Answer Description

TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is a specification detailing secure cryptoprocessor. The device itself is often called a "TPM Chip" or "TPM Device."

Wikipedia

Trusted Platform Module (TPM, also known as ISO/IEC 11889) is an international standard for a secure cryptoprocessor, a dedicated microcontroller designed to secure hardware through integrated cryptographic keys. The term can also refer to a chip conforming to the standard. TPM is used for digital rights management (DRM), Windows Defender, Windows Domain logon, protection and enforcement of software licenses, and prevention of cheating in online games.One of Windows 11's system requirements is TPM 2.0. Microsoft has stated that this is to help increase security against firmware and ransomware attacks.

Answer Description

RBAC (Role Based Access Control) is an access control, where a persons level of access is dependent on their job in an origination.

Wikipedia

In computer systems security, role-based access control (RBAC) or role-based security is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users. It is an approach to implement mandatory access control (MAC) or discretionary access control (DAC). Role-based access control (RBAC) is a policy-neutral access-control mechanism defined around roles and privileges. The components of RBAC such as role-permissions, user-role and role-role relationships make it simple to perform user assignments. A study by NIST has demonstrated that RBAC addresses many needs of commercial and government organizations. RBAC can be used to facilitate administration of security in large organizations with hundreds of users and thousands of permissions. Although RBAC is different from MAC and DAC access control frameworks, it can enforce these policies without any complication.

Answer Description

A DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is a part of a network that is somewhat protected, and allowed to be accessed externally and internally. However, it is also separated from the internal network, allowing a more secure environment internally.

Wikipedia

In computer security, a DMZ or demilitarized zone (sometimes referred to as a perimeter network or screened subnet) is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external-facing services to an untrusted, usually larger, network such as the Internet. The purpose of a DMZ is to add an additional layer of security to an organization's local area network (LAN): an external network node can access only what is exposed in the DMZ, while the rest of the organization's network is firewalled. The DMZ functions as a small, isolated network positioned between the Internet and the private network.This is not to be confused with a DMZ host, a feature present in some home routers which frequently differs greatly from an ordinary DMZ. The name is from the term demilitarized zone, an area between states in which military operations are not permitted.

Answer Description

Multi-factor authentication means it uses more than 1 type of authentication. The factors are something the user IS (bio-metric), user knows (knowledge), and user has (physical token).

Wikipedia

Multi-factor authentication (MFA; encompassing authentication, or 2FA, along with similar terms) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism: knowledge (something only the user knows), possession (something only the user has), and inherence (something only the user is). MFA protects user data—which may include personal identification or financial assets—from being accessed by an unauthorised third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password. A third-party authenticator (TPA) app enables two-factor authentication, usually by showing a randomly generated and frequently changing code to use for authentication.

Answer Description

Kerberos is an authentication method uses to verify identity, and permit access to a resource. It uses port 88 by default.

Wikipedia

Kerberos () is a computer-network authentication protocol that works on the basis of tickets to allow nodes communicating over a non-secure network to prove their identity to one another in a secure manner. Its designers aimed it primarily at a client–server model, and it provides mutual authentication—both the user and the server verify each other's identity. Kerberos protocol messages are protected against eavesdropping and replay attacks. Kerberos builds on symmetric-key cryptography and requires a trusted third party, and optionally may use public-key cryptography during certain phases of authentication. Kerberos uses UDP port 88 by default. The protocol was named after the character Kerberos (or Cerberus) from Greek mythology, the ferocious three-headed guard dog of Hades.

Answer Description

STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) is a layer 2 protocol used to prevent switching loops. STP can be attacked by a hacker, and cause a network outage.

Wikipedia

The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol that builds a loop-free logical topology for Ethernet networks. The basic function of STP is to prevent bridge loops and the broadcast radiation that results from them. Spanning tree also allows a network design to include backup links providing fault tolerance if an active link fails. As the name suggests, STP creates a spanning tree that characterizes the relationship of nodes within a network of connected layer-2 bridges, and disables those links that are not part of the spanning tree, leaving a single active path between any two network nodes. STP is based on an algorithm that was invented by Radia Perlman while she was working for Digital Equipment Corporation.In 2001, the IEEE introduced Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) as 802.1w. RSTP provides significantly faster recovery in response to network changes or failures, introducing new convergence behaviors and bridge port roles to do this. RSTP was designed to be backwards-compatible with standard STP. STP was originally standardized as IEEE 802.1D but the functionality of spanning tree (802.1D), rapid spanning tree (802.1w), and multiple spanning tree (802.1s) has since been incorporated into IEEE 802.1Q-2014.

Answer Description

Telnet is a remote command line interface tool, which uses port 23 to communicate.

