--- title: Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job description: Five beginner-friendly cybersecurity home lab projects you can build for free using virtual machines: a Wazuh SIEM lab for log monitoring and file integrity,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job | daily.dev og:description: Five beginner-friendly cybersecurity home lab projects you can build for free using virtual machines: a Wazuh SIEM lab for log monitoring and file integrity,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/AK1Jk30HB.png og:image:alt: Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job **[YouTube](https://daily.dev/sources/youtube)** · 13 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Five beginner-friendly cybersecurity home lab projects you can build for free using virtual machines: a Wazuh SIEM lab for log monitoring and file integrity, an AI-based SOC analyst bot using Python and an AI agent API, an AI-powered phishing email analyzer (concept), a web application firewall lab using SafeLine and DVWA, and a honeypot lab with an attack dashboard using OpenCanary integrated with Wazuh. All labs run on VirtualBox with free tools and are designed to build portfolio-worthy hands-on experience for landing a first cybersecurity job. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I build a free SIEM home lab for SOC analyst practice? Set up Wazuh, an open-source SIEM, using two virtual machines: a Windows VM running the Wazuh agent and an Ubuntu VM running the Wazuh server. This setup enables file integrity monitoring, logging changes to directories and files on a central dashboard. Adding a Kali Linux VM as an attacker machine lets you generate logs and alerts to analyze, all at zero cost. _Developers building SOC skills from scratch can find more Wazuh and SIEM guides through daily.dev._ ### What tools do I need to build an AI-based SOC analyst home lab? Build it with VirtualBox running an Ubuntu VM and a Kali Linux attacker VM, plus a cloud-based AI agent such as Area AI and a Python script. Kali generates a DOS attack against Ubuntu, the Python script produces alert logs, sends them via API to the AI agent, which analyzes the alert and risk rating and returns the result, all without paid infrastructure. _Anyone combining AI agents with security automation can track similar hands-on projects via daily.dev._ ### How does a honeypot lab integrate with a SIEM like Wazuh? A third virtual machine runs Open Canary, which simulates fake services such as SSH, HTTP, SMTP, and FTP to lure attackers. When a Kali Linux machine attacks these decoy services, the resulting logs and alerts feed into the Wazuh SIEM already set up on the Windows and Ubuntu VMs, letting you detect exploitation attempts in real time. _Learners extending SIEM setups with honeypots can follow related security lab writeups on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Wazuh SIEM Deployment with Multi-OS Agents](https://daily.dev/posts/wazuh-siem-deployment-with-multi-os-agents-0jx5laien) · InfoSec Write-ups · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Medium](https://daily.dev/posts/medium-ckqjk5kjc) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#homelab](https://daily.dev/tags/homelab) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb"},"datePublished":"2026-07-12T21:36:16.020Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:31:27.015Z","description":"Five beginner-friendly cybersecurity home lab projects you can build for free using virtual machines: a Wazuh SIEM lab for log monitoring and file integrity,...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8CL8wll0Sac/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8CL8wll0Sac/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"YouTube","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"YouTube","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--W5zMumpP--/f_auto/v1725350181/logos/youtube","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/youtube"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"security,python,homelab","timeRequired":"PT13M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job","description":"Five beginner-friendly cybersecurity home lab projects you can build for free using virtual machines: a Wazuh SIEM lab for log monitoring and file integrity,...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8CL8wll0Sac/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-07-12T21:36:16.020Z","duration":"PT13M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/AK1Jk30HB","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/8CL8wll0Sac"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"YouTube","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/youtube"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Build these 5 cyber projects this weekend and get a job"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-these-5-cyber-projects-this-weekend-and-get-a-job-ak1jk30hb#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I build a free SIEM home lab for SOC analyst practice?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Set up Wazuh, an open-source SIEM, using two virtual machines: a Windows VM running the Wazuh agent and an Ubuntu VM running the Wazuh server. 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