1 1 00:00:00,350 --> 00:00:02,420 Threats and vulnerabilities. 2 2 00:00:02,420 --> 00:00:04,000 In this lesson, we're going to talk 3 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,750 about threats and vulnerabilities. 4 4 00:00:05,750 --> 00:00:08,350 After all, where threats and vulnerabilities intersect 5 5 00:00:08,350 --> 00:00:11,180 is where risk exists within our enterprise networks. 6 6 00:00:11,180 --> 00:00:12,830 So if we can understand the different threats 7 7 00:00:12,830 --> 00:00:14,890 and vulnerabilities we may have in our networks, 8 8 00:00:14,890 --> 00:00:16,540 we can then add protection mechanisms 9 9 00:00:16,540 --> 00:00:18,410 to help mitigate that risk. 10 10 00:00:18,410 --> 00:00:20,290 Often, I hear people use the words threats 11 11 00:00:20,290 --> 00:00:22,080 and vulnerability interchangeably, 12 12 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,710 but they're technically not the same thing. 13 13 00:00:24,710 --> 00:00:27,300 A threat is a person or an event that has the potential 14 14 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:30,350 for impacting a valuable resource in a negative manner. 15 15 00:00:30,350 --> 00:00:32,090 So a hacker will be a threat 16 16 00:00:32,090 --> 00:00:35,010 since they want to steal your data, but so is a hurricane, 17 17 00:00:35,010 --> 00:00:36,400 because it could cause a power outage 18 18 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,400 that takes down your valuable network. 19 19 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:39,930 Now, a vulnerability on the other, 20 20 00:00:39,930 --> 00:00:42,483 is a quality or characteristic within a given resource 21 21 00:00:42,483 --> 00:00:44,820 or it's environment that might allow the threat 22 22 00:00:44,820 --> 00:00:46,010 to be realized. 23 23 00:00:46,010 --> 00:00:48,150 Now essentially, a vulnerability is any weakness 24 24 00:00:48,150 --> 00:00:50,230 in the system design, implementation, 25 25 00:00:50,230 --> 00:00:52,870 source code or lack of preventive mechanisms 26 26 00:00:52,870 --> 00:00:54,750 that would prevent a threat from occurring. 27 27 00:00:54,750 --> 00:00:57,350 So for example, if you're not running the latest version 28 28 00:00:57,350 --> 00:00:59,140 of Microsoft Windows on your servers, 29 29 00:00:59,140 --> 00:01:01,280 that is considered a vulnerability. 30 30 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:02,810 If you have a battery back up for your network 31 31 00:01:02,810 --> 00:01:03,897 that only lasts 15 min 32 32 00:01:03,897 --> 00:01:05,700 and you don't have any back up generators, 33 33 00:01:05,700 --> 00:01:07,440 that again, is a vulnerability, 34 34 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,830 because if you loose power, 35 35 00:01:08,830 --> 00:01:12,020 after 15 minutes, the entire network is going to crash on you. 36 36 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:14,400 Now, it's only going to be when combine a threat 37 37 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,421 with a vulnerability that we actually get risk 38 38 00:01:16,421 --> 00:01:20,030 that's being realized and now something bad will occur. 39 39 00:01:20,030 --> 00:01:21,750 This is an important distinction, 40 40 00:01:21,750 --> 00:01:24,270 because if I have device, like a switch or a router 41 41 00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:26,610 and it has a vulnerability, but there's no threats 42 42 00:01:26,610 --> 00:01:28,270 that would ever go after that vulnerability, 43 43 00:01:28,270 --> 00:01:29,200 then guess what? 44 44 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:30,920 There's not really a risk there. 45 45 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,540 On the other hand, if I have an asset 46 46 00:01:32,540 --> 00:01:34,210 that doesn't have any vulnerabilities, 47 47 00:01:34,210 --> 00:01:36,190 then it doesn't matter if I have dedicated threat 48 48 00:01:36,190 --> 00:01:38,160 trying to attack me, because they won't ever be able 49 49 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:39,680 to cause any harm to my network, 50 50 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,650 because there's absolutely not vulnerabilities 51 51 00:01:41,650 --> 00:01:43,030 for them to exploit. 52 52 00:01:43,030 --> 00:01:44,260 Now, in the real world, 53 53 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:46,060 there's almost always some kind of threat 54 54 00:01:46,060 --> 00:01:47,910 and some kind of vulnerability out there 55 55 00:01:47,910 --> 00:01:49,020 that we're going to be facing, 56 56 00:01:49,020 --> 00:01:50,940 so we almost always have risk. 57 57 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:52,100 The amount of risk though, 58 58 00:01:52,100 --> 00:01:54,330 is really going to be determined by how big of a threat 59 59 00:01:54,330 --> 00:01:57,070 or how major of a vulnerability we actually have. 60 60 00:01:57,070 --> 00:01:58,981 So let's dive into threats and vulnerabilities 61 61 00:01:58,981 --> 00:02:00,630 a bit deeper here. 62 62 00:02:00,630 --> 00:02:02,610 First, let's cover threats. 