Obfuscation Flashcards
Security+
What is obfuscation?
The process of making something unclear, making it more difficult to understand.
Can obfuscation make information impossible to understand?
No, it can be difficult, but not impossible if you know how to read it.
What is one way to hide information in plain sight?
Store payment information without storing a credit card number.
What is steganography?
Concealed writing; a technique to hide messages within other files or images.
What does “covertext” refer to in steganography?
The container document or file that hides the message.
Name a common technique used in network-based steganography.
Embedding messages in TCP packets.
How does audio steganography work?
By modifying a digital audio file to interlace a secret message within the audio.
What is video steganography?
Using image steganography techniques on a sequence of images to transfer more information.
What is tokenization?
Replacing sensitive data with a non-sensitive placeholder, like a temporary token.
How does tokenization protect credit card information?
An attacker capturing card numbers cannot use them later as they are non-sensitive tokens.
Is tokenization considered encryption?
No, it is not encryption or hashing; the original data and token are not mathematically related.
What is data masking?
A technique to hide some of the original data, protecting sensitive information.
How does data masking protect PII?
It hides data from view while potentially keeping it intact in storage based on permissions.
What are some techniques used in data masking?
Substituting, shuffling, encrypting, and masking out data.
