Word Notes: Recent Episodes
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An electro-mechanical device used to break Enigma-enciphered messages about enemy military operations during the Second World War. The first bombe–named Victory and designed by Alan Turning and Gordon Welchman– started code-breaking at Bletchley Park on 14 March 1940, a year after WWII began. By the end of the war, five years later, almost 2000, mostly women, sailors and airmen operated 211 bombe machines in the effort. The allies essentially knew what the German forces were going to do before the German commanders in the field knew. Historians speculate that the effort at Bletchley Park shortened the war by years and estimate the number of lives saved to be between 14 and 21 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the intrusion kill chain model, a malicious code delivery technique that allows hackers to send code of their choosing to their victim’s browser. XSS takes advantage of the fact that roughly 90% of web developers use the JavaScript scripting language to create dynamic content on their websites. Through various methods, hackers store their own malicious javascript code on unprotected websites. When the victim browses the site, the web server delivers that malicious code to the victim’s computer and the victim’s browser runs the code. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the intrusion kill chain model, the first part of an exploitation technique where the hacker tricks their victims into revealing their login credentials. In the second part of the technique, hackers legitimately log into the targeted system and gain access to the underlying network with the same permissions as the victim. Hackers use this method 80% of the time compared to other ways to gain access to a system like developing zero day exploits for known software packages. The most common way hackers steal credentials is with some version of a phishing attack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An authentication process that requires two different factors before granting access. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/two-factor-authentication Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the intrusion kill chain model, the delivery of a “lure” to a potential victim by pretending to be some trustworthy person or organization in order to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information. According to Knowbe4, the word “phishing” first appeared in a Usenet newsgroup called AOHell in 1996 and some of the very first phishing attacks used AOL Instant Messenger to deliver fake messages purportedly from AOL employees in the early 2000s. The word is part of l33tspeak that started in the early days of the internet (1980s) as a shorthand to let readers know the author was part of the hacker community. In this case, the letters “ph” replace the letter “f” in the word fishing, as in “I fish, with an ‘f,’ for bass in the lake.” In hacking, “I Phish, with a ‘ph,’ for login credentials from key employees at my target’s organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A cloud based sensitive information management system that allows users access across multiple devices. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/icloud-keychain Audio reference link: Ellen’s Tips For iOS, 2022. How To Master iCloud Keychain to Keep Your Passwords Safe and Secure [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3E29iUvgE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A subset of the internet where communications between two parties or client-server transactions are obscured from search engines and surveillance systems by layers of encryption. The U.S. Navy designed the original Darknet by developing The Onion Router network, or TOR, back in the 1990s. Roger Dingledine and Nick Mathewson deployed the first alpha implementation in 2002 with some initial funding by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF.) The TOR Project became a non-profit in 2006 and is funded by the U.S, Sweden, different NGOs, and individual sponsors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- A wireless access point installed by employees in an office or data center environment as a convenience to connectivity without the consent or the knowledge of the network manager. 2. A wireless access point, sometimes called an Evil Twin, installed by a cyber adversary in or near an office or data center environment designed to bypass security controls, gain access, and/or surveil the network traffic of the victim’s network. Both kinds, the employee installed and the adversary installed rogue access points, increase the attack surface of the organization. The employee installed device, because of its electronic footprint range, might make it easier for hackers and mischief makers outside of the organization’s network to bypass the corporate security controls and gain access without permission. The adversary installed device is designed specifically to bypass the security controls of the target network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A network mapping tool that pings IP addresses looking for a response and can discover host names, open communications ports, operating system names and versions. Written and maintained by Gordon Lyon, a.k.a. Fyodor, it is a free and open source software application used by both system admins and hackers alike and has been a staple in the security community for well over two decades. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/nmap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A cyber threat intelligence analysis model that defines relationship pairs between four core components in the shape of a diamond of adversary playbook activity across the intrusion kill chain: the adversary, their capability, the infrastructure used or attacked, and the victim. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/diamond-model Audio reference link: “Diamond Presentation v2 0: Diamond Model for Intrusion Analysis – Applied to Star Wars’ Battles,” Andy Pendergrast and Wade Baker, ThreatConnect, YouTube, 4 February 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Unsolicited, unwanted, and sometimes malicious electronic messages indiscriminately transmitted to a large number of people. