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Essential Knowledge

The OSI Reference Model

Layer Description Technologies Data Unit
1 Physical USB, Bluetooth Bit
2 Data Link ARP, PPP Frame
3 Network IP Packet
4 Transport TCP Segment
5 Session X255, SCP Data
6 Presentation AFP, MIME Data
7 Application FTP, HTTP, SMTP Data

TCP/IP Model

Layer Description OSI Layer Equivalent
1 Network Access 1, 2
2 Internet 3
3 Transport 4
4 Application 5-7

TCP Handshake

SYN -> SYN-ACK -> ACK

ARP

  • Resolves IP address to physical address

Network Security Zones

  • Internet - uncontrollable
  • Internet DMZ - controlled buffer network
  • Production Network Zone - very restricted; controls direct access from uncontrolled zones; has no users
  • Intranet Zone - controlled; has little to no heavy restrictions
  • Management Network Zone - might find VLANs and IPSEC; highly secured; strict policies

Vulnerabilities

  • Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) - places numerical score based on severity
  • National Vulnerability Database (NVD) - US government repository of vulnerabilities

Vulnerability Categories

  • Misconfiguration - improperly configuring a service or application
  • Default installation - failure to change settings in an application that come by default
  • Buffer overflow - code execution flaw
  • Missing patches - systems that have not been patched
  • Design flaws - flaws inherent to system design such as encryption and data validation
  • Operating System Flaws - flaws specific to each OS
  • Default passwords - leaving default passwords that come with system/application

Vulnerability Management Tools

  • Nessus
  • Qualys
  • GFI Languard
  • Nikto
  • OpenVAS
  • Retina CS

Terms to Know

  • Hack value - perceived value or worth of a target as seen by the attacker
  • Zero-day attack - attack that occurs before a vendor knows or is able to patch a flaw
  • Doxing - searching for and publishing information about an individual usually with a malicious intent
  • Enterprise Information Security Architecture (EISA) - process that determines how systems work within an organization
  • Incident management - deals with specific incidents to mitigate the attack

Threat Modeling

  • Identify security objectives
  • Application Overview
  • Decompose application
  • Identify threats
  • Identify vulnerabilities

Risk Management

  • Risk identification

  • Risk assessment

  • Risk treatment

  • Risk tracking

  • Risk review

    *Uses risk analysis matrix to determine threat level

Types of Security Controls

Description Examples
Physical Guards, lights, cameras
Technical Encryption, smart cards, access control lists
Administrative Training awareness, policies
Description Examples
Preventative authentication, alarm bells
Detective audits, backups
Corrective restore operations

Business Analysis

  • Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

    • Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)

  • Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

    • Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

  • Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALE)

    • Annual Rate of Occurrence (ARO)

    • Single Loss Expectancy (SLE) $$ ALE = SLE * ARO $$

User Behavior Analysis (UBA) - tracking users and extrapolating data in light of malicious activity

CIA Triad

  • Confidentiality - passwords, encryption
  • Integrity - hashing, digital signatures
  • Availability - anti-dos solutions

Bit flipping is an example of an integrity attack. The outcome is not to gain information - it is to obscure the data from the actual user.

Confidentiality != authentication - MAC address spoofing is an authentication attack

Common Criterial for Information Technology Security Evaluation

  • Routinely called "Common Criteria" (CC)
  • Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) - goes from level 1 - 7
  • Target of Evaluation - the system that is being tested
  • Security Target (ST) - document describing the TOE and security requirements
  • Protection Profile (PP) - security requirements that are specific to the type of device being tested

Access Control Types

  • Mandatory (MAC) - access is set by an administrator
  • Discretionary (DAC) - allows users to give access to resources that they own and control

Security Policies

  • Access Control - what resources are protected and who can access them
  • Information Security - what can systems be used for
  • Information Protection - defines data sensitivity levels
  • Password - all things about passwords (how long, characters required, etc.)
  • E-Mail - proper and allowable use of email systems
  • Information Audit - defines the framework used for auditing

Policy Categorizations

  • Promiscuous - wide open
  • Permissive - blocks only known dangerous things
  • Prudent - blocks most and only allows things for business purposes
  • Paranoid - locks everything down

Standards - mandatory rules to achieve consistency

Baselines - provide the minimum security necessary

Guidelines - flexible or recommended actions

Procedures - step by step instructions

Script Kiddie - uneducated in security methods, but uses tools that are freely available to perform malicious activities

Phreaker - manipulates telephone systems

The Hats

  • White Hat - ethical hackers
  • Black Hat - hackers that seek to perform malicious activities
  • Gray Hat - hackers that perform good or bad activities but do not have the permission of the organization they are hacking against

Hacktivist - someone who hacks for a cause

Suicide Hackers - do not case about any impunity to themselves; hack to get the job done

Cyberterrorist - motivated by religious or political beliefs to create fear or disruption

