2026 home lab setup to test malicious links safely for FREE (step by step)

Get KASM for free with the Community Edition: https://davidbombal.wiki/3T7Qy1F Install 1.19 now:  https://davidbombal.wiki/44zhkm9 Learn more about the Kasm Workspaces platform: https://davidbombal.wiki/3Rbi7Xn Kasm Workspaces Documentation:  https://davidbombal.wiki/3SyA3M3 Big thank you to KASM for sponsoring this video: A lot of cybersecurity training tells you to never click links. But what happens when you actually have to click one and you don't know if it's a safe link or a phishing link? In this video David Bombal shows the exact setup he uses to open suspicious or dodgy links without infecting his local computer. His approach: a cheap N95 mini PC running Ubuntu and Kasm Workspaces, placed in a DMZ between two firewalls from two different vendors (one internet-facing, one protecting the home network). He connects to that mini PC from his Mac and opens questionable URLs inside disposable Docker container browser sessions (Firefox, Brave, Chrome) that are destroyed when the session closes, so nothing runs on his local machine and it becomes far harder to get infected. You'll also see why copying links into VirusTotal can leak confidential data, the risk of VM escape on a local virtual machine, how to run a VPN (ProtonVPN over WireGuard) from inside Kasm, and how to install uBlock Origin. David then walks through the full self-hosted Kasm community edition install on Ubuntu, step by step, including hardware sizing and login setup. // Feedback on video from the KASM team // 00:05:46: Kasm offers a browser extension that runs on your local chrome or firefox browser. You point it at your local Kasm deployment and it allows you to right click any link in your local browser, then open it in a Kasm session. It’s a bit more convenient than launching a session and then manually copying and pasting.  It was built for this specific use case. https://docs.kasm.com/docs/1.19.0/tutorials/kasm-extension 00:06:37: This is more of the legacy way of using a VPN. Kasm has built a whole Egress system which allows you to configure any number of openVPN or wireguard based gateways. The user then gets a drop-down of the locations to choose from so they don't always have to bring their own config. Also, since this is done as part of a Docker plugin it works with any workspace, not just the Jammy VPN. It’s a lot more convenient and extensible, especially if Kasm is used by more than one user.  Read more here: https://docs.kasm.com/docs/1.19.0/how-to/networking/egress/ // David's SOCIAL // Discord: https://discord.com/invite/usKSyzb X: https://www.twitter.com/davidbombal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbombal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbombal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidbombal.co TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@davidbombal YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@davidbombal Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3f6k6gERfuriI96efWWLQQ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/davidbombal Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-bombal/id1466865532 // MY STUFF // https://www.amazon.com/shop/davidbombal // SPONSORS // Interested in sponsoring my videos? Reach out to my team here: [email protected] // MENU // 0:00 - Don't click on that link! 01:02 - Protect yourself from malicious links 03:01 - How Kasm workspaces works 07:11 - Using VPN in Kasm workspaces 08:17 - Blocking ads with UBlock Origin 09:12 - How Kasm workspaces works continued 09:55 - How the VPN works 10:33 - Setting up Kasm Workspaces 17:46 - Summary 18:39 - Conclusion Please note that links listed may be affiliate links and provide me with a small percentage/kickback should you use them to purchase any of the items listed or recommended. Thank you for supporting me and this channel! Disclaimer: This video is for educational purposes only. #kasm #cybersecurity #hacker