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/spam Audio reference link: zumpzump, 2007. Monty Python - Spam [Video]. YouTube. URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A US Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with supporting cyber and physical security for US critical infrastructure. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency Audio reference link: CISA, 2021. CISA Director Jen Easterly’s Keynote at Black Hat USA 2021 [Video]. YouTube. URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bu-L-m4K4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The act of searching through an organization's trash for discarded sensitive material. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/dumpster-diving Audio reference link: “Better Call Saul jimmy digs in the Sandpiper trash scene,” uploaded by Robert Bowersock, 18 September 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A set of tools designed to safeguard data while in use in motion and at rest. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/data-loss-prevention Audio reference link: HistoryHeard. “Data Loss Prevention - CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 - 2.1,” Professor Messer, uploaded 20 November 2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A system that translates text-based URLs to their underlying numerical IP addresses. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/domain-name-system-dns Audio reference link: HistoryHeard. “History Heard: Paul Mockapetris.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 Apr. 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A social engineering technique in which a threat actor poses as a trusted person or entity in order to trick the victim into disclosing information or performing an action that benefits the attacker. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/pretexting Audio reference link: “Batch Pin Hurt Charlize Theron Skin | the Italian Job (2003) Movie Scene.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Nov. 2016.
A layer seven firewall designed to block threats at the application layer of the open system interconnection model, the OSI model. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/web-application-firewall Audio reference link: “VCF East 9.1 - Ches' Computer Security Adventures - Bill Cheswick.” YouTube, 29 Dec. 2015, https://youtu.be/trR1cuBtcPs.
An IT governance framework developed by ISACA. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/cobit Audio reference link: isacappc. “How Do You Explain Cobit to Your Dad – or Your CEO?” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Aug. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYATVkddIyw.
A security architecture that incorporates the cloud shared responsibility model, a vendor provided security stack, and network peering with one or more of the big content providers and their associated fiber networks. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/security-service-edge Audio reference link: Netskope (2022). What is Security Service Edge (SSE). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9H84nvgBqw [Accessed 21 Oct. 2022].
A social engineering tactic in which hackers build a malicious domain to mimic a legitimate one. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/domain-spoofing Audio reference link: “Mission Impossible Fallout - Hospital Scene.” YouTube, YouTube, 8 Oct. 2018,
A layer seven firewall that sits in line at the boundary between the internet and an organization's network perimeter that allows security policy enforcement and can perform certain prevention and detection tasks. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/secure-web-gateway Audio reference link: Vintage Computer Federation (2015). VCF East 9.1 - Ches’ Computer Security Adventures - Bill Cheswick. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trR1cuBtcPs.
Digital evidence that a system or network has been breached. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/indicator-of-compromise Audio reference link: ”Suicide or Murder? | The Blind Banker | Sherlock,” uploaded by Sherlock, 18 October 2015
A system that monitors for malicious or unwanted activity, and either raises alerts when such activity is detected or blocks the traffic from passing to the target. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/intrusion-detection-system Audio reference link: “Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention - CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 - 2.1,” Professor Messer, uploaded 16 November, 2017
Hackers bypass, multifactor authentication schemes by sending a blizzard of spamming login attempts until the accounts owner accepts the MFA prompt out of desperation to make the spamming stop. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/mfa-prompt-bombing Audio reference link: movieclips. “Sneakers (2/9) Movie Clip - Defeating the Keypad (1992) HD.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 May 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG5vsPJ5Tos.
An optional security mode for macOS and iOS that reduces the attack surface of the operating system by disabling certain commonly attacked features. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/apple-lockdown-mode Audio reference link: “How NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware Was Found on Jamal Khashoggi’s Fiancée’s Phone,” FRONTLINE, YouTube, 18 July 2021.
A security awareness training technique in which authorized, but fake phishing emails are sent to employees in order to measure and improve their resistance to real phishing attacks. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/simulated-phishing Audio reference link: “Blackhat (2014) - Hacking the NSA Scene (4/10) | Movieclips.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Apr. 2017.
The process of installing applications on a device without the use of official software distribution channels. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/sideloading
A zero trust security technique that isolates application workloads from each other, allowing each one to be protected individually. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/microsegmentation Audio reference link: “Micro-Segmentation Masterpieces,” PJ Kirner, Illumio CTO and Co-Founder, Tech Field Day, YouTube, 13 December 2020.