63 63 00:02:02,610 --> 00:02:04,670 Threats come in two basic varieties. 64 64 00:02:04,670 --> 00:02:07,270 We have internal threats and external threats. 65 65 00:02:07,270 --> 00:02:08,990 Now, an internal threat is any threat 66 66 00:02:08,990 --> 00:02:11,550 that originates from within the organization itself. 67 67 00:02:11,550 --> 00:02:13,580 Normally, these are conducted by a current 68 68 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:15,420 or former employee, a contractor 69 69 00:02:15,420 --> 00:02:17,500 or a business partner who's going to cause damage 70 70 00:02:17,500 --> 00:02:19,410 to your systems or steal your data. 71 71 00:02:19,410 --> 00:02:20,830 When we're dealing with internal threats, 72 72 00:02:20,830 --> 00:02:21,990 these can be caused by people 73 73 00:02:21,990 --> 00:02:25,660 who intend to do us harm or those who do it accidentally. 74 74 00:02:25,660 --> 00:02:27,930 For example, if you have insider threat, 75 75 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:30,790 this could be a person who uses their authorized access 76 76 00:02:30,790 --> 00:02:33,690 to get onto your network and harm your organization. 77 77 00:02:33,690 --> 00:02:35,630 Maybe you had an employee who just got passed over 78 78 00:02:35,630 --> 00:02:38,470 for a promotion and now they're pretty upset. 79 79 00:02:38,470 --> 00:02:39,475 So they decide to download 80 80 00:02:39,475 --> 00:02:41,740 your entire client contact database 81 81 00:02:41,740 --> 00:02:43,860 to their thumb drive and take it home with them, 82 82 00:02:43,860 --> 00:02:46,080 that way, if they decide to quit next week, 83 83 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:47,910 they can start calling up all of your clients 84 84 00:02:47,910 --> 00:02:49,370 and bring them over to a new company 85 85 00:02:49,370 --> 00:02:50,990 that will end up hiring them. 86 86 00:02:50,990 --> 00:02:53,020 On the other hand, you may also have an end user 87 87 00:02:53,020 --> 00:02:55,490 who unknowingly causes damage to your systems, 88 88 00:02:55,490 --> 00:02:57,320 for example, we may have a sales person 89 89 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,490 who opens up an email that contains malware 90 90 00:02:59,490 --> 00:03:01,950 and this starts infecting your systems and your servers. 91 91 00:03:01,950 --> 00:03:03,670 Now, that person, they weren't being malicious, 92 92 00:03:03,670 --> 00:03:05,150 they didn't do this on purpose. 93 93 00:03:05,150 --> 00:03:06,528 They just opened an email and they didn't think 94 94 00:03:06,528 --> 00:03:08,250 that it would cause any problems. 95 95 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:11,140 This is an unwitting or unknowing internal threat. 96 96 00:03:11,140 --> 00:03:12,750 Now, in addition to internal threats, 97 97 00:03:12,750 --> 00:03:14,700 we also have external threats. 98 98 00:03:14,700 --> 00:03:16,960 External threats could be people, like a hacker, 99 99 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,430 or it can be an event or environmental condition, 100 100 00:03:19,430 --> 00:03:22,590 for example, if I was going to have a wildfire near my office, 101 101 00:03:22,590 --> 00:03:25,350 that would be an environmental threat against my facility 102 102 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:27,010 and the network that it contains, 103 103 00:03:27,010 --> 00:03:29,130 or maybe I'm working as the IT director 104 104 00:03:29,130 --> 00:03:30,360 for a large oil company 105 105 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,010 and I have a lot of angry hacktivists 106 106 00:03:32,010 --> 00:03:33,230 who want to take down my network, 107 107 00:03:33,230 --> 00:03:35,280 because they don't agree with our company's policies 108 108 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,570 concerning drilling within the Alaskan wilderness. 109 109 00:03:37,570 --> 00:03:39,760 This would also be considered an external threat, 110 110 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:41,940 because it's something external to my organization, 111 111 00:03:41,940 --> 00:03:44,910 these hacktivists or hacker who are trying to break in. 112 112 00:03:44,910 --> 00:03:46,620 Now next, we need to talk a little more 113 113 00:03:46,620 --> 00:03:48,070 about the types of vulnerabilities 114 114 00:03:48,070 --> 00:03:50,760 that we can have in our organizations and its networks. 