L5 Security Operations

Module 1: Understand Data Security

Domain D5.0, D5.1.1, D5.1.2, D5.1.3

Hardening is the process of applying secure configurations (to reduce the attack surface) and locking down various hardware, communications systems and software, including the
operating system, web server, application server and applications, etc. This module introduces configuration management practices that will ensure systems are installed and
maintained according to industry and organizational security standards.

Data Handling
Data itself goes through its own life cycle as users create, use, share and modify it. The data security life cycle model is useful because it can align easily with the different
roles that people and organizations perform during the evolution of data from creation to destruction (or disposal). It also helps put the different data states of in use, at
rest and in motion, into context.

All ideas, data, information or knowledge can be thought of as going through six major sets of activities throughout its lifetime. Conceptually, these involve:

1. Creating the knowledge, which is usually tacit knowledge at this point.

2. Storing or recording it in some fashion (which makes it explicit).
3. Using the knowledge, which may cause the information to be modified, supplemented or partially deleted.
4. Sharing the data with other users, whether as a copy or by moving the data from one location to another.
5. Archiving the data when it is temporarily not needed.
6. Destroying the data when it is no longer needed.

Data Handling Practices

Classification: classifications dictate rules and restrictions about how that information can be used, stored or shared with others. All of this is done to keep the
temporary value and importance of that information from leaking away. Classification of data, which asks the question “Is it secret?” determines the labeling, handling and use
of all data. Classification is the process of recognizing the organizational impacts if the information suffers any security compromises related to its characteristics
of confidentiality, integrity and availability. Information is then labeled and handled accordingly. Classifications are derived from laws, regulations, contract-specified
standards or other business expectations. One classification might indicate “minor, may disrupt some processes” while a more extreme one might be “grave, could lead to loss
of life or threaten ongoing existence of the organization.” These descriptions should reflect the ways in which the organization has chosen (or been mandated) to characterize
and manage risks. The immediate benefit of classification is that it can lead to more efficient design and implementation of security processes, if we can treat the protection
needs for all similarly classified information with the same controls strategy.

Labeling: security labels are part of implementing controls to protect classified information. It is reasonable to want a simple way of assigning a level of sensitivity to a
data asset, such that the higher the level, the greater the presumed harm to the organization, and thus the greater security protection the data asset requires. This spectrum of
needs is useful, but it should not be taken to mean that clear and precise boundaries exist between the use of “low sensitivity” and “moderate sensitivity” labeling, for example.

Data Sensitivity Levels and Labels: unless otherwise mandated, organizations are free to create classification systems that best meet their own needs. In
professional practice, it is typically best if the organization has enough classifications to distinguish between sets of assets with differing sensitivity/value, but not so
many classifications that the distinction between them is confusing to individuals. Typically, two or three classifications are manageable, and more than four tend to be
difficult.

Highly restricted: Compromise of data with this sensitivity label could possibly put the organization’s future existence at risk. Compromise could lead to substantial loss of
life, injury or property damage, and the litigation and claims that would follow. Moderately restricted: Compromise of data with this sensitivity label could lead to loss of
temporary competitive advantage, loss of revenue or disruption of planned investments or activities. Low sensitivity (sometimes called “internal use only”): Compromise
of data with this sensitivity label could cause minor disruptions, delays or impacts. Unrestricted public data: As this data is already published, no harm can come from further
dissemination or disclosure.

Retention: Information and data should be kept only for as long as it is beneficial, no more and no less. Certain industry standards, laws and regulations define
retention periods, when such external requirements are not set, it is an organization’s responsibility to define and implement its own data retention policy. Data retention
policies are applicable both for hard copies and for electronic data, and no data should be kept beyond its required or useful life. Security professionals should ensure
that data destruction is being performed when an asset has reached its retention limit. For the security professional to succeed in this assignment, an accurate
inventory must be maintained, including the asset location, retention period requirement, and destruction requirements. Organizations should conduct a periodic review of
retained records in order to reduce the volume of information stored and to ensure that only necessary information is preserved.

Records retention policies indicate how long an organization is required to maintain information and assets. Policies should guarantee that: * Personnel understand the various
retention requirements for data of different types throughout the organization. * The organization appropriately documents the retention requirements for each type of information. *
The systems, processes and individuals of the organization retain information in accordance with the required schedule but no longer. * A common mistake in records retention is
applying the longest retention period to all types of information in an organization. This not only wastes storage but also increases risk of data exposure and adds unnecessary “noise”
when searching or processing information in search of relevant records. It may also be in violation of externally mandated requirements such as legislation, regulations or contracts
(which may result in fines or other judgments). Records and information no longer mandated to be retained should be destroyed in accordance with the policies of the enterprise and
any appropriate legal requirements that may need to be considered.
 Destruction: Data that might be left on media after deleting is known as remanence and may be a significant security concern. Steps must be taken to reduce the risk that data
remanence could compromise sensitive information to an acceptable level. This can be done by one of several means:

Clearing the device or system, which usually involves writing multiple patterns of random values throughout all storage media. This is sometimes called
“overwriting” or “zeroizing” the system, although writing zeros has the risk that a missed block or storage extent may still contain recoverable, sensitive information
after the process is completed.
Purging the device or system, which eliminates (or greatly reduces) the chance that residual physical effects from the writing of the original data values may still be
recovered, even after the system is cleared. Some magnetic disk storage technologies, for example, can still have residual “ghosts” of data on their surfaces even after
being overwritten multiple times. Magnetic media, for example, can often be altered sufficiently to meet security requirements; in more stringent cases, degaussing
may not be sufficient.
Physical destruction of the device or system is the ultimate remedy to data remanence. Magnetic or optical disks and some flash drive technologies may require being
mechanically shredded, chopped or broken up, etched in acid or burned; their remains may be buried in protected landfills, in some cases.
In many routine operational environments, security considerations may accept that clearing a system is sufficient. But when systems elements are to be removed and
replaced, either as part of maintenance upgrades or for disposal, purging or destruction may be required to protect sensitive information from being compromised by
an attacker.

Logging and Monitoring Security Events

Logging is the primary form of instrumentation that attempts to capture signals generated by events. Events are any actions that take place within the systems environment and cause
measurable or observable change in one or more elements or resources within the system. Logging imposes a computational cost but is invaluable when determining
accountability. Proper design of logging environments and regular log reviews remain best practices regardless of the type of computer system.

Major controls frameworks emphasize the importance of organizational logging practices. Information that may be relevant to being recorded and reviewed include (but is not limited
to): user IDs, system activities, dates/times of key events (e.g., logon and logoff), device and location identity, successful and rejected system and resource access attempts, system
configuration changes and system protection activation and deactivation events.

Logging and monitoring the health of the information environment is essential to identifying inefficient or improperly performing systems, detecting compromises and
providing a record of how systems are used. Robust logging practices provide tools to effectively correlate information from diverse systems to fully understand the
relationship between one activity and another.

Log reviews are an essential function not only for security assessment and testing but also for identifying security incidents, policy violations, fraudulent activities and
operational problems near the time of occurrence. Log reviews support audits – forensic analysis related to internal and external investigations – and provide support for
organizational security baselines. Review of historic audit logs can determine if a vulnerability identified in a system has been previously exploited.

It is helpful for an organization to create components of a log management infrastructure and determine how these components interact. This aids in preserving the integrity of log
data from accidental or intentional modification or deletion and in maintaining the confidentiality of log data.

Controls are implemented to protect against unauthorized changes to log information. Operational problems with the logging facility are often related to alterations to the messages
that are recorded, log files being edited or deleted, and storage capacity of log file media being exceeded. Organizations must maintain adherence to retention policy for logs as
prescribed by law, regulations and corporate governance. Since attackers want to hide the evidence of their attack, the organization’s policies and procedures should also address the
preservation of original logs. Additionally, the logs contain valuable and sensitive information about the organization. Appropriate measures must be taken to protect the log data from
malicious use.

Event Logging Best Practices

Different tools are used depending on whether the risk from the attack is from traffic coming into or leaving the infrastructure.

Ingress monitoring refers to surveillance and assessment of all inbound communications traffic and access attempts. Devices and tools that offer logging and alerting
opportunities for ingress monitoring include: Firewalls, Gateways, Remote authentication servers, IDS/IPS tools, SIEM solutions, Anti-malware solutions.

Egress monitoring is used to regulate data leaving the organization’s IT environment. The term currently used in conjunction with this effort is data loss prevention (DLP) or
data leak protection. The DLP solution should be deployed so that it can inspect all forms of data leaving the organization, including: Email (content and attachments), Copy to
portable media, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Posting to web pages/websites, Applications/application programming interfaces (APIs).

Encryption Overview
Almost every action we take in our modern digital world involves cryptography. Encryption protects our personal and business transactions; digitally signed software updates verify
their creator’s or supplier’s claim to authenticity. Digitally signed contracts, binding on all parties, are routinely exchanged via email without fear of being repudiated later by the
sender.

Cryptography is used to protect information by keeping its meaning or content secret and making it unintelligible to someone who does not have a way to decrypt (unlock) that
protected information. The objective of every encryption system is to transform an original set of data, called the plaintext, into an otherwise unintelligible encrypted form, called the
ciphertext.

Properly used, singly or in combination, cryptographic solutions provide a range of services that can help achieve required systems security postures in many ways:

**confidentiality**: Cryptography provides confidentiality by hiding or obscuring a message so that it cannot be understood by anyone
**integrity**: hash functions and digital signatures can provide integrity services that allow a recipient to verify that a message h
 Module 2: Understand System Hardening
Domain D5.2.1

Configuration Management Overview

Configuration management is a process and discipline used to ensure that the only changes made to a system are those that have been authorized and validated. It is both
a decision-making process and a set of control processes. If we look closer at this definition, the basic configuration management process includes components such as
identification, baselines, updates and patches.

Configuration Management
1. Identification: baseline identification of a system and all its components, interfaces and documentation.
2. Baseline: a security baseline is a minimum level of protection that can be used as a reference point. Baselines provide a way to ensure that updates to technology and
architectures are subjected to the minimum understood and acceptable level of security requirements.
3. Change Control: An update process for requesting changes to a baseline, by means of making changes to one or more components in that baseline. A review and
approval process for all changes. This includes updates and patches.
4. Verification & Audit: A regression and validation process, which may involve testing and analysis, to verify that nothing in the system was broken by a newly applied
set of changes. An audit process can validate that the currently in-use baseline matches the sum total of its initial baseline plus all approved changes applied in
sequence.

Effective use of configuration management gives systems owners, operators, support teams and security professionals another important set of tools they can use to monitor and
oversee the configuration of the devices, networks, applications and projects of the organization.An organization may mandate the configuration of equipment through standards
and baselines. The use of standards and baselines can ensure that network devices, software, hardware and endpoint devices are configured in a consistent way and that
all such devices are compliant with the security baseline established for the organization. If a device is found that is not compliant with the security baseline, it may be
disabled or isolated into a quarantine area until it can be checked and updated.

Inventory: Making an inventory, catalog or registry of all the information assets is the first step in any asset management process. You can’t protect what you don’t
know you have.

Baselines: The baseline is a total inventory of all the system’s components, hardware, software, data, administrative controls, documentation and user
instructions. All further comparisons and development are measured against the baselines. When protecting assets, baselines can be particularly helpful in
achieving a minimal protection level of those assets based on value. If classifications such as high, medium and low are being used, baselines could be developed for
each of our classifications and provide that minimum level of security required for each.

Updates: Such modifications must be acceptance tested to verify that newly installed (or repaired) functionality works as required. They must also be regression
tested to verify that the modifications did not introduce other erroneous or unexpected behaviors in the system. Ongoing security assessment and evaluation
testing evaluates whether the same system that passed acceptance testing is still secure.

Patches: The challenge for the security professional is maintaining all patches. Some patches are critical and should be deployed quickly, while others may not be
as critical but should still be deployed because subsequent patches may be dependent on them. Standards such as the PCI DSS require organizations to deploy
security patches within a certain time frame. An organization should test the patch before rolling it out across the organization. If the patch does not work or has
unacceptable effects, it might be necessary to roll back to a previous (pre-patch) state. Typically, the criteria for rollback are previously documented and would
automatically be performed when the rollback criteria were met. The risk of using unattended patching should be weighed against the risk of having unpatched systems in
the organization’s network. Unattended (or automated) patching might result in unscheduled outages as production systems are taken offline or rebooted as part of the patch
process.

Module 3: Understand Best Practice Security Policies

Domain D5.3, D5.3.1, D5.3.2, D5.3.3, D5.3.4, D5.3.5, D5.3.6

An organization’s security policies define what “security” means to that organization, which in almost all cases reflects the tradeoff between security, operability, affordability and
potential risk impacts. Security policies express or impose behavioral or other constraints on the system and its use. Well-designed systems operating within these constraints should
reduce the potential of security breaches to an acceptable level.

Security governance that does not align properly with organizational goals can lead to implementation of security policies and decisions that unnecessarily inhibit productivity, impose
undue costs and hinder strategic intent.

Common Security Policies

All policies must support any regulatory and contractual obligations of the organization. Sometimes it can be challenging to ensure the policy encompasses all requirements while
remaining simple enough for users to understand.

Here are six common security-related policies that exist in most organizations.

Data Handling Policy: Appropriate use of data: This aspect of the policy defines whether data is for use within the company, is restricted for use by only certain roles or can be
made public to anyone outside the organization. In addition, some data has associated legal usage definitions. The organization’s policy should spell out any such restrictions
or refer to the legal definitions as required. Proper data classification also helps the organization comply with pertinent laws and regulations. For example, classifying credit
 card data as confidential can help ensure compliance with the PCI DSS. One of the requirements of this standard is to encrypt credit card information. Data owners who
correctly defined the encryption aspect of their organization’s data classification policy will require that the data be encrypted according to the specifications defined in this
standard.

Password Policy: Every organization should have a password policy in place that defines expectations of systems and users. The password policy should describe senior
leadership's commitment to ensuring secure access to data, outline any standards that the organization has selected for password formulation, and identify who is designated
to enforce and validate the policy.

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP): The acceptable use policy (AUP) defines acceptable use of the organization’s network and computer systems and can help protect the
organization from legal action. It should detail the appropriate and approved usage of the organization’s assets, including the IT environment, devices and data. Each
employee (or anyone having access to the organization’s assets) should be required to sign a copy of the AUP, preferably in the presence of another employee of the
organization, and both parties should keep a copy of the signed AUP.

Policy aspects commonly included in AUPs: Data access, System access, Data disclosure, Passwords, Data retention, Internet usage, Company device usage

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): An organization may allow workers to acquire equipment of their choosing and use personally owned equipment for business (and personal)
use. This is sometimes called bring your own device (BYOD). Another option is to present the teleworker or employee with a list of approved equipment and require the
employee to select one of the products on the trusted list.

Letting employees choose the device that is most comfortable for them may be good for employee morale, but it presents additional challenges for the security professional because
it means the organization loses some control over standardization and privacy. If employees are allowed to use their phones and laptops for both personal and business use, this can
pose a challenge if, for example, the device has to be examined for a forensic audit. It can be hard to ensure that the device is configured securely and does not have any backdoors
or other vulnerabilities that could be used to access organizational data or systems.

All employees must read and agree to adhere to this policy before any access to the systems, network and/or data is allowed. If and when the workforce grows, so too will the
problems with BYOD. Certainly, the appropriate tools are going to be necessary to manage the use of and security around BYOD devices and usage. The organization needs to
establish clear user expectations and set the appropriate business rules.

Privacy Policy: Often, personnel have access to personally identifiable information (PII) (also referred to as electronic protected health information [ePHI] in the health
industry). It is imperative that the organization documents that the personnel understand and acknowledge the organization’s policies and procedures for handling of that type
of information and are made aware of the legal repercussions of handling such sensitive data. This type of documentation is similar to the AUP but is specific to privacy-
related data.

The organization’s privacy policy should stipulate which information is considered PII/ePHI, the appropriate handling procedures and mechanisms used by the organization, how the
user is expected to perform in accordance with the stated policy and procedures, any enforcement mechanisms and punitive measures for failure to comply as well as references to
applicable regulations and legislation to which the organization is subject. This can include national and international laws, such as the GDPR in the EU and Personal Information
Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada; laws for specific industries in certain countries such as HIPAA and Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA); or local laws in
which the organization operates.

