Free Cisco 200-201 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers | Set: 10

 Profiling a network involves various elements that provide insights into its characteristics and behaviors. Total throughput is crucial as it measures the amount of data passing from a source to a destination in a given period, reflecting the network’s capacity and usage patterns1. Listening ports are also essential for profiling because they represent the entry points for network services, indicating which services are available and potentially vulnerable1.

References :=

• Network profiling tools and techniques discussed in online resources23.
• Direct explanations of network profile elements

 The alert from the Cisco ASA device and the numerous activity logs are examples of circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference or deduction to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a security incident or an attack. Circumstantial evidence does not directly prove the fact in question, but rather suggests or implies it. In this case, the alert and the logs indicate that a TCP connection attempt was denied by an access group, but they do not directly prove that an attack occurred or who was behind it. There could be other explanations for the denied connection, such as a misconfiguration, a network error, or a legitimate request. Therefore, this type of evidence is circumstantial and requires further investigation and analysis to confirm or rule out the possibility of an attack. References := Circumstantial evidence - Wikipedia; Circumstantial Evidence - Definition, Examples, Cases, Processes; Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (CBROPS) - Cisco, page 92.

 When communicating via TLS, part of the handshake process involves presenting a certificate containing the server name, the name of the trusted CA that issued the certificate, and the public key of the server. The client can verify the validity of the certificate and use the public key to encrypt the data sent to the server. References := Cisco Cybersecurity Source Documents

• TCP injection is an attack where the attacker sends crafted packets into an existing TCP session. These packets appear to be part of the session.
• The presence of many SYN packets with the same sequence number, source, and destination IP but different payloads indicates that an attacker might be injecting packets into the session.
• This method can be used to disrupt communication, inject malicious commands, or manipulate the data being transmitted.

References

• Understanding TCP Injection Attacks
• Analyzing Packet Captures for Injection Attacks
• Network Security Monitoring Techniques

 The discrepancy described suggests that the system had a Host Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) installed. HIDS are designed to monitor and analyze the internals of a computing system for signs of intrusion and policy violations. While they can detect unauthorized activities, they do not take direct action to stop an attack; this is typically the role of an intrusion prevention system. Therefore, the alert was generated, but no mitigation action was taken because the HIDS does not have the capability to intervene.

References := The Understanding Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals (CBROPS) course material covers the functions and limitations of various security systems, including HIDS, and their role within a Security Operations Center (SOC)1.

According to NIST SP800-61, the incident response phase called “Containment, Eradication, and Recovery” involves containing the incident, eradicating the threat, and recovering from the incident2. In the scenario described, the engineer worked on containing the DDoS attack by identifying the attacker and the technique used, which is part of the containment process. The recommendation to implement Blackhole filtering is part of the eradication process, where measures are taken to prevent the attack from happening again. Finally, restoring the server is part of the recovery process, where normal operations are resumed. Therefore, the engineer finished work during the “Containment, Eradication, and Recovery” phase. References: NIST SP800-61 Computer Security Incident Handling Guide2.

 Volatile data is information that is stored in memory or other temporary storage that is lost when the power is turned off or lost. According to NIST SP 800-86, login sessions and swap files are considered volatile because they exist in the system’s memory and can be lost or changed rapidly

Stealthwatch is the technology that an engineer should use to fetch logs from a proxy server and generate actual events based on the data received. Cisco Secure Network Analytics, formerly known as Stealthwatch, provides the capability to configure proxy server logs so that the Flow Collector can receive the information. The Stealthwatch Management Console then displays this information on the Flow Proxy Records page, which includes URLs and application names of the traffic inside a network going through the proxy server1.

References :=

• Cisco Secure Network Analytics Proxy Log Configuration Guide

A botnet is a network of compromised computers controlled by an attacker. Botnets are often used to carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, where the compromised machines are directed to flood a target with traffic, rendering it inaccessible. References: Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals, Module 1: Security Concepts, Lesson 1.3: Common Network Application Operations and Attacks, Topic 1.3.4: Denial-of-Service Attacks