About the Hands-on Lab
Chao-Hsien Chu, Ph.D.
College of Information Sciences and Technology
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
IST 515
Hands-on Labs Folder
• Lab User Guide
• About the Lab Slide
Lab Folder
Objectives
This module will familiarize you with the following:
 The special needs for IA education
 Common approaches used in lab design
 The challenges faced
 Motivations for virtual security lab (VSL)
 VSL implementation at UP
 How to install “VMware Infrastructure Client”?
 How to login to VSL?
 The hands-on exercises for this course.
Reading
• IST 515, “A Brief Guide for Using VSL.” (Required)
• Jorg Keller and Ralf Naues, “Design of a Virtual Computer
Security Lab,” Proceedings of Communication, Network, and
Information Security (CNIS 2006), 2006. http://pv.fernunihagen.de/docs/547-045.pdf
• Padman, V. and Memon, N., “Design of A Virtual Laboratory
for Information Assurance Education and Research,” Proc. of the
2002 IEEE Workshop on Information Assurance and Security,
United States Military Academy, West Point, NY (17-19 June
2002).
• Summers, W. C., Carlos Martin, B., “Using a Virtual Lab to
teach an online Information Assurance Program,” InfoSec CD
2005 (Sept. 2005).
• VMWare, Inc. http://vmware.com
The Special Needs for IA Education
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Hands-on exercise is a critical and integrated
component of any effective information security
education and training program.
Students are expected to experiment with security
software without worry that their experiment may
impact other computer systems / students.
Students should be able to evaluate the security of
different operating systems, attempt to compromise the
security of computer systems, and install additional
security mechanisms without concern that their actions
may affect other computers systems / students.
Security hardware (Firewall, IDS); Human factors;
Defense-in-depth; Multidisciplinary.
Common Approaches Used
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Some instructors require students to complete the
exercises using their own computers.
 Lab experiences are typically conducted in an
isolated computer lab where security problems that
may occur are unable to affect other computers on
campus.
 A common alternative is to develop a virtual
network environment using simulators:

- Virtual Network System (VNS).
- Use virtual machines (VM) to emulate the hardware of
different computers in a network.
Virtual Gaming /Simulation (2nd Life)
The Challenges Faced
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The number of security related courses are
increasing.
 The number of students interested in SRA are
increasing.
 The physical space for security lab remains the
same or reduced.
 Difficulty in maintaining an isolated security lab
to meet classes and students’ schedules.
 Need to accommodate commuter students.
 Need to provide distance-learning education.
 Lack of emulators for security hardware
Motivations for VSL
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Increasing advanced hands-on learning in networking
and security courses (without sacrificing from
content).
Making campus computing resources available to
commuter students for 7/24.
Providing hands-on learning experiences in a distance
learning model.
Reducing lab hardware, software, and maintenance
costs, and the need for specialized computer labs.
Providing an agile and secured computing
environment.
Virtual Machine / Environment
• Virtual machines are software emulations of fully
functional operating systems such as Windows XP,
Windows Sever 2008, and Linux.
X.2
X.3
X.4
X.6
X.7
X.8
Target
Virtual
Machines
Virtual
Lab
X: 192.168.0
Win XP(1)
Win XP(2)
Linux
Win XP(1)
Win XP(2)
ESX Server
Linux
Win XP(1)
Win XP(2)
Linux
vslvc.ist.psu.edu
Internet
VIC
Client
Physical
Machines
Client
Virtual
Machines
Networking Status
• All virtual machines (Targets and clients)
are networked together.
• You should be able to access target
machines/servers without special setting.
• You need to turn off the firewall setting in
your client machines (note: in Windows
Security, located in the Control Panel) in
order to communicate with each other and
capture their traffic.
Hands-on Practice
• Install VMware Infrastructure Client.
• Login to the virtual security Lab and your
client machines.
• Find the IP address of your client machines.
• Check the network connection between target
and client machines.
• Check the network connection between your
client machines.
• Get to know your virtual security lab
environment.
Install VMware Infrastructure Client
• Start an Internet browser (e.g., IE Explorer or Firefox).
• Enter URL: https://vhol.up.ist.psu.edu/
• Click on the link “Download vSphere Client” to
download the VS Client.
• Install it on your computer (note: the client only needs
to be installed one time).
• If you use an earlier version of VI, please uninstall it
(uninstall Microsoft Visual J as well if you use a 64
bits OS), delete related files from Program Files
directory, reboot the system and then install the newer
version.
How to Login to VSL?
• Activate VMware
Infrastructure client.
• Enter the IP address of
the virtual network,
your Penn State User
name and Password.
Click the Login button
to connect to the
network.
• Follow the instructions
provided in user guide
to try the hands-on lab.
Power-on
Button
Screenshot
of virtual
environment
Depends on which
team you were
assigned. In this case,
it is team 1.
Open Console and
Inventory are two
important menu icons
that you need to
explore
Login to Virtual Clients
• Click on the “Power on” button (green color,
located on the top menu bar) to turn on the
machine.
 Login to the Virtual Win XP. Click on the
“Administrator” Logged on button to login;
 Login to the Virtual Linux. Enter
“administrator” in the text box of User Name
and “password” in the Password text box.
How to Access File Server
• The IP for the file server is:
192.168.0.2.
• Click on the “Start” button and
then select the “Run” button to
open a dialog box. Enter the IP
address of the file sharing
server.
• Log into the file server using
your virtual machine ID and
password. You will see two
folders: Share and Upload.
(For Windows Clients Only)
ID: IST515-Pub
Password: IST515-Pub
IST 515: Penetration Test Labs
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Lab 1: Security Policy.
 Lab 2: Footprinting. Whois, Nslookup, Dig, Ping,
Traceroute and Sam Spade.
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Lab 3: Network Scanning. SuperScan, Netbrute, NMap.
Lab 4: Enumeration. LANguard Network Security
Scanner, ENUM, and SNScan.
Lab 5: System Hacking. Password Cracking; spyware,
and Metasploit Framework.
Lab 6: Trojan and Backdoor.
Lab 7: Buffer Overflow.
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Lab 8: Social Engineering.
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Lessons Learned
 It allows students to gain hands-on experiences without the
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need of physically attending labs on campus.
Instructors can use the system in class to enhance teaching and
discussion anywhere and anytime.
Assignments can be designed without limited by the available
computing resources.
Students are able to experiment with security software without
worry that their experiment may impact other computer
systems.
Students can evaluate security of different operating systems,
attempt to compromise the security of computer systems, and
install additional security mechanisms without concern that
their actions may affect other computers.
Thank You?
Any Question?