Comparing Threat Types
What is phishing?
This term describes an attack where a threat actor impersonates a trusted entity via email to steal credentials.
What is symmetric encryption?
This type of encryption uses the same key for both encryption and decryption.
What is Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
This access control model grants permissions based on a user's job function within an organization
What is a hot site?
This type of backup site has equipment and near real-time data replication ready, allowing for very fast failover
What is vulnerability scanning?
This process involves scanning systems to identify known weaknesses without actively exploiting them.
What is a hacktivist?
This type of threat actor is motivated by political or social causes and often defaces websites or leaks data
What is RSA?
This asymmetric algorithm relies on the difficulty of factoring large prime numbers.
What is a knowledge factor?
This authentication factor category includes something a user knows, such as a password or PIN.
What is RAID 1?
This RAID level uses disk mirroring to provide redundancy.
What is a credentialed scan?
This type of vulnerability scan uses valid login credentials to get a deeper, more accurate view of a system's flaws
What is tailgating?
This social engineering technique involves following an authorized person through a secure door without using credentials
What is (perfect) forward secrecy?
This cryptographic property ensures that even if a long-term private key is compromised, past session keys remain secure.
What is multifactor authentication (MFA)?
This process combines two or more independent credential types to verify a user's identity. →
What is Recovery Point Objective (RPO)?
This metric represents the maximum acceptable amount of data loss, measured in time.
What is patch management?
This process involves applying vendor-released updates to fix known security flaws.
What is ransomware?
This type of malware encrypts a victim's files and demands payment for the decryption key
What is a Hardware Security Module (HSM)?
This tamper-resistant physical device generates, stores, and manages cryptographic keys, often installed in a server rack.
What is least privilege?
This IAM principle ensures users are granted only the minimum access necessary to perform their job
What is defense in depth (layered security)?
This physical security concept uses multiple overlapping layers, like fences, gates, and mantraps, to prevent unauthorized entry
What is CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System)?
This industry-standard scoring system rates the severity of vulnerabilities on a scale from 0 to 10.
What is a nation-state actor?
This category of threat actor has extensive funding, resources, and time, often sponsored by a nation-state, and is linked to advanced persistent threats.
What is hashing?
This one-way process converts data into a fixed-length string used to verify integrity, and it cannot be reversed to reveal the original data
What is SAML?
This federated identity standard uses XML to exchange authentication and authorization data between an identity provider and a service provider
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
This backup strategy recommends keeping 3 copies of data, on 2 different media types, with 1 copy stored offsite.
What is a zero-day vulnerability?
This term describes a vulnerability that is actively exploited before the vendor is aware of it or has released a patch.