Security+ Guide to Network
Security Fundamentals,
Fourth Edition
Chapter 4
Vulnerability Assessment
and Mitigating Attacks
Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Objectives
• Define vulnerability assessment and explain why it is important
• List vulnerability assessment techniques and tools
• Explain the differences between vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
• List techniques for mitigating and deterring attacks
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Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Vulnerability Assessment
• Systematic evaluation of asset exposure
– Attackers
– Forces of nature
– Any potentially harmful entity
• Aspects of vulnerability assessment
– Asset identification
– Threat evaluation
– Vulnerability appraisal
– Risk assessment
– Risk mitigation
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Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Vulnerability Assessment (cont’d.)
• Asset identification
– Process of inventorying items with economic value
• Common assets
– People
– Physical assets
– Data
– Hardware
– Software
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Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Vulnerability Assessment (cont’d.)
• Determine each item’s relative value
– Asset’s criticality to organization’s goals
– How much revenue asset generates
– How difficult to replace asset
– Impact of asset unavailability to the organization
• Could rank using a number scale
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Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Vulnerability Assessment (cont’d.)
• Threat evaluation
– List potential threats
• Threat modeling
– Goal: understand attackers and their methods
– Often done by constructing scenarios
• Attack tree
– Provides visual representation of potential attacks
– Inverted tree structure
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Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition 8
Figure 4-1 Attack tree for stealing a car stereo© Cengage Learning 2012
Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition 9
Figure 4-2 Attack tree for breaking into grading system© Cengage Learning 2012
Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Fourth Edition
Vulnerability Assessment (cont’d.)
• Vulnerability appraisal
– Determine current weaknesses
• Snapshot of current organization security
– Every asset should be viewed in light of each threat
– Catalog each vulnerability
• Risk assessment
– Determine damage resulting from attack
– Assess likelihood that vulnerability is a risk to
organization
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