The use of similar-looking characters in a phishing URL to spoof a legitimate site. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/homograph-phishing Audio reference link: “Mission Impossible III 2006 Masking 01,” uploaded by DISGUISE MASK, 28 July 2018.
Software designed to prevent cheating in video games. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/anti-cheat-software Audio reference link: “The BIG Problem with Anti-Cheat,” by Techquickie, YouTube, 5 June 2020
Malware, in the guise of ransomware, that destroys data rather than encrypts. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/pseudoransomware Audio reference link: “Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn | the Dark Knight,” by YouTube, 2 November 2019.
A browser configuration control that prevents accessing resources within a private network. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/trusted-platform-module Audio reference link: “TPM (Trusted Platform Module) - Computerphile,” Computerphile, 23 July 2021
A browser configuration control that prevents accessing resources within a private network. CyberWire Glossary link. Audio reference link: “Chrome Limits Access to Private Networks,” by Daniel Lowrie, ITProTV, YouTube, 19 January 2022.
The potential next evolution of the worldwide web that decentralizes interaction between users and content away from the big silicon valley social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and towards peer-to-peer interaction using blockchain as the underlying technology. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/web-30 Audio reference link: “What Elon Musk Just Said about Metaverse, Web3 and Neuralink,” By Clayton Morris, Crypto News Daily, YouTube. 2 December 2021.
An open source Java-based software tool available from the Apache Software Foundation designed to log security and performance information. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/log4j Audio reference link: “CISA Director: The LOG4J Security Flaw Is the ‘Most Serious’ She’s Seen in Her Career,” by Eamon Javers (CNBC) and Jen Easterly (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Director) YouTube, 20 December 20 2021.
A set of solutions for ensuring that the right users can only access the appropriate resources. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/identity-and-access-management Audio reference link: “The Wrath of Khan (1982) ‘Kirk’s Response,’” by Russell, YouTube, 16 May 2017.
The deployment of rules to the security stack across all data islands, cloud, SaaS applications, data centers, and mobile devices designed to manifest an organization's cybersecurity first principle strategies of zero trust, intrusion kill chain prevention, resilience, and risk forecasting. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/policy-orchestration Audio reference link: “The Value of Using Security Policy Orchestration and Automation,” by David Monahan, uploaded by EMAResearch, 3 April, 2018
A process of hiding the complexity of a system by providing an interface that eases its manipulation. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/abstraction-layer Audio reference link: “What Is Abstraction in Computer Science,” by Codexpanse, YouTube, 29 October 2018.
A set of services for managing identity and access management, or IAM across all of an organization's data islands. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/identity-fabric Audio reference link: “Leadership Compass Identity Fabrics - Analyst Chat 126,” by KuppingerCole, YouTube, 30 May 2022.
A cybersecurity first principle strategy focused on disrupting known adversary activity at one of several phases of an attack sequence. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/intrusion-kill-chain Audio reference link: "Cybersecurity Days: A Network Defender's Future," by Rick Howard, Integrated Cyber Conference, Integrated Adaptive Cyber Defense (IACD), YouTube, 26 October 2018.
A subset of security orchestration, the management of identities across an organization's set of digital islands. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/identity-orchestration
A cyber threat intelligence analysis model that defines relationship pairs between four core components in the shape of a diamond of adversary playbook activity across the intrusion kill chain: the adversary, their capability, the infrastructure used or attacked, and the victim. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/diamond-model Audio reference link: “Diamond Presentation v2 0: Diamond Model for Intrusion Analysis – Applied to Star Wars’ Battles,” Andy Pendergrast and Wade Baker, ThreatConnect, YouTube, 4 February 2020.
A knowledge base of adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures established and maintained by the MITRE Corporation. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/mitre-attck Audio reference link: “Attack Frameworks - SY0-601 CompTIA Security+ : 4.2,” Professor Messer, YouTube, 29 April 2021.
The set of people, process, technology, and cultural norms that integrates software development and IT operations into a system-of-systems. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/devops Audio reference link: "10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation at Flickr," by John Allspaw and Paul Hammond, Velocity 09, 25 July 2009.