The organization should also create a public document that explains how private information is used, both internally and externally. For example, it may be required that a medical
provider present patients with a description of how the provider will protect their information (or a reference to where they can find this description, such as the provider’s website).

Change Management Policy: Change management is the discipline of transitioning from the current state to a future state. It consists of three major activities: deciding to
change, making the change, and confirming that the change has been correctly accomplished. Change management focuses on making the decision to change and results in
the approvals to systems support teams, developers and end users to start making the directed alterations.

Throughout the system life cycle, changes made to the system, its individual components and its operating environment all have the capability to introduce new vulnerabilities and
thus undermine the security of the enterprise. Change management requires a process to implement the necessary changes so they do not adversely affect business operations.

Common Security Policies Deeper Dive

Policies will be set according to the needs of the organization and its vision and mission. Each of these policies should have a penalty or a consequence attached in case of
noncompliance. The first time may be a warning; the next might be a forced leave of absence or suspension without pay, and a critical violation could even result in an employee’s
termination. All of this should be outlined clearly during onboarding, particularly for information security personnel. It should be made clear who is responsible for enforcing these
policies, and the employee must sign off on them and have documentation saying they have done so. This process could even include a few questions in a survey or quiz to confirm
that the employees truly understand the policy. These policies are part of the baseline security posture of any organization. Any security or data handling procedures should be
backed up by the appropriate policies.

Change Management Components

The change management process includes the following components.

Documentation: All of the major change management practices address a common set of core activities that start with a request for change (RFC) and move through various
development and test stages until the change is released to the end users. From first to last, each step is subject to some form of formalized management and decision-making; each
step produces accounting or log entries to document its results.

Approval: These processes typically include: Evaluating the RFCs for completeness, Assignment to the proper change authorization process based on risk and organizational
practices, Stakeholder reviews, resource identification and allocation, Appropriate approvals or rejections, and Documentation of approval or rejection.
Rollback: Depending upon the nature of the change, a variety of activities may need to be completed. These generally include: Scheduling the change, Testing the change, Verifying
the rollback procedures, Implementing the change, Evaluating the change for proper and effective operation, and Documenting the change in the production environment. Rollback
authority would generally be defined in the rollback plan, which might be immediate or scheduled as a subsequent change if monitoring of the change suggests inadequate
performance.

Module 4: Understand Security Awareness Training

Domain D5.4, D5.4.1, D5.4.2, D5.3.2

To reduce the effectiveness of certain types of attacks (such as social engineering), it is crucial that the organization informs its employees and staff how to recognize security
problems and how to operate in a secure manner. While the specifics of secure operation differ in each organization, there are some general concepts that are applicable to all
such programs.

Purpose
The purpose of awareness training is to make sure everyone knows what is expected of them, based on responsibilities and accountabilities, and to find out if there is any
carelessness or complacency that may pose a risk to the organization. We will be able to align the information security goals with the organization’s missions and vision and have a
better sense of what the environment is.

What is Security Awareness Training?

Let’s start with a clear understanding of the three different types of learning activities that organizations use, whether for information security or for any other purpose:

Education: The overall goal of education is to help learners improve their understanding of these ideas and their ability to relate them to their own experiences and
apply that learning in useful ways.

Training: Focuses on building proficiency in a specific set of skills or actions, including sharpening the perception and judgment needed to make decisions as to which
skill to use, when to use it and how to apply it. Training can focus on low-level skills, an entire task or complex workflows consisting of many tasks.

Awareness: These are activities that attract and engage the learner’s attention by acquainting them with aspects of an issue, concern, problem or need.

You’ll notice that none of these have an expressed or implied degree of formality, location or target audience. (Think of a newly hired senior executive with little or no exposure to the
specific compliance needs your organization faces; first, someone has to get their attention and make them aware of the need to understand. The rest can follow.)

Security Awareness Training Examples

Let’s look at an example of security awareness training by using an organization’s strategy to improve fire safety in the workplace:

Education may help workers in a secure server room understand the interaction of the various fire and smoke detectors, suppression systems, alarms and their interactions with
electrical power, lighting and ventilation systems. Training would provide those workers with task-specific, detailed learning about the proper actions each should take in the event of
an alarm, a suppression system going off without an alarm, a ventilation system failure or other contingency. This training would build on the learning acquired via the educational
activities. Awareness activities would include not only posting the appropriate signage, floor or doorway markings, but also other indicators to help workers detect an anomaly,
respond to an alarm and take appropriate action. In this case, awareness is a constantly available reminder of what to do when the alarms go off.

Translating that into an anti-phishing campaign might be done by:

Education may be used to help select groups of users better understand the ways in which social engineering attacks are conducted and engage those users in creating and testing
their own strategies for improving their defensive techniques. Training will help users increase their proficiency in recognizing a potential phishing or similar attempt, while also helping
them practice the correct responses to such events. Training may include simulated phishing emails sent to users on a network to test their ability to identify a phishing email. Raising
users’ overall awareness of the threat posed by phishing, vishing, SMS phishing (also called “smishing) and other social engineering tactics. Awareness techniques can also alert
selected users to new or novel approaches that such attacks might be taking. Let’s look at some common risks and why it’s important to include them in your security awareness
training programs.

Phishing

The use of phishing attacks to target individuals, entire departments and even companies is a significant threat that the security professional needs to be aware of and be prepared to
defend against. Countless variations on the basic phishing attack have been developed in recent years, leading to a variety of attacks that are deployed relentlessly against individuals
and networks in a never-ending stream of emails, phone calls, spam, instant messages, videos, file attachments and many other delivery mechanisms.

Phishing attacks that attempt to trick highly placed officials or private individuals with sizable assets into authorizing large fund wire transfers to previously unknown entities are known
as whaling attacks .

Social Engineering

Social engineering is an important part of any security awareness training program for one very simple reason: bad actors know that it works. For the cyberattackers, social
engineering is an inexpensive investment with a potentially very high payoff. Social engineering, applied over time, can extract significant insider knowledge about almost any
organization or individual.

One of the most important messages to deliver in a security awareness program is an understanding of the threat of social engineering. People need to be reminded of the threat and
types of social engineering so that they can recognize and resist a social engineering attack.
 Most social engineering techniques are not new. Many have even been taught as basic fieldcraft for espionage agencies and are part of the repertoire of investigative techniques
used by real and fictional police detectives. A short list of the tactics that we see across cyberspace currently includes:

Phone phishing or vishing: Using a rogue interactive voice response (IVR) system to re-create a legitimate-sounding copy of a bank or other institution’s IVR system. The victim is
prompted through a phishing email to call in to the “bank” via a provided phone number to verify information such as account numbers, account access codes or a PIN and to confirm
answers to security questions, contact information and addresses. A typical vishing system will reject logins continually, ensuring the victim enters PINs or passwords multiple times,
often disclosing several different passwords. More advanced systems may be used to transfer the victim to a human posing as a customer service agent for further questioning.

Pretexting: The human equivalent of phishing, where someone impersonates an authority figure or a trusted individual in an attempt to gain access to your login information. The
pretexter may claim to be an IT support worker who is supposed to do maintenance or an investigator performing a company audit. Or they might impersonate a coworker, the police,
a tax authority or some other seemingly legitimate person. The goal is to gain access to your computer and information. Quid pro quo: A request for your password or login
credentials in exchange for some compensation, such as a “free gift,” a monetary payment or access to an online game or service. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Tailgating: The practice of following an authorized user into a restricted area or system. The low-tech version of tailgating would occur when a stranger asks you to hold the door open
behind you because they forgot their company RFID card. In a more sophisticated version, someone may ask to borrow your phone or laptop to perform a simple action when he or
she is actually installing malicious software onto your device. Social engineering works because it plays on human tendencies. Education, training and awareness work best to
counter or defend against social engineering because they help people realize that every person in the organization plays a role in information security.

Password Protection

We use many different passwords and systems. Many password managers will store a user’s passwords for them so the user does not have to remember all their passwords for
multiple systems. The greatest disadvantage of these solutions is the risk of compromise of the password manager.

These password managers may be protected by a weak password or passphrase chosen by the user and easily compromised. There have been many cases where a person’s
private data was stored by a cloud provider but easily accessed by unauthorized persons through password compromise.

Organizations should encourage the use of different passwords for different systems and should provide a recommended password management solution for its users.

Examples of poor password protection that should be avoided are:

Reusing passwords for multiple systems, especially using the same password for business and personal use. Writing down passwords and leaving them in unsecured areas. Sharing
a password with tech support or a co-worker.

Security Concepts
CIA Traid are three main goals

Confidentiality
Confidentiality protects information from unauthorized disclosure.

Confidentiality_Concerns

1. Snooping
snooping gathering information that is left out in the open.
"Clean desk policies" protect against snooping.
2. Dumpster Diving
Dumpster diving is to dump data anywere or dustbin.
"Shedding" protects against dumpster diving.
3. Eavesdropping
listing sensitive information
"Rules about sensitive conversations" prevent eavesdropping
4. Wiretapping
Electronic evaesdropping - listing through wire(internet)
"Encryption" protects against Wiretapping
5. Social Engineering
The attacker uses psychological tricks to persuade an employee to give then sensitive information or access to internal systems.
Best defence is to "Educating users"

Integrity
Integrity protects information from unauthorized changes.

Integrity_Concerns

1. Unauthorized modification
Attacks make changes without permission.
"Least priviege" protects against integrity attacks
 2. Impersonation
Attacks pretend to be someone else
"User education" protects against attacks
3. Man-in-the-middle (MITM)
Attacks place the attacker in the middle of a communications session.
"Encryption" protects against MITM attacks
4. Replay
Attacks eavesdrop on logins and reuse the captured credentials.
"Encryption" protects against Replay attacks

Availability
Availability protects authorized access to systems and data.

Availability_Concerns

1. Denial of service (DoS)

Unlimited request to a server
"Block unauthorized connections" to protect against denial of service attacks.
2. Power outages
Naturally or Man-made
"Redundant power and generators" protect against power outages.
3. Hardware failures
any component failures
"Redundant components" protect against hardware failure
4. Destruction
Naturally or Man-made
"Backup data centers" protect against destruction.
5. Service outages
Programing error and the failure of underlying equipment.
building systems that are resilient in the face of errors and hardware failures.

Authentication and authorization

The access control process consists of three steps that you must understand. These steps are identification, authentication and authorization.

1. Identification incolves making a claim of identity.

Electronic identification commonly uses usernames
2. Authentication requires proving a claim of identity.
Electronic autherntication commonly uses passwords.
3. Authorization ensures that an action is allowed.
Electronic authorization commonly uses access control lists.

Authentication and authorization process, access control systems also provide "Accounting" functionality that allows administrators to track user activity and reconstruct that activity
from logs. This may include tracking user activity on systems and even logging user web browsing history.

Password security
Password mechanisms - Password length requirements set a minimum number of characters. - Password complexity requirements describe the types of characters that must be
included. - Password expiration requirements force password changes. - Password requirements prevent password reuse.

Multifactor authentication
Multifactor authentication combines two different authentication factors.

Three different authentication factors. Something you know, something you are and something you have.

something you know

Passwords, PIN's, Security questions.

something you are

Biometric security mechanisms.

something you have

 Software and hardware tokens.

single sign-On (SSO)

Shares authentiacated sessions across systems - In a single sign on approach, users log on to the first SSO enabled system that they encounter. And then that login session
persists across other systems until it expires. If the organization sets the expiration period to be the length of a business day, that means that users will only need to log in once a
day and their single sign on is then going to last the entire day.

Non-repudiation
Non-repudiation prevents someone from denying the truth.

Solved the issue with 1. Signed contracts 2. Digital signatures 3. Video surveillance

Privacy
Privacy Concerns

1. Protecting our own data.

2. Educating our users.
3. Protecing data collected by our organizations.

Private information may come in many forms. Two of the most common elements of private information are "Personally identifiable information" and "Protected health information".

1. Personally identifiable information, or PII, includes all information that can be tied back to a specific individual.
2. Protected health information, or PHI, includes healthcare records that are regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Otherwise known as HIPAA.

L2 Incident Response, Business Continuity

and Disaster Recovery Concepts
Introduction
When we're talking about IR, BC and DR, we're focus on availability, which is accomplished through those concepts.

Incident Response (IR) plan responds to unexpected changes in operating conditions to keep the business operating;
Business Continuity (BC) plan enables the business to continue operating throughout the crisis;
Disaster Recovery (DR) plan is activated to help the business to return to normal operations as quickly as possible, if Incident Response and Business Continuity plans fail.

Module 1: Understand Incident Response

Domain D2.3.1, D2.3.2, D2.3.3

Incident Terminology
Breach (NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5): The loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, or any similar occurrence where: a person other
than an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information; or an authorized user accesses personally identifiable information for
other than an authorized purpose.

Event (NIST SP 800-61 Rev 2): Any observable occurrence in a network or system.

Exploit: A particular attack. It is named this way because these attacks exploit system vulnerabilities.

Incident: An event that actually or potentially jeopardizes the confidentiality, integrity or availability of an information system or the information the system processes,
stores or transmits.

Intrusion (IETF RFC 4949 Ver 2): A security event, or combination of events, that constitutes a deliberate security incident in which an intruder gains, or attempts to gain,
access to a system or system resource without authorization.

Threat (NIST SP 800-30 Rev 1): Any circumstance or event with the potential to adversely impact organizational operations (including mission, functions, image or
reputation), organizational assets, individuals, other organizations or the nation through an information system via unauthorized access, destruction, disclosure, modification of
information and/or denial of service.

Vulnerability (NIST SP 800-30 Rev 1): Weakness in an information system, system security procedures, internal controls or implementation that could be exploited by a
threat source.
 Zero Day: A previously unknown system vulnerability with the potential of exploitation without risk of detection or prevention because it does not, in general, fit
recognized patterns, signatures or methods.

The Goal of Incident Response

The priority of any incident response is to protect life, health and safety. When any decision related to priorities is to be made, always choose safety first. The primary goal of
incident management is to be prepared. Preparation requires having a policy and a response plan that will lead the organization through the crisis. Some organizations use the
term “crisis management” to describe this process, so you might hear this term as well. An event is any measurable occurrence, and most events are harmless. However, if the event
has the potential to disrupt the business’s mission, then it is called an incident. Every organization must have an incident response plan that will help preserve business
viability and survival. The incident response process is aimed at reducing the impact of an incident so the organization can resume the interrupted operations as soon as
possible. Note that incident response planning is a subset of the greater discipline of business continuity management (BCM).

Components of the Incident Response Plan

The incident response policy should reference an incident response plan that all employees will follow, depending on their role in the process. The plan may contain several
procedures and standards related to incident response. It is a living representation of an organization’s incident response policy. The organization’s vision, strategy and mission
should shape the incident response process. Procedures to implement the plan should define the technical processes, techniques, checklists and other tools that teams will use when
responding to an incident.

Preparation: Develop a policy approved by management; Identify critical data and systems, single points of failure; Train staff on incident response; Implement an
incident response team. (covered in subsequent topic); Practice Incident Identification. (First Response); Identify Roles and Responsibilities; Plan the coordination of
communication between stakeholders; Consider the possibility that a primary method of communication may not be available.

Detection and Analysis: Monitor all possible attack vectors; Analyze incident using known data and threat intelligence; Prioritize incident response; Standardize incident
documentation;

Containment, eradication and recovery: Gather evidence; Choose an appropriate containment strategy; Identify the attacker; Isolate the attack.

Post-incident activity: Identify evidence that may need to be retained. Document lessons learned. Retrospective, Preparation, Detection and Analysis, Containment,
Eradication and Recovery Post-incident Activity.

