A breach was caused by an insider threat in which customer PII was compromised.
Following the breach, a lead security analyst is asked to determine which vulnerabilities the attacker used to access company resources.
Which of the following should the analyst use to remediate the vulnerabilities?
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D.D.
In this scenario, a security analyst has been tasked with identifying the vulnerabilities that were exploited by an insider threat who caused a breach that resulted in the compromise of customer Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
The analyst's primary goal is to identify and remediate the vulnerabilities that allowed the attacker to gain access to the company's resources. This process involves the following steps:
Identify the attack vector: The analyst must first identify how the attacker gained access to the company's resources. This could involve reviewing logs, interviewing witnesses, or performing a forensic analysis of the affected systems.
Determine the vulnerabilities: Once the attack vector has been identified, the analyst can begin to determine which vulnerabilities were exploited. This could involve reviewing system configurations, patch levels, and other security controls to identify gaps that the attacker was able to exploit.
Prioritize vulnerabilities: Once the vulnerabilities have been identified, the analyst should prioritize them based on their severity and likelihood of exploitation. This will help the organization to focus its resources on addressing the most critical vulnerabilities first.
Remediate vulnerabilities: The final step is to remediate the vulnerabilities that were exploited by the attacker. This could involve deploying patches, updating configurations, or implementing additional security controls to mitigate the risk of future attacks.
In light of these steps, let's analyze the given answer choices and see which one would be the most appropriate for remediating the vulnerabilities that were exploited by the attacker:
A. Protocol analyzer: Protocol analyzers are network diagnostic tools that capture and analyze network traffic. While they can be useful in identifying network vulnerabilities, they are not the best choice for this scenario, as the analyst needs to identify specific vulnerabilities that were exploited to gain access to the company's resources.
B. Root cause analysis: Root cause analysis is a methodology used to identify the underlying cause of a problem. While this could be useful in identifying the root cause of the breach, it is not the best choice for identifying specific vulnerabilities that were exploited.
C. Behavioral analytics: Behavioral analytics is a type of cybersecurity technology that uses machine learning algorithms to detect abnormal behavior on a network. While this could be useful in identifying anomalous behavior that could be indicative of an insider threat, it is not the best choice for identifying specific vulnerabilities that were exploited.
D. Data leak prevention: Data leak prevention (DLP) is a type of cybersecurity technology that is used to prevent sensitive data from leaving an organization's network. While DLP could be useful in preventing future data breaches, it is not the best choice for identifying specific vulnerabilities that were exploited.
Therefore, the best choice for identifying and remediating the vulnerabilities that were exploited by the attacker would be B. Root cause analysis. However, it is important to note that root cause analysis alone may not be sufficient to identify specific vulnerabilities that were exploited, and additional tools and methodologies may need to be used in conjunction with root cause analysis to fully remediate the vulnerabilities.