A software development model that relies on a series of sequential steps that flow into each other, like a series of waterfalls. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/waterfall-software-development Audio reference link: “Creating Video Games - Agile Software Development,” by Sara Verrilli, MIT OpenCourseWare, YouTube, 10 December 2015
A software development philosophy that emphasizes incremental delivery, team collaboration, continual planning, and continual learning CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/agile-software-development Audio reference link: "Velocity 09: John Allspaw and Paul Hammond, "10+ Deploys Pe," John Allspaw and Paul Hammond, 2009 Velocity Conference, YouTube, 25 June 2009.
The flagship product of the controversial Israeli spyware vendor, the NSO Group, use for remotely hacking mobile devices, most notably iPhones, via zero-click exploits. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/pegasus Audio reference link:“Cybersecurity beyond the Headlines: A Conversation with Journalist Nicole Perlroth,” Kristen Eichensehr, and Nicole Perlroth, University of Virginia School of Law, YouTube, 14 February 2022
An open source email authentication protocol designed to prevent emails, spoofing in phishing, business email compromise or BEC, and other email-based attacks. CyberWire Glossary link. Audio reference link:"Global Cyber Alliance's Phil Reitinger talks DMARC adoption" “Global Cyber Alliance’s Phil Reitinger Talks DMARC Adoption.” YouTube Video. YouTube, April 27, 2018
A condition announced by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to draw attention to a temporary period of high alert, associated with expectation of a connected wave of cyberattacks prompted by either a widespread vulnerability or an unusually active and capable threat actor.
A prescriptive open source software security maturity model designed to guide strategies tailored to an organization’s specific risks. Audio reference link: "OWASPMSP - Pravir Chandra: Software Assurance Maturity Model (OpenSAMM)." by Pravir Chandra, OWASP MSP, 2009.
An open standard for hardware authentication tokens that use the universal serial bus, or USB, near-field communications, or NFCs, or Bluetooth to communicate one factor in a two-factor authentication exchange. Cyberwire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/u2f Audio reference link: “Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History,” by Thomas Rid, Published by W. W. Norton Company, 21 November 2017.
A cyber threat intelligence best practice of assigning arbitrary labels to collections of hacker activity across the intrusion kill chain.
A descriptive model that provides a baseline of observed software security initiatives and activities from a collection of volunteer software development shops.
Software libraries, frameworks, packages, and other components, and their dependencies (third-party code that each component uses) that have inherent security weaknesses, either through newly discovered vulnerabilities or because newer versions have superseded the deployed version.
Audio reference Link: "The Panama Papers: A Closer Look," Late Night with Seth Meyers, YouTube, 12 April 2016
An attack technique that leverages an unprotected web server as a proxy for attackers to send commands through to other computers.
The absence of telemetry that could help network defenders detect and respond to hostile attempts to compromise a system.
An open source Java-based software tool available from the Apache Software Foundation designed to log security and performance information.
Software users are allowed access to data or functionality contrary to the defined zero trust policy by bypassing or manipulating the installed security controls.
A security philosophy that assumes adversaries have already penetrated the digital environment and tries to reduce the potential impact by limiting access by people, devices, and software to only the resources essential to perform their function and nothing more.
The state of a web application when it's vulnerable to attack due to an insecure configuration.
A broad OWASP Top 10 software development category representing missing, ineffective, or unforeseen security measures.
A broad class of attack vectors, where an attacker supplies input to an applications command interpreter that results in unanticipated functionality.
The prevention of the first part of an intrusion kill chain model exploitation technique, where the hacker steals valid logging credentials from a targeted victim.
The process of proactively searching through networks to detect and isolate security threats, rather than relying on security solutions or services to detect those threats.
The continuous practice of identifying classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating software vulnerabilities within this.
A formal record containing the details and supply chain relationships of various components used in building software.
A security philosophy that assumes adversaries have already penetrated the digital environment and tries to reduce the potential impact by limiting access by people, devices, and software to only the resources essential to perform their function and nothing more.
Hardware and software designed to detect and prevent cyber adversary campaigns that target industrial operations.
The difference between organizational employee job requirements and the available skillsets in the potential employee pool.
Cloud services intended for cyber criminals and other bad actors designed to obstruct law enforcement and other kinds of government investigations, and to provide some protection against competitors.