Incident Response Team

Along with the organizational need to establish a Security Operations Center (SOC) is the need to create a suitable incident response team. A typical incident response team is a
cross-functional group of individuals who represent the management, technical and functional areas of responsibility most directly impacted by a security incident. Potential team
members include the following:

Representative(s) of senior management

Information security professionals
Legal representatives
Public affairs/communications representatives
Engineering representatives (system and network)

Team members should have training on incident response and the organization’s incident response plan. Typically, team members assist with investigating the incident, assessing
the damage, collecting evidence, reporting the incident and initiating recovery procedures. They would also participate in the remediation and lessons learned stages and help
with root cause analysis.

Many organizations now have a dedicated team responsible for investigating any computer security incidents that take place. These teams are commonly known as computer incident
response teams (CIRTs) or computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs). When an incident occurs, the response team has four primary responsibilities:

Determine the amount and scope of damage caused by the incident.

Determine whether any confidential information was compromised during the incident.
Implement any necessary recovery procedures to restore security and recover from incident-related damage.
Supervise the implementation of any additional security measures necessary to improve security and prevent recurrence of the incident.

Module 2 Understand Business Continuity (BC)

Domain D2.1.1, D2.1.2, D2.1.3

The Importance of Business Continuity

The intent of a business continuity plan is to sustain business operations while recovering from a significant disruption. A key part of the plan is communication, including
multiple contact methodologies and backup numbers in case of a disruption of power or communications. Many organizations will establish a phone tree, so that if one person is not
available, they know who else to call.

Management must be included, because sometimes priorities may change depending on the situation. Individuals with proper authority must be there to execute operations, for
instance, if there are critical areas that need to be shut down. We need to have at hand the critical contact numbers for the supply chain, as well as law enforcement and
other sites outside of the facility. For example, a hospital may suffer a severe cyberattack that affects communications from the pharmacy, the internet or phone lines. In the United
 States, in case of this type of cyberattack that knocks out communications, specific numbers in specific networks can bypass the normal cell phone services and use military-grade
networks. Those will be assigned to authorized individuals for hospitals or other critical infrastructures in case of a major disruption or cyberattack, so they can still maintain essential
activity.

Components of a Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the proactive development of procedures to restore business operations after a disaster or other significant disruption to the
organization. Members from across the organization should participate in creating the BCP to ensure all systems, processes and operations are accounted for in the plan. In order
to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, the technology must align with the business needs.

List of the BCP team members, including multiple contact methods and backup members
Immediate response procedures and checklists (security and safety procedures, fire suppression procedures, notification of appropriate emergency-response agencies, etc.)
Notification systems and call trees for alerting personnel that the BCP is being enacted
Guidance for management, including designation of authority for specific managers
How/when to enact the plan. It's important to include when and how the plan will be used.
Contact numbers for critical members of the supply chain (vendors, customers, possible external emergency providers, third-party partners)

How often should an organization test its business continuity plan (BCP)?
Routinely. Each individual organization must determine how often to test its BCP, but it should be tested at predefined intervals as well as when significant changes happen within the
business environment.

Module 3: Understand Disaster Recovery (DR)

Domain D2.2, D2.2.1, D2.2.2, D2.2.3

The Goal of Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery planning steps in where BC leaves off. When a disaster strikes or an interruption of business activities occurs, the Disaster recovery plan (DRP) guides the
actions of emergency response personnel until the end goal is reached—which is to see the business restored to full last-known reliable operations. Disaster recovery refers
specifically to restoring the information technology and communications services and systems needed by an organization, both during the period of disruption caused by
any event and during restoration of normal services. The recovery of a business function may be done independently of the recovery of IT and communications services; however,
the recovery of IT is often crucial to the recovery and sustainment of business operations. Whereas business continuity planning is about maintaining critical business functions,
disaster recovery planning is about restoring IT and communications back to full operations after a disruption.

Components of a Disaster Recovery Plan

Executive summary providing a high-level overview of the plan
Department-specific plans
Technical guides for IT personnel responsible for implementing and maintaining critical backup systems
Full copies of the plan for critical disaster recovery team members
Checklists for certain individuals:
Critical disaster recovery team members will have checklists to help guide their actions amid the chaotic atmosphere of a disaster.
IT personnel will have technical guides helping them get the alternate sites up and running.
Managers and public relations personnel will have simple-to-follow, high-level documents to help them communicate the issue accurately without requiring input from
team members who are busy working on the recovery.
Executive management should approve the plan and should be provided with a high-level summary of the plan.
Public Relations should be a member of the disaster recovery plan to handle communications to all stakeholders.
IT Personnel are primarily responsible for the disaster recovery team.

L3 Access Control Concepts

Introduction
Types of access control, physical and logical controls and how they are combined to strengthen the overall security of an organization.

Module 1 Understand Access Control Concepts

Domain D3.1, D3.1.3, D3.1.5, D3.2, D3.2.1, D3.2.2, D3.2.5

What is Security Control?

Access control involves limiting what objects can be available to what subjects according to what rules.
 Controls Overview
Earlier in this course we looked at security principles through foundations of risk management, governance, incident response, business continuity and disaster recovery. But in the
end, security all comes down to, “who can get access to organizational assets (buildings, data, systems, etc.) and what can they do when they get access?”

Access controls are not just about restricting access to information systems and data, but also about allowing access. It is about granting the appropriate level of access to
authorized personnel and processes and denying access to unauthorized functions or individuals.

Access is based on three elements:

subjects: any entity that requests access to our assets. The entity requesting access may be a user, a client, a process or a program, for example. A subject is the
initiator of a request for service; therefore, a subject is referred to as “active.” A subject:

Is a user, a process, a procedure, a client (or a server), a program, a device such as an endpoint, workstation, smartphone or removable storage device with onboard
firmware.
Is active: It initiates a request for access to resources or services.
Requests a service from an object.
Should have a level of clearance (permissions) that relates to its ability to successfully access services or resources.

Objects: Objects represent the assets or resources that subjects seek to access within an organization. These assets can take various forms, including data stored in
databases or files, systems such as servers or network devices, applications used for specific purposes, physical spaces like offices or storage rooms, or any other resource
that holds value to the organization. Objects serve as the targets of access requests initiated by subjects, and their protection is essential for maintaining the security and
integrity of the organization's assets.

Rules: Rules form the foundation of the access control framework by defining the conditions under which access is granted or denied to objects. These rules establish the
criteria and parameters that govern the access permissions and restrictions within the organization's environment. They can encompass a wide range of factors, including
user roles and responsibilities, permissions levels, time-based access policies, location-based restrictions, and other attributes relevant to the organization's security policies.
Rules ensure that access is managed in a consistent, predictable, and enforceable manner, helping to safeguard sensitive information, prevent unauthorized access, and
mitigate security risks effectively.

Controls Assessments
Risk reduction depends on the effectiveness of the control. It must apply to the current situation and adapt to a changing environment.

Defense in Depth
We are looking at all access permissions including building access, access to server rooms, access to networks and applications and utilities. These are all implementations of
access control and are part of a layered defense strategy, also known as defense in depth, developed by an organization.

Defense in depth describes an information security strategy that integrates people, technology and operations capabilities to establish variable barriers across multiple
layers and missions of the organization. It applies multiple countermeasures in a layered fashion to fulfill security objectives. Defense in depth should be implemented to prevent or
deter a cyberattack, but it cannot guarantee that an attack will not occur.

A technical example of defense in depth, in which multiple layers of technical controls are implemented, is when a username and password are required for logging in to your
account, followed by a code sent to your phone to verify your identity. This is a form of multi-factor authentication using methods on two layers, something you have
and something you know. The combination of the two layers is much more difficult for an adversary to obtain than either of the authentication codes individually.

Another example of multiple technical layers is when additional firewalls are used to separate untrusted networks with differing security requirements, such as the internet from trusted
networks that house servers with sensitive data in the organization. When a company has information at multiple sensitivity levels, it might require the network traffic to be validated
by rules on more than one firewall, with the most sensitive information being stored behind multiple firewalls.

For a non-technical example, consider the multiple layers of access required to get to the actual data in a data center. First, a lock on the door provides a physical barrier to access
the data storage devices. Second, a technical access rule prevents access to the data via the network. Finally, a policy, or administrative control defines the rules that assign access
to authorized individuals.

Principle of Least Privilege

The Principle of Least Privilege (NIST SP 800-179) is a standard of permitting only minimum access necessary for users or programs to fulfill their function. Users are provided
access only to the systems and programs they need to perform their specific job or tasks.

To preserve the confidentiality of information and ensure that it is only available to personnel who are authorized to see it, we use privileged access management, which is based
on the principle of least privilege. That means each user is granted access only to the items they need and nothing further.

For example, only individuals working in billing will be allowed to view consumer financial data, and even fewer individuals will have the authority to change or delete that data. This
maintains confidentiality and integrity while also allowing availability by providing administrative access with an appropriate password or sign-on that proves the user has the
appropriate permissions to access that data.

Sometimes it is necessary to allow users to access the information via a temporary or limited access, for instance, for a specific time period or just within normal business hours. Or
access rules can limit the fields that the individuals can have access to. One example is a healthcare environment. Some workers might have access to patient data but not their
medical data. Individual doctors might have access only to data related to their own patients. In some cases, this is regulated by law, such as HIPAA in the United States, and by
 specific privacy laws in other countries.

Systems often monitor access to private information, and if logs indicate that someone has attempted to access a database without the proper permissions, that will automatically
trigger an alarm. The security administrator will then record the incident and alert the appropriate people to take action.

The more critical information a person has access to, the greater the security should be around that access. They should definitely have multi-factor authentication, for instance.

Privileged Access Management

Privileged access management provides the first and perhaps most familiar use case. Consider a human user identity that is granted various create, read, update, and delete
privileges on a database. Without privileged access management, the system’s access control would have those privileges assigned to the administrative user in a static way,
effectively “on” 24 hours a day, every day. Security would be dependent upon the login process to prevent misuse of that identity. Just-in-time privileged access management, by
contrast, includes role-based specific subsets of privileges that only become active in real time when the identity is requesting the use of a resource or service.

Privileged Accounts
Privileged accounts are those with permissions beyond those of normal users, such as managers and administrators. Broadly speaking, these accounts have elevated privileges
and are used by many different classes of users, including:

Systems administrators, who have the principal responsibilities for operating systems, applications deployment and performance management.
Help desk or IT support staff, who often need to view or manipulate endpoints, servers and applications platforms by using privileged or restricted operations.
Security analysts, who may require rapid access to the entire IT infrastructure, systems, endpoints and data environment of the organization.

Other classes of privileged user accounts may be created on a per-client or per-project basis, to allow a member of that project or client service team to have greater control over data
and applications. These few examples indicate that organizations often need to delegate the capability to manage and protect information assets to various managerial, supervisory,
support or leadership people, with differing levels of authority and responsibility. This delegation, of course, should be contingent upon trustworthiness, since misuse or abuse of these
privileges could lead to harm for the organization and its stakeholders.

Typical measures used for moderating the potential for elevated risks from misuse or abuse of privileged accounts include the following:

* More extensive and detailed logging than regular user accounts. The record of privileged actions is vitally important, as both a de
* More stringent access control than regular user accounts. As we will see emphasized in this course, even nonprivileged users should
* Deeper trust verification than regular user accounts. Privileged account holders should be subject to more detailed background chec
* More auditing than regular user accounts. Privileged account activity should be monitored and audited at a greater rate and extent

Segregation of Duties
A core element of authorization is the principle of segregation of duties (also known as separation of duties). Segregation of duties is based on the security practice that no
one person should control an entire high-risk transaction from start to finish. Segregation of duties breaks the transaction into separate parts and requires a different
person to execute each part of the transaction. For example, an employee may submit an invoice for payment to a vendor (or for reimbursement to themselves), but it must be
approved by a manager prior to payment; in another instance, almost anyone may submit a proposal for a change to a system configuration, but the request must go through
technical and management review and gain approval, before it can be implemented.

These steps can prevent fraud or detect an error in the process before implementation. It could be that the same employee might be authorized to originally submit invoices regarding
one set of activities, but not approve them, and yet also have approval authority but not the right to submit invoices on another. It is possible, of course, that two individuals can
willfully work together to bypass the segregation of duties, so that they could jointly commit fraud. This is called collusion.

Another implementation of segregation of duties is dual control. This would apply at a bank where there are two separate combination locks on the door of the vault. Some personnel
know one of the combinations and some know the other, but no one person knows both combinations. Two people must work together to open the vault; thus, the vault is under dual
control.

The two-person rule is a security strategy that requires a minimum of two people to be in an area together, making it impossible for a person to be in the area alone.
Many access control systems prevent an individual cardholder from entering a selected high-security area unless accompanied by at least one other person. Use of the two-person
rule can help reduce insider threats to critical areas by requiring at least two individuals to be present at any time. It is also used for life safety within a security area; if one person has
a medical emergency, there will be assistance present.

How Users Are Provisioned

Other situations that call for provisioning new user accounts or changing privileges include:

A new employee: When a new employee is hired, the hiring manager sends a request to the security administrator to create a new user ID. This request authorizes creation
of the new ID and provides instructions on appropriate access levels. Additional authorization may be required by company policy for elevated permissions.

Change of position: When an employee has been promoted, their permissions and access rights might change as defined by the new role, which will dictate any added
privileges and updates to access. At the same time, any access that is no longer needed in the new job will be removed.

Separation of employment: When employees leave the company, depending on company policy and procedures, their accounts must be disabled after the termination date
and time. It is recommended that accounts be disabled for a period before they are deleted to preserve the integrity of any audit trails or files that may be owned by the user.
Since the account will no longer be used, it should be removed from any security roles or additional access profiles. This protects the company, so the separated employee is
 unable to access company data after separation, and it also protects them because their account cannot be used by others to access data.

Module 2: Understand Physical Access Controls

Domain D3.1, D3.1.1, D3.1.2

What Are Physical Security Controls?

Physical access controls are items you can physically touch, which include physical mechanisms deployed to prevent, monitor, or detect direct contact with systems or areas within a
facility. Examples of physical access controls include security guards, fences, motion detectors, locked doors/gates, sealed windows, lights, cable protection, laptop locks, badges,
swipe cards, guard dogs, cameras, mantraps/turnstiles, and alarms.

Physical access controls are necessary to protect the assets of a company, including its most important asset, people. When considering physical access controls, the security of the
personnel always comes first, followed by securing other physical assets.

Why Have Physical Security Controls?

Physical access controls include fences, barriers, turnstiles, locks and other features that prevent unauthorized individuals from entering a physical site, such as a
workplace. This is to protect not only physical assets such as computers from being stolen, but also to protect the health and safety of the personnel inside.

Types of Physical Access Controls

Many types of physical access control mechanisms can be deployed in an environment to control, monitor and manage access to a facility. These range from deterrents to detection
mechanisms. Each area requires unique and focused physical access controls, monitoring and prevention mechanisms.

Badge Systems and Gate Entry

Physical security controls for human traffic are often done with technologies such as turnstiles, mantraps and remotely or system-controlled door locks. For the system to identify an
authorized employee, an access control system needs to have some form of enrollment station used to assign and activate an access control device. Most often, a badge is produced
and issued with the employee’s identifiers, with the enrollment station giving the employee specific areas that will be accessible. In high-security environments, enrollment may also
include biometric characteristics. In general, an access control system compares an individual’s badge against a verified database. If authenticated, the access control system sends
output signals allowing authorized personnel to pass through a gate or a door to a controlled area. The systems are typically integrated with the organization’s logging systems to
document access activity (authorized and unauthorized)

A range of card types allow the system to be used in a variety of environments. These cards include: Bar code, Magnetic stripe, Proximity, Smart, Hybrid

Environmental Design

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) approaches the challenge of creating safer workspaces through passive design elements. This has great applicability for
the information security community as security professionals design, operate and assess the organizational security environment. Other practices, such as standards for building
construction and data centers, also affect how we implement controls over our physical environment. Security professionals should be familiar with these concepts so they can
successfully advocate for functional and effective physical spaces where information is going to be created, processed and stored.

CPTED provides direction to solve the challenges of crime with organizational (people), mechanical (technology and hardware) and natural design (architectural and circulation flow)
methods. By directing the flow of people, using passive techniques to signal who should and should not be in a space and providing visibility to otherwise hidden spaces, the
likelihood that someone will commit a crime in that area decreases.