115 115 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,910 Remember, a vulnerability is any weakness 116 116 00:03:52,910 --> 00:03:54,940 in the system design, implementation, 117 117 00:03:54,940 --> 00:03:57,660 software code or a lack of preventive measure 118 118 00:03:57,660 --> 00:03:58,850 in your systems. 119 119 00:03:58,850 --> 00:04:01,140 Now, these can take the form of environmental, 120 120 00:04:01,140 --> 00:04:04,270 physical, operational or technical vulnerabilities. 121 121 00:04:04,270 --> 00:04:06,310 When we talk about environmental vulnerabilities, 122 122 00:04:06,310 --> 00:04:09,020 these are focused on undesirable conditions or weaknesses 123 123 00:04:09,020 --> 00:04:11,220 that are in the general area surrounding your building 124 124 00:04:11,220 --> 00:04:12,980 where you're going to operate your networks. 125 125 00:04:12,980 --> 00:04:16,120 So for example, my company is based out of Puerto Rico, 126 126 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,440 so we have he ever-present threat of hurricanes 127 127 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,800 and earthquakes that could exploit a vulnerability 128 128 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,810 and how we provide services to our office, 129 129 00:04:22,810 --> 00:04:25,950 including our power, water, heating and air-conditioning. 130 130 00:04:25,950 --> 00:04:28,870 So to mitigate this, we actually have four sources of power 131 131 00:04:28,870 --> 00:04:31,020 at our facility, including solar power, 132 132 00:04:31,020 --> 00:04:32,610 a full building battery back-up, 133 133 00:04:32,610 --> 00:04:34,270 a diesel generator and of course, 134 134 00:04:34,270 --> 00:04:36,580 our local power grid from the electric company. 135 135 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:38,130 Physical vulnerabilities are focused 136 136 00:04:38,130 --> 00:04:40,140 on undesirable conditions or weaknesses 137 137 00:04:40,140 --> 00:04:42,260 in the buildings where you operate your networks. 138 138 00:04:42,260 --> 00:04:44,320 Now, some examples of physical vulnerabilities, 139 139 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,090 might be things like unlocked doors, 140 140 00:04:46,090 --> 00:04:48,940 unmonitored hallways, misconfigured sprinkler systems 141 141 00:04:48,940 --> 00:04:51,020 or cables that are running across the floor. 142 142 00:04:51,020 --> 00:04:52,710 These things could lead to a threat actor 143 143 00:04:52,710 --> 00:04:54,040 being able to get into your building 144 144 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,248 and stealing all your data or a fire could break out 145 145 00:04:56,248 --> 00:04:58,450 and cause massive amounts of damage, 146 146 00:04:58,450 --> 00:05:00,950 or maybe somebody will trip over a misplaced cable 147 147 00:05:00,950 --> 00:05:04,190 and that will cause damage to themselves or to your network. 148 148 00:05:04,190 --> 00:05:06,248 Operational vulnerabilities are focused on how the network 149 149 00:05:06,248 --> 00:05:07,860 and its systems are being run 150 150 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:10,220 from a policy and procedure perspective. 151 151 00:05:10,220 --> 00:05:12,580 These vulnerabilities or weaknesses usually result 152 152 00:05:12,580 --> 00:05:15,090 from either poorly worded or unenforceable policies 153 153 00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:16,740 within your organization. 154 154 00:05:16,740 --> 00:05:18,910 This can allow a threat actor to exploit weaknesses 155 155 00:05:18,910 --> 00:05:21,230 in these policies to their own advantage. 156 156 00:05:21,230 --> 00:05:22,610 Now, technical vulnerabilities 157 157 00:05:22,610 --> 00:05:24,240 are system-specific conditions 158 158 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,120 that create a weakness in our security. 159 159 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:27,790 This includes misconfigurations, 160 160 00:05:27,790 --> 00:05:29,810 outdated hardware, malicious software 161 161 00:05:29,810 --> 00:05:31,350 and other technical weaknesses 162 162 00:05:31,350 --> 00:05:33,650 in the implementation or operation of our networks 163 163 00:05:33,650 --> 00:05:34,850 and its devices. 164 164 00:05:34,850 --> 00:05:36,560 When it comes to technical vulnerabilities 165 165 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,920 that focus on network or system exploitation, 166 166 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,580 we normally are going to classify these as a CVE 167 167 00:05:41,580 --> 00:05:43,390 or a zero-day vulnerability. 