The practice of securing a device that connects to a network in order to facilitate communication with other devices on the same or different networks.
President Biden's May, 2021 formal compliance mandate for federal civilian executive branch agencies, or FCEBs, to include specific shortterm and longterm deadlines designed to enhance the federal government's digital defense posture.
Phase of a typical cyber adversary group's attack sequence, after the initial compromise and usually after the group has established a command and control channel, where the group moves through the victims network by compromising as many systems as it can, by looking for the data, it has come to steal or to destroy.
A public list sponsored by the US government and designed to uniquely identify, without the need to manually cross- reference, all the known software vulnerabilities in the world.
A forensic technique where practitioners capture an entire image of a system and analyze the contents offline.
A supply chain cybersecurity accreditation standard designed for the protection of controlled unclassified information that the U.S. Department of Defense, or DoD, will require for all contract bids by October, 2025.
A collection of people, process, and technology that provides an organization the ability to detect and respond to cyber attacks.
Cybercriminals who lack the expertise to write their own programs use existing scripts, code, or tools authored by other more skilled hackers.
An isolated and controlled set of resources that mimics real world environments and used to safely execute suspicious code without infecting or causing damage to the host machine, operating system, or network.
A stack of security software solutions and tools that allow organizations to orchestrate disparate internal and external tools which feed pre-built automation playbooks that respond to events or alert analysts if an event meets a certain threshold.
A term of legal art that defines the types of data and circumstances that permits a third party to directly or indirectly identify an individual with collected data.
A security architecture that incorporates the cloud shared responsibility model, a vendor provided security stack, an SD-WAN abstraction layer, and network peering with one or more of the big content providers and their associated fiber networks.
The practice of emulating known adversary behavior against an organization's actual defensive posture.
A layer seven security orchestration platform deployed at the boundary between internal workloads slash data storage and untrusted sources that blocks incoming and outgoing network traffic with rules that tie applications to the authenticated user and provides most of the traditional security stack functions in one device or software application.
A network designed to obfuscate the location of a cyber adversary's command and control server by manipulating the domain name system, or DNS, in a way that rotates the associated IP address among large numbers of compromised hosts in a botnet.
The process of converting plain text into an unrecognizable form or secret code to hide its true meaning.
Digital assets that are cryptographically protected on a blockchain and contain unique identification codes and metadata that makes them one of a kind.
A programming technique where the developer doesn't specify each step of the algorithm in code, but instead teaches the algorithm to learn from the experience.
The process of turning raw information into intelligence products that leaders use to make decisions with.
A cloud-based software distribution method where app infrastructure, performance, and security are maintained by a service provider and accessible to users, typically via subscription, from any device connected to the internet.
A cryptographic hack that relies on guessing all possible letter combinations of a targeted password until the correct codeword is discovered.
A process of converting encrypted data into something that a human or computer can understand.
A type of side channel attack in which an attacker with physical access to a computer performs a memory dump of a computer’s Random Access Memory or RAM during the reboot process in order to steal sensitive data.
On-demand pay-as-you-go Internet delivered compute, storage, infrastructure, and security services that are partially managed by the cloud provider and partially managed by the customer.
An acronym for Advanced Persistent Threat to describe hacker groups or campaigns normally, but not always, associated with nation state cyber espionage and continuous low-level cyber conflict operations.
An undocumented or publicly unknown method to access a computer system undetected or to break a cypher used to encode messages.
From the intrusion kill chain model, a technique where the hacker compromises sites commonly visited by members of a targeted community in order to deliver a malicious payload to the intended victim.
Network observation systems designed to monitor globally unreachable but unused Internet address space or the Deep Web in order to study a wide range of interesting Internet phenomena.
A best practice for framing cyber intelligence critical information requirements that recommends collecting and consolidating data from three specific sources: endpoint, network and log.
Also known as a third-party attack or a value-chain attack, advisory groups gain access to a targeted victims network by first infiltrating a business partner's network that has access to the victim's systems or data.
The process of software engineers checking the flow of user input in application code to determine if unanticipated input can affect program execution in malicious ways.
The process of stealing ATM customer credentials by means of physically and covertly installing one or more devices onto a public ATM machine.
