Cisco 350-701 - Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies (SCOR 350-701)

The purpose of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is to disrupt the normal operation of a targeted system, server, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic. This is achieved by utilizing multiple compromised computer systems as sources of attack traffic. The overwhelming amount of traffic can cause the targeted system to slow down significantly or even crash and become unavailable to legitimate users, thereby denying service to intended users.

A basic SYN flood attack is a type of denial-of-service (DoS) attack that aims to exhaust the resources of a server by sending a large number of SYN packets and not completing the TCP three-way handshake. The intent of this attack is to exceed the threshold limit of the connection queue, which is the data structure that stores the information about the pending connections. By doing so, the attacker prevents legitimate clients from establishing connections with the server, as the server cannot accept any more SYN requests. A SYN flood attack can be performed with spoofed IP addresses or without IP spoofing, depending on the attacker’s strategy and the server’s configuration. References: [Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies (SCOR) v1.0], Module 3: Securing Networks with Firewalls, Lesson 3.2: Firewall Technologies, Topic 3.2.1: Firewall Technologies Overview, Page 8. SYN flood DDoS attack | Cloudflare. How to Perform TCP SYN Flood DoS Attack & Detect it with Wireshark - Kali Linux hping3. SYN flood - Wikipedia. SYN Flood Attack | SpringerLink. What Is a SYN Flood Attack? | F5.

The functional difference between Cisco Secure Endpoint (formerly known as AMP for Endpoints) and Cisco Umbrella Roaming Client lies in their approach to security. Cisco Secure Endpoint is designed to prevent, detect, and respond to threats on the endpoint devices. It provides comprehensive protection by stopping and tracking malicious files and activities on hosts, utilizing continuous analysis and retrospective security to address threats at various stages of the attack continuum. On the other hand, Cisco Umbrella Roaming Client is focused on DNS and IP layer enforcement to prevent internet-based threats before a connection is established. It primarily tracks and blocks URL-based threats by enforcing security at the DNS layer, thus preventing access to malicious domains. Therefore, while Secure Endpoint provides broad endpoint protection against a variety of threats, the Umbrella Roaming Client specifically targets URL-based threats.

The correct answer is to enable two-factor authentication through a RADIUS server, and then join the cluster via the SEG CLI. Two-factor authentication is a security feature that requires users to provide two forms of identification before accessing the SEG, such as a username and password, and a one-time code or token. This adds an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access and phishing attacks. The SEG supports two-factor authentication through external RADIUS servers, which can be configured on the System Administration > Users page in the web interface, or the userconfig command in the CLI. See User Guide for AsyncOS 14.0 for Cisco Secure Email Gateway - GD (General Deployment) (Section: Two-Factor Authentication) for more details.

To join a cluster, the SEG must communicate with other cluster members using either SSH or CCS (Cluster Communication Service). The cluster communication port and method can be configured on the Network > Cluster Communication page in the web interface, or the clusterconfig command in the CLI. See User Guide for AsyncOS 14.0 for Cisco Secure Email Gateway - GD (General Deployment) (Section: Cluster Communication) for more details.

If two-factor authentication is enabled on the SEG, it cannot join a cluster using the web interface, because the web interface does not support two-factor authentication for cluster operations. Therefore, the SEG must join the cluster using the CLI, and provide a pre-shared key that matches the cluster’s admin passphrase. The pre-shared key can be configured using the clusterconfig > prepjoin command in the CLI. See User Guide for AsyncOS 14.0 for Cisco Secure Email Gateway - GD (General Deployment) (Section: Creating and Joining a Cluster) for more details.

The other options are incorrect because they either use the wrong authentication server (TACACS+ instead of RADIUS), or the wrong communication method (GUI instead of CLI). References:

User Guide for AsyncOS 14.0 for Cisco Secure Email Gateway - GD (General Deployment)

Configure an Email Security Appliance (ESA) Cluster - Cisco

Cisco DNA Center APIs are RESTful APIs that allow you to automate and operate your network at scale, using Python scripts or other tools. They are not Cisco proprietary, as they follow the OpenAPI specification and can be accessed by any client that supports HTTP requests. They do not require Postman, although Postman is a useful tool to test and explore the API endpoints. They can quickly provision new devices by applying predefined templates and workflows, and they can view the overall health of the network by retrieving metrics and alerts from various sources. References :=

Cisco DNA Center Platform - Cisco DevNet

Introduction to Cisco DNA Center REST APIs - Cisco DevNet Learning Labs

Cisco DNA Center Platform User Guide, Release 2.3.4

Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) is a security feature that validates ARP packets in a network. DAI allows a network administrator to intercept, log, and discard ARP packets with invalid MAC address to IP address bindings. This capability protects the network from certain “man-in-the-middle” attacks. DAI determines the validity of an ARP packet based on valid IP to MAC address bindings from the DHCP snooping binding database. DAI also supports static ARP ACLs for hosts with static IP addresses. DAI checks all ARP packets on untrusted interfaces, and only forwards the packets that have valid bindings. DAI can also rate-limit the ARP packets on untrusted interfaces to prevent DoS attacks. The other options are incorrect because:

B. In a typical network, DAI should be configured to make all ports as untrusted except for the ports connecting to trusted hosts or switches, which are trusted.