Biometrics

To authenticate a user’s identity, biometrics uses characteristics unique to the individual seeking access. A biometric authentication solution entails two processes.

Enrollment—during the enrollment process, the user’s registered biometric code is either stored in a system or on a smart card that is kept by the user. Verification—during the
verification process, the user presents their biometric data to the system so that the biometric data can be compared with the stored biometric code.

Even though the biometric data may not be secret, it is personally identifiable information, and the protocol should not reveal it without the user’s consent. Biometrics takes two
primary forms, physiological and behavioral.

Physiological systems measure the characteristics of a person such as a fingerprint, iris scan (the colored portion around the outside of the pupil in the eye), retinal scan (the pattern
of blood vessels in the back of the eye), palm scan and venous scans that look for the flow of blood through the veins in the palm. Some biometrics devices combine processes
together—such as checking for pulse and temperature on a fingerprint scanner—to detect counterfeiting.

Behavioral systems measure how a person acts by measuring voiceprints, signature dynamics and keystroke dynamics. As a person types, a keystroke dynamics system measures
behavior such as the delay rate (how long a person holds down a key) and transfer rate (how rapidly a person moves between keys).

Biometric systems are considered highly accurate, but they can be expensive to implement and maintain because of the cost of purchasing equipment and registering all users. Users
may also be uncomfortable with the use of biometrics, considering them to be an invasion of privacy or presenting a risk of disclosure of medical information (since retina scans can
disclose medical conditions). A further drawback is the challenge of sanitization of the devices.

Monitoring
The use of physical access controls and monitoring personnel and equipment entering and leaving as well as auditing/logging all physical events are primary elements in maintaining
overall organizational security.

Cameras

Cameras are normally integrated into the overall security program and centrally monitored. Cameras provide a flexible method of surveillance and monitoring. They can be a deterrent
to criminal activity, can detect activities if combined with other sensors and, if recorded, can provide evidence after the activity They are often used in locations where access is
difficult or there is a need for a forensic record.While cameras provide one tool for monitoring the external perimeter of facilities, other technologies augment their detection
capabilities. A variety of motion sensor technologies can be effective in exterior locations. These include infrared, microwave and lasers trained on tuned receivers. Other sensors can
be integrated into doors, gates and turnstiles, and strain-sensitive cables and other vibration sensors can detect if someone attempts to scale a fence. Proper integration of exterior or
perimeter sensors will alert an organization to any intruders attempting to gain access across open space or attempting to breach the fence line.

Logs

In this section, we are concentrating on the use of physical logs, such as a sign-in sheet maintained by a security guard, or even a log created by an electronic system that manages
physical access. Electronic systems that capture system and security logs within software will be covered in another section.

A log is a record of events that have occurred. Physical security logs are essential to support business requirements. They should capture and retain information as long as necessary
for legal or business reasons. Because logs may be needed to prove compliance with regulations and assist in a forensic investigation, the logs must be protected from manipulation.
Logs may also contain sensitive data about customers or users and should be protected from unauthorized disclosure.

The organization should have a policy to review logs regularly as part of their organization’s security program. As part of the organization’s log processes, guidelines for log retention
must be established and followed. If the organizational policy states to retain standard log files for only six months, that is all the organization should have.

A log anomaly is anything out of the ordinary. Identifying log anomalies is often the first step in identifying security-related issues, both during an audit and during routine monitoring.
Some anomalies will be glaringly obvious: for example, gaps in date/time stamps or account lockouts. Others will be harder to detect, such as someone trying to write data to a
protected directory. Although it may seem that logging everything so you would not miss any important data is the best approach, most organizations would soon drown under the
amount of data collected.

Business and legal requirements for log retention will vary among economies, countries and industries. Some businesses will have no requirements for data retention. Others are
mandated by the nature of their business or by business partners to comply with certain retention data. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
requires that businesses retain one year of log data in support of PCI. Some federal regulations include requirements for data retention as well.

If a business has no business or legal requirements to retain log data, how long should the organization keep it? The first people to ask should be the legal department. Most legal
departments have very specific guidelines for data retention, and those guidelines may drive the log retention policy.

Security Guards

Security guards are an effective physical security control. No matter what form of physical access control is used, a security guard or other monitoring system will discourage a person
from masquerading as someone else or following closely on the heels of another to gain access. This helps prevent theft and abuse of equipment or information.

Alarm Systems

Alarm systems are commonly found on doors and windows in homes and office buildings. In their simplest form, they are designed to alert the appropriate personnel when a door or
window is opened unexpectedly.

For example, an employee may enter a code and/or swipe a badge to open a door, and that action would not trigger an alarm. Alternatively, if that same door was opened by brute
force without someone entering the correct code or using an authorized badge, an alarm would be activated.

Another alarm system is a fire alarm, which may be activated by heat or smoke at a sensor and will likely sound an audible warning to protect human lives in the vicinity. It will likely
also contact local response personnel as well as the closest fire department.

Finally, another common type of alarm system is in the form of a panic button. Once activated, a panic button will alert the appropriate police or security personnel.

Module 3: Understand Logical Access Controls

Domain D3.2, D3.2.3, D3.2.4, D3.2.5

What are Logical Access Controls?

Whereas physical access controls are tangible methods or mechanisms that limit someone from getting access to an area or asset, logical access controls are electronic methods
that limit someone from getting access to systems, and sometimes even to tangible assets or areas. Types of logical access controls include:

Passwords
Biometrics (implemented on a system, such as a smartphone or laptop)
Badge/token readers connected to a system

These types of electronic tools limit who can get logical access to an asset, even if the person already has physical access.

Discretionary Access Control (DAC)

Discretionary access control (DAC) is a specific type of access control policy that is enforced over all subjects and objects in an information system. In DAC, the policy specifies
that a subject who has been granted access to information can do one or more of the following:

Pass the information to other subjects or objects

Grant its privileges to other subjects
Change security attributes on subjects, objects, information systems or system components
Choose the security attributes to be associated with newly created or revised objects; and/or
Change the rules governing access control; mandatory access controls restrict this capability

Most information systems in the world are DAC systems. In a DAC system, a user who has access to a file is usually able to share that file with or pass it to someone else. This
grants the user almost the same level of access as the original owner of the file. Rule-based access control systems are usually a form of DAC.

This methodology relies on the discretion of the owner of the access control object to determine the access control subject’s specific rights. Hence, security of the object is literally up
to the discretion of the object owner. DACs are not very scalable; they rely on the access control decisions made by each individual object owner, and it can be difficult to find the
source of access control issues when problems occur.

Mandatory Access Control (MAC)

A mandatory access control (MAC) policy is one that is uniformly enforced across all subjects and objects within the boundary of an information system. In simplest terms,
this means that only properly designated security administrators, as trusted subjects, can modify any of the security rules that are established for subjects and objects
within the system. This also means that for all subjects defined by the organization (that is, known to its integrated identity management and access control system), the
organization assigns a subset of total privileges for a subset of objects, such that the subject is constrained from doing any of the following:

Passing the information to unauthorized subjects or objects

Granting its privileges to other subjects
Changing one or more security attributes on subjects, objects, the information system or system components
Choosing the security attributes to be associated with newly created or modified objects
Changing the rules governing access control

Although MAC sounds very similar to DAC, the primary difference is who can control access. With Mandatory Access Control, it is mandatory for security administrators to
assign access rights or permissions; with Discretionary Access Control, it is up to the object owner’s discretion.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Role-based access control (RBAC), as the name suggests, sets up user permissions based on roles. Each role represents users with similar or identical permissions.

Role-based access control provides each worker privileges based on what role they have in the organization. Only Human Resources staff have access to personnel files, for
example; only Finance has access to bank accounts; each manager has access to their own direct reports and their own department. Very high-level system administrators may have
access to everything; new employees would have very limited access, the minimum required to do their jobs.

Monitoring these role-based permissions is important, because if you expand one person’s permissions for a specific reason—say, a junior worker’s permissions might be expanded
so they can temporarily act as the department manager—but you forget to change their permissions back when the new manager is hired, then the next person to come in at that
junior level might inherit those permissions when it is not appropriate for them to have them. This is called privilege creep or permissions creep. We discussed this before, when we
were talking about provisioning new users.

Having multiple roles with different combinations of permissions can require close monitoring to make sure everyone has the access they need to do their jobs and nothing more. In
this world where jobs are ever-changing, this can sometimes be a challenge to keep track of, especially with extremely granular roles and permissions. Upon hiring or changing roles,
a best practice is to not copy user profiles to new users. It is recommended that standard roles are established, and new users are created based on those standards rather than an
actual user. That way, new employees start with the appropriate roles and permissions.

Risk Management
Understanding Risks
Risks within an organization can broadly be categorized into two types: Internal Risks, which originate from within the organization, and External Risks, which stem from factors
outside the organization's control. Additionally, there are Multiparty Risks that affect more than one organization, as well as risks specific to knowledge-based organizations such as
Intellectual Property Theft and Software License Compliance issues.

Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is the process of identifying and evaluating potential risks. It involves analyzing Threats, which are external forces that pose security risks, and Vulnerabilities, which
are weaknesses in the organization's security controls. Risks, therefore, arise from the combination of a Threat and a Vulnerability. Risks are typically assessed based on their
Likelihood, the probability of occurrence, and their Impact, the potential damage they may cause.

There are two primary techniques for assessing risks:

 1. Qualitative Risk Assessment: This method utilizes subjective ratings to evaluate the likelihood and impact of risks. It often involves qualitative descriptions or ranking scales
to assess risks.

2. Quantitative Risk Assessment: In contrast, quantitative risk assessment employs objective numeric ratings to evaluate the likelihood and impact of risks. It involves
mathematical models and statistical analysis to quantify risks more precisely.

Risk Treatment
Risk treatment involves analyzing and implementing responses to manage and control identified risks. There are four main options for treating risks:

1. Risk Avoidance: This strategy involves altering business practices to make certain risks irrelevant, effectively eliminating them from consideration.

2. Risk Transference: Risk transference involves shifting the financial burden of a risk to another party, such as through insurance or contractual agreements.

3. Risk Mitigation: Risk mitigation aims to reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk through various measures, such as implementing security controls or enhancing protective
measures.

4. Risk Acceptance: Sometimes, organizations choose to accept certain risks, acknowledging them as part of doing business while implementing measures to monitor and
manage them effectively.

Selecting Security Controls

Security controls play a crucial role in reducing the likelihood or impact of risks. They can be categorized based on their purpose and mechanism:

1. Control Purpose: Controls can be preventive, detective, or corrective, depending on whether they aim to prevent security issues, identify them, or address them after they
occur.

2. Control Mechanism: Controls can be technical, administrative, or physical, utilizing technology, processes, or physical measures, respectively, to achieve control objectives.

Configuration Management
Configuration management involves tracking and maintaining specific device settings to ensure a stable operating environment. It includes activities such as establishing baselines,
versioning configurations, and standardizing device settings through naming conventions and IP addressing schemes. Change management processes help implement and track
changes to configurations, ensuring consistency and stability.

L1: Security Principles

Module 1 Understand the Security Concepts of Information
Assurance
Domain D1.1.1, D1.1.2, D1.1.3, D1.1.4, D1.1.5, D1.1.6

Confidentiality
It relates to permitting authorized access to information, while at the same time protecting information from improper disclosure. Difficulties to achieve confidentiality are related to:
many users are guests or customers, and it is not clear if the access comes from a compromised machine or vulnerable mobile application. To avoid those difficulties, security
professionals must regulate access, permitting access to authorized individuals, for that protecting the data that needs protection.

Data that needs protections is also known as PII or PHI. PII stands for Personally Identifiable Information and it is related to the area of confidentiality and it means any data that
could be used to identify an individual. PHI stands for Protected Health Information and it comprehends information about one's health status, and classified or sensitive information,
which includes trade secrets, research, business plans and intellectual property.

Related to confidentiality is the concept sensitivity a measure of the importance assigned to information by its owner, or the purpose of denoting its need for protection.
Sensitive information is information that if improperly disclosed (confidentiality) or modified (integrity) would harm an organization or individual. In many cases, sensitivity is related
to the harm to external stakeholders; that is, people or organizations that may not be a part of the organization that processes or uses the information.

Threat related to confidentiality are:

1. Snooping involves gathering information that is left out in the open. Clean desk policies protect against snooping.
2. Dumpster diving also looking for sensitive materials, but in the dumpster, a paper shredding protects against it.
3. Eavesdropping occurs when someone secretly listen to a conversation, and it can be prevent with rules about sensitive conversations
4. Wiretapping is the electronic version of eavesdropping, the best way against that is using encryption to protect the communication.
5. Social Engineering, the best defense is educate users to protect them against social engineering.
 Integrity
It is the property of information whereby it is recorded, used and maintained in a way that ensures its completeness, accuracy, internal consistency and usefulness for a stated
purpose, which can be applied to information or data, system and process for business operations, organizations, people and their actions. Furthermore, restrict to data
integrity, it is an assurance that data has not been altered in an unauthorized manner, covering data in storage, during processing, and while in transit.

Consistency is another concept related to integrity and requires that all instances of the data be identical in form, content and meaning. When related to system integrity, it refers to
the maintenance of a known good configuration and expected operational function as the system processes the information. Ensuring integrity begins with an awareness of state,
which is the current condition of the system. Specifically, this awareness concerns the ability to document and understand the state of data or a system at a certain point, creating a
baseline. A baseline, which means a documented, lowest level of security configuration allowed by a standard or organization, can refer to the current state of the information—
whether it is protected.

To preserve that state, the information must always continue to be protected through a transaction. Going forward from that baseline, the integrity of the data or the system can always
be ascertained by comparing the baseline with the current state. If the two match, then the integrity of the data or the system is intact; if the two do not match, then the integrity of the
data or the system has been compromised. Integrity is a primary factor in the reliability of information and systems. The need to safeguard information and system integrity may be
dictated by laws and regulations. Often, it is dictated by the needs of the organization to access and use reliable, accurate information.

1. Unauthorized modification attacks make changes without permission. The best way to protect against that is the least privilege principle.
2. Impersonation attacks pretend to be someone else. User education protects against impersonation attack.
3. Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks place the attacker in the middle of a communication session, monitoring everything that's occurring.
4. Replay attacks eavesdrop on logins and reuse the captured credentials.

To both MiTM and Replay attacks the best approach is encryption.

Availability
It means that systems and data are accessible at the time users need them. It can be defined as timely and reliable access to information and the ability to use it, and for authorized
users, timely and reliable access to data and information services. The core concept of availability is that data is accessible to authorized users when and where it is needed and in
the form and format required. This does not mean that data or systems are available 100% of the time. Instead, the systems and data meet the requirements of the business for
timely and reliable access. Some systems and data are far more critical than others, so the security professional must ensure that the appropriate levels of availability are
provided. This requires consultation with the involved business to ensure that critical systems are identified and available. Availability is often associated with the term criticality,
which means a measure of the degree to which an organization depends on the information or information system for the success of a mission or of a business function (NIST SP
800-60), because it represents the importance an organization gives to data or an information system in performing its operations or achieving its mission

1. Denial of Service can be mitigated using firewalls to block unauthorized connections

2. Power outages can be mitigated using redundant power and generators
3. Hardware failures can be mitigated using redundant components
4. Destruction can be mitigated using backups
5. Service outages

Three steps to gain access, known as triple A, which means Authentication, Authorization,
Accounting
Identification

Consist of making a claim of identity

Authentication

When users have stated their identity, it is necessary to validate that they are the rightful owners of that identity. This process of verifying or proving the user’s identification is
known as authentication, which means in another terms access control process validating that the identity being claimed by a user or entity is known to the system, by comparing one
(single-factor or SFA) or more (multi-factor authentication or MFA) factors of authentication. Simply put, authentication is a process to prove the identity of the requestor.

