Pass the Cisco CyberOps Professional 350-201 Questions and answers with CertsForce

Key risk indicators (KRIs) provide a clear perspective into the risk position of an organization. KRIs are metrics used to proactively measure risks that a business may face. They serve as early warning signs of upcoming crises, which can provide an organization’s management team time to create an action plan to mitigate that risk’s potential impact or prevent it from occurring2.

A European-based advertisement company that collects tracking information from partner websites must adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is the standard that governs data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area. It provides guidelines on how personal data should be collected, processed, and stored, ensuring that individuals’ data is protected and that companies are transparent about their data handling practices

The behaviors that triggered the User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) are the employee logging in during non-working hours and from a first-seen country. UEBA systems are designed to detect anomalies in user behavior that could indicate security threats. Logging in from a new location, especially during unusual hours, deviates from the user’s typical behavior patterns and raises flags about potential unauthorized access or compromised credentials.

At this stage of a ransomware attack, where the ransomware is installed and calling back to its command and control server, an endpoint security solution is needed to mitigate the attack. Endpoint security solutions can detect and respond to threats at the device level, isolate infected machines, and prevent the spread of ransomware within the network4.

The error message “The Group Policy Client service failed to logon – Access is denied” suggests a problem with user permissions, which are managed by group policies in Windows environments. The unexpected modifications to system settings further indicate that an unauthorized user or process has gained higher-level permissions than originally assigned. This scenario is characteristic of an elevation of privileges breach, where an attacker gains elevated access to resources that are normally protected from an application or user. This can be achieved through various methods, including exploiting software vulnerabilities, configuration errors, or using social engineering techniques.

References:

Cisco’s CyberOps Using Core Security Technologies course would cover the identification and handling of security breaches, including elevation of privileges.

The CyberOps Associate certification materials provide detailed information on various types of breaches and their indicators.

Cisco’s official blogs and learning resources offer insights into the latest cybersecurity threats and how to mitigate them, including privilege escalation incidents.

To gain a comprehensive overview of the incident involving DDOS attacks and ransomware, the SOC engineer should run and evaluate a full packet capture on the workloads, review Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) logs, and define a root cause. This will help in understanding the nature of the attacks, the extent of the damage, and the vulnerabilities that were exploited

 In this scenario, the employee’s installation of remote access software at the behest of a fraudulent “MS Support” technician and the subsequent suspicious request for payment in gift cards are strong indicators of a social engineering attack. The presence of unencrypted database files on the system, coupled with the technician’s remote access, raises legitimate concerns about data disclosure. While HTTPS encrypts the data in transit, it does not prevent the remote user from copying files. Without concrete evidence, such as network logs showing data transfer, it is challenging to confirm the disclosure. However, given the circumstances, it is prudent to operate under the assumption that the database files could have been accessed and potentially copied during the remote session. The organization should follow its incident response protocol, which includes conducting a thorough investigation, changing passwords, and monitoring for potential data misuse.

References:

Cisco’s CyberOps curriculum emphasizes the importance of understanding security procedures and incident handling, which would include responding to potential data disclosure incidents1.

The Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate Overview outlines knowledge areas such as security concepts and intrusion analysis, relevant to investigating and responding to security incidents

When an unidentified connection is detected and there is evidence of potentially malicious activity, such as the creation of a PE format file in the system directory, the immediate step should be to isolate the server to prevent any further potential breach or spread of malware. Forensic analysis of the file is crucial to understand the nature of the threat and the method of attack, which will inform the response and mitigation strategy.

 According to the NIST incident handling guide, the steps for handling an incident include preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident activity12. In the scenario described, the incident response team has detected the malware, eradicated it by removing the malware, and recovered by restoring the functionality and data of infected systems. However, the step of containment, which should occur before eradication and recovery to prevent the spread of malware and further damage, appears to have been missed. Containment strategies are crucial to limit the scope and magnitude of an incident1.

References :=

NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 2, Computer Security Incident Handling Guide1

NIST Incident Response: Your Go-To Guide to Handling Cybersecurity2