C. DAI does not associate a trust state with each switch, but with each interface on the switch.

D. DAI intercepts all ARP requests and responses on untrusted ports only, not on trusted ports. References :=

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst4500/12-2/25ew/configuration/guide/conf/dynarp.html

https://study-ccna.com/dynamic-arp-inspection-dai/

Explanation

Cisco‘s Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GETVPN) introduces the concept of a trusted group to eliminate

point-to-point tunnels and their associated overlay routing. All group members (GMs) share a common security

association (SA), also known as a group SA. This enables GMs to decrypt traffic that was encrypted by any

other GM.

GETVPN provides instantaneous large-scale any-to-any IP connectivity using a group IPsec security paradigm.

GETVPN and IPsec are both VPN technologies that use ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) to encrypt and authenticate data packets. However, they differ in the following aspects:

GETVPN uses a group IPSec security paradigm, which means that all group members share the same IPSec SA (Security Association) and can communicate with each other without having to establish point-to-point tunnels. IPsec, on the other hand, uses a pair-wise IPSec security paradigm, which requires each pair of devices to negotiate and maintain their own IPSec SAs and tunnels.

GETVPN uses GDOI (Group Domain of Interpretation) as a key management protocol, which allows a Key Server (KS) to distribute the encryption keys and policies to all group members. IPsec uses IKE (Internet Key Exchange) as a key management protocol, which involves two phases of negotiation between each pair of devices to establish the IPSec SAs.

GETVPN supports multicast traffic without the need for GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunneling, as it preserves the original IP header of the packet. IPsec does not support multicast traffic natively, and requires GRE tunneling to encapsulate the multicast packets with a new IP header.

GETVPN relies on the underlying WAN routing to deliver the encrypted packets to the destination, as it does not create any overlay routing. IPsec creates an overlay routing, which may introduce additional latency and complexity.

References :=

Some possible references are:

[Implementing and Operating Cisco Security Core Technologies (SCOR) v1.0], Module 6: Secure Connectivity, Lesson 6.2: Implementing Site-to-Site VPNs, Topic 6.2.2: Group Encrypted Transport VPN

Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GETVPN)

GETVPN - Cisco Community

Cisco Get VPN vs DMVPN: Difference and Comparison

What is a difference between GETVPN and IPsec?

Explanation

Diffie Hellman (DH) uses a private-public key pair to establish a shared secret, typically a symmetric key. DH is not a symmetric algorithm – it is an asymmetric algorithm used to establish a shared secret for a symmetric key algorithm.

The function of the crypto is a kmp key cisc406397954 address 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 command when establishing an IPsec VPN tunnel is to configure the pre-shared authentication key. This command specifies the key that will be used to authenticate the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) phase 1 negotiation between the IPsec peers. The key is associated with the address 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0, which means that it will apply to any peer that initiates or responds to the IKE negotiation. This is a common configuration for dynamic IPsec VPN scenarios, such as Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN) or Easy VPN, where the IP addresses of the peers are not known in advance. However, this is also a less secure configuration, as it exposes the VPN server to potential brute-force attacks from any source. A more secure configuration would be to specify the exact IP address or subnet of the peer, or to use certificates instead of pre-shared keys.

accomplish the task is to install and configure the Cisco DUO Authentication Proxy and configure the identity source sequence within Cisco ISE. This will allow the engineer to integrate Cisco ISE with Cisco DUO for TACACS+ device administration using Active Directory as the primary authentication source and Cisco DUO as the secondary authentication source for multi-factor authentication (MFA). The steps to configure this solution are as follows12:

Install and configure the Cisco DUO Authentication Proxy on a Windows or Linux machine. The proxy will act as a RADIUS server that communicates with Cisco ISE and a RADIUS client that communicates with Cisco DUO cloud. The proxy will also connect to Active Directory for the primary authentication of the users.

Configure the proxy by editing the authproxy.cfg file. The file should include the following sections:

[ad_client]: This section defines the connection parameters to Active Directory, such as the host, service_account_username, service_account_password, and search_dn.

[radius_server_auto]: This section defines the RADIUS server parameters for the proxy, such as the ikey, skey, api_host, radius_ip_1, radius_secret_1, and client parameters. The ikey, skey, and api_host are obtained from the Cisco DUO web portal when creating a RADIUS application. The radius_ip_1 and radius_secret_1 are the IP address and shared secret of the Cisco ISE node that will send authentication requests to the proxy. The client parameter specifies the authentication method for Cisco DUO, such as auto, push, phone, or passcode.

[main]: This section defines the global settings for the proxy, such as the debug, log_max_size, and log_max_files parameters.

Restart the proxy service after saving the authproxy.cfg file.

Configure Cisco ISE as a TACACS+ server and add the proxy as an external RADIUS server. The steps are as follows:

Navigate to Administration > System > Deployment and enable the Device Administration Service on the appropriate node.