A nation-state hacking group’s practice of funding its town activities through cybercrime or cyber mercenary work.
A device connected to a network that accepts communications from other endpoints like laptops, mobile devices, IoT equipment, routers, switches, and any tool on the security stack.
An extension of the traditional Basic Input/Output System or BIOS that, during the boot process, facilitates the communication between the computer’s firmware and the computer’s operating system.
An operating system program running in the background designed to perform a specific task when certain conditions or events occur.
Also known as spyware and adware, it is a software category where developers design the application neither to cause explicit harm nor to accomplish some conventional legitimate purpose, but when run, usually annoys the user and often performs actions that the developer did not disclose, and that the user regards as undesirable.
An automatic software bug and vulnerability discovery technique that inputs invalid, unexpected and/or random data or fuzz into a program and then monitors the program's reaction to it.
A family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original Unix system built by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in the 1960s.
A network monitoring and filtering technique that examines both the header information and the payload of every packet traversing a network access point.
A clandestine set of applications designed to give hackers access and control over a target device.
Information used by leadership to make decisions regarding the cybersecurity posture of their organization.
In this case Identity is the set of credentials, usually electronic that vouch for who you are and theft is to steal. The theft of a person's identity for purposes of fraud.
A probability simulation technique used to understand the impact of risk and uncertainty in complex problems.
A software, hardware or hybrid encryption layer between two devices on the network that makes the traffic between the sites opaque to the other devices on the same network.
A reflection or amplification distributed denial-of-service attack in which hackers query Internet network time protocol servers, NTP servers for short, for the correct time, but spoof the destination address of their target victims.
From the intrusion kill-chain model, the delivery of a “lure” via a text message to a potential victim by pretending to be some trustworthy person or organization in order to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information. Smishing is a portmanteau word made of two other words, the acronym “SMS” and the cyber coinage “Phishing“. It’s a text-message-centric variation of the email-based phishing scams that have been around since the 1990s. The term “Smishing” arose in the late 2000s.
A network switch configuration setting that forwards a copy of each incoming and outgoing packet to a third switch port. Also known as SPAN or Switched Port Analyzer, RAP or Roving Analysis Port, and TAP or Test Access Point. When network managers and security investigators want to capture packets for analysis, they need some sort of generic TAP or Test Access Point. You can buy specialized equipment for this operation but most modern switches have this capability built in.
NDR tools provide anomaly detection and potential attack prevention by collecting telemetry across the entire intrusion kill chain on transactions across the network, between servers, hosts, and cloud-workloads, and running machine learning algorithms against this compiled and very large data set. NDR is an extension of the EDR, or endpoint detection and response idea that emerged in 2013.
Technology, software and hardware deployed without explicit organizational approval. In the early days of the computer era from the 1980s through the 2000s security and information system practitioners considered shadow IT as completely negative. Those unauthorized systems were nothing more than a hindrance that created more technical debt in organizations that were already swimming in it with the known and authorized systems.
From the intrusion kill chain model, a program that provides command and control services for an attack campaign. While the first ever deployed RAT is unknown, one early example is Back Orifice made famous by the notorious hacktivist group called “The Cult of the Dead Cow,” or cDc, Back Orifice was written by the hacker, Sir Dystic AKA Josh Bookbinder and released to the public at DEFCON in 1998.
A social engineering scam where fraudsters spoof an email message from a trusted company officer that directs a staff member to transfer funds to an account controlled by the criminal.
A physical security access control device consisting of an enclosed hallway with interlocking doors on each end where both doors can’t be open at the same time. A person presents credentials to the entry doorway. If authorized, the entry door opens and the person walks into the mantrap. The man trap exit door will not open until the entry door closes. The person presents credentials to the exit door. If authorized, the exit door will open. If not, the person is captured in the man trap until security arrives to handle the situation. Physical security leadership installs man traps to separate unrestricted areas from restricted areas, to prevent tailgating by uncleared personnel, and to impede access by unauthorized persons.
A word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters. For example, cracking a columnar transposition cipher by hand involves looking for anagrams.
