Ace Your CS0-002 CompTIA CySA+ Exam

Modbus is a communication protocol that is widely used in industrial control systems (ICS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. However, Modbus was not designed to provide security and it is vulnerable to various cyberattacks. One of the main vulnerabilities of Modbus is the lack of authentication, which means that any device on the network can send or receive commands without verifying its identity or authority. This can lead to unauthorized access, data manipulation, or denial of service attacks on the ICS or SCADA system.

Some examples of attacks that exploit the lack of authentication in Modbus are:

• Detection attack: An attacker can scan the network and discover the devices and their addresses, functions, and registers by sending Modbus requests and observing the responses. This can reveal sensitive information about the system configuration and operation1.
• Command injection attack: An attacker can send malicious commands to the devices and modify their settings, values, or outputs. For example, an attacker can change the speed of a motor, open or close a valve, or turn off a switch23.
• Response injection attack: An attacker can intercept and alter the responses from the devices and deceive the master or other devices about the true state of the system. For example, an attacker can fake a normal response when there is an error or an alarm23.
• Denial of service attack: An attacker can flood the network with Modbus requests or commands and overload the devices or the communication channel. This can prevent legitimate requests or commands from being processed and disrupt the normal operation of the system14.

To mitigate these attacks, some security measures that can be applied to Modbus are:

• Encryption: Encrypting the Modbus messages can prevent eavesdropping and tampering by unauthorized parties. However, encryption can also introduce additional overhead and latency to the communication56.
• Authentication: Adding authentication mechanisms to Modbus can ensure that only authorized devices can send or receive commands. Authentication can be based on passwords, certificates, tokens, or other methods56.
• Firewall: Installing a firewall between the Modbus network and other networks can filter out unwanted traffic and block unauthorized access. A firewall can also enforce rules and policies for Modbus communication24.
• Intrusion detection system: Deploying an intrusion detection system (IDS) on the Modbus network can monitor the traffic and detect anomalous or malicious activities. An IDS can also alert the operators or trigger countermeasures when an attack is detected24.

The analyst should isolate the container from production using a predefined policy template first. Isolating the container is a containment measure that can help prevent the spread of the compromise to other containers or systems in the cloud infrastructure. Containment is an important step in the incident response process, as it can limit the impact and damage of an incident. Using a predefined policy template can help automate and standardize the isolation process, ensuring that it is done quickly and consistently1.

Static analysis is a method of analyzing software code without executing it, by using tools or techniques that check for syntax errors, logic errors, vulnerabilities, coding standards, and other quality issues. Static analysis can help software developers to correct the error-handling capabilities of an application before pushing it to production, as it can detect potential errors and bugs at an early stage of development. A web-application vulnerability scan (A) is a method of testing web applications for security flaws by simulating attacks and analyzing responses. It can be useful for finding vulnerabilities in web applications, but not for validating the error-handling capabilities of an application. A packet inspection © is a method of monitoring network traffic by examining the data packets that are sent and received over a network. It can be useful for detecting malicious or unauthorized activity on a network, but not for validating the error-handling capabilities of an application. A penetration test (D) is a method of evaluating the security of a system or network by simulating real-world attacks and exploiting vulnerabilities. It can be useful for assessing the overall security posture of a system or network, but not for validating the error-handling capabilities of an application.

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Scanning the network is what the user is attempting to do based on the log entries. The log entries show that the user is sending ping requests to various IP addresses on different ports using a proxy server. Ping requests are a common network diagnostic tool that can be used to test network connectivity and latency by sending packets of data and measuring their response time. However, ping requests can also be used by attackers to scan the network and discover active hosts, open ports, or potential vulnerabilities .