author: 51n5337 & #Dab
mission: CompTIA Cloud+ Certification  
brief: vocabs. brief. 4-security.

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…back

overview

4.0 security ██████████ 19% 🛡️
“How do you find system weaknesses?” (Answer: Vulnerability Management)
“What proves who you are?” (Answer: Authentication)
“What determines what you can do?” (Answer: Authorization)

“True security isn’t about building higher walls—it’s about knowing exactly who should have which keys to which doors, and watching how they use them.”

Security is trust, verified.
Your new mantra: “Never trust, always verify.”

When protecting the digital kingdom:

• Assess - Know your weaknesses before attackers do
• Control - The right access for the right people
• Encrypt - Lock your digital secrets
• Monitor - Watch for shadows in your system

Now let’s build our digital fortress with that security excellence…

• 🎯 4.1 Vulnerability Management
• 📜 4.2 Compliance & Regulation
• 🔑 4.3 Identity & Access Management
• 🛡️ 4.4 Security Best Practices
• 🎛️ 4.5 Security Controls
• 👁️ 4.6 Monitoring & Attack Detection

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4.1 Vulnerability Management 🎯🔍

“How do you find the cracks in your digital armor before the arrows get through?”

- steps: scanning scope, identification, assessment, remediation
- common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs)

🧩 The Vulnerability Lifecycle — From Discovery to Defense

Phase	What Happens	Feels Like
Scanning 📡	Finding potential weaknesses	Digital health checkup
Identification 🎯	Pinpointing actual vulnerabilities	Finding the specific cracks
Assessment 📊	Evaluating risk and impact	Measuring how dangerous the cracks are
Remediation 🔧	Fixing the vulnerabilities	Patching the armor

explore this in pentester mind {recon, pwn, escalate, report}

🎯 The CVE Vibe — Common Vulnerabilities & Exposures

CVE-2024-12345 = Digital "Wanted Poster"
     │      │
     │      └── Specific vulnerability ID
     └── Year discovered

EXAMPLE: CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell)
- Critical remote code execution
- Affected millions of systems
- Required immediate patching

learn from cve.org or dive into the threat scoring system CVSS…

☕ Stellar Café Security Scan

The Scene: Routine vulnerability scan reveals critical issues in payment system.

The Investigation:

• Scanning: Automated tools find outdated libraries
• Identification: CVE-2023-12345 - remote code execution vulnerability
• Assessment: CRITICAL - affects customer payment data
• Remediation: Emergency patching within 24 hours

The Lesson: Regular vulnerability scans are like dental checkups—ignore them, and you’ll feel the pain later.

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4.2 Compliance & Regulation 📜⚖️

“Whose rules does your data have to follow?”

- data sovereignty, data ownership, data locality

[more about data governance trio...](/comptia-cloudplus/security-adds/trio.html)

- data classification
- data retention: litigation hold, contractual, regulatory
- industry standards: systems and organization controls 2 (SOC2), payment card industry data security standards (PCI DSS), international organization for standardization (ISO) 27001, cloud security alliance

🧩 The Data Governance Spectrum

Concept	What It Means	Real-World Impact
Data Sovereignty 🇺🇸	Data subject to local laws	EU data must stay in Europe
Data Classification 🏷️	Categorizing data sensitivity	Public vs. Confidential vs. Secret
Data Retention 📅	How long to keep data	7 years for financial records

🎯 Industry Standards Decoder Ring

SOC2 → Trust services criteria (security, availability, processing integrity)
PCI DSS → Payment card data protection  
ISO 27001 → International security management standard
GDPR → European data privacy rights

☕ Stellar Café Compliance Drama

The Scene: Expanding to European markets with GDPR requirements.

The Challenge:

• Data Sovereignty: Customer data must reside in EU data centers
• Data Rights: Right to be forgotten, data portability
• Retention: Maximum 5 years for customer personal data
• Solution: EU-based cloud region + updated privacy policies

The Lesson: Compliance isn’t bureaucracy—it’s your promise to protect customer data, written in law.

dig more into data rights

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4.3 Identity & Access Management 🔑👤

“How do you prove you’re you, and why should we let you in?”