168 168 00:05:43,390 --> 00:05:46,260 Now, CVE or the common vulnerabilities and exposures 169 169 00:05:46,260 --> 00:05:48,230 are going to be a list of publicly disclosed 170 170 00:05:48,230 --> 00:05:50,610 computer security weaknesses or flaws. 171 171 00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:52,028 Basically, it's an official list 172 172 00:05:52,028 --> 00:05:54,060 of all the known technical vulnerabilities 173 173 00:05:54,060 --> 00:05:55,600 for each and every piece of software 174 174 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,080 that's publicly available. 175 175 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:58,960 When you look up a CVE, for example, 176 176 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,100 you might see something like CVE-2017-0144 177 177 00:06:04,340 --> 00:06:05,280 and then you can look at that 178 178 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,240 and read all about that vulnerability, 179 179 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,250 what it is, what software it affects 180 180 00:06:09,250 --> 00:06:11,850 and a list of references, so you can learn more about it. 181 181 00:06:11,850 --> 00:06:15,350 Now, in the case of CVE-2017-0144, 182 182 00:06:15,350 --> 00:06:17,430 this was the 144th vulnerability 183 183 00:06:17,430 --> 00:06:19,790 that was disclosed in the year 2017. 184 184 00:06:19,790 --> 00:06:22,650 This particular CVE was actually a really serious one 185 185 00:06:22,650 --> 00:06:25,170 and it was one that was exploited by the WannaCry ransomware 186 186 00:06:25,170 --> 00:06:27,180 that spread rapidly across the globe. 187 187 00:06:27,180 --> 00:06:28,900 Due to its widespread exploitation, 188 188 00:06:28,900 --> 00:06:29,879 it also received a codename 189 189 00:06:29,879 --> 00:06:31,820 and became knows as EternalBlue. 190 190 00:06:31,820 --> 00:06:34,087 Now, EternalBlue affected Windows Vista, 191 191 00:06:34,087 --> 00:06:36,670 Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 192 192 00:06:36,670 --> 00:06:38,200 on desktop and laptop computers 193 193 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:39,820 and then also, Windows server 2008, 194 194 00:06:39,820 --> 00:06:43,560 2012 and 2016 on servers. 195 195 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,670 This vulnerability allowed an attacker 196 196 00:06:45,670 --> 00:06:47,890 to be able to remotely execute arbitrate code 197 197 00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:50,030 via well-crafted packets over the network 198 198 00:06:50,030 --> 00:06:52,800 that could lead to a remote code execution vulnerability. 199 199 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:54,570 Now, for the network plus exam, 200 200 00:06:54,570 --> 00:06:57,360 you don't need to know specifics of the EternalBlue exploit, 201 201 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,690 but you should be aware of what a CVE is 202 202 00:06:59,690 --> 00:07:01,390 and the kind of information it can give you 203 203 00:07:01,390 --> 00:07:02,950 as a network administrator. 204 204 00:07:02,950 --> 00:07:04,790 So while CVEs provide us with a list 205 205 00:07:04,790 --> 00:07:06,170 of all the known vulnerabilities, 206 206 00:07:06,170 --> 00:07:07,707 there's also a lot of unknown vulnerabilities 207 207 00:07:07,707 --> 00:07:09,480 that may be out there too. 208 208 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:11,830 These are known as zero-day vulnerabilities. 209 209 00:07:11,830 --> 00:07:14,090 Now, a zero-day vulnerability is any weakness 210 210 00:07:14,090 --> 00:07:16,060 in the system design, implementation, 211 211 00:07:16,060 --> 00:07:18,470 software code or a lack of preventive mechanisms 212 212 00:07:18,470 --> 00:07:20,100 within a given system or network 213 213 00:07:20,100 --> 00:07:22,700 that is unknown at the time of publication. 214 214 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:24,620 Now, basically a zero-day vulnerability 215 215 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:27,600 is a new vulnerability that not everyone is aware of. 216 216 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,430 Once cybersecurity professionals become aware 217 217 00:07:29,430 --> 00:07:31,530 of this vulnerability, they're going to report it 218 218 00:07:31,530 --> 00:07:34,110 and a CVE will be created for that zero-day, 219 219 00:07:34,110 --> 00:07:36,250 making it no longer a zero-day 220 220 00:07:36,250 --> 00:07:38,630 and now it's going to be called a CVE. 221 221 00:07:38,630 --> 00:07:42,040 So remember, CVEs are a list of known vulnerabilities, 222 222 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,370 while a zero-day is a brand new vulnerability 223 223 00:07:44,370 --> 00:07:47,020 that no one else has discovered or reported yet. 224 224 00:07:47,020 --> 00:07:50,340 Finally, let's talk about how a vulnerability is attacked. 