There are three common methods of authentication:

Something you know: Passwords or paraphrases

Something you have: Tokens (NISTIR 7711), memory cards, smart cards
Something you are: Biometrics , measurable characteristics

Methods of Authentication

There are two types of authentication. Using only one of the methods of authentication stated previously is known as single-factor authentication (SFA). Granting users access
only after successfully demonstrating or displaying two or more of these methods is known as multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Common best practice is to implement at least two of the three common techniques for authentication:

Knowledge-based
Token-based
Characteristic-based
Knowledge-based authentication uses a passphrase or secret code to differentiate between an authorized and unauthorized user. If you have selected a personal identification number
(PIN), created a password or some other secret value that only you know, then you have experienced knowledge-based authentication. The problem with using this type of
authentication alone is that it is often vulnerable to a variety of attacks. For example, the help desk might receive a call to reset a user’s password. The challenge is ensuring that the
password is reset only for the correct user and not someone else pretending to be that user. For better security, a second or third form of authentication that is based on a token or
characteristic would be required prior to resetting the password. The combined use of a user ID and a password consists of two things that are known, and because it does not meet
the requirement of using two or more of the authentication methods stated, it is not considered MFA.

Password

Password length requirements set a minimum number of chars

Password complexity requirements describe the types of characters that must be included
Password expiration requirements force password changes. Nowadays, that requirement isn't used, companies change to an approach where force password change is
required when there is any evidence that the password has been compromised.
Password history requirements prevent password reuse.
Provide a way to change the password quickly and easily.
Encourage users to not reuse the same password across multiple sites
Password managers facilitate the use of strong, unique passwords

Authorization

Ensuring that an action is allowed.

Accounting

Its maintains logs of activity

Non-repudiation
Non-repudiation is a legal term and is defined as the protection against an individual falsely denying having performed a particular action. It provides the capability to determine
whether a given individual took a particular action, such as created information, approved information or sent or received a message.

In today’s world of e-commerce and electronic transactions, there are opportunities for the impersonation of others or denial of an action, such as making a purchase online
and later denying it. It is important that all participants trust online transactions. Non-repudiation methodologies ensure that people are held responsible for transactions they
conducted.

Base Concepts
1. Authorization: the right or a permission that is granted to a system entity to access a system resource
2. Integrity: the property that data has not been altered in an unauthorized manner
3. Confidentiality: the characteristic of data or information when it is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized persons or process
4. Privacy: the right of an individual to control the distribution of information about themselves
5. Availability: Ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information by authorized users
6. Non-repudiation: The inability to deny taking an action, such as sending an email message
7. Authentication: Access control process that compares one or more factors of identification to validate that the identity claimed by a user or entity is known to the system

Privacy
Privacy is the right of an individual to control the distribution of information about themselves. While security and privacy both focus on the protection of personal and sensitive
data, there is a difference between them. With the increasing rate at which data is collected and digitally stored across all industries, the push for privacy legislation and compliance
with existing policies steadily grows. In today’s global economy, privacy legislation and regulations on privacy and data protection can impact corporations and industries regardless of
physical location. Global privacy is an especially crucial issue when considering requirements regarding the collection and security of personal information. There are
several laws that define privacy and data protection, which periodically change. Ensuring that protective security measures are in place is not enough to meet privacy regulations or to
protect a company from incurring penalties or fines from mishandling, misuse, or improper protection of personal or private information. An example of a law with multinational
implications is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which applies to all organizations, foreign or domestic, doing business in the EU or any persons in
the EU. Companies operating or doing business within the United States may also fall under several state legislations that regulate the collection and use of consumer data and
privacy. Likewise, member nations of the EU enact laws to put GDPR into practice and sometimes add more stringent requirements. These laws, including national- and state-level
laws, dictate that any entity anywhere in the world handling the private data of people in a particular legal jurisdiction must abide by its privacy requirements. As a member of an
organization's data protection team, you will not be required to interpret these laws, but you will need an understanding of how they apply to your organization.

Module 2 Understand the risk management process

Domain D1.2.1, D1.2.2

Risks and security-related issues represent an ongoing concern of businesses as well as the field of cybersecurity. Assessing and analyzing risk should be a continuous and
comprehensive exercise in any organization. As a member of an organization’s security team, you will work through risk assessment, analysis, mitigation, remediation and
communication.
**Risk ** is a measure of the extent to which an entity is threatened by a potential circumstance or event. It is often expressed as a combination of: the adverse impacts that would
arise if the circumstance or event occurs, and the likelihood of occurrence.

Information security risk reflects the potential adverse impacts that result from the possibility of unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction of
information and/or information systems. This definition represents that risk is associated with threats, impact and likelihood, and it also indicates that IT risk is a subset of
business risk.

Matrix: Probability X Impact generates four possible combinations:

1. low probability, low impact

2. low probability, high impact
3. high probability, low impact
4. high probability, high impact

Risk Management Terminology

An asset is something in need of protection because it has value to the organization. It could be a tangible asset or intangible, such as information.
A vulnerability is a gap or weakness in an organization's protection of its valuable assets, including information. (NIST SP 800-30). A vulnerability is an inherent weakness or
flaw in a system or component, which, if triggered or acted upon, could cause a risk event to occur. An organization’s security team strives to decrease its vulnerability. To do
so, they view their organization with the eyes of the threat actor, asking themselves, “Why would we be an attractive target?” The answers might provide steps to take
that will discourage threat actors, cause them to look elsewhere or simply make it more difficult to launch an attack successfully. Managing vulnerabilities starts with one
simple step: Learn what they are.
A threat is something or someone that aims to exploit a vulnerability to gain unauthorized access. A threat is a person or thing that takes action to exploit (or make use of) a
target organization’s system vulnerabilities, as part of achieving or furthering its goal or objectives.
Likelihood, when determining an organization’s vulnerabilities, the security team will consider the probability, or likelihood , of a potential vulnerability being exploited
within the construct of the organization’s threat environment. Likelihood of occurrence is a weighted factor based on a subjective analysis of the probability that a
given threat or set of threats is capable of exploiting a given vulnerability or set of vulnerabilities.

Finally, the security team will consider the likely results if a threat is realized and an event occurs. Impact is the magnitude of harm that can be expected to result from the
consequences of unauthorized disclosure of information, unauthorized modification of information, unauthorized destruction of information, or loss of information or information system
availability.

Think about the impact and the chain of reaction that can result when an event occurs by revisiting the pickpocket scenario: Risk comes from the intersection of those three
concepts.

Risk Identification
In the world of cyber, identifying risks is not a one-and-done activity. It’s a recurring process of identifying different possible risks, characterizing them and then estimating their
potential for disrupting the organization.

Takeaways to remember about risk identification:

Identify risk to communicate it clearly.

Employees at all levels of the organization are responsible for identifying risk.
Identify risk to protect against it.

As a security professional, you are likely to assist in risk assessment at a system level, focusing on process, control, monitoring or incident response and recovery activities. If
you’re working with a smaller organization, or one that lacks any kind of risk management and mitigation plan and program, you might have the opportunity to help fill that planning
void.

Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is defined as the process of identifying, estimating and prioritizing risks to an organization’s operations (including its mission, functions, image and
reputation), assets, individuals, other organizations and even the nation. Risk assessment should result in aligning (or associating) each identified risk resulting from the
operation of an information system with the goals, objectives, assets or processes that the organization uses, which in turn aligns with or directly supports achieving the
organization’s goals and objectives. A risk assessment can prioritize items for management to determine the method of mitigation that best suits the assets being protected. The
result of the risk assessment process is often documented as a report or presentation given to management for their use in prioritizing the identified risk(s). This report is
provided to management for review and approval. In some cases, management may indicate a need for a more in-depth or detailed risk assessment performed by internal or external
resources.

Risk Treatment
Risk treatment relates to making decisions about the best actions to take regarding the identified and prioritized risk. The decisions made are dependent on the attitude of
management toward risk and the availability — and cost — of risk mitigation. The options commonly used to respond to risk are:

Avoidance: It is the decision to attempt to eliminate the risk entirely. This could include ceasing operation for some or all of the activities of the organization that are
exposed to a particular risk. Organization leadership may choose risk avoidance when the potential impact of a given risk is too high or if the likelihood of the risk
being realized is simply too great.
 Acceptance: Risk acceptance is taking no action to reduce the likelihood of a risk occurring. Management may opt for conducting the business function that is associated
with the risk without any further action on the part of the organization, either because the impact or likelihood of occurrence is negligible, or because the benefit is more
than enough to offset that risk.

Mitigation: Risk mitigation is the most common type of risk management and includes taking actions to prevent or reduce the possibility of a risk event or its
impact. Mitigation can involve remediation measures, or controls, such as security controls, establishing policies, procedures, and standards to minimize adverse
risk. Risk cannot always be mitigated, but mitigations such as safety measures should always be in place.

Transfer: Risk transference is the practice of passing the risk to another party, who will accept the financial impact of the harm resulting from a risk being realized in
exchange for payment. Typically, this is an insurance policy.

Base Concepts
Mitigation: Taking action to prevent or reduce the impact of an event
Acceptance: Ignoring the risks and continuing risky activities
Avoidance: Ceasing the risky activity to remove the likelihood that an event will occur
Vulnerability: An inherent weakness or flaw
Asset: Something of value that is owned by an organization, including physical hardware and intellectual property
Threat: A person or an entity that deliberately takes actions to exploit a target
Transference: Passing risk to a third party

Risk Priorities
When risks have been identified, it is time to prioritize and analyze core risks through qualitative risk analysis and/or quantitative risk analysis. This is necessary to determine root
cause and narrow down apparent risks and core risks. Security professionals work with their teams to conduct both qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Understanding the organization’s overall mission and the functions that support the mission helps to place risks in context, determine the root causes and prioritize the
assessment and analysis of these items. In most cases, management will provide direction for using the findings of the risk assessment to determine a prioritized set of risk-
response actions.

One effective method to prioritize risk is to use a risk matrix, which helps identify priority as the intersection of likelihood of occurrence and impact. It also gives the team a
common language to use with management when determining the final priorities. For example, a low likelihood and a low impact might result in a low priority, while an incident with a
high likelihood and high impact will result in a high priority. Assignment of priority may relate to business priorities, the cost of mitigating a risk or the potential for loss if an incident
occurs.

Decision Making Based on Risk Priorities

When making decisions based on risk priorities, organizations must evaluate the likelihood and impact of the risk as well as their tolerance for different sorts of risk. A company in
Hawaii is more concerned about the risk of volcanic eruptions than a company in Chicago, but the Chicago company will have to plan for blizzards. In those cases,
determining risk tolerance is up to the executive management and board of directors. If a company chooses to ignore or accept risk, exposing workers to asbestos, for example, it
puts the company in a position of tremendous liability.

Risk Tolerance
The perception management takes toward risk is often likened to the entity’s appetite for risk. How much risk are they willing to take? Does management welcome risk or want
to avoid it? The level of risk tolerance varies across organizations, and even internally: Different departments may have different attitudes toward what is acceptable or unacceptable
risk.

Understanding the organization and senior management’s attitude toward risk is usually the starting point for getting management to take action regarding risks. Executive
management and/or the Board of Directors determines what is an acceptable level of risk for the organization. Security professionals aim to maintain the levels of risk within
management’s limit of risk tolerance.

Often, risk tolerance is dictated by geographic location. For example, companies in Iceland plan for the risks that nearby volcanoes impose on their business. Companies that are
outside the projected path of a lava flow will be at a lower risk than those directly in the path’s flow. Similarly, the likelihood of a power outage affecting the data center is a real threat
in all areas of the world. In areas where thunderstorms are common, power outages may occur more than once a month, while other areas may only experience one or two power
outages annually. Calculating the downtime that is likely to occur with varying lengths of downtime will help to define a company’s risk tolerance. If a company has a low tolerance of
the risk of downtime, they are more likely to invest in a generator to power critical systems. A company with an even lower tolerance for downtime will invest in multiple generators
with multiple fuel sources to provide a higher level of assurance that the power will not fail.

Module 3 Understand Security Control

Domain D1.3.1, D1.3.2, D1.3.3

What are security controls? (FIBS PUB 199)

Security controls pertain to the physical, technical and administrative mechanisms that act as safeguards or countermeasures prescribed for an information system to
protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system and its information. The implementation of controls should reduce risk, hopefully to an acceptable level.
 Physical control: it addresses process-based security needs using physical hardware devices, such as badge readers, architectural features of buildings and facilities,
and specific security actions to be taken by people. They typically provide ways of controlling, directing or preventing the movement of people and equipment throughout a
specific physical location, such as an office suite, factory or other facility. Physical controls also provide protection and control over entry onto the land surrounding the
buildings, parking lots or other areas that are within the organization’s control. In most situations, physical controls are supported by technical controls as a means of
incorporating them into an overall security system.

Technical control: it (also called logical controls) is security controls that computer systems and networks directly implement. These controls can provide automated
protection from unauthorized access or misuse, facilitate detection of security violations and support security requirements for applications and data. Technical controls can be
configuration settings or parameters stored as data, managed through a software graphical user interface (GUI), or they can be hardware settings done with switches, jumper
plugs or other means. However, the implementation of technical controls always requires significant operational considerations and should be consistent with the management
of security within the organization. Many of these will be examined in more depth as we look at them in later sections in this chapter and in subsequent chapters.

Administrative control: it (also known as managerial controls) is directives, guidelines or advisories aimed at the people within the organization. They provide
frameworks, constraints and standards for human behavior, and should cover the entire scope of the organization’s activities and its interactions with external parties and
stakeholders. It is vitally important to realize that administrative controls can and should be powerful, effective tools for achieving information security. Even the simplest
security awareness policies can be an effective control, if you can help the organization fully implement them through systematic training and practice. Many organizations are
improving their overall security posture by integrating their administrative controls into the task-level activities and operational decision processes that their workforce uses
throughout the day. This can be done by providing them as in-context ready reference and advisory resources, or by linking them directly into training activities. These and
other techniques bring the policies to a more neutral level and away from the decision-making of only the senior executives. It also makes them immediate, useful and
operational on a daily and per-task basis.

Some examples: Administrative: acceptable use policy, emergency operations procedures, employee awareness training Physical: Badge reader, stop sign in parking lot, door lock
Technical: access control list

Module 4 Understand Governance and Elements and Process

Domain D1.5.1, D1.5.2, D1.5.3, D1.5.4

Governance Elements
When leaders and management implement the systems and structures that the organization will use to achieve its goals, they are guided by laws and regulations created by
governments to enact public policy. Laws and regulations guide the development of standards, which cultivate policies, which result in procedures.

Procedures are the detailed steps to complete a task that support departmental or organizational policies.
Policies are put in place by organizational governance, such as executive management, to provide guidance in all activities to ensure that the organization supports industry
standards and regulations.
Standards are often used by governance teams to provide a framework to introduce policies and procedures in support of regulations.
Regulations are commonly issued in the form of laws, usually from government (not to be confused with governance) and typically carry financial penalties for
noncompliance.

Regulations -> Standards -> Policies -> Procedures

Module 5 Understand (ISC)² Code of Ethics

L4 Network Security
Module 1: Understand Computer Networking
Domain D4.1.1, D4.1.2

What is Networking
A network is simply two or more computers linked together to share data, information or resources.

To properly establish secure data communications, it is important to explore all of the technologies involved in computer communications. From hardware and software to protocols
and encryption and beyond, there are many details, standards and procedures to be familiar with.

Types of Networks

There are two basic types of networks:

Local area network (LAN) - A local area network (LAN) is a network typically spanning a single floor or building. This is commonly a limited geographical area.
Wide area network (WAN) - Wide area network (WAN) is the term usually assigned to the long-distance connections between geographically remote networks.

Network Devices
 Hubs are used to connect multiple devices in a network. They’re less likely to be seen in business or corporate networks than in home networks. Hubs are wired devices and
are not as smart as switches or routers.

You might consider using a switch, or what is also known as an intelligent hub. Switches are wired devices that know the addresses of the devices connected to them and
route traffic to that port/device rather than retransmitting to all devices. Offering greater efficiency for traffic delivery and improving the overall throughput of data, switches are
smarter than hubs, but not as smart as routers. Switches can also create separate broadcast domains when used to create VLANs, which will be discussed later.

Routers are used to control traffic flow on networks and are often used to connect similar networks and control traffic flow between them. Routers can be wired or wireless
and can connect multiple switches. Smarter than hubs and switches, routers determine the most efficient “route” for the traffic to flow across the network.