- secure access to the cloud management environment: programmatic access {application programming interface (API), software development kit (SDK)}, common language infrastructure (CLI), web portal
  
[more into 4-door-to-cloud-kingdom](/comptia-cloudplus/security-adds/4-door-to-cloud-kingdom.html)

- secure access to the cloud resources: API, secure shell (SSH), remote desktop protocol (RDP), bastion host
  
[more...](/comptia-cloudplus/security-adds/inner-sanctum.html)
  
- authentication models: local users, federation {security assertion markup language SAML}, token-based, directory-based, multifactor authn (MFA), OpenID Connect
  
[{federation, SAML, OpenID Connect} more about these...](/comptia-cloudplus/security-adds/federation-saml-oidc.html)

- authorization models: role-based access control, group-based access control, OAuth 2.0, Discretionary
  
[more into authz...](/comptia-cloudplus/security-adds/authz.html)
  
- accounting: audit trail

🧩 The AAA Framework — Authentication, Authorization, Accounting

Pillar	Answers the Question	Examples	Technology/Standard
Authentication 🆔	“Are you who you say you are?”	Password, MFA, SAML	Password Hash, TOTP, Security Key, SAML 2.0, OpenID Connect
Authorization 🚪	“What are you allowed to do?”	RBAC, Permissions	RBAC, ABAC, OAuth 2.0 Scopes, POSIX/IAM Policies
Accounting 📝	“What did you actually do?”	Audit logs, Trail	SIEM, CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log, Syslog

🎯 Authentication vs Authorization — The Club Analogy

AUTHENTICATION → Showing your ID at the door
    - Driver's license (SAML)
    - Text message code (MFA)  
    - VIP pass (Token)

AUTHORIZATION → What you can do inside
    - General admission (Read-only)
    - Backstage pass (Admin access)
    - Bartender (Specific permissions)

☕ Stellar Café IAM Implementation

The Scene: New multi-location staff need secure, role-based access.

The Solution:

• Authentication: SAML federation with corporate Active Directory
• Authorization:
  • Baristas: Point-of-sale system only
  • Managers: Inventory + sales reports
  • Corporate: Financial data + HR systems
• Accounting: All access logged and auditable

The Lesson: The right access for the right people prevents both chaos and breaches.

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4.4 Security Best Practices 🛡️✨

“How do you bake security into your cloud DNA?”

- zero trust
- benchmark: center for internet security (CIS), vendor-specific
- hardening, patching, encryption {data in transit, data at rest}
- secrets management
- api security
- principle of least privilege
- container security: privileged, unprivileged, file access permissions
- storage security: object, file

🧩 ZERO TRUST - The New Security Religion 🚫🤔✅

Old Model: “Trust but Verify”

"Once you're inside our network, we trust you"

Zero Trust: “Never Trust, Always Verify”

"Verify every request as if it originated from an untrusted network"

Zero Trust Pillars:

🔐 IDENTITY: Verify every user and device
🛡️ DEVICES: Ensure devices meet security standards  
🌐 NETWORK: Encrypt all traffic, segment networks
📱 APPLICATIONS: Secure all apps regardless of location
📊 DATA: Classify and protect all data

Stellar Café Zero Trust Implementation:

EMPLOYEE ACCESS:
1. Device check: Is company laptop + updated antivirus?
2. Identity: MFA + biometric verification  
3. Network: VPN required even from office WiFi
4. Application: Each app requires re-authentication
5. Data: Customer data encrypted, access logged

Zero Trust & Microsegmentation, warp me there…

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🎯 SECURITY HARDENING - Reducing Attack Surface 🔧🛡️

Server Hardening Checklist:

🚫 UNNECESSARY SERVICES: Disable everything not needed
🔒 FIREWALL: Block all ports except required ones
👤 USER ACCOUNTS: Remove default accounts, strong passwords
📜 CONFIGURATION: Apply security benchmarks (CIS)
🔄 UPDATES: Regular security patches

CIS Benchmarks - The Gold Standard:

🏆 CENTER FOR INTERNET SECURITY: Industry-standard configurations
📋 PRESCRIPTIVE: Step-by-step hardening guides
☁️ CLOUD-SPECIFIC: AWS, Azure, GCP security benchmarks
🎯 COMPLIANCE: Used for SOC2, PCI DSS, HIPAA

more at cisecurity.org

Stellar Café Hardening Example:

WEB SERVER HARDENING:
- CIS Ubuntu Linux 20.04 Benchmark Level 1
- Only ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) open
- SSH key authentication only (no passwords)
- Automated security updates enabled
- File integrity monitoring installed

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🎯 SECRETS MANAGEMENT - Protecting Digital Keys 🗝️🔐

What Are Secrets?

