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Muhammad Ikhwan Fathulloh
Muhammad Ikhwan Fathulloh

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T-Guard: An Integrated Open-Source SOC Solution for Your Organization

Introduction

In an increasingly complex digital era, cyber threats continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Organizations of all sizes need security systems that are both robust and efficient. Enter T-Guard an innovative Security Operations Center (SOC) solution that harnesses the power of leading open-source tools into a single, cohesive platform.

T-Guard is not just a collection of security tools. It is a complete ecosystem designed to provide comprehensive protection for your digital assets. Developed with support from Universitas Indonesia - Japan International Cooperation Agency (UI-JICA Project) , this project demonstrates how collaboration between academia and security practitioners can produce truly impactful solutions.


Why T-Guard?

T-Guard Source: https://tguard.org/

T-Guard addresses a major challenge organizations face when building a SOC: integration. Instead of hiring a large team to manage multiple disparate platforms, T-Guard unifies four key pillars of cybersecurity under one roof:

Component Function License
Wazuh Real-time monitoring, threat detection, and compliance GPL v2.0
DFIR-IRIS Incident management and digital forensics LGPL v3.0
Shuffle Security workflow automation (SOAR) AGPL v3.0
MISP Open-source threat intelligence platform AGPL v3.0

By combining these four tools, T-Guard delivers a complete defense lifecycle: detection (Wazuh), intelligence (MISP), automated response (Shuffle), and incident management (IRIS).


Simple Installation

One of T-Guard's greatest strengths is its ease of installation. Within minutes, you can have a fully functional SOC up and running.

Prerequisites

  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (fresh machine recommended)
  • Connection: Broadband internet

Minimum requirements (trial deployments):

  • CPU: 8 cores
  • RAM: 16 GB (swap memory required)
  • Storage: 100 GB

Standard requirements (production environments):

  • CPU: 8 cores
  • RAM: 32 GB (no swap needed)
  • Storage: 250 GB

Installation Steps

Installation is performed through an interactive command-line script. Here's the overview:

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/sguresearcher/nusantara.git
    cd nusantara
    chmod +x setup.sh
    ./setup.sh
    
  2. Main menu options:

    • 1 → Update system & install dependencies (Docker, etc.)
    • 2 → Install T-Guard SOC package (choose environment: local VM or cloud)
    • 3 → Module integration (API keys, webhooks)
    • 4 → Use case simulation menu

The installation process runs automatically. Upon completion, you will receive a table with dashboard access information for each module:

Service URL Username Password
Wazuh https://<ip> admin SecretPassword
IRIS https://<ip>:8443 administrator MySuperAdminPassword!
Shuffle http://<ip>:3001 Create your own Create your own
MISP https://<ip>:1443 admin@admin.test admin

Note: SSL warnings in your browser are normal due to self-signed certificates. For production, installing official certificates is recommended.


Use Cases: Proving T-Guard's Capabilities

The T-Guard documentation provides three simulated attack scenarios to demonstrate how all components work together automatically.

1. Brute-Force Detection

Scenario: Simulated repeated login attempts against SSH.

Results:

  • Wazuh detects the brute-force attempts
  • Alerts are sent to Shuffle
  • Shuffle automatically creates a new incident ticket in IRIS
  • The SOC team can immediately review attack details and begin investigation

2. Malware Detection with Auto-Response

Scenario: A malicious file (malware) is uploaded to the system.

Results:

  • Wazuh detects the file
  • Integration with VirusTotal (API key required) confirms the file as malware
  • Wazuh automatically executes a response (e.g., deleting the file)
  • Alerts and automated responses are recorded in the Wazuh dashboard
  • A new incident ticket is created in IRIS

3. Web Defacement Detection

Scenario: A sample website page is defaced.

Results:

  • Wazuh's Integrity Monitoring module detects file content changes
  • Alert with rule ID 550 (Integrity Checksum Changed) is triggered
  • The SOC team is immediately notified of unauthorized changes to web assets

Threat Intelligence Integration with MISP

One of the most powerful features is the integration with MISP (Malware Information Sharing Platform). After installation, administrators can import over 100 threat feeds from MISP's defaults.json.

Quick steps:

  1. Navigate to https://github.com/MISP/MISP/blob/2.4/app/files/feed-metadata/defaults.json
  2. Copy the entire JSON content
  3. In MISP Dashboard: Sync ActionsFeedsImport Feeds from JSON
  4. Select all feeds → Enable SelectedFetch and Store All Feed Data

The threat intelligence from MISP is then used by Wazuh to enrich detection and perform IOC (Indicators of Compromise) matching.


Automation Workflow: Connecting the Pieces

A key highlight of T-Guard is how Shuffle orchestrates actions between components. For example, when Wazuh detects an alert:

  1. A webhook trigger in Shuffle receives the alert
  2. Shuffle extracts relevant data (source IP, rule description, log details)
  3. The workflow calls the IRIS module to create a new case with all alert information
  4. The SOC team sees a complete, auto-populated ticket ready for investigation

This automation eliminates manual hand-offs and accelerates response times dramatically.


Conclusion

T-Guard is concrete proof that enterprise-grade SOC solutions can be built from well-integrated open-source components. This project is ideally suited for:

  • Organizations looking to build an internal SOC with limited budgets
  • Security teams wanting workflow automation without building from scratch
  • Educational institutions and researchers studying modern SOC architecture

With clear installation guides, available testing scenarios, and community support, T-Guard offers a fast path toward maturing your organization's cybersecurity capabilities.


Resources & Links

Resource Link
Official T-Guard Website https://tguard.org/
Installation Documentation https://docs.tguard.org/installation
GitHub Repository https://github.com/sguresearcher/nusantara
License Information Available on GitHub (mix of GPL, Apache, AGPL, LGPL)

Closing Thought: Cybersecurity is not about the most expensive tools it's about the most integrated systems that are ready to respond. T-Guard proves that open source can be a solid foundation for building the digital fortresses of tomorrow.

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