Firewalls are essential tools in managing and controlling network traffic and protecting the network. A firewall is a network device used to filter traffic. It is typically deployed
between a private network and the internet, but it can also be deployed between departments (segmented networks) within an organization (overall network). Firewalls filter
traffic based on a defined set of rules, also called filters or access control lists.

A server is a computer that provides information to other computers on a network. Some common servers are web servers, email servers, print servers, database servers and
file servers. All of these are, by design, networked and accessed in some way by a client computer. Servers are usually secured differently than workstations to protect the
information they contain.

Endpoints are the ends of a network communication link. One end is often at a server where a resource resides, and the other end is often a client making a request to use a
network resource. An endpoint can be another server, desktop workstation, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or any other end user device.

Other Networking Terms

Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) is a standard that defines wired connections of networked devices. This standard defines the way data is formatted over the wire to ensure disparate
devices can communicate over the same cables.

Media Access Control (MAC) Address - Every network device is assigned a Media Access Control (MAC) address. An example is 00-13-02-1F-58-F5. The first 3 bytes (24
bits) of the address denote the vendor or manufacturer of the physical network interface. No two devices can have the same MAC address in the same local network;
otherwise an address conflict occurs.

Internet Protocol (IP) Address - While MAC addresses are generally assigned in the firmware of the interface, IP hosts associate that address with a unique logical address.
This logical IP address represents the network interface within the network and can be useful to maintain communications when a physical device is swapped with new
hardware. Examples are 192.168.1.1 and 2001:db8::ffff:0:1.

Networking Models
Many different models, architectures and standards exist that provide ways to interconnect different hardware and software systems with each other for the purposes of sharing
information, coordinating their activities and accomplishing joint or shared tasks.

Computers and networks emerge from the integration of communication devices, storage devices, processing devices, security devices, input devices, output devices, operating
systems, software, services, data and people.

Translating the organization’s security needs into safe, reliable and effective network systems needs to start with a simple premise. The purpose of all communications is to exchange
information and ideas between people and organizations so that they can get work done.

Those simple goals can be re-expressed in network (and security) terms such as:

Provide reliable, managed communications between hosts (and users)

Isolate functions in layers
Use packets (representation of data at L3 of OSI model ) as the basis of communication
Standardize routing, addressing and control
Allow layers beyond internetworking to add functionality
Be vendor-agnostic, scalable and resilient

In the most basic form, a network model has at least two layers:

UPPER LAYER APPLICATION: also known as the host or application layer, is responsible for managing the integrity of a connection and controlling the session as well as
establishing, maintaining and terminating communication sessions between two computers. It is also responsible for transforming data received from the Application Layer into
a format that any system can understand. And finally, it allows applications to communicate and determines whether a remote communication partner is available and
accessible.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION 7
PRESENTATION 6
SESSION 5
LOWER LAYER: it is often referred to as the media or transport layer and is responsible for receiving bits from the physical connection medium and converting them into a
frame. Frames are grouped into standardized sizes. Think of frames as a bucket and the bits as water. If the buckets are sized similarly and the water is contained within the
buckets, the data can be transported in a controlled manner. Route data is added to the frames of data to create packets. In other words, a destination address is added to the
bucket. Once we have the buckets sorted and ready to go, the host layer takes over.
DATA TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT 4
NETWORK 3
 DATA LINK 2
PHYSICAL 1

Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model

The OSI Model was developed to establish a common way to describe the communication structure for interconnected computer systems. The OSI model serves as an abstract
framework, or theoretical model, for how protocols should function in an ideal world, on ideal hardware. Thus, the OSI model has become a common conceptual reference that is
used to understand the communication of various hierarchical components from software interfaces to physical hardware.

The OSI model divides networking tasks into seven distinct layers. Each layer is responsible for performing specific tasks or operations with the goal of supporting data exchange (in
other words, network communication) between two computers. The layers are interchangeably referenced by name or layer number. For example, Layer 3 is also known as the
Network Layer. The layers are ordered specifically to indicate how information flows through the various levels of communication. Each layer communicates directly with the layer
above and the layer below it. For example, Layer 3 communicates with both the Data Link (2) and Transport (4) layers.

The Application, Presentation, and Session Layers (5-7) are commonly referred to simply as data. However, each layer has the potential to perform encapsulation (enforcement of
data hiding and code hiding during all phases of software development and operational use. Bundling together data and methods is the process of encapsulation; its opposite process
may be called unpacking, revealing, or using other terms. Also used to refer to taking any set of data and packaging it or hiding it in another data structure, as is common in network
protocols and encryption.). Encapsulation is the addition of header and possibly a footer (trailer) data by a protocol used at that layer of the OSI model. Encapsulation is particularly
important when discussing Transport, Network and Data Link layers (2-4), which all generally include some form of header. At the Physical Layer (1), the data unit is converted into
binary, i.e., 01010111, and sent across physical wires such as an ethernet cable.

It's worth mapping some common networking terminology to the OSI Model so you can see the value in the conceptual model.

Consider the following examples:

When someone references an image file like a JPEG or PNG, we are talking about the Presentation Layer (6).
When discussing logical ports such as NetBIOS, we are discussing the Session Layer (5).
When discussing TCP/UDP, we are discussing the Transport Layer (4).
When discussing routers sending packets, we are discussing the Network Layer (3).
When discussing switches, bridges or WAPs sending frames, we are discussing the Data Link Layer (2).

Encapsulation occurs as the data moves down the OSI model from Application to Physical. As data is encapsulated at each descending layer, the previous layer’s header, payload
and footer are all treated as the next layer’s payload. The data unit size increases as we move down the conceptual model and the contents continue to encapsulate.

The inverse action occurs as data moves up the OSI model layers from Physical to Application. This process is known as de-encapsulation (or decapsulation). The header and footer
are used to properly interpret the data payload and are then discarded. As we move up the OSI model, the data unit becomes smaller. The encapsulation/de-encapsulation process is
best depicted visually below:

7 Application DATA
6 Presentation Header --> DATA
5 Session DATA
4 Transport DATA
3 Network DATA
2 Data Link DATA <-- Footer
1 Physical DATA

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

The OSI model wasn’t the first or only attempt to streamline networking protocols or establish a common communications standard. In fact, the most widely used protocol today,
TCP/IP, was developed in the early 1970s. The OSI model was not developed until the late 1970s. The TCP/IP protocol stack focuses on the core functions of networking.

TCP/IP Protocol Architecture Layers

Application Layer Defines the protocols for the transport layer
Transport Layer Permits data to move among devices
Internet Layer Creates/inserts packets
Network Interface Layer How data moves through the network

The most widely used protocol suite is TCP/IP, but it is not just a single protocol; rather, it is a protocol stack comprising dozens of individual protocols. TCP/IP is a platform-
independent protocol based on open standards. However, this is both a benefit and a drawback. TCP/IP can be found in just about every available operating system, but it consumes
a significant amount of resources and is relatively easy to hack into because it was designed for ease of use rather than for security.

At the Application Layer, TCP/IP protocols include Telnet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP), and Domain Name Service (DNS). The two primary
Transport Layer protocols of TCP/IP are TCP and UDP. TCP is a full-duplex connection-oriented protocol, whereas UDP is a simplex connectionless protocol. In the Internet
Layer, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is used to determine the health of a network or a specific link. ICMP is utilized by ping, traceroute and other network
management tools. The ping utility employs ICMP echo packets and bounces them off remote systems. Thus, you can use ping to determine whether the remote system is online,
whether the remote system is responding promptly, whether the intermediary systems are supporting communications, and the level of performance efficiency at which the
intermediary systems are communicating.

Application, Presentation and Session layers at OSI model is equivalent to Application Layer at TCP/IP, and the protocol suite is: FTP, Telnet, SNMP, LPD, TFPT, SMTP, NFS,
X Window.
 Transport layer are the same between OSI model and TCP/IP model, protocol suite: TCP, UDP
Network layer at OSI model is equivalent to Internet layer at TCP/IP model, and protocol suite is: IGMP, IP, ICMP
Data link and Physical layer at OSI model is equivalent at Network Interface layer at TCP/IP, and protocol suite is: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI

Base concepts
Switch: A device that routes traffic to the port of a known device
Server: A computer that provides information to other computers
Firewall: A device that filters network traffic based on a defined set of rules
Ethernet: A standard that defines wired communications of networked devices
IP Address: Logical address representing the network interface
MAC Address: Address that denotes the vendor or manufactures of the physical network interface

Internet Protocol (IPv4 and IPv6)

IPv4 provides a 32-bit address space. IPv6 provides a 128-bit address space. The first one is exhausted nowadays, but it is still used because of the NAT technology. 32 bits means 4
octets of 8 bits, which is represented in a dotted decimal notation such as 192.168.0.1, which means in binary notation 11000000 10101000 00000000 00000001

IP hosts/devices associate an address with a unique logical address. An IPv4 address is expressed as four octets separated by a dot (.), for example, 216.12.146.140. Each octet
may have a value between 0 and 255. However, 0 is the network itself (not a device on that network), and 255 is generally reserved for broadcast purposes. Each address is
subdivided into two parts: the network number and the host. The network number assigned by an external organization, such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN), represents the organization’s network. The host represents the network interface within the network.

To ease network administration, networks are typically divided into subnets. Because subnets cannot be distinguished with the addressing scheme discussed so far, a separate
mechanism, the subnet mask, is used to define the part of the address used for the subnet. The mask is usually converted to decimal notation like 255.255.255.0. With the ever-
increasing number of computers and networked devices, it is clear that IPv4 does not provide enough addresses for our needs. To overcome this shortcoming, IPv4 was
sub-divided into public and private address ranges. Public addresses are limited with IPv4, but this issue was addressed in part with private addressing. Private addresses can be
shared by anyone, and it is highly likely that everyone on your street is using the same address scheme.

The nature of the addressing scheme established by IPv4 meant that network designers had to start thinking in terms of IP address reuse. IPv4 facilitated this in several ways, such
as its creation of the private address groups; this allows every LAN in every SOHO (small office, home office) situation to use addresses such as 192.168.2.xxx for its internal network
addresses, without fear that some other system can intercept traffic on their LAN. This table shows the private addresses available for anyone to use:

RANGE
10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.254
172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.254
192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.254

The first octet of 127 is reserved for a computer’s loopback address. Usually, the address 127.0.0.1 is used. The loopback address is used to provide a mechanism for self-
diagnosis and troubleshooting at the machine level. This mechanism allows a network administrator to treat a local machine as if it were a remote machine and ping the network
interface to establish whether it is operational.

IPv6 is a modernization of IPv4, which addressed a number of weaknesses in the IPv4 environment:

* A much larger address field: IPv6 addresses are **128 bits**, which supports 2128 or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211
* Improved security:** IPsec is an optional part of IPv4 networks, but a mandatory component of IPv6 networks**. This will help ensure t
* Improved quality of service (QoS): This will help services obtain an appropriate share of a network’s bandwidth.

An IPv6 address is shown as 8 groups of four digits. Instead of numeric (0-9) digits like IPv4, IPv6 addresses use the hexadecimal range (0000-ffff) and are separated by
colons (:) rather than periods (.). An example IPv6 address is 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ffff:0000:0001. To make it easier for humans to read and type, it can be shortened by
removing the leading zeros at the beginning of each field and substituting two colons () for the longest consecutive zero fields. All fields must retain at least one digit. After shortening,
the example address above is rendered as 2001:db8ffff:0:1, which is much easier to type. As in IPv4, there are some addresses and ranges that are reserved for special uses:

* ::1 is the local loopback address, used the same as 127.0.0.1 in IPv4.
* The range 2001:db8:: to 2001:db8:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff is reserved for documentation use, just like in the examples above.
* **fc00**:: to **fdff**:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff are addresses reserved for internal network use and are not routable on t

What is WiFi?
Wireless networking is a popular method of connecting corporate and home systems because of the ease of deployment and relatively low cost. It has made networking more
versatile than ever before. Workstations and portable systems are no longer tied to a cable but can roam freely within the signal range of the deployed wireless access points.
However, with this freedom comes additional vulnerabilities.

Wi-Fi range is generally wide enough for most homes or small offices, and range extenders may be placed strategically to extend the signal for larger campuses or homes. Over time
the Wi-Fi standard has evolved, with each updated version faster than the last.
 In a LAN, threat actors need to enter the physical space or immediate vicinity of the physical media itself. For wired networks, this can be done by placing sniffer taps onto cables,
plugging in USB devices, or using other tools that require physical access to the network. By contrast, wireless media intrusions can happen at a distance.

Security of the Network

TCP/IP’s vulnerabilities are numerous. Improperly implemented TCP/IP stacks in various operating systems are vulnerable to various DoS/DDoS attacks, fragment attacks,
oversized packet attacks, spoofing attacks, and man-in-the-middle attacks. TCP/IP (as well as most protocols) is also subject to passive attacks via monitoring or sniffing.
Network monitoring, or sniffing, is the act of monitoring traffic patterns to obtain information about a network.

Ports and Protocols (Applications/Services)

Physical Ports: Physical ports are the ports on the routers, switches, servers, computers, etc. that you connect the wires, e.g., fiber optic cables, Cat5 cables, etc., to create a
network.

Logical Ports: When a communication connection is established between two systems, it is done using ports. A logical port (also called a socket) is little more than an address
number that both ends of the communication link agree to use when transferring data. Ports allow a single IP address to be able to support multiple simultaneous
communications, each using a different port number. In the Application Layer of the TCP/IP model (which includes the Session, Presentation, and Application Layers of the
OSI model) reside numerous application- or service-specific protocols. Data types are mapped using port numbers associated with services. For example, web traffic (or
HTTP) is port 80. Secure web traffic (or HTTPS) is port 443. Table 5.4 highlights some of these protocols and their customary or assigned ports. You’ll note that in several
cases a service (or protocol) may have two ports assigned, one secure and one insecure. When in doubt, systems should be implemented using the most secure version as
possible of a protocol and its services.

Well-known ports (0–1023): These ports are related to the common protocols that are at the core of the Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model,
Domain Name Service (DNS), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), etc.
Registered ports (1024–49151): These ports are often associated with proprietary applications from vendors and developers. While they are officially approved by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), in practice many vendors simply implement a port of their choosing. Examples include Remote Authentication Dial-In
User Service (RADIUS) authentication (1812), Microsoft SQL Server (1433/1434) and the Docker REST API (2375/2376).
Dynamic or private ports (49152–65535): Whenever a service is requested that is associated with well-known or registered ports, those services will respond with a
dynamic port that is used for that session and then released.

Secure Ports
Some network protocols transmit information in clear text, meaning it is not encrypted and should not be used. Clear text information is subject to network sniffing. This tactic uses
software to inspect packets of data as they travel across the network and extract text such as usernames and passwords. Network sniffing could also reveal the content of documents
and other files if they are sent via insecure protocols. The table below shows some of the insecure protocols along with recommended secure alternatives.