🔑 API KEYS: Cloud service access credentials
🔐 DATABASE PASSWORDS: Application database credentials  
📜 SSL CERTIFICATES: TLS encryption certificates
🔄 TOKENS: OAuth tokens, JWT secrets

Secrets Management Solutions:

🏢 AWS: Secrets Manager, Parameter Store
☁️ AZURE: Key Vault
🌐 GOOGLE: Secret Manager
🐳 KUBERNETES: External secrets, sealed secrets
🔓 HASHICORP: Vault (multi-cloud)

Stellar Café Secrets Strategy:

APPLICATION SECRETS:
- Database passwords → AWS Secrets Manager
- API keys → Environment variables (encrypted)
- SSL certificates → AWS Certificate Manager
- NEVER in code repositories 🔥

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🎯 CONTAINER SECURITY - Isolated but Not Immune 📦🛡️

Privileged vs Unprivileged Containers:

👑 PRIVILEGED CONTAINERS:
- Run as root user
- Can access host devices
- HIGH RISK: Container escape = host compromise

👤 UNPRIVILEGED CONTAINERS:  
- Run as non-root user
- Limited system access
- SECURE BY DEFAULT: Recommended practice

Container Security Practices:

📦 IMAGE SCANNING: Check for vulnerabilities before deployment
🔐 NON-ROOT USERS: Always run as non-root when possible
🚫 READ-ONLY FILESYSTEM: Prevent runtime modifications
📊 RUNTIME PROTECTION: Monitor for suspicious container behavior

Stellar Café Container Security:

COFFEE RECOMMENDATION SERVICE:
- Image: scanned for CVEs before deployment
- User: runs as user "app" (UID 1000), not root
- Filesystem: read-only except /tmp directory
- Network: only outbound HTTP calls to API

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4.5 Security Controls 🎛️🔒

“What tools guard your cloud gates?”

- endpoint protection
- data loss prevention (DLP)
- intrusion detection system (IDP), intrusion prevention system (IPS)
- distributed denial-of-service (DDos) protection
- identity and access management (IAM) policies
- firewall: network access control list (NACL), web application firewall (WAF), network security group

🧩 DEFENSE IN DEPTH - The Security Onion 🧅🛡️

Layered Security Controls:

🌐 NETWORK LAYER:
   - Firewalls, NACLs, Security Groups
   - DDoS protection, VPNs

🖥️ ENDPOINT LAYER:  
   - Antivirus, EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response)
   - Host firewalls, intrusion prevention

📱 APPLICATION LAYER:
   - WAF (Web Application Firewall)
   - API security, input validation

👤 IDENTITY LAYER:
   - MFA, IAM policies, role-based access

🎯 IPS vs IDS - Detection vs Prevention 🔍🚫

Intrusion Detection System (IDS):

🎯 PURPOSE: Monitor and alert on suspicious activity
🏃‍♂️ ACTION: "I see something bad!" (alerts only)
📊 PLACEMENT: Network tap or passive monitoring

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS):

🎯 PURPOSE: Actively block malicious activity  
🛑 ACTION: "I see something bad and I'm stopping it!" (blocks)
📊 PLACEMENT: In-line with network traffic

Stellar Café Implementation:

NETWORK SECURITY:
- IDS: Snort monitoring all VPC traffic
- IPS: AWS Network Firewall blocking known malicious IPs
- WAF: CloudFront WAF blocking SQL injection attacks

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🎯 DDoS PROTECTION - Surviving the Digital Tsunami 🌊🛡️

DDoS Attack Types:

