google to find my own answers or to research the solutions.
You can end a module at any time even if you haven't completed the objectives. But keep in mind that if you don't return within 3 hours, the virtual environment will terminate and you will lose your work. What I noticed is that your completion pie-chart on the course overview will show your progress where you left off, but once you actually go back into a new virtual environment instance, any work that you previously completed will not be saved. Upon successful completion of a module, you will have an opportunity to provide any feedback on the course and to give it a rating from 1-5 stars.
The only thing I had previous experience with prior to completing my RangeForce modules was Nmap. Other than that, I learned everything else brand new with no previous experience at all. Sure, the modules were challenging, but it wasn't ever to the point where I felt hopeless or frustrated to the point where I wanted to throw my laptop at the wall.
If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you know that my passion is with blue team security and so those are the modules I went after. Just so that you have an idea of the blue team material that is available with the Community Edition and what you could expect to learn if you decide to sign up, check out this snapshot:
Note that the Multi-Attack, Obfuscation, and Threat Intel Challenges are part of the special Blue Team Stars Challenge that lasts until January 10. Those were by far the most fun because they were created as a realistic scenario combining multiple modules into each challenge. I was able to use what I learned in all the previous modules, and there were only a few hints with NO solutions. I won't go into the details of what I learned in all these modules (you can get some of that information from the website). But you'll find a link to my write-ups on the modules I completed below.
Final Thoughts and Opinions
I would wholeheartedly recommend the RangeForce Community Edition to anyone curious about security, no matter your experience level. It is free training. . .but the training is so good as well! So you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
I was actually so impressed by the Community Edition that I reached out to RangeForce to inquire about their Work Force Ready Certificate programs. It was at this moment that I realized that RangeForce is the best kept secret for STUDENTS looking for quality blue team training. The reason I say this is because as a student with a valid .edu e-mail address, I was able to purchase an annual license to the entire RangeForce library, including all their Work Force Ready Certificate Learning Paths for only $150 USD!!! So if you're reading this, and you're an aspiring blue teamer, and you're a student. . .I'm not telling you what to do. . .but it was a no-brainer for me. With this individual license, my plan is to complete the certification pathways for SOC 1, SOC 2, and Threat Hunter. I believe there is a Forensic Analyst one on the way. And that is just the Blue Team specific courses. I now have access to 360 modules for 1 year for $150! You even get additional perks like having access to Beta modules to give your feedback and report any bugs before they become a permanent part of the curriculum.
Now, if you're not a student, the price I was quoted for a non-student individual was $1500. Things get more complicated at this price because there are other options that look more attractive at this price point. But I would recommend that you reach out to a RangeForce representative to see what they can do for you. For example, I know that as of this writing (12/16/20), they have a special BOGO for individual licenses that will give you access to 2 Learning Paths for only $250, and you can choose from Cybersecurity Essentials, SOC 1, SOC 2, and OWASP.
This brings me to my last few thoughts on why I chose RangeForce for my training:
Value: Security training is an investment for hopefuls like me. We want quality training at an affordable price. RangeForce meets those requirements for me (and it should for you too if you're a student!). It may or may not be for you, but I'd at least reach out to them to see what is available before making that determination.
Individual Learners: They have training models that are appropriate for enterprise organizations and individuals--not one or the other. I've reached out to similar SaaS cloud-based security training providers and have literally been ignored when all I was asking was if they had any training programs available to individual learners! RangeForce never did that to me. In fact, they reached out to me because of a comment I made on one of their LinkedIn posts! My account executive has stayed in contact with me to this day and was amazing throughout the entire process.
Community: I feel like they're doing their part as a training provider to try and close the employment and skills gap and to support diversity in security. They offer annual licenses to nearly their entire portfolio to students for only $150 USD. They have partnered with organizations like NPower, 7Eagle, Year Up, and ICMCP to provide scholarships and discounted training. That may not mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me as a minority and a U.S. Armed Forces veteran.
Flexibility: The training is self-paced and asynchronous. I'm only bound by the 1 year timeframe that my individual license is valid for. But the training is available to me whenever I want within that year.
Relevancy: I agree that you're not going to see RangeForce listed as a requirement in any job posting any time soon. But I made the mistake of assuming they were a no name until I did my research. RangeForce is: a CREST approved training partner, mapped to NICE/NIST work roles, and I believe the training is now ANSI accredited. Your accomplishments can be shared with Credly. They have partnerships, and training modules, with industry-recognized vendors (Splunk, IBM Qradar, Fortinet, Exabeam, Carbon Black, and Palo Alto to name a few). RangeForce was born out of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) cyber range. Their advisory board is on a whole other level than any other training provider I've seen. And it doesn't look like they're going to be going anywhere anytime soon. But most importantly, I can go to an employer and say: I can write advanced YARA queries; I can find back doors hidden on a Linux server; I can run a transform on Splunk, etc. The certification is icing on the cake, but the proof is in the pudding by the training teaching me actionable security skills.
Honestly, the only real feedback I can give to RangeForce right now is this: they don't have a central space for students/professionals to talk and have a community. I think having something like a Discord server would go a long way to creating a RangeForce community to share ideas, resources, and to help each other out. Oh, that and the fact that Security Blue Team's Blue Team Level 1 Certification, I believe, is the first industry wide blue team certification.
UPDATE 12/18/20: Adding a link to another RangeForce review by Stefan Waldvogel (need LinkedIn account to view).
Here are some additional links to familiarize yourself more with RangeForce:
Here's the RangeForce Certification Data Sheet:
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