- A wireless access point installed by employees in an office or data center environment as a convenience to connectivity without the consent or the knowledge of the network manager. 2. A wireless access point, sometimes called an Evil Twin, installed by a cyber adversary in or near an office or data center environment designed to bypass security controls, gain access, and/or surveil the network traffic of the victim’s network. Both kinds, the employee installed and the adversary installed rogue access points, increase the attack surface of the organization. The employee installed device, because of its electronic footprint range, might make it easier for hackers and mischief makers outside of the organization’s network to bypass the corporate security controls and gain access without permission. The adversary installed device is designed specifically to bypass the security controls of the target network.
A subset of the internet where communications between two parties or client-server transactions are obscured from search engines and surveillance systems by layers of encryption. The U.S. Navy designed the original Darknet by developing The Onion Router network, or TOR, back in the 1990s. Roger Dingledine and Nick Mathewson deployed the first alpha implementation in 2002 with some initial funding by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF.) The TOR Project became a non-profit in 2006 and is funded by the U.S, Sweden, different NGOs, and individual sponsors.
From the intrusion kill chain model, the delivery of a “lure” to a potential victim by pretending to be some trustworthy person or organization in order to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information. According to Knowbe4, the word “phishing” first appeared in a Usenet newsgroup called AOHell in 1996 and some of the very first phishing attacks used AOL Instant Messenger to deliver fake messages purportedly from AOL employees in the early 2000s. The word is part of l33tspeak that started in the early days of the internet (1980s) as a shorthand to let readers know the author was part of the hacker community. In this case, the letters “ph” replace the letter “f” in the word fishing, as in “I fish, with an ‘f,’ for bass in the lake.” In hacking, “I Phish, with a ‘ph,’ for login credentials from key employees at my target’s organization.
From the intrusion kill chain model, the first part of an exploitation technique where the hacker tricks their victims into revealing their login credentials. In the second part of the technique, hackers legitimately log into the targeted system and gain access to the underlying network with the same permissions as the victim. Hackers use this method 80% of the time compared to other ways to gain access to a system like developing zero day exploits for known software packages. The most common way hackers steal credentials is with some version of a phishing attack.
From the intrusion kill chain model, a malicious code delivery technique that allows hackers to send code of their choosing to their victim’s browser. XSS takes advantage of the fact that roughly 90% of web developers use the JavaScript scripting language to create dynamic content on their websites. Through various methods, hackers store their own malicious javascript code on unprotected websites. When the victim browses the site, the web server delivers that malicious code to the victim’s computer and the victim’s browser runs the code.
An electro-mechanical device used to break Enigma-enciphered messages about enemy military operations during the Second World War. The first bombe–named Victory and designed by Alan Turning and Gordon Welchman– started code-breaking at Bletchley Park on 14 March 1940, a year after WWII began. By the end of the war, five years later, almost 2000, mostly women, sailors and airmen operated 211 bombe machines in the effort. The allies essentially knew what the German forces were going to do before the German commanders in the field knew. Historians speculate that the effort at Bletchley Park shortened the war by years and estimate the number of lives saved to be between 14 and 21 million.
The process of evaluating the security of a system or network by simulating an attack on it. Sometimes called "ethical hacking" or white hat hacking. The phrase started to appear in U.S. military circles in the mid 1960s as time sharing computers became more necessary for daily operations. Computer security experts from Rand Corporation began describing computer compromises as “penetrations.” By the early 1970s, government leaders formed tiger teams of penetration testers to probe for weaknesses in various government systems.
The art of convincing a person or persons to take an action that may or may not be in their best interests. Social engineering in some form or the other has been around since the beginning of time. The biblical story of Esau and Jacob might be considered one of the earliest written social engineering stories. As applied to cybersecurity, it usually involves hackers obtaining information illegitimately by deceiving or manipulating people who have legitimate access to that information. Common tactics involve phishing attacks and watering hole attacks.
A class of software-security-weakness-issues where independent researchers discover a software flaw before the owners of the code discover it. Zero-day, or 0-day in hacker slang, refers to the moment the race starts, on day zero, between network defenders who are trying to fix the flaw before hackers leverage it to cause damage. It is a race because on day zero, there is no known fix to the issue.
A network mapping tool that pings IP addresses looking for a response and can discover host names, open communications ports, operating system names and versions. Written and maintained by Gordon Lyon, a.k.a. Fyodor, it is a free and open source software application used by both system admins and hackers alike and has been a staple in the security community for well over two decades.