Wikipedia

Telnet is an application protocol used on the Internet or local area network to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection. User data is interspersed in-band with Telnet control information in an 8-bit byte oriented data connection over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Telnet was developed in 1969 beginning with RFC 15, extended in RFC 855, and standardized as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Internet Standard STD 8, one of the first Internet standards. The name stands for "teletype network".Historically, Telnet provided access to a command-line interface on a remote host. However, because of serious security concerns when using Telnet over an open network such as the Internet, its use for this purpose has waned significantly in favor of SSH.The term telnet is also used to refer to the software that implements the client part of the protocol. Telnet client applications are available for virtually all computer platforms. Telnet is also used as a verb. To telnet means to establish a connection using the Telnet protocol, either with a command line client or with a graphical interface. For example, a common directive might be: "To change your password, telnet into the server, log in and run the passwd command." In most cases, a user would be telnetting into a Unix-like server system or a network device (such as a router).

Answer Description

This is known as port-security, an unused port should be disabled, to ensure a malicious user cannot plug an unauthorized device into it.

Answer Description

Implicit Deny describes a configuration where everything is denied by default, and exceptions are granted only when absolutely necessary. This is the most restrictive and secure method to securing a network, but also requires a high level of administration.

Answer Description

War Chalking is marking a building or sidewalk to note the type of WiFi available. In modern times this is not very common, but in the early days of WiFi this practice was used by malicious users to find unsecure wireless networks.

Wikipedia

Warchalking is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi network. Inspired by hobo symbols, the warchalking marks were conceived by a group of friends in June 2002 and publicised by Matt Jones who designed the set of icons and produced a downloadable document containing them. Within days of Jones publishing a blog entry about warchalking, articles appeared in dozens of publications and stories appeared on several major television news programs around the world.The word is formed by analogy to wardriving, the practice of driving around an area in a car to detect open Wi-Fi nodes. That term in turn is based on wardialing, the practice of dialing many phone numbers hoping to find a modem.Having found a Wi-Fi node, the warchalker draws a special symbol on a nearby object, such as a wall, the pavement, or a lamp post. Those offering Wi-Fi service might also draw such a symbol to advertise the availability of their Wi-Fi location, whether commercial or personal.

Answer Description

A SYN Flood attack opens a large amount of SYN requests (the first step in the TCP 3 way handshake) in an attempt to overload a system's memory or network.

Wikipedia

A SYN flood is a form of denial-of-service attack in which an attacker rapidly initiates a connection to a server without finalizing the connection. The server has to spend resources waiting for half-opened connections, which can consume enough resources to make the system unresponsive to legitimate traffic.The packet that the attacker sends is the SYN packet, a part of TCP's three-way handshake used to establish a connection.

Answer Description

ACL (Access Control List) is a list of permissions, normally allow or deny, for a specific resource. This is commonly found on IPS, Firewalls, and routing devices.

Wikipedia

In computer security, an access-control list (ACL) is a list of permissions associated with a system resource (object) An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to objects, as well as what operations are allowed on given objects Each entry in a typical ACL specifies a subject and an operation For instance, if a file object has an ACL that contains (Alice: read,write Bob: read), this would give Alice permission to read and write the file and only give Bob permission to read it

Answer Description

CHAP (Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol) uses a 3 way handshake to authenticate a user or host, and then will verify the host randomly during it's connection.

Wikipedia

In computing, the Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) is an authentication protocol originally used by Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to validate users. CHAP is also carried in other authentication protocols such as RADIUS and Diameter. Almost all network operating systems support PPP with CHAP, as do most network access servers. CHAP is also used in PPPoE, for authenticating DSL users. As the PPP sends data unencrypted and "in the clear", CHAP is vulnerable to any attacker who can observe the PPP session. An attacker can see the user's name, CHAP challenge, CHAP response, and any other information associated with the PPP session. The attacker can then mount an offline dictionary attack in order to obtain the original password. When used in PPP, CHAP also provides protection against replay attacks by the peer through the use of a challenge which is generated by the authenticator, which is typically a network access server. Where CHAP is used in other protocols, it may be sent in the clear, or it may be protected by a security layer such as Transport Layer Security (TLS). For example, when CHAP is sent over RADIUS using User Datagram Protocol (UDP), any attacker who can see the RADIUS packets can mount an offline dictionary attack, as with PPP. CHAP requires that both the client and server know the clear-text version of the password, although the password itself is never sent over the network. Thus when used in PPP, CHAP provides better security as compared to Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) which

Answer Description

A HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention System) will stop and report attacks on a host system. A HIDS (Host Intrusion Detection System) can detect and log an attack, but not actively prevent or stop it.

Wikipedia

An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a device or software application that monitors a network or systems for malicious activity or policy violations Any intrusion activity or violation is typically reported either to an administrator or collected centrally using a security information and event management (SIEM) system A SIEM system combines outputs from multiple sources and uses alarm filtering techniques to distinguish malicious activity from false alarmsIDS types range in scope from single computers to large networks The most common classifications are network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) A system that monitors important operating system files is an example of an HIDS, while a system that analyzes incoming network traffic is an example of an NIDS

Answer Description

SHA and MD5 are hashing algorithms, used for one way encryption and data integrity.