Secure
Insecure
Description Protocol Alternative Protocol
Port
Port
Port 21, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sends the username and password using
plaintext from the client to the server. This could be intercepted by an attacker and Secure File
File Transfer
21 later used to retrieve confidential information from the server. The secure alternative, 22* - SFTP Transfer
Protocol
SFTP, on port 22 uses encryption to protect the user credentials and packets of Protocol
data being transferred
Port 23, telnet, is used by many Linux systems and any other systems as a basic text-
based terminal. All information to and from the host on a telnet connection is sent in
plaintext and can be intercepted by an attacker. This includes username and Secure
23 Telnet 22* - SSH
password as well as all information that is being presented on the screen, since this Shell
interface is all text. Secure Shell (SSH) on port 22 uses encryption to ensure that
traffic between the host and terminal is not sent in a plaintext format
Port 25, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the default unencrypted port for
sending email messages. Since it is unencrypted, data contained within the emails Simple Mail
587 - SMTP with
25 could be discovered by network sniffing. The secure alternative is to use port 587 for Transfer
SMTP TLS
SMTP using Transport Layer Security (TLS) which will encrypt the data between the Protocol
mail client and the mail server
Port 37, Time Protocol, may be in use by legacy equipment and has mostly been Network
Time
37 replaced by using port 123 for Network Time Protocol (NTP). NTP on port 123 offers 123 - NTP Time
Protocol
better error-handling capabilities, which reduces the likelihood of unexpected errors Protocol
Domain
Port 53, Domain Name Service (DNS), is still used widely. However, using DNS over DNS over
53 Name 853 - DoT
TLS (DoT) on port 853 protects DNS information from being modified in transit TLS (DoT)
Service
Port 80, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the basis of nearly all web browser
traffic on the internet. Information sent via HTTP is not encrypted and is susceptible to
HyperText
sniffing attacks. HTTPS using TLS encryption is preferred, as it protects the data in HyperText
443 - Transfer
80 transit between the server and the browser. Note that this is often notated as SSL/TLS. Transfer
HTTPS Protocol
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) has been compromised is no longer considered secure. It Protocol
(SSL/TLS)
is now recommended for web servers and clients to use Transport Layer Security (TLS)
1.3 or higher for the best protection
 Secure
Insecure
Description Protocol Alternative Protocol
Port
Port
Port 143, Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is a protocol used for retrieving Internet
emails. IMAP traffic on port 143 is not encrypted and susceptible to network sniffing. Message IMAP for
143 993 - IMAP
The secure alternative is to use port 993 for IMAP, which adds SSL/TLS security to Access SSL/TLS
encrypt the data between the mail client and the mail server Protocol
Ports 161 and 162, Simple Network Management Protocol, are commonly used to send
and receive data used for managing infrastructure devices. Because sensitive
Simple
information is often included in these messages, it is recommended to use SNMP
Network 161/162 -
161/162 version 2 or 3 (abbreviated SNMPv2 or SNMPv3) to include encryption and additional SNMPv3
Management SNMP
security features. Unlike many others discussed here, all versions of SNMP use the
Protocol
same ports, so there is not a definitive secure and insecure pairing. Additional context
will be needed to determine if information on ports 161 and 162 is secured or not
Port 445, Server Message Block (SMB), is used by many versions of Windows for
accessing files over the network. Files are transmitted unencrypted, and many
Server Network
vulnerabilities are well-known. Therefore, it is recommended that traffic on port 445
445 Message 2049 - NFS File
should not be allowed to pass through a firewall at the network perimeter. A more
Block System
secure alternative is port 2049, Network File System (NFS). Although NFS can use
encryption, it is recommended that NFS not be allowed through firewalls either
Port 389, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), is used to communicate
Lightweight
directory information from servers to clients. This can be an address book for email or Lightweight
Directory
usernames for logins. The LDAP protocol also allows records in the directory to be Directory 636 -
389 Access
updated, introducing additional risk. Since LDAP is not encrypted, it is susceptible to Access LDAPS
Protocol
sniffing and manipulation attacks. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol Secure Protocol
Secure
(LDAPS) adds SSL/TLS security to protect the information while it is in transit

SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK

Module 2 Understand Network (Cyber) Threats and Attacks

Domain D4.1.2, D4.2.2, D4.2.3

Types of Threats
Spoofing: an attack with the goal of gaining access to a target system through the use of a falsified identity. Spoofing can be used against IP addresses, MAC address,
usernames, system names, wireless network SSIDs, email addresses, and many other types of logical identification.

Phising: an attack that attempts to misdirect legitimate users to malicious websites through the abuse of URLs or hyperlinks in emails could be considered
phishing.

DoS/DDoS: a denial-of-service (DoS) attack is a network resource consumption attack that has the primary goal of preventing legitimate activity on a victimized system.
Attacks involving numerous unsuspecting secondary victim systems are known as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Virus: The computer virus is perhaps the earliest form of malicious code to plague security administrators. As with biological viruses, computer viruses have two main
functions—propagation and destruction. A virus is a self-replicating piece of code that spreads without the consent of a user, but frequently with their assistance (a user
has to click on a link or open a file).

Worm: Worms pose a significant risk to network security. They contain the same destructive potential as other malicious code objects with an added twist—they propagate
themselves without requiring any human intervention.

Trojan: the Trojan is a software program that appears benevolent but carries a malicious, behind-the-scenes payload that has the potential to wreak havoc on a system or
network. For example, ransomware often uses a Trojan to infect a target machine and then uses encryption technology to encrypt documents, spreadsheets and other files
stored on the system with a key known only to the malware creator.

On-path attack: In an on-path attack, attackers place themselves between two devices, often between a web browser and a web server, to intercept or modify information that
is intended for one or both of the endpoints. On-path attacks are also known as man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.

Side-channel: A side-channel attack is a passive, noninvasive attack to observe the operation of a device. Methods include power monitoring, timing and fault analysis
attacks.

Advanced Persistent Threat: Advanced persistent threat (APT) refers to threats that demonstrate an unusually high level of technical and operational sophistication
spanning months or even years. APT attacks are often conducted by highly organized groups of attackers.

Insider Threat: Insider threats are threats that arise from individuals who are trusted by the organization. These could be disgruntled employees or employees involved in
espionage. Insider threats are not always willing participants. A trusted user who falls victim to a scam could be an unwilling insider threat.

Malware: A program that is inserted into a system, usually covertly, with the intent of compromising the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the victim’s data,
applications or operating system or otherwise annoying or disrupting the victim.

Ransomware: Malware used for the purpose of facilitating a ransom attack. Ransomware attacks often use cryptography to “lock” the files on an affected computer and
require the payment of a ransom fee in return for the “unlock” code.
 Identify Threats and Tools Used to Prevent Them
Here are some examples of steps that can be taken to protect networks.

If a system doesn’t need a service or protocol, it should not be running. Attackers cannot exploit a vulnerability in a service or protocol that isn’t running on a system.
Firewalls can prevent many different types of attacks. Network-based firewalls protect entire networks, and host-based firewalls protect individual systems.

Identify Threats and Tools Used to Prevent Them Continued

Instrusion Detection System (IDS) is a form of monitoring to detect abnormal activity; it detects intrusion attempts and system failures. Identifies Threats, Do not prevent
threats
Host-based IDS (HIDS) monitors activity on a single computer. Identifies threats, Do not prevent Threats.
Network-based IDS (NIDS) monitors and evaluates network activity to detect attacks or event anomalies. Identifies threats, Do not prevent Threats.
SIEM gathers log data from sources across an enterprise to understand security concerns and apportion resources. Identifies threats, Do not prevent Threats.
Anti-malware/Antivirus seeks to identify malicious software or processes. Identifies and Prevent threats.
Scans evaluates the effectiveness of security controls. Identifies threats, Do not prevent Threats.
Firewall filters network traffic - managers and controls network traffic and protects the network. Identifies and Prevent threats.
Intrusion Protection System (IPS-NIPS/HIPS) is an active IDS automatically attempts to detect and block attacks before they reach target systems. Identifies and Prevent
threats.

Intrusion Detection System (IDS)

An intrusion occurs when an attacker is able to bypass or thwart security mechanisms and gain access to an organization’s resources. Intrusion detection is a specific form
of monitoring that monitors recorded information and real-time events to detect abnormal activity indicating a potential incident or intrusion. An intrusion detection system
(IDS) automates the inspection of logs and real-time system events to detect intrusion attempts and system failures. An IDS is intended as part of a defense-in-depth
security plan. IDSs can recognize attacks that come from external connections and attacks that spread internally. Once they detect a suspicious event, they respond by sending
alerts or raising alarms. A primary goal of an IDS is to provide a means for a timely and accurate response to intrusions.

IDS types are commonly classified as host-based and network-based. A host-based IDS (HIDS) monitors a single computer or host. A network-based IDS (NIDS)
monitors a network by observing network traffic patterns.

Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS): A HIDS monitors activity on a single computer, including process calls and information recorded in system, application,
security and host-based firewall logs. It can often examine events in more detail than a NIDS can, and it can pinpoint specific files compromised in an attack. It can also track
processes employed by the attacker. A benefit of HIDSs over NIDSs is that HIDSs can detect anomalies on the host system that NIDSs cannot detect. For example, a HIDS can
detect infections where an intruder has infiltrated a system and is controlling it remotely. HIDSs are more costly to manage than NIDSs because they require administrative
attention on each system, whereas NIDSs usually support centralized administration. A HIDS cannot detect network attacks on other systems.

Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS): A NIDS monitors and evaluates network activity to detect attacks or event anomalies. It cannot monitor the content of
encrypted traffic but can monitor other packet details. A single NIDS can monitor a large network by using remote sensors to collect data at key network locations that
send data to a central management console. These sensors can monitor traffic at routers, firewalls, network switches that support port mirroring, and other types of
network taps. A NIDS has very little negative effect on the overall network performance, and when it is deployed on a single-purpose system, it doesn’t adversely affect
performance on any other computer. A NIDS is usually able to detect the initiation of an attack or ongoing attacks, but they can’t always provide information about the success of an
attack. They won’t know if an attack affected specific systems, user accounts, files or applications.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Security management involves the use of tools that collect information about the IT environment from many disparate
sources to better examine the overall security of the organization and streamline security efforts. These tools are generally known as security information and event
management (or S-I-E-M, pronounced “SIM”) solutions. The general idea of a SIEM solution is to gather log data from various sources across the enterprise to better
understand potential security concerns and apportion resources accordingly. SIEM systems can be used along with other components (defense-in-depth) as part of an overall
information security program.

Preventing Threats
Keep systems and applications up to date. Vendors regularly release patches to correct bugs and security flaws, but these only help when they are applied. Patch
management ensures that systems and applications are kept up to date with relevant patches.
Remove or disable unneeded services and protocols. If a system doesn’t need a service or protocol, it should not be running. Attackers cannot exploit a vulnerability in a
service or protocol that isn’t running on a system. As an extreme contrast, imagine a web server is running every available service and protocol. It is vulnerable to potential
attacks on any of these services and protocols.
Use intrusion detection and prevention systems. As discussed, intrusion detection and prevention systems observe activity, attempt to detect threats and provide alerts.
They can often block or stop attacks.
Use up-to-date anti-malware software. We have already covered the various types of malicious code such as viruses and worms. A primary countermeasure is anti-
malware software.
Use firewalls. Firewalls can prevent many different types of threats. Network-based firewalls protect entire networks, and host-based firewalls protect individual systems. This
chapter included a section describing how firewalls can prevent attacks.

Antivirus: it is a requirement for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Antivirus systems try to identify malware based on the
signature of known malware or by detecting abnormal activity on a system. This identification is done with various types of scanners, pattern recognition and advanced
machine learning algorithms. Anti-malware now goes beyond just virus protection as modern solutions try to provide a more holistic approach detecting rootkits, ransomware and
spyware. Many endpoint solutions also include software firewalls and IDS or IPS systems.
 Scans: Regular vulnerability and port scans are a good way to evaluate the effectiveness of security controls used within an organization. They may reveal areas where patches or
security settings are insufficient, where new vulnerabilities have developed or become exposed, and where security policies are either ineffective or not being followed. Attackers can
exploit any of these vulnerabilities.

Firewalls: Early computer security engineers borrowed that name for the devices and services that isolate network segments from each other, as a security measure. As a result,
firewalling refers to the process of designing, using or operating different processes in ways that isolate high-risk activities from lower-risk ones. Firewalls enforce policies by
filtering network traffic based on a set of rules. While a firewall should always be placed at internet gateways, other internal network considerations and conditions determine
where a firewall would be employed, such as network zoning or segregation of different levels of sensitivity. Firewalls have rapidly evolved over time to provide enhanced security
capabilities. It integrates a variety of threat management capabilities into a single framework, including proxy services, intrusion prevention services (IPS) and tight
integration with the identity and access management (IAM) environment to ensure only authorized users are permitted to pass traffic across the infrastructure. While
firewalls can manage traffic at Layers 2 (MAC addresses), 3 (IP ranges) and 7 (application programming interface (API) and application firewalls), the traditional
implementation has been to control traffic at Layer 4. Traditional firewalls have PORTS IP Address, IDS/IPS, Antivirus Gateway, WebProxy, VPN; NG Firewalls have PORTS IP
Address, IAM Attributes, IDS/IPS, WebProxy, Anti-Bot, Antivirus Gateway, VPN, FaaS.

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): An intrusion prevention system (IPS) is a special type of active IDS that automatically attempts to detect and block attacks before they
reach target systems. A distinguishing difference between an IDS and an IPS is that the IPS is placed in line with the traffic. In other words, all traffic must pass through the
IPS and the IPS can choose what traffic to forward and what traffic to block after analyzing it. This allows the IPS to prevent an attack from reaching a target. Since IPS
systems are most effective at preventing network-based attacks, it is common to see the IPS function integrated into firewalls. Just like IDS, there are Network-based IPS (NIPS) and
Host-based IPS (HIPS).

Module 3 Understand Network Security Infrastructure

Domain D4.3.1, D4.3.2

On-Premises Data Centers

When it comes to data centers, there are two primary options: organizations can outsource the data center or own the data center. If the data center is owned, it will likely be built
on premises. A place, like a building for the data center is needed, along with power, HVAC, fire suppression and redundancy.

Data Center/Closets: The facility wiring infrastructure is integral to overall information system security and reliability. Protecting access to the physical layer of the
network is important in minimizing intentional or unintentional damage. Proper protection of the physical site must address these sorts of security challenges. Data
centers and wiring closets may include the following: Phone, network, special connections; ISP or telecommunications provider equipment; Servers; Wiring and/or switch
components.

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) / Environmental: High-density equipment and equipment within enclosed spaces requires adequate cooling and
airflow. Well-established standards for the operation of computer equipment exist, and equipment is tested against these standards. For example, the recommended range
for optimized maximum uptime and hardware life is from 18° to 27°C, and it is recommended that a rack have three temperature sensors, positioned at the top, middle and
bottom of the rack, to measure the actual operating temperature of the environment. Proper management of data center temperatures, including cooling, is essential. Cooling
is not the only issue with airflow: Contaminants like dust and noxious fumes require appropriate controls to minimize their impact on equipment. Monitoring for water or gas
leaks, sewer overflow or HVAC failure should be integrated into the building control environment, with appropriate alarms to signal to organizational staff. Contingency
planning to respond to the warnings should prioritize the systems in the building, so the impact of a major system failure on people, operations or other infrastructure can be
minimized.

Power: Data centers and information systems in general consume a tremendous amount of electrical power, which needs to be delivered both constantly and
consistently. Wide fluctuations in the quality of power affect system lifespan, while disruptions in supply completely stop system operations. Power at the site is always an
integral part of data center operations. Regardless of fuel source, backup generators must be sized to provide for the critical load (the computing resources) and the
supporting infrastructure. Similarly, battery backups must be properly sized to carry the critical load until generators start and stabilize. As with data backups, testing is
necessary to ensure the failover to alternate power works properly.

Fire Suppression: For server rooms, appropriate fire detection/suppression must be considered based on the size of the room, typical human occupation, egress routes and
risk of damage to equipment. For example, water used for fire suppression would cause more harm to servers and other electronic components. Gas-based fire suppression
systems are more friendly to the electronics, but can be toxic to humans.

Which of the following is typically associated with an on-premises data center? Fire suppression is associated, HVAC is associated, Power is associated are all associated with
an on-premises data center.

Which of the following is not a source of redundant power? HVAC is not a source of redundant power, but it is something that needs to be protected by a redundant power supply,
which is what the other three options will provide. What happens if the HVAC system breaks and equipment gets too hot? If the temperature in the data center gets too hot, then there
is a risk that the server will shut down or fail sooner than expected, which presents a risk that data will be lost. So that is another system that requires redundancy in order to reduce
the risk of data loss. But it is not itself a source of redundant power.

Redundancy
The concept of redundancy is to design systems with duplicate components so that if a failure were to occur, there would be a backup. This can apply to the data center as
well. Risk assessments pertaining to the data center should identify when multiple separate utility service entrances are necessary for redundant communication channels and/or
mechanisms.
If the organization requires full redundancy, devices should have two power supplies connected to diverse power sources. Those power sources would be backed up by batteries and
generators. In a high-availability environment, even generators would be redundant and fed by different fuel types.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

Some organizations seeking to minimize downtime and enhance BC (Business Continuity) and DR (Disaster Recovery) capabilities will create agreements with other, similar
organizations. They agree that if one of the parties experiences an emergency and cannot operate within their own facility, the other party will share its resources and let them operate
within theirs in order to maintain critical functions. These agreements often even include competitors, because their facilities and resources meet the needs of their particular industry.

