Chapter 3 Flashcards
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
A cloud computing service model that provides computing resources on demand, such as storage, servers, networking, and virtualization.
Platform as a Service (Paas)
A cloud computing model that provides a complete environment for developers to build, test, deploy, and manage applications. PaaS allows developers to focus on their code without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure, such as servers, storage, and networking.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
A cloud-based software delivery model that allows users to access software through the internet on a subscription basis
Hybrid Cloud
Using more than one cloud provider. Adds additional flexibility but also adds complexity to the system. Most cloud provider systems do not talk to each other directly, so manual configuration of things like authentication, Firewalls, and server settings may be needed. Cloud providers use different security monitoring systems, as well as different logging terminology.
Data Leakage
Data stored in the cloud often needs to traverse the public internet which exposes it to attackers
Infrastructure as Code
Code architecture exists that allows you to define a cloud infrastructure such as servers, network, and applications. This allows you to reduce the human error that can occur manually creating the infrastructure. Also allows you to modify and create versions of the infrastructure.
Function as a Service (FaaS)
Applications can be separated into individual autonomous functions. Each function performs a small part of the application. These functions are commonly event triggered, and can be built in real time as the event is triggered.
Monolithic Applications
One big application that does everything you need. This is the traditional way of writing applications. One single executable is handling all user interface, logic, and data input and output. This makes the application take up a lot of storage space and have a large codebase.
Application Programming Interface (API)
Allows programs to access code written elsewhere.
Microservice
Uses APIs to create multiple smaller programs that handle discrete parts of an application. If one of the microservices goes down the rest will continue to work.
Air Gap
Physically separating devices. If one device is compromised it wont compromise the other.
Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)
A logical segmentation that allows the segmentation of data on the same device.
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Splitting functions into separate logical units to extend the functionality and management of a single device. Separates the control functions from the forwarding functions. 3 layers of SDN architecture: Infrastructure Layer, Control layer, Application layer.
Infrastructure Layer
Data plane. Process the network frames and packets. Forwarding, trunking encrypting, NAT.
Control Layer
Manages the actions of the infrastructure layer. Routing tables, session tables, NAT tables. Dynamic routing protocol updates
Application Layer
Management Plane. Configures and manages the device. SSH, browser, API
Advantages of Cloud based Infrastructure
Security is centralized and costs less. No on site hardware or data center to secure. A third party handles everything.
Virtualization
Allows you to run many different operating systems on the same hardware. Each application instance has its own operating system, which adds overhead and complexity.
Containerization
A segmentation that contains everything you need to run an application, including code and dependencies. A standardized unit of software.
Container
An isolated process that is a self contained system. Apps can’t interact with each other.
Container image
A standard for portability. Lightweight and uses the host kernel. Secure separation between applications
Internet of things (IOT)
Devices that are integrated into your network. Smart devices, sensors, wearable tech. Convenient but often not very secure.
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA)
Used to monitor the status of large scale industrial equipment. Requires extensive segmentation, no access from the outside. Many SCADA systems are incredibly secure.
Industrial Control Systems (ICS)
used to network together large pieces of machinery.
Real Time Operating System (RTOS)
An operating system with a deterministic processing schedule. Makes sure that actions are performed within a time constraint. Will dedicate all resources to important tasks immediately. Used in industrial equipment, automobiles, and military environments. Extremely sensitive to security issues. No time for antivirus checks. Systems are often self contained and it is difficult to find a way in.
Embedded systems
Hardware and software are created as a self contained and purpose built device. May work as a single component of a larger system. Can be very optimized for it’s task. Traffic light controllers, digital watches, medical imaging systems
High Availability (HA)
Always on, always available. Automatic redundancy. May include many components working together. Higher availability means higher costs.
Infrastructure Considerations
Availability and security can be a difficult balancing act. Available but only to the right people. Uptime % is an important metric when evaluating availability.R
Resilience
Eventually something will happen. How quickly can you recover. Based on many different variables: Root cause, replacement hardware installation, software patch availability, system redundency. Commonly referred to as MTTR: Mean time to Repair.
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
The length of time to replace something that is no longer available, with components that are available.
Responsiveness
How long does it take for a user to recieve their information after they make a request? This is very important for interactive applications, as humans are sensitive to delays.
Scalability
How quickly or easily can we increase or decrease capacity. This may happen many times per day. Need to make sure that security monitoring keeps up with the system scaling. Project management and scalability are an important factor to consider during the engineering phase. One missed detail can cause major deployment issues.
Cybersecurity Insurance
Allows you to recover lost funds resulting from things like randsomeware attacks, or outages and business downtime. Helps mitigate risks associated with legal proceedings from customers.
Patch Availability
The only constant is change. Software usually isn’t static. The first step after installation is usually making sure you are running the latest version. Patches need to be tested.
Patch Tuesday
The second tuesday of each month microsoft rolls out patches.
Power
A foundational element. Must be monitored. Requirements are very different depending on the purpose.
Compute
An applications heavy lifting. More than just a single CPU. Cloud services provide a compute engine.
Secure Infrastructure
Every network is different, but there are often simularities. We often use firewalls to segment the network, as well as provide additional security to specific parts of the network. Other services may require their own security technologies: Honeypots, jump server, load balancers, sensors.
Zone Based Security Technologies
A logical separation of all of the devices on the network by their use or access type. More flexible and secure than IP address ranges. Each area of the network is associated with a zone. Simplifies security policies, allows you to determine what kinds of data can be sent between zones.
Attack surface
Everything can be a vulnerability. Application code, open ports, authentication process, human error. The goal is to minimize the attack surface. Audit code, block ports on the firewall, monitor network traffic in real time, train employees. Secure physical network cabling. Application level encryption makes the data traveling our network encrypted and secure.
Network level encryption
IPSec tunnels and VPN connections
Intruision Prevention System (IPS)
Watches network traffic in real time. If there is any data that may be an intruision or an exploit it can block the traffic in real time. Looks for known exploits, buffer overflows, XSS
Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
Watches network traffic and sounds an alarm if it thinks there is a problem.
Failure modes
Eventually something will break. Depending on device configuration different things may happen. Fail open and fail closed