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

Based on the events in the log, the most likely occurrence is that an adversary is performing a vulnerability scan. The log shows LDAP read operations and EDR enumerating local groups, which are indicative of an adversary scanning the system to find vulnerabilities or sensitive information. The final entry shows SMB connection attempts to multiple hosts from a single host, which could be a sign of network discovery or lateral movement. References: CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide: Exam CS0-003, 3rd Edition, Chapter 4: Security Operations and Monitoring, page 161; Monitor logs from vulnerability scanners, Section: Reports on Nessus vulnerability data.

According to the security policy, the company shall use the CVSSv3.1 Base Score Metrics to prioritize the remediation of security vulnerabilities. Option C has the highest CVSSv3.1 Base Score of 9.8, which indicates a critical severity level. The company shall also prioritize confidentiality of data over availability of systems and data, and option C has a high impact on confidentiality (C:H). Finally, the company shall prioritize patching of publicly available systems and services over patching of internally available systems, and option C affects a public-facing web server. Official References: https://www.first.org/cvss/

Performing a tabletop drill based on previously identified incident scenarios is the best way to test the changes to the BC and DR plans without any impact to the business, as it is a low-cost and low-risk method of exercising the plans and identifying any gaps or issues. A tabletop drill is a type of BC/DR exercise that involves gathering key personnel from different departments and roles and discussing how they would respond to a hypothetical incident scenario. A tabletop drill does not involve any actual simulation or disruption of the systems or processes, but rather relies on verbal communication and documentation review. A tabletop drill can help to ensure that everyone is familiar with the BC/DR plans, that the plans reflect the current state of the organization, and that the plans are consistent and coordinated across different functions. The other options are not as suitable as performing a tabletop drill, as they involve more cost, risk, or impact to the business. Simulating an incident by shutting down power to the primary data center is a type of BC/DR exercise that involves creating an actual disruption or outage of a critical system or process, and observing how the organization responds and recovers. This type of exercise can provide a realistic assessment of the BC/DR capabilities, but it can also cause significant impact to the business operations, customers, and reputation. Migrating active workloads from the primary data center to the secondary location is a type of BC/DR exercise that involves switching over from one system or site to another, and verifying that the backup system or site can support the normal operations. This type of exercise can help to validate the functionality and performance of the backup system or site, but it can also incur high costs, complexity, and potential errors or failures. Comparing the current plan to lessons learned from previous incidents is a type of BC/DR activity that involves reviewing past experiences and outcomes, and identifying best practices or improvement opportunities. This activity can help to update and refine the BC/DR plans, but it does not test or validate them in a simulated or actual scenario

A lessons-learned review is a process of evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the incident response plan after an incident or an exercise. The purpose of the review is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the incident response plan, and to update it accordingly to improve the future performance and resilience of the organization. Therefore, the incident response plan should be updated after a lessons-learned review.

An incident response timeline is a detailed chronological record of all events and actions taken during the response to a security incident. It includes timestamps and descriptions of each step, providing a comprehensive overview of how the incident was detected, contained, mitigated, and resolved. This timeline is crucial for post-incident analysis, helping to understand the effectiveness of the response, identify areas for improvement, and ensure accountability and transparency in the incident handling process.

Input validation vulnerabilities occur when an application fails to properly validate or sanitize user input, allowing malicious data to be processed. This can lead to various attacks, most notably cross-site scripting (XSS).

Option A:DNS poisoning

Incorrect Choice:DNS poisoning involves corrupting the DNS cache to redirect users to malicious sites. It is not related to input validation vulnerabilities.

Option B:Pharming

Incorrect Choice:Pharming redirects users from legitimate websites to fraudulent ones, typically through DNS poisoning or host file manipulation. It is not directly related to input validation.

Option C:Phishing

Incorrect Choice:Phishing involves tricking individuals into providing sensitive information through deceptive emails or websites. It exploits human behavior rather than technical input validation flaws.

Option D:Cross-site scripting

Correct Choice:Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks occur when an application includes untrusted data in a web page without proper validation or escaping. This allows attackers to execute malicious scripts in users' browsers, leading to data theft, session hijacking, or defacement. Remediating input validation vulnerabilities is essential to prevent XSS attacks.

The security administrator should investigate shtml.exe next, as it is a potential vulnerability that allows remote code execution on the web server. Nikto scan results indicate that the web server is running Apache on Windows, and that the shtml.exe file is accessible in the /scripts/ directory. This file is part of the Server Side Includes (SSI) feature, which allows dynamic content generation on web pages. However, if the SSI feature is not configured properly, it can allow attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the web server by injecting malicious code into the URL or the web page12. Therefore, the security administrator should check the SSI configuration and permissions, and remove or disable the shtml.exe file if it is not needed. References: Nikto-Penetration testing. Introduction, Web application scanning with Nikto

A single pane of glass is a term that describes a unified view or interface that integrates multiple tools or data sources into one dashboard or console. A single pane of glass can help improve security operations by providing visibility, correlation, analysis, and alerting capabilities across various security controls and systems. A single pane of glass can also help reduce complexity, improve efficiency, and enhance decision making for security analysts. In this case, a security program was able to achieve a 30% improvement in MTTR by integrating security controls into a SIEM, which provides a single pane of glass for security operations. Official References: https://www.eccouncil.org/cybersecurity-exchange/threat-intelligence/cyber-kill-chain-seven-steps-cyberattack

The output shows that port 80 is open and running an HTTP service, indicating that the host could potentially be vulnerable to web-based attacks. The other options are not relevant for this purpose: the host is responsive to the ICMP request, as shown by the “Host is up” message; the host is not running a mail server, as there is no SMTP or POP3 service detected; the host is not allowing unsecured FTP connections, as there is no FTP service detected.References: According to the CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide: Exam CS0-003, 3rd Edition123, one of the objectives for the exam is to “use appropriate tools and methods to manage, prioritize and respond to attacks and vulnerabilities”. The book also covers the usage and syntax of nmap, a popular network scanning tool, in chapter 5. Specifically, it explains the meaning and function of each option in nmap, such as “-sV” for version detection2, page 195. Therefore, this is a reliable source to verify the answer to the question.