State-Sponsored Hacker - hacker that is hired by a government

Attack Types

  • Operating System (OS) - attacks targeting OS flaws or security issues inside such as guest accounts or default passwords
  • Application Level - attacks on programming code and software logic
  • Shrink-Wrap Code - attack takes advantage of built-in code or scripts
  • Misconfiguration - attack takes advantage of systems that are misconfigured due to improper configuration or default configuration

Infowar - the use of offensive and defensive techniques to create an advantage

Hacking Phases

  1. Reconnaissance - gathering evidence about targets
  2. Scanning & Enumeration - obtaining more in-depth information about targets
  3. Gaining Access - attacks are leveled in order to gain access to a system
  4. Maintaining Access - items put in place to ensure future access
  5. Covering Tracks - steps taken to conceal success and intrusion

Types of Reconnaissance

  • Passive - gathering information about the target without their knowledge
  • Active - uses tools and techniques that may or may not be discovered

Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM)

  • Functions related to a security operations center (SOC)
    • Identifying
    • Monitoring
    • Recording
    • Auditing
    • Analyzing

Ethical hacker - employs tools that hackers use with a customer's permission; always obtains an agreement from the client with specific objectives before any testing is done

Cracker - uses tools for personal gain or destructive purposes

Penetration Test

  • Clearly defined, full scale test of security controls
  • Phases
    • Preparation - contracts and team determined
    • Assessment - all hacking phases (reconnaissance, scanning, attacks, etc.)
    • Post-Assessment - reports & conclusions
  • Types
    • Black Box - done without any knowledge of the system or network
    • White Box - complete knowledge of the system
    • Gray Box - has some knowledge of the system and/or network

Law Categories

  • Criminal - laws that protect public safety and usually have jail time attached
  • Civil - private rights and remedies
  • Common - laws that are based on societal customs

Laws and Standards

  • OSSTM Compliance - "Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual" maintained by ISECOM , defines three types of compliance

    • Legislative - Deals with government regulations (Such as SOX and HIPAA)
    • Contractual - Deals with industry / group requirement (Such as PCI DSS)
    • Standards based - Deals with practices that must be followed by members of a given group/organization (Such as ITIL ,ISO and OSSTMM itself)

  • OSSTM Controls

    • OSSTM Class A - Interactive Controls

      • Authentication - Provides for identification and authorization based on credentials
      • Indemnification - Provided contractual protection against loss or damages
      • Subjugation - Ensures that interactions occur according to processes defined by the asset owner
      • Continuity - Maintains interactivity with assets if corruption of failure occurs
      • Resilience - Protects assets from corruption and failure

    • OSSTM Class B - Process Controls

      • Non-repudiation - Prevents participants from denying its actions
      • Confidentiality - Ensures that only participants know of an asset
      • Privacy - Ensures that only participants have access to the asset
      • Integrity - Ensures that only participants know when assets and processes change
      • Alarm - Notifies participants when interactions occur

  • ISO 27001 - Security standard based on the British BS7799 standard, focuses on security governance

  • NIST-800-53 - Catalogs security and privacy controls for federal information systems, created to help implementation of FISMA

  • ISO 27002 AND 17799 - Based on BS799 but focuses on security objectives and provides security controls based on industry best practice

  • FISMA - "Federal Information Security Modernization Ac Of 2002" A law updated in 2004 to codify the authority of the Department of Homeland Security with regard to implementation of information security policies

  • FITARA - "Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act" A 2013 bill that was intended to change the framework that determines how the US GOV purchases technology

  • HIPAA - "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" a law that set's privacy standards to protect patient medical records and health information shared between doctors, hospitals and insurance providers

  • PCI-DSS - "Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard" Standard for organizations handling Credit Cards, ATM cards and other POS cards

  • COBIT - "Control Object for Information and Related Technology" IT Governance framework and toolset, created by ISACA and ITGI

  • SOX - "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" Law that requires publicly traded companies to submit to independent audits and to properly disclose financial information

  • GLBA - "U.S Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" Law that protects the confidentiality and integrity of personal information that is collected by financial institutions.

  • CSIRT - "Computer Security Incident Response Team" CSIRT provided a single point of contact when reporting computer security incidents

  • ITIL - "Information Technology Infrastructure Library" - An operational framework developed in the '80s that standardizes IT management procedures

Controls

  • Directive - Also known as procedural controls because they deal with company procedures such as security policies, operations plans, and guidelines.
  • Deterrent - Controls that are used to dissuade potential attackers, such as signs that warn possible attackers about the alarm system and monitoring in place.
  • Preventive - Controls used to stop potential attacks by preventing users from performing specific actions, such as encryption and authentication
  • Compensating - Controls used to supplement directive controls, such as administrator reviewing logs files for violations of company policy
  • Detective - Controls used to monitor and alert on malicious or unauthorized activity, such as IDS's and CCTV feeds monitored in real life
  • Corrective - Controls used to repair damage caused by malicious events. Such as AntiVirus software and IPS (IPS being both a detective and corrective control)
  • Recovery