Wikipedia

A hash function is any function that can be used to map data of arbitrary size to fixed-size values. The values returned by a hash function are called hash values, hash codes, digests, or simply hashes. The values are usually used to index a fixed-size table called a hash table. Use of a hash function to index a hash table is called hashing or scatter storage addressing. Hash functions and their associated hash tables are used in data storage and retrieval applications to access data in a small and nearly constant time per retrieval. They require an amount of storage space only fractionally greater than the total space required for the data or records themselves. Hashing is a computationally and storage space-efficient form of data access that avoids the non-constant access time of ordered and unordered lists and structured trees, and the often exponential storage requirements of direct access of state spaces of large or variable-length keys. Use of hash functions relies on statistical properties of key and function interaction: worst-case behaviour is intolerably bad with a vanishingly small probability, and average-case behaviour can be nearly optimal (minimal collision).Hash functions are related to (and often confused with) checksums, check digits, fingerprints, lossy compression, randomization functions, error-correcting codes, and ciphers. Although the concepts overlap to some extent, each one has its own uses and requirements and is designed and optimized differently. The hash function differs from these concepts mainly in terms of data integrity.

Answer Description

A packet sniffer intercepts and logs network packets, allows a network user to analyze and review network data.

Wikipedia

A packet analyzer, also known as packet sniffer, protocol analyzer, or network analyzer, is a computer program or computer hardware such as a packet capture appliance, that can intercept and log traffic that passes over a computer network or part of a network. Packet capture is the process of intercepting and logging traffic. As data streams flow across the network, the analyzer captures each packet and, if needed, decodes the packet's raw data, showing the values of various fields in the packet, and analyzes its content according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications. A packet analyzer used for intercepting traffic on wireless networks is known as a wireless analyzer or WiFi analyzer. While a packet analyzer can also be referred to as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer these terms can also have other meanings. Protocol analyzer can technically be a broader, more general class that includes packet analyzers/sniffers. However, the terms are frequently used intechangeably.

Answer Description

HTTP uses port 80, while HTTPS uses TCP port 443.

Wikipedia

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or, formerly, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The protocol is therefore also referred to as HTTP over TLS, or HTTP over SSL. The principal motivations for HTTPS are authentication of the accessed website, and protection of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data while in transit. It protects against man-in-the-middle attacks, and the bidirectional encryption of communications between a client and server protects the communications against eavesdropping and tampering. The authentication aspect of HTTPS requires a trusted third party to sign server-side digital certificates. This was historically an expensive operation, which meant fully authenticated HTTPS connections were usually found only on secured payment transaction services and other secured corporate information systems on the World Wide Web. In 2016, a campaign by the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the support of web browser developers led to the protocol becoming more prevalent. HTTPS is now used more often by web users than the original non-secure HTTP, primarily to protect page authenticity on all types of websites; secure accounts; and to keep user communications, identity, and web browsing private.

Answer Description

RAID 5 (Striping with parity) uses data striping to increase read/write time, and parity disk(s) to provide for availability in case of a hard drive failure. A cold site is an empty area (no infrastructure standing by) for use in the event of a major disaster, it is not a short term solution. Raid 0 is striping and only provides faster data access.

Wikipedia

In computer storage, the standard RAID levels comprise a basic set of RAID ("redundant array of independent disks" or "redundant array of inexpensive disks") configurations that employ the techniques of striping, mirroring, or parity to create large reliable data stores from multiple general-purpose computer hard disk drives (HDDs). The most common types are RAID 0 (striping), RAID 1 (mirroring) and its variants, RAID 5 (distributed parity), and RAID 6 (dual parity). Multiple RAID levels can also be combined or nested, for instance RAID 10 (striping of mirrors) or RAID 01 (mirroring stripe sets). RAID levels and their associated data formats are standardized by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) in the Common RAID Disk Drive Format (DDF) standard. The numerical values only serve as identifiers and do not signify performance, reliability, generation, or any other metric. While most RAID levels can provide good protection against and recovery from hardware defects or defective sectors/read errors (hard errors), they do not provide any protection against data loss due to catastrophic failures (fire, water) or soft errors such as user error, software malfunction, or malware infection. For valuable data, RAID is only one building block of a larger data loss prevention and recovery scheme – it cannot replace a backup plan.

Answer Description

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a data encryption/authentication protocol, which is commonly used for email messages.

Wikipedia

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partitions and to increase the security of e-mail communications. Phil Zimmermann developed PGP in 1991.PGP and similar software follow the OpenPGP, an open standard of PGP encryption software, standard (RFC 4880) for encrypting and decrypting data.

Answer Description

IPv4 addressing consists of four octets of eight bits each. 8x4=32 bits per address. Example: 192.168.1.1 in binary is 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001, which is 32 bits.

Wikipedia

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol (IP). It is one of the core protocols of standards-based internetworking methods in the Internet and other packet-switched networks. IPv4 was the first version deployed for production on SATNET in 1982 and on the ARPANET in January 1983. It is still used to route most Internet traffic today, even with the ongoing deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), its successor. IPv4 uses a 32-bit address space which provides 4,294,967,296 (232) unique addresses, but large blocks are reserved for special networking purposes.