Altered Security Offers Advanced AD Bootcamp
Altered Security has announced an advanced Active Directory bootcamp scheduled to begin on March 13. The course, which prepares students for the Certified Red Team Expert (CRTE) certification, covers OPSEC, living-off-the-land techniques, and methods for bypassing defenses in enterprise-grade lab environments.
The Certified Red Team Expert (CRTE) is a highly-regarded certification within the information security community, known for its hands-on focus on exploiting Active Directory vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. The course is authored by Altered Security, with instruction from Nikhil Mittal, a respected red teamer with over 15 years of experience in the field. Unlike courses that focus on traditional exploits, the CRTE lab challenges students to think like an adversary and abuse legitimate features within a fully patched, modern Windows environment. This includes learning to bypass security controls like Microsoft Defender for Identity, AppLocker, and other enterprise-grade defenses. A core concept of the bootcamp is "living-off-the-land" (LotL), a technique where attackers use pre-installed system tools like PowerShell and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to carry out malicious actions. This method allows attackers to blend in with normal administrative activity, making their presence much harder for defenders to detect. The emphasis on Operational Security (OPSEC) teaches students to view their actions from an attacker's perspective to avoid revealing sensitive information that could lead to detection. This involves understanding how to enumerate Active Directory environments stealthily and bypass monitoring tools. The training provides extensive lab access, typically for one to three months, allowing students to practice in a multi-domain and multi-forest Active Directory environment that mimics real-world corporate networks. While the bootcamp is advanced, Altered Security also offers a beginner-friendly certification, the Certified Red Team Professional (CRTP). It is often recommended to complete the CRTP first to build a foundational understanding of Active Directory attacks before tackling the more complex topics covered in the CRTE.
