Setting up Virtualbox for Security Home-Lab

2 min readAug 24, 2023

In this blog, we’ll set up Virtualbox for Cybersecurity Home-Lab suitable for SOC, Security Monitoring, EDR etc

A fantastic way to learn about and put different security concepts into practice in a controlled environment is to set up a VirtualBox-based security home lab. Here is a step-by-step tutorial for setting up your own virtual security lab using VirtualBox:

1. Install Virtualbox

Visit the official website at https://www.virtualbox.org/ to download and set up Oracle VirtualBox.

2. Plan Your Lab

Define the goal of your Cybersecurity Home Lab. If you’re following me on Linkedin, you can pick any of the Home-lab I share daily and get it started.

Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajneeshcyber/

3. Choose Your Virtual Machine

Set up virtual machines in your lab for various Home-Lab I shared. You might want to create VMs for the following for security-focused labs:

Kali Linux: https://www.kali.org/get-kali/#kali-platforms
Windows Server: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-server/trial
Ubuntu Server: https://ubuntu.com/download/server

4. Configure Networking

Choose the most suitable networking settings for your virtual machines:

NAT: NAT mode enables VMs to connect to the host’s network to access the external network. For basic networking and internet access, this mode is suitable. This is good for our Home-Lab

Bridged Mode: Bridged mode gives the VM its own IP address on the local network by attaching it directly to the host’s physical network adapter. This is good for the production environment.

Host-only Mode: By establishing a private network between the host and the virtual machines, host-only mode enables them to communicate without using the internet. It is good for Digital Forensic and Malware analysis Lab.

Conclusion

It’s important to keep in mind that, even though your security home lab is a controlled environment, you must conduct your experiments and training with a sense of responsibility and ethics. Always follow the law and the rules, and think about how your actions might affect systems in the real world.