Navigate to Work Centers > Device Administration > Network Resources and add the network devices that will use TACACS+ for device administration. Specify the device name, IP address, device type, and shared secret.

Navigate to Work Centers > Device Administration > Network Access and add the proxy as an external RADIUS server. Specify the server name, IP address, port, shared secret, and timeout. Optionally, enable the Continue for additional authorization policy option to allow Cisco ISE to perform authorization based on the user’s Active Directory attributes after successful authentication by Cisco DUO.

Navigate to Work Centers > Device Administration > Policy Elements > Results > TACACS Profiles and create a TACACS profile for device administration. Specify the profile name, type, and custom attributes, such as the shell:roles and shell:priv-lvl attributes.

Navigate to Work Centers > Device Administration > Policy Sets and create a policy set for device administration. Specify the policy set name, conditions, and results. The conditions can be based on the device type, the protocol, or the identity source sequence. The results can be the TACACS profile and the external RADIUS server (the proxy).

Configure the network devices to use TACACS+ for device administration and specify Cisco ISE as the TACACS+ server and the proxy as the RADIUS server. The configuration commands may vary depending on the device type and model, but the general syntax is as follows:

aaa new-model

aaa authentication login default group tacacs+ local

aaa authorization exec default group tacacs+ local

aaa accounting exec default start-stop group tacacs+

tacacs server ISE

address ipv4

key

radius server DUO

address ipv4 auth-port

key

Test the solution by logging into the network devices using Active Directory credentials. The user should receive a Cisco DUO prompt for the second factor authentication, such as a push notification, a phone call, or a passcode. After approving the second factor authentication, the user should be granted access to the device with the appropriate privileges based on the TACACS profile and the Active Directory attributes.

References := 1: Duo MFA Integration with ISE for TACACS+ Device Administration with Microsoft Active Directory Users - Cisco Community 2: Protecting Access to Network devices with ISE TACACS+ and DUO MFA - Cisco Community

Explanation

The Trusted Automated eXchangeof Indicator Information (TAXII) specifies mechanisms for exchanging

structured cyber threat information between parties over the network.

TAXII exists to provide specific capabilities to those interested in sharing structured cyber threat information.

TAXII Capabilities are the highest level at which TAXII actions can be described. There are three capabilities

that this version of TAXII supports: push messaging, pull messaging, and discovery.

Although there is no “binding” capability in the list but it is the best answer here.

Cisco ISE and pxGrid use the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) standards to integrate with each other and with other interoperable security platforms. IETF is an open, international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers who produce voluntary standards for the Internet. Cisco pxGrid is based on the IETF standards-track XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) and RESTCONF (Representational State Transfer Configuration Protocol) technologies. These standards enable Cisco pxGrid to provide a scalable, secure, and open data-sharing platform that supports multiple security products and services. Cisco ISE uses the IETF standards-track RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) and TACACS+ (Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System Plus) protocols to provide network access control and policy enforcement. Cisco ISE also supports the IETF standards-track SXP (Security Group Tag eXchange Protocol) to propagate security group tags across the network. By using the IETF standards, Cisco ISE and pxGrid can interoperate with other security platforms that support the same standards, such as Infoblox, Splunk, Rapid7, and more. References:

Cisco pxGrid - Cisco

ISE pxGrid General Information & FAQ - Cisco Community

How To: Integrate Cisco WSA using ISE and TrustSec via pxGrid

Infoblox DDI, Cisco ISE, and the pxGrid Solution Platform

Explanation

Explanation

Easy Connect simplifies network access control and segmentation by allowing the assignment of Security

Group Tags to endpoints without requiring 802.1X on those endpoints, whether using wired or wireless

connectivity.

Explanation

Stateful failover for IP Security (IPsec) enables a router to continue processing and forwarding IPsec packets

after a planned or unplanned outage occurs. Customers employ a backup (secondary) router that automatically

takes over the tasks of the active (primary) router if the active router loses connectivity for any reason. This

failover process is transparent to users and does not require adjustment or reconfiguration of any remote peer.

Stateful failover for IPsec requires that your network contains two identical routers that are available to be either

the primary or secondary device. Both routers should be the same type of device, have the same CPU and

memory, and have either no encryption accelerator or identical encryption accelerators.

Prerequisites for Stateful Failover for IPsec

Complete, Duplicate IPsec and IKE Configuration on the Active and Standby Devices

This document assumes that you have a complete IKE and IPsec configuration.

The IKE and IPsec configuration that is set up on the active device must be duplicated on the standby device.

That is, the crypto configuration must be identical with respect to Internet Security Association and Key

Management Protocol (ISAKMP) policy, ISAKMP keys (preshared), IPsec profiles, IPsec transform sets, all crypto map sets that are used for stateful failover, all access control lists (ACLs) that are used in match address statements on crypto map sets, all AAA configurations used for crypto, client configuration groups, IP local pools used for crypto, and ISAKMP profiles.