CISSP Flashcards
Cyber threat intelligence
Cyber threat intelligence is the collection and analysis of threat trends to identify potential or actual threats to the organization. As a result, organizations will be better prepared to create preventative and
detective cybersecurity measures
Passive footprinting
Passive footprinting collects information about the target
without directly interacting with it. This typically involves combing through the target’s website, job sites, forums, among other sites
Active footprinting
Active footprinting
collects information about the target through direct interaction, such as e-mailing, calling, and visiting the target’s physical location
Open-source intelligence
Publicly available information
Proprietary/closed-source intelligence
Info with restricted access (e.g. police record)
Timeliness Intelligence
timely receipt/operationalization (impact > intelligence cost)
Accuracy Intelligence
Must save organizations more in success than errors/mistakes
Relevancy intelligence
Must address a threat and allow for effective action; usable delivery format
OpenIOC
OpenIOC is an open cyber threat sharing framework designed for exchanging threat data with other parties in a machine-readable standard format for defining/recording/sharing artifacts. Businesses use OpenIOC to share IOCs with other businesses that serve the threat intelligence communities worldwide
STIX
Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX). Describes cyber threat information (motivation, abilities, capabilities, response)
TAXII
Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information (TAXII), describes how threat info (STIX) can be shared (hub-and-spoke; source/subscriber; peer-to-peer); discovery, collection management, inbox, poll
Known Threats vs. Unknown Threats
Known Threats This is our low-hanging fruit, like spam and viruses, which have been seen
before. It can be found through open-source intelligence (OSINT)
Unknown Threats is considered a malicious code that has not been seen before
Zero-day
Zero-day is unknown vulnerabilities or malware that have no patches
APT
Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are skilled attackers supported by extremely large resources such as military or government-sponsored
Nation-state (Threat actors)
Nation-state threat actors are frequently among the most sophisticated adversaries, with dedicated infrastructure, training resources, and operational support behind their activities. Their activities are characterized by extensive planning and coordination and often reflect the strong government or military influence behind them
Hacktivists (Threat actors)
Hacktivists are threat actors that typically operate with less resourcing than their nation-state counterparts, but nonetheless, work to coordinate efforts to bring light to an issue or promote a cause. They often rely on readily available tools and mass participation to achieve their desired effects against a target
Organized crime
Organized crime: Threat actors operating on behalf of organized crime groups are becoming an increasingly visible challenge for enterprise defenders to confront. Profit-driven groups that target PII, credit cards etc
Insider Threat Actors
Insider threat actors work within an organization and represent a particularly high risk of causing catastrophic damage due to their privileged access to internal resources
Intelligence Cycle
The intelligence cycle is a core process used by most governments and business intelligence and security teams to process raw signals into finished intelligence for use in decision-making.
Requirements: The requirements phase involves the identification, prioritization, and refinement of uncertainties about the operational environment that the security team must resolve to accomplish its mission.
Collection: At this phase, the plan that was previously defined is executed, and data is collected to fill the intelligence gap
Analysis: The Analysis is the act of making sense of what you observe. With the use of automation, highly trained analysts will try to give meaning to the normalized, decrypted, or otherwise processed information by adding context to the operational environment.
Dissemination: Distributing the requested intelligence to the customer occurs at the dissemination phase.
Feedback: Once intelligence is disseminated, more questions may be raised, which leads to additional planning and direction of future collection efforts
Commodity Malware
Commodity malware includes any pervasive malicious software that’s made available to threat actors via sale or also call Malware-as-a-Service
H-ISAC
Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center to obtain updated health-related threat intelligence
FS-ISAC
Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center. The FS-ISAC is the global financial industry’s go-
to resource for all physical and cyber threat intelligence sharing.
A-ISAC
Aviation Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Aviation cybersecurity concerns are significant enough that multiple ISACs have
sprouted around the globe
ND-ISAC
National Defense Information Sharing and Analysis Center