📈 VOLUMETRIC: UDP floods, ICMP floods (overwhelm bandwidth)
📊 PROTOCOL: SYN floods, ping of death (exploit protocols)
🎯 APPLICATION: HTTP floods, Slowloris (target apps)

Cloud DDoS Protection:

☁️ AWS: Shield Standard (free), Shield Advanced ($)
☁️ AZURE: DDoS Protection Basic (free), Standard ($)
☁️ GOOGLE: Cloud Armor
🌐 THIRD-PARTY: Cloudflare, Akamai

Stellar Café DDoS Defense:

MULTI-LAYER PROTECTION:
- AWS Shield Advanced: Volumetric attack mitigation
- CloudFront: Geographic rate limiting
- WAF: Bot detection and challenge mechanisms
- Auto Scaling: Handle legitimate traffic spikes

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4.6 Monitor & Attack Detection 👁️🚨

“How do you spot the wolves in sheep’s clothing?”

- event monitoring, deviation from the baseline
- unnecessary open ports
- attack types: vulnerability exploitation {human error, outdated software}, social engineering {phishing}, malware {ransomware}, DDos, cryptojacking, zombie instances, metadata

🧩 SECURITY MONITORING - The Digital Watchtower 🗼👁️

What to Monitor:

🔐 AUTHENTICATION: Failed logins, unusual locations
🌐 NETWORK: Port scans, unusual traffic patterns
📊 PERFORMANCE: CPU spikes, unusual resource usage
📝 LOGS: Security events, configuration changes

Monitoring Tools:

☁️ CLOUD-NATIVE: AWS CloudTrail, Azure Monitor, Google Cloud Audit Logs
🔍 SIEM: Splunk, Elastic SIEM, Azure Sentinel
🎯 EDR: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender

more into SIEM and EDR

🎯 ATTACK TYPE RECOGNITION 🎯🔍

Social Engineering - Human Hacking:

📧 PHISHING: Fake emails tricking users
📞 VISHING: Voice call scams  
💬 SMISHING: SMS/text message scams
🎣 SPEAR PHISHING: Targeted attacks on specific individuals

Malware Evolution:

🦠 VIRUSES: Self-replicating, need host file
🐛 WORMS: Self-replicating, spread independently  
🐎 TROJANS: Disguised as legitimate software
💀 RANSOMWARE: Encrypts files, demands payment

Emerging Threats:

⛏️ CRYPTOJACKING: Unauthorized cryptocurrency mining
🧟 ZOMBIE INSTANCES: Compromised cloud resources
📄 METADATA ATTACKS: Exploiting cloud metadata service

more into emerging threats

Stellar Café Threat Detection:

SECURITY INCIDENT:
1. CloudTrail alert: API calls from unfamiliar region
2. GuardDuty finding: Cryptojacking malware detected
3. Inspector scan: Unnecessary port 22 open on web server
4. Response: Isolate instance, rotate credentials, patch vulnerability

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🚨 INCIDENT RESPONSE FLOW 🚨🔧

NIST Framework:

1. PREPARE: Train team, create playbooks
2. DETECT: Monitoring, alerting, anomaly detection  
3. CONTAIN: Isolate affected systems
4. ERADICATE: Remove malware, close vulnerabilities
5. RECOVER: Restore systems, verify integrity
6. LESSONS: Document, improve processes

Stellar Café Incident Response:

PHISHING ATTACK RESPONSE:
1. DETECT: Employee reports suspicious email
2. CONTAIN: Block malicious sender, reset employee credentials
3. ERADICATE: Scan systems for malware, check for data exfiltration
4. RECOVER: Restore from backup if needed, verify system integrity
5. IMPROVE: Additional phishing training, update email filters

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🌟 #DAB’S SECURITY WISDOM 🍃💫

“Security best practices are your daily vitamins - taken consistently to stay healthy. Security controls are your castle walls and moats - built strong to withstand attacks. Threat monitoring is your watchtower guards - always alert for approaching danger. Together, they create a defense that’s proactive, resilient, and intelligent.”

This completes our security fortress! From identity management to threat detection, we’ve built a comprehensive cloud security framework! 🏰🔒

Ready to continue to the next section, 51n5337? 🚀✨