Passed Exam Today CAS-005

The presence of an unauthorized server (29mail.mycrosoft.info) sending emails on behalf of the company indicates a potential spoofing or phishing attempt. To mitigate this:

Remove the unnecessary servers from the SPF record (Option C): The Sender Policy Framework (SPF) specifies which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of a domain. Removing unauthorized or unnecessary servers from the SPF record helps prevent spoofed emails from passing SPF checks.

Change the SPF record to enforce the hard fail parameter (Option D): Setting the SPF policy to a hard fail (-all) ensures that emails from unauthorized servers are rejected, enhancing email security.

Implementing these changes strengthens the domain's email authentication mechanisms, reducing the risk of successful phishing or spoofing attacks.

To minimize downtime, testing should occur in a virtual lab, not production. The best approach is to test solutions methodically: implement one solution at a time, run an attack simulation, collect metrics, roll back, and repeat. This isolates each solution’s effectiveness, ensuring accurate metrics for decision-making without production impact.

Option A:Testing all solutions simultaneously muddies the results—metrics won’t show which solution worked.

Option B:Collecting metrics before the simulation misses the point of testing against the attack.

Option C:Correct—tests each solution independently with simulation and metrics, minimizing downtime via virtual lab use.

Option D:Like A, combining solutions obscures individual effectiveness.

A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) provides the best foundation for identifying which specific assets are affected by a given vulnerability. A CMDB maintains detailed information about the IT environment, including hardware, software, configurations, and relationships between assets. This comprehensive view allows organizations to quickly identify and address vulnerabilities affecting specific assets.