Description:

Windows Payload Development: EDR Evasion and Initial Access Tradecraft is a course designed to provide knowledge and skills to create advanced payloads while navigating and overcoming modern defensive controls. This hands-on class focuses on payload development, analysis, and the initial access tradecraft needed to effectively operate against Windows systems in enterprise networks.

Participants will learn about the full spectrum of payload types and formats, including EXEs, DLLs, shellcode, and .NET assemblies, as well as advanced techniques for designing memory-resident payloads through process injection and memory management. The course also covers strategies for evading Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems and other telemetry solutions, addressing challenges such as API hooking, AMSI bypasses, ETW evasion, and AI/ML-based classifications.

Attendees will delve into implant design with a focus on modularity, reflective loading, encryption, and communication mechanisms, including synchronous and asynchronous methods. Practical exercises explore leveraging LOLBins (living off the land binaries) and third-party binaries, such as PowerShell, JScript, MSBuild, and Python, to bypass application whitelisting and create effective initial access vectors.

The course also introduces participants to the fundamentals of packer design, including compression, encryption, environmental keying, and methods to manipulate entropy and metadata. Students will leave with a strong foundation in building payloads that are both effective and evasive, understanding how to overcome blue team defenses and operate stealthily.