Security+

A collection of 24 posts

Security+

Why Cryptography is Critical in Cybersecurity

This post explains cryptography's fundamental role in cybersecurity, covering how encryption protects data confidentiality, integrity, and authentication in real-world applications like HTTPS, password storage, and secure messaging.

Security+

How to Implement Security Controls Effectively

A practical guide to implementing security controls effectively, covering the step-by-step process from risk assessment to ongoing maintenance, while highlighting common pitfalls that can undermine security efforts.

Security+

How Change Management Affects Security Protocols

This post explores how change management processes directly impact security protocols, covering risks of poor change control, security-dependent systems, and best practices for maintaining security during organizational changes.

Security+

Understanding the CIA Triad in Security

The CIA Triad—Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability—forms the foundation of information security. This post explains each component with practical examples and real-world applications for Security+ students.

Security+

Types of Security Controls: A Complete Guide

This guide explains the three fundamental types of security controls: preventive controls that stop incidents before they occur, detective controls that identify ongoing threats, and corrective controls that respond to and recover from security incidents. Understanding these control types is essent

Security+

What is Change Management in Security?

Change management security is a structured process for controlling IT system modifications to prevent security vulnerabilities. It involves documenting, reviewing, testing, and monitoring all changes to ensure they don't introduce new risks or break existing security controls.

Security+

What Are Fundamental Security Concepts?

This post introduces the fundamental security concepts essential for Security+ beginners, covering the CIA Triad, authentication vs. authorization, least privilege, defense in depth, and risk management basics. These core principles form the foundation for all cybersecurity learning.

Security+

What Are Security Controls?

Security controls are safeguards that protect information systems through administrative policies, technical solutions, and physical measures. This post covers the three main categories and explains how preventive, detective, and corrective controls work together to create layered defense.

Security+

DoS TCP SYN Attack Mitigation

A DoS (Denial of Service) attack is an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. One common type of DoS attack is the TCP SYN flood attack, which exploits the TCP three-way handshake process. Understanding TCP SYN Flood Attacks In a normal TCP connection

Security+

Mitigating SubSeven attacks

SubSeven – aka: Sub7 and Sub7Server is a backdoor program, in the form of a Trojan, used mostly for causing trouble on computer networks. It can be used for simple attacks such as hiding the mouse cursor and opening applications, but it can also be used for more serious attacks including

Security+

Decrypting Type 7 Passwords (enable password)

Cisco passwords are often stored in hashed or encrypted format in the configuration. The different types of password encryption supported by Cisco devices are: * Type 0 (Cleartext) - The password is stored in plain text and is easily readable. * Type 5 (MD5 hash) - The password is hashed using MD5.

Security+

Mitigating Smurf DoS Attacks

A smurf attack is a form of denial of service (DoS) attack that takes advantage of IP broadcasting and ICMP ping requests to overwhelm a target host with traffic. The attack works by sending ICMP echo requests (ping packets) to a network's broadcast address, with the source IP

Security+

IP Address Spoofing Mitigation with Access Control Lists (ACL)

Understanding IP Spoofing IP spoofing is a technique used by attackers to disguise their identity by modifying the source IP address in packet headers. This makes it appear as if the traffic is coming from a trusted source when it's actually originating from a malicious host. Common attack

Security+

Restricting access to Telnet and SSH

By default, when you configure Telnet or SSH on a Cisco router or switch, any device that can reach the management IP address can attempt to connect. This poses a security risk, as unauthorized users could potentially gain access to your network equipment. To enhance security, you can restrict which

CCNA

Port Security on a Cisco Switch

What is Port Security? Port security is a feature available on Cisco Catalyst switches that allows a network administrator to configure individual switch ports to allow only a specific number of source MAC addresses to be learned on that port. This prevents an attacker from connecting a device such as

Security+

Configuring SPAN on a Cisco Switch

SPAN (Switch Port Analyzer) is a feature available on Cisco switches that allows you to mirror traffic from one or more source ports to a destination port for monitoring purposes. This is particularly useful for network troubleshooting, security monitoring, and traffic analysis. Understanding SPAN SPAN works by copying packets from

Security+

Configuring Syslog on Cisco Routers

Syslog is a protocol used by network devices and other systems to send log messages to a central logging server. Cisco routers and switches can be configured to send their log messages to a syslog server, which helps network administrators monitor and troubleshoot their networks more effectively. What is Syslog?

CCNA

Password Recovery Procedure for Cisco Routers

One of the problems that you may find yourself in is that you are not able to access a router due to not knowing the password. This can happen in various scenarios, for example if a network engineer has left the company and has not divulged the password details, or

Security+

Cisco Router Login Lockdown

This post covers various security features built into Cisco IOS that help prevent unauthorized access to your Cisco router or switch. While these features won't stop a determined attacker with physical access to your device, they will provide some basic protection against network-based attacks and casual snooping. Login

CCNA

'Login local' on a Cisco Router

When configuring access to a Cisco router, you have several options for authentication. One common method is using login local, which authenticates users against locally configured usernames and passwords stored on the router itself. What is Login Local? The login local command tells the router to authenticate users using the

IINS

Configuring SSH (Secure Shell) on a Cisco device

SSH (Secure Shell) provides a secure way to connect to and manage network devices remotely. Unlike Telnet, which sends data in plain text, SSH encrypts all communication between the client and server, making it the preferred method for remote administration. This guide will show you how to configure SSH on

CCENT (ICND1)

Setting the enable password and secret on a Cisco device

The enable password and enable secret are used to restrict access to privileged EXEC mode (also known as enable mode) on Cisco devices. Let's explore the differences between them and how to configure each. The difference between enable password and enable secret Both the enable password and enable

CCNA

Hashing, What is it and how does it work?

Hashing, often referred to as a hash function, is a fundamental concept in computer science and cryptography. It's a mathematical algorithm that takes an input (or 'message') of any size and produces a fixed-size string of characters, which appears random. This output is called a hash

CSVPN

How encryption works

Encryption is the process of converting readable information into a scrambled code that hides the information's true meaning. The purpose of encryption is to protect digital data confidentiality as it's stored on computer systems and transmitted using the internet or other computer networks. The outdated data