225 225 00:07:50,340 --> 00:07:52,840 After all, a vulnerability is just a weakness, 226 226 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,980 but until it's attacked or exploited, 227 227 00:07:54,980 --> 00:07:56,750 as we like to call it in the cybersecurity world, 228 228 00:07:56,750 --> 00:07:57,610 it's just sitting there 229 229 00:07:57,610 --> 00:07:59,400 and it's really not hurting anyone. 230 230 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:00,650 When you take advantage of a vulnerability 231 231 00:08:00,650 --> 00:08:02,340 as a threat actor, this is called, 232 232 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:03,940 exploiting the vulnerability. 233 233 00:08:03,940 --> 00:08:06,110 We do this using an exploit. 234 234 00:08:06,110 --> 00:08:08,050 Now, an exploit is a piece of software code 235 235 00:08:08,050 --> 00:08:09,620 that takes advantage of a security flaw 236 236 00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:11,860 or vulnerability within a system or network. 237 237 00:08:11,860 --> 00:08:13,950 Because CVEs are known vulnerabilities, 238 238 00:08:13,950 --> 00:08:16,090 most of them have a matching exploit. 239 239 00:08:16,090 --> 00:08:17,590 This is because when a new vulnerability 240 240 00:08:17,590 --> 00:08:18,890 is discovered and reported, 241 241 00:08:18,890 --> 00:08:21,070 a patch is created by the software's creators. 242 242 00:08:21,070 --> 00:08:23,253 For example, if a new zero-day vulnerability was discovered 243 243 00:08:23,253 --> 00:08:26,250 in Windows 10, then Microsoft will create a software patch 244 244 00:08:26,250 --> 00:08:28,240 to fix this vulnerability and they will release 245 245 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,620 that software patch and a CVE to the public 246 246 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:32,100 so we can all know about it. 247 247 00:08:32,100 --> 00:08:34,370 Now at the same time, attackers are going to reverse engineer 248 248 00:08:34,370 --> 00:08:36,660 that software patch and research the CVE 249 249 00:08:36,660 --> 00:08:37,693 to determine what vulnerability 250 250 00:08:37,693 --> 00:08:39,610 that patch is trying to solve. 251 251 00:08:39,610 --> 00:08:41,260 Then they can create some code 252 252 00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:43,040 that will take advantage of that vulnerability 253 253 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:45,490 if a system isn't properly patched and updated. 254 254 00:08:45,490 --> 00:08:47,550 Since many people don't patch their systems right away 255 255 00:08:47,550 --> 00:08:49,260 using the latest security patches, 256 256 00:08:49,260 --> 00:08:50,696 this means, there's a period of time 257 257 00:08:50,696 --> 00:08:53,680 where a lot of Windows systems may still be vulnerable 258 258 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,800 and so, we can actually use this exploit 259 259 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:57,500 to attack those vulnerable systems 260 260 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:00,320 for weeks or months after the release of a patch. 261 261 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,440 So now the attackers have a working exploit 262 262 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,360 for this vulnerability and they can find 263 263 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,330 any unpatched Windows 10 machines out there 264 264 00:09:06,330 --> 00:09:08,510 and exploit them by running their new software code 265 265 00:09:08,510 --> 00:09:10,410 against those unpatched systems. 266 266 00:09:10,410 --> 00:09:12,290 This exploit code is often incorporated 267 267 00:09:12,290 --> 00:09:14,173 into malware and this allows it to propagate 268 268 00:09:14,173 --> 00:09:17,270 and run intricate scripts against vulnerable computers, 269 269 00:09:17,270 --> 00:09:18,403 therefore, increasing the damage 270 270 00:09:18,403 --> 00:09:21,170 that these attackers can do with this exploit. 271 271 00:09:21,170 --> 00:09:22,520 To prevent this, you need to ensure 272 272 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:23,710 your systems remain up to date 273 273 00:09:23,710 --> 00:09:25,560 and patched with the latest security releases 274 274 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:26,500 and ensure that your systems 275 275 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:28,080 have an up-to-date anti-malware 276 276 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,340 or anti-virus software installed to protect them 277 277 00:09:30,340 --> 00:09:31,990 from these known vulnerabilities.