TestOut Security Pro: 2.1 Understanding Attacks
Escalating privileges
A primary objective of hackers; consists of configuring additional rights to do more than breach the system
Gray hat
A skilled hacker who falls in the middle of white hat and black hat hackers. The gray hat may cross the line of what is ethical, but usually has good intentions and isn't malicious like a black hat hacker.
White hat
A skilled hacker who uses skills and knowledge for defensive purposes only. The white hat hacker interacts only with systems for which express access permission is given.
Black hat
A skilled hacker who uses skills and knowledge for illegal or malicious purposes.
Nation state
A sovereign state threat agent that may wage an all-out war on a target and have significant resources for the attack.
Cybercriminal
A subcategory of hacker threat agents. Cybercriminals are willing to take more risks and use more extreme tactics for financial gain.
Competitor
A threat agent who carries out attacks on behalf of an organization and targets competing companies.
Insider
A threat agent who has authorized access to an organization and either intentionally or unintentionally carries out an attack.
Internal threat
A threat from authorized individuals (insiders) who exploit assigned privileges and inside information to carry out an attack.
External threat
A threat from individuals or groups not associated with the organization, who seek to gain unauthorized access to data.
Non-persistent threat
A threat that focuses on getting into a system and stealing information. It is usually a one-time event, so the attacker is not concerned with detection.
Persistent threat
A threat that seeks to gain access to a network and remain there undetected.
Targeted attack
A type of threat in which threat actors actively pursue and compromise a target entity's infrastructure while maintaining anonymity.
Backdoor
An alternative method of accessing an application or operating system for troubleshooting. Hackers often create these to exploit a system without being detected.
Opportunistic attack
An attack in which the threat actor is almost always trying to make money as fast as possible and with minimal effort.
Hacker
Any threat agent who uses technical knowledge to bypass security, exploit a vulnerability, and gain access to protected information.
Principle of least privilege
States that users or groups are given only the access they need to do their jobs and nothing more.
Exploitation
Takes advantage of known vulnerabilities in software and systems. Once this happens, an attacker can often steal information, deny services, crash systems, or modify/alter information
Randomness
The constant change in personal habits and passwords to prevent predictable behavior.
Breach
The penetration of system defenses. It is often achieved by using information gathered by through reconnaissance.
Technical approach
Used to obtain information using software or utilities to find vulnerabilities in a system. Port scans and ping sweeps are types of this often used by hackers
Reconnaissance
the process of gathering information about an organization, including info about system hardware, individual users, and network configs
Social engineering
the process of manipulating others into providing sensitive information through intimidation and sympathy
Variety
Important when layering defenses; implementing multiple layers of the same defense does not provide adequate protection against attacks.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT)
Information that is readily available to the public and doesn't require any type of malicious activity to obtain.
Layering
Involves implementing multiple security strategies to protect the same asset.
Staging
Involves preparing a computer to perform additional tasks in the attack, such as installing software designed to attack other systems. This is an optional step.
Simplicity
Refers to the fact that security measures should provide protection, but not be so complex that it is difficult to understand and use them.
