The cybersecurity landscape has rapidly evolved. To stay ahead, IT professionals need both offensive and defensive strategies. Microsoft Defender XDR is a unified solution for threat prevention, detection, investigation, and response across endpoints, identities, email, and cloud apps.
We’re excited to announce the release of Red Teaming and Blue Teaming with Microsoft Defender XDR, authored by the team at MVPDays Publishing. It provides a practical guide and helps IT professionals understand Microsoft Defender XDR through hands-on, lab-based learning.
About The Book
This book goes beyond theory, teaching you how to build your own cyber range using free tools.
- Setting up Red and Blue Team environments
- Simulating attacks and responding with Defender XDR
- Fine-tuning configurations for optimal performance
- Understanding Microsoft’s data correlation methods
Tools discussed include Covenant C2 Framework, Evil-WinRM, Mimikatz, CommandoVM, Rubeus, and BloodHound. Each chapter features attack simulations and their detection within Microsoft 365 Defender, Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps.
Who Should Read This?
- System Administrators wanting better understanding of defensive tools
- SOC Analysts needing to validate detections
- Red Teamers and Penetration Testers practicing in ethical environments
- Blue Teamers observing attack chains
- IT Pros and learners aiming to boost their cybersecurity knowledge
Tools Covered
- Covenant C2 Framework for post-exploitation scenarios
- Evil-WinRM for remote shell interactions
- Mimikatz for password extraction and Kerberos manipulation
- CommandoVM for preinstalled offensive tools
- Rubeus for Kerberos abuse
- BloodHound for Active Directory visualization
Focus on Defender XDR
This book aims to strengthen Microsoft Defender XDR defenses by teaching:
- Detection of attacker behaviors
- Alert correlation across multiple signals
- Automatic investigation and response (AIR)
- Customized detection rules with Advanced Hunting and KQL
- Integration with Microsoft Sentinel
Ethical Use
All techniques are meant for isolated, non-production labs. Follow legal and ethical guidelines when testing.
Why It Matters Now
Proactive cybersecurity is essential. This book allows you to:
- See from an attacker’s perspective
- Simulate real-world attacks
- Observe tool responses
- Improve defenses
Learn by Doing
The book emphasizes hands-on learning with exercises, detection goals, countermeasures, KQL queries, and remediation recommendations.
Available Now!
Red Teaming and Blue Teaming with Microsoft Defender XDR is available in digital and print formats. Perfect for learning, team training, or certification. Red Teaming and Blue… by Dave Kawula et al. [PDF/iPad/Kindle]
Final Thoughts
This book is an experience, guiding you from theory to practice, attacker to defender. Essential for anyone serious about cybersecurity in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Happy hunting—and defending.
John Sr.
