Netskope NSK101 - Netskope Certified Cloud Security Administrator (NCCSA)

Shadow IT is the term for the unauthorized use of IT resources and functions by employees within an organization. It can include cloud services, software, and hardware that are not approved or managed by the IT department. Two use cases that would be considered examples of shadow IT within an organization are: an unsanctioned Microsoft 365 OneDrive account being used by a corporate user to upload sensitive data and an unsanctioned Google Drive account used by a corporate user to upload non-sensitive data. In both cases, the corporate user is using a personal cloud storage service that is not sanctioned by the organization to store work-related data. This can introduce security risks, such as data leakage, data loss, compliance violations, malware infections, etc. The IT department may not have visibility or control over these cloud services or the data stored in them. References: What is shadow IT? | CloudflareWhat is Shadow IT? | IBM

Two primary advantages of Netskope’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture are: no on-premises hardware required for policy enforcement and single management console. Netskope’s SASE architecture delivers network and security services as cloud-based services that can be accessed from any location and device. This eliminates the need for on-premises hardware appliances such as firewalls, proxies, VPNs, etc., that are costly to maintain and scale. Netskope’s SASE architecture also provides a single management console that allows administrators to configure and monitor all the network and security services from one place. This simplifies IT operations and reduces complexity and overhead. References: Netskope SASEWhat is SASE?

NewEdge is Netskope's security private cloud, offering high-performance, low-latency access to the internet and cloud services. For a customer concerned about performance, especially with respect to Microsoft 365, NewEdge provides significant benefits:

Direct Peering with Microsoft: NewEdge establishes direct peering connections with Microsoft in every data center. This ensures optimal routing and performance for Microsoft 365 services, which is crucial for customers with a global, mobile workforce​​​​.

Unified Global Network: NewEdge delivers a single, unified network with all security services available in all locations worldwide. This ensures consistent security policies and performance regardless of where users are located, providing seamless access and reducing latency​​​​.

The term that correctly defines the Zero Trust security model is least privilege access. The Zero Trust security model is a modern security strategy based on the principle: never trust, always verify. Instead of assuming everything behind the corporate firewall is safe, the Zero Trust model assumes breach and verifies each request as though it originates from an open network. One of the core principles of the Zero Trust model is to use least privilege access, which means granting users or systems only the minimum level of access they need to perform their tasks, and only for a limited time. This helps reduce the attack surface and minimize the impact of a potential breach. References: Zero Trust Security - microsoft.comWhat is Zero Trust Security? Principles of the Zero Trust Model

A benefit that Netskope instance awareness provides is that it differentiates between an IT managed Google Drive instance versus a personal Google Drive instance. Instance awareness is a feature in the Netskope platform that allows you to define and identify different instances of the same cloud application based on the domain name or URL. For example, you can define an instance for your IT managed Google Drive instance (such as drive.google.com/a/yourcompany.com) and another instance for your personal Google Drive instance (such as drive.google.com). This way, you can differentiate between them and apply different policies and actions based on the instance. This can help you prevent data leakage, enforce compliance, or improve visibility for your cloud application activities. Preventing movement of corporate sensitive data to a personal Dropbox account, preventing the user from copying information from a corporate email and pasting it into a GitHub repository, or differentiating between an IT managed Google Drive instance versus an IT managed Box instance are not benefits that Netskope instance awareness provides, as they are either unrelated or irrelevant to the instance awareness feature. References: Netskope Security Cloud Operation & Administration (NSCO&A) - Classroom Course, Module 5: Real-Time Policies, Lesson 4: App Instances.

The Application Events page in the SkopeIT Events & Alerts section is where you can find logs and events related to specific activities within cloud applications, such as "edit" or "login successful". This section provides a detailed audit trail of user activities and application usage, which is essential for monitoring, security, and compliance purposes.

This answer is validated by the event categorization provided in the Netskope documentation, where application-specific events are logged under the Application Events section for easier tracking and analysis.

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References:

REST API v2 Overview - Netskope Knowledge Portal​​

Using the REST API v2 UCI Impact Endpoints - Netskope Knowledge Portal​​

Postman Collection for Netskope API​

To provision users to your customer’s Netskope tenant, two methods that you can use are: use the AD Connector and use SCIM. The AD Connector is a tool that allows you to synchronize users and groups from your Active Directory (AD) domain to your Netskope tenant. The AD Connector runs as a Windows service on a machine that has access to your AD domain controller. The AD Connector periodically queries your AD domain for any changes in users and groups and updates them in your Netskope tenant accordingly. The AD Connector also supports filtering users and groups based on attributes or organizational units (OUs). SCIM stands for System for Cross-domain Identity Management, which is a standard protocol for managing user identities across different applications and services. SCIM allows you to provision users and groups from your identity provider (IdP), such as Azure AD or Okta, to your Netskope tenant using APIs. SCIM also supports creating, updating, deleting, and searching users and groups in your Netskope tenant based on your IdP’s configuration. References: Netskope AD ConnectorUser Provisioning with Azure AD

The Building Security in Maturity Model (BSIMM) is a framework that measures and compares the security activities of different organizations. It helps organizations to assess their current security practices and identify areas for improvement. ISO 27001 is an international standard that specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving an information security management system. It helps organizations to manage their information security risks and demonstrate their compliance with best practices. Data Science Council of America (DASCA) is not a security framework, but a credentialing body for data science professionals. NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) is a security framework, but it is not commonly used to assess and validate a vendor’s security practices, as it is more focused on improving the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure sectors in the United States. References: [BSIMM], [ISO 27001], [DASCA], [NIST CSF].

API-enabled Protection traffic is sent to the Netskope Data Plane. The Netskope Data Plane is responsible for processing and inspecting data in real-time, applying security policies, and ensuring that the traffic conforms to organizational policies.

Netskope Data Plane: This component handles the inline inspection and enforcement of security policies, including API-enabled protection. It ensures that all traffic is securely processed and monitored according to the defined policies.

References:

Netskope architecture documentation describing the roles of different components.

Detailed guides on how API-enabled protection integrates with the Netskope Data Plane for real-time traffic inspection.

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