These agreements are called joint operating agreements (JOA) or memoranda of understanding (MOU) or memoranda of agreement (MOA). Sometimes these agreements are
mandated by regulatory requirements, or they might just be part of the administrative safeguards instituted by an entity within the guidelines of its industry.

The difference between an MOA or MOU and an SLA is that a Memorandum of Understanding is more directly related to what can be done with a system or the information.

The service level agreement goes down to the granular level. For example, if I'm outsourcing the IT services, then I will need to have two full-time technicians readily available, at
least from Monday through Friday from eight to five. With cloud computing, I need to have access to the information in my backup systems within 10 minutes. An SLA specifies the
more intricate aspects of the services.

We must be very cautious when outsourcing with cloud-based services, because we have to make sure that we understand exactly what we are agreeing to. If the SLA promises 100
percent accessibility to information, is the access directly to you at the moment, or is it access to their website or through their portal when they open on Monday? That's where you'll
rely on your legal team, who can supervise and review the conditions carefully before you sign the dotted line at the bottom.

Cloud
Cloud computing is usually associated with an internet-based set of computing resources, and typically sold as a service, provided by a cloud service provider (CSP). It is a very
scalable, elastic and easy-to-use “utility” for the provisioning and deployment of Information Technology (IT) services. There are various definitions of what cloud computing
means according to the leading standards, including NIST. This NIST definition is commonly used around the globe, cited by professionals and others alike to clarify what the term
“cloud” means: “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (such as networks,
servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” NIST SP 800-
145

Cloud Characteristics
Cloud-based assets include any resources that an organization accesses using cloud computing. Cloud computing refers to on-demand access to computing resources
available from almost anywhere, and cloud computing resources are highly available and easily scalable. Organizations typically lease cloud-based resources from outside
the organization. Cloud computing has many benefits for organizations, which include but are not limited to:

Resource Pooling

Broadnetwork Access
Rapid Elasticity
Measured Service
On-Demand Self-Service

Usage is metered and priced according to units (or instances) consumed. This can also be billed back to specific departments or functions.

Reduced cost of ownership. There is no need to buy any assets for everyday use, no loss of asset value over time and a reduction of other related costs of maintenance and
support.

Reduced energy and cooling costs, along with “green IT” environment effect with optimum use of IT resources and systems.

Allows an enterprise to scale up new software or data-based services/solutions through cloud systems quickly and without having to install massive hardware locally.

Service Models
Some cloud-based services only provide data storage and access. When storing data in the cloud, organizations must ensure that security controls are in place to prevent
unauthorized access to the data. There are varying levels of responsibility for assets depending on the service model. This includes maintaining the assets, ensuring they remain
functional, and keeping the systems and applications up to date with current patches. In some cases, the cloud service provider is responsible for these steps. In other cases, the
consumer is responsible for these steps.

Types of cloud computing service models include Software as a Service (SaaS) , Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Services

Software As Service (SaaS): A cloud provides access to software applications such as email or office productivity tools. SaaS is a distributed model where
software applications are hosted by a vendor or cloud service provider and made available to customers over network resources. SaaS has many benefits for
organizations, which include but are not limited to: Ease of use and limited/minimal administration. Automatic updates and patch management. The user will
always be running the latest version and most up-to-date deployment of the software release, as well as any relevant security updates, with no manual
patching required. Standardization and compatibility. All users will have the same version of the software release.
 Platform As Service (PaaS): A cloud provides an environment for customers to use to build and operate their own software. PaaS is a way for customers to
rent hardware, operating systems, storage and network capacity over the internet from a cloud service provider. The service delivery model allows customers
to rent virtualized servers and associated services for running existing applications or developing and testing new ones. The consumer does not manage or
control the underlying cloud infrastructure, including network, servers, operating systems or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly
application-hosting environment configurations. A PaaS cloud provides a toolkit for conveniently developing, deploying and administering application software
that is structured to support large numbers of consumers, process very large quantities of data and potentially be accessed from any point on the internet.
PaaS clouds will typically provide a set of software building blocks and a set of development tools such as programming languages and supporting run-time
environments that facilitate the construction of high-quality, scalable applications. Additionally, PaaS clouds will typically provide tools that assist with the deployment of
new applications. In some cases, deploying a new software application in a PaaS cloud is not much more difficult than uploading a file to a web server. PaaS clouds
will also generally provide and maintain the computing resources (e.g., processing, storage and networking) that consumer applications need to operate. PaaS clouds
provide many benefits for developers, including that the operating system can be changed and upgraded frequently, along with associated features and system
services.

Infrastrucuture As Service (IaaS): A cloud provides network access to traditional computing resources such as processing power and storage. IaaS models
provide basic computing resources to consumers. This includes servers, storage, and in some cases, networking resources. Consumers install operating
systems and applications and perform all required maintenance on the operating systems and applications. Although the consumer has use of the related equipment,
the cloud service provider retains ownership and is ultimately responsible for hosting, running and maintenance of the hardware. IaaS is also referred to as hardware
as a service by some customers and providers. IaaS has a number of benefits for organizations, which include but are not limited to: Ability to scale up and down
infrastructure services based on actual usage. This is particularly useful and beneficial where there are significant spikes and dips within the usage curve for
infrastructure. Retain system control at the operating system level.

Deployment Models
Clouds * Public: what we commonly refer to as the cloud for the public user. There is no real mechanism, other than applying for and paying for the cloud service. It is open
to the public and is, therefore, a shared resource that many people will be able to use as part of a resource pool. A public cloud deployment model includes assets available
for any consumers to rent or lease and is hosted by an external cloud service provider (CSP). Service level agreements can be effective at ensuring the CSP provides the cloud-
based services at a level acceptable to the organization.

* Private: it begins with the same technical concept as public clouds, **except that instead of being shared with the public, they ar

* Hybrid: it is created by **combining two forms of cloud computing deployment models, typically a public and private cloud**. Hybrid

* Community: it can be either public or private. **What makes them unique is that they are generally developed for a particular commu

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that manages information technology assets for another company. Small- and medium-sized businesses commonly
outsource part or all of their information technology functions to an MSP to manage day-to-day operations or to provide expertise in areas the company does not have.
Organizations may also use an MSP to provide network and security monitoring and patching services. Today, many MSPs offer cloud-based services augmenting SaaS solutions
with active incident investigation and response activities. One such example is a managed detection and response (MDR) service, where a vendor monitors firewall and other security
tools to provide expertise in triaging events.

Some other common MSP implementations are: Augment in-house staff for projects; Utilize expertise for implementation of a product or service; Provide payroll services; Provide
Help Desk service management; Monitor and respond to security incidents; Manage all in-house IT infrastructure.

Service-Level Agreement (SLA)

The cloud computing service-level agreement (cloud SLA) is an agreement between a cloud service provider and a cloud service customer based on a taxonomy of cloud
computing– specific terms to set the quality of the cloud services delivered. It characterizes quality of the cloud services delivered in terms of a set of measurable properties specific
to cloud computing (business and technical) and a given set of cloud computing roles (cloud service customer, cloud service provider, and related sub-roles).

Think of a rule book and legal contract—that combination is what you have in a service-level agreement (SLA). Let us not underestimate or downplay the importance of this
document/ agreement. In it, the minimum level of service, availability, security, controls, processes, communications, support and many other crucial business elements
are stated and agreed to by both parties.

The purpose of an SLA is to document specific parameters, minimum service levels and remedies for any failure to meet the specified requirements. It should also affirm
data ownership and specify data return and destruction details. Other important SLA points to consider include the following: Cloud system infrastructure details and security
standards; Customer right to audit legal and regulatory compliance by the CSP; Rights and costs associated with continuing and discontinuing service use; Service availability;
Service performance; Data security and privacy; Disaster recovery processes; Data location; Data access; Data portability; Problem identification and resolution expectations; Change
management processes; Dispute mediation processes; Exit strategy;

Network Design
Network segmentation involves controlling traffic among networked devices. Complete or physical network segmentation occurs when a network is isolated from all
outside communications, so transactions can only occur between devices within the segmented network.
 A DMZ, which stands for Demilitarized Zone, is a network area that is designed to be accessed by outside visitors but is still isolated from the private network of the
organization. The DMZ is often the host of public web, email, file and other resource servers.

VLANs, which stands for Virtual Private Network, are created by switches to logically segment a network without altering its physical topology.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a communication tunnel that provides point-to-point transmission of both authentication and data traffic over an untrusted
network.

Defense in depth uses multiple types of access controls in literal or theoretical layers to help an organization avoid a monolithic security stance.

Network access control (NAC) is a concept of controlling access to an environment through strict adherence to and implementation of security policy.

Defense in Depth
Defense in depth uses a layered approach when designing the security posture of an organization. Think about a castle that holds the crown jewels. The jewels will be placed in
a vaulted chamber in a central location guarded by security guards. The castle is built around the vault with additional layers of security—soldiers, walls, a moat. The same approach
is true when designing the logical security of a facility or system. Using layers of security will deter many attackers and encourage them to focus on other, easier targets.

Defense in depth provides more of a starting point for considering all types of controls—administrative, technological, and physical—that empower insiders and
operators to work together to protect their organization and its systems.

Some examples that further explain the concept of defense in depth:

Data: Controls that protect the actual data with technologies such as encryption, data leak prevention, identity and access management and data controls.
Application: Controls that protect the application itself with technologies such as data leak prevention, application firewalls and database monitors.
Host: Every control that is placed at the endpoint level, such as antivirus, endpoint firewall, configuration and patch management.
Internal network: Controls that are in place to protect uncontrolled data flow and user access across the organizational network. Relevant technologies include
intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems, internal firewalls and network access controls.
Perimeter: Controls that protect against unauthorized access to the network. This level includes the use of technologies such as gateway firewalls, honeypots, malware
analysis and secure demilitarized zones (DMZs).
Physical: Controls that provide a physical barrier, such as locks, walls or access control.
Policies, procedures and awareness: Administrative controls that reduce insider threats (intentional and unintentional) and identify risks as soon as they appear.

Zero Trust
Zero trust networks are often microsegmented networks, with firewalls at nearly every connecting point. Zero trust encapsulates information assets, the services that apply to
them and their security properties. This concept recognizes that once inside a trust-but-verify environment, a user has perhaps unlimited capabilities to roam around,
identify assets and systems and potentially find exploitable vulnerabilities. Placing a greater number of firewalls or other security boundary control devices throughout the
network increases the number of opportunities to detect a troublemaker before harm is done. Many enterprise architectures are pushing this to the extreme of microsegmenting
their internal networks, which enforces frequent re-authentication of a user ID.

Zero trust is an evolving design approach which recognizes that even the most robust access control systems have their weaknesses. It adds defenses at the user, asset and
data level, rather than relying on perimeter defense. In the extreme, it insists that every process or action a user attempts to take must be authenticated and authorized; the
window of trust becomes vanishingly small.

While microsegmentation adds internal perimeters, zero trust places the focus on the assets, or data, rather than the perimeter. Zero trust builds more effective gates to
protect the assets directly rather than building additional or higher walls.

Network Access Control (NAC)

We need to be able to see who and what is attempting to make a network connection. At one time, network access was limited to internal devices. Gradually, that was extended
to remote connections, although initially those were the exceptions rather than the norm. This started to change with the concepts of bring your own device (BYOD) and Internet
of Things (IoT).

Considering just IoT for a moment, it is important to understand the range of devices that might be found within an organization.

The organization’s access control policies and associated security policies should be enforced via the NAC device(s). Remember, of course, that an access control device
only enforces a policy and doesn’t create one.

The NAC device will provide the network visibility needed for access security and may later be used for incident response. Aside from identifying connections, it should also
be able to provide isolation for noncompliant devices within a quarantined network and provide a mechanism to “fix” the noncompliant elements, such as turning on endpoint
protection. In short, the goal is to ensure that all devices wishing to join the network do so only when they comply with the requirements laid out in the organization policies. This
visibility will encompass internal users as well as any temporary users such as guests or contractors, etc., and any devices they may bring with them into the organization.

Let’s consider some possible use cases for NAC deployment: Medical devices; IoT devices; BYOD/mobile devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones); Guest users and contractors;

It is critically important that all mobile devices, regardless of their owner, go through an onboarding process, ideally each time a network connection is made, and that the device is
identified and interrogated to ensure the organization’s policies are being met.

Network Segmentation (Demilitarized Zone (DMZ))

Network segmentation is also an effective way to achieve defense in depth for distributed or multi-tiered applications. The use of a demilitarized zone (DMZ), for example, is
a common practice in security architecture. With a DMZ, host systems that are accessible through the firewall are physically separated from the internal network by means of
secured switches or by using an additional firewall to control traffic between the web server and the internal network. Application DMZs (or semi-trusted networks) are frequently used
today to limit access to application servers to those networks or systems that have a legitimate need to connect.

Segmentation for Embedded Systems and IoT

Network-enabled devices are any type of portable or nonportable device that has native network capabilities. This generally assumes the network in question is a wireless
type of network, typically provided by a mobile telecommunications company. Network-enabled devices include smartphones, mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs or streaming
media players, network-attached printers, game systems, and much more.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the collection of devices that can communicate over the internet with one another or with a control console in order to affect and monitor
the real world. IoT devices might be labeled as smart devices or smart-home equipment. Many of the ideas of industrial environmental control found in office buildings are finding
their way into more consumer-available solutions for small offices or personal homes.

Embedded systems and network-enabled devices that communicate with the internet are considered IoT devices and need special attention to ensure that communication is not used
in a malicious manner. Because an embedded system is often in control of a mechanism in the physical world, a security breach could cause harm to people and property. Since
many of these devices have multiple access routes, such as ethernet, wireless, Bluetooth, etc., special care should be taken to isolate them from other devices on the network. You
can impose logical network segmentation with switches using VLANs, or through other traffic-control means, including MAC addresses, IP addresses, physical ports, protocols, or
application filtering, routing, and access control management. Network segmentation can be used to isolate IoT environments.

Microsegmentation
The toolsets of current adversaries are polymorphic in nature and allow threats to bypass static security controls. Modern cyberattacks take advantage of traditional security
models to move easily between systems within a data center. Microsegmentation aids in protecting against these threats. A fundamental design requirement of
microsegmentation is to understand the protection requirements for traffic within a data center and traffic to and from the internet traffic flows.

When organizations avoid infrastructure-centric design paradigms, they are more likely to become more efficient at service delivery in the data center and become apt at detecting
and preventing advanced persistent threats.

Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)

Virtual local area networks (VLANs) allow network administrators to use switches to create software-based LAN segments, which can segregate or consolidate traffic across
multiple switch ports. Devices that share a VLAN communicate through switches as if they were on the same Layer 2 network. Since VLANs act as discrete networks,
communications between VLANs must be enabled. Broadcast traffic is limited to the VLAN, reducing congestion and reducing the effectiveness of some attacks. Administration of the
environment is simplified, as the VLANs can be reconfigured when individuals change their physical location or need access to different services. VLANs can be configured based on
switch port, IP subnet, MAC address and protocols. VLANs do not guarantee a network’s security. At first glance, it may seem that traffic cannot be intercepted because
communication within a VLAN is restricted to member devices. However, there are attacks that allow a malicious user to see traffic from other VLANs (so-called VLAN hopping). The
VLAN technology is only one tool that can improve the overall security of the network environment.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network (VPN) is not necessarily an encrypted tunnel. It is simply a point-to-point connection between two hosts that allows them to communicate. Secure
communications can, of course, be provided by the VPN, but only if the security protocols have been selected and correctly configured to provide a trusted path over an untrusted
network, such as the internet. Remote users employ VPNs to access their organization’s network, and depending on the VPN’s implementation, they may have most of the same
resources available to them as if they were physically at the office. As an alternative to expensive dedicated point-to-point connections, organizations use gateway-to-gateway VPNs
to securely transmit information over the internet between sites or even with business partners.