Exam N10-008 topic 1 question 203 discussion

Chaning my vote to Netflow as Comptia Security+ says Netflow is often used in compromise investigations.

NetFlow is a tremendous security tool. It provides anomaly detection and investigative capabilities that can be helpful in incident response. The Cisco Cyber Threat Defense (CTD) solution uses NetFlow as the primary security visibility tool. NetFlow plays a crucial role in the preparation and identification phases. Information collected in NetFlow records can be used as part of identifying, categorizing, and scoping suspected incidents as part of the identification. NetFlow data also provides great benefits for attack traceback and attribution. In addition, NetFlow provides visibility into what is getting into your network and what information is being exfiltrated out of your network. https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2812391&seqNum=5#:~:text=NetFlow%20is%20a%20tremendous%20security,the%20primary%20security%20visibility%20tool.

Syslog servers collect and store log messages from various network devices, including firewalls, routers, and switches. These logs can provide detailed information about network activities, configuration changes, and security events. Even if the firewall's local logs were wiped, the syslog server would have a record of the events leading up to and during the attack.

I say the answer is B. MIB of the attacked firewall. MIBs can provide information about a firewall that have been involved in an attack such as configuration changes, status info, automatic alerts to malicious activity, operational info, routing tables, and interface details.

I'm siding with A on this one. Yes, netflow can be used to gather evidence of an investigation in the event of a breach in terms of sources, destinations, and volume of network traffic. But, to investigate HOW the firewall was initially compromised the messages sent to the syslog server would be more useful, as you would be looking for an exploitation of a vulnerability or misconfiguration, which you will not find by simply looking at traffic patterns. Look at the option D itself, NetFlow AGGREGATE data. Aggregated data will not be helpful in investigating the root cause of the compromise.

NetFlow aggregate data NetFlow aggregate data provides information about network traffic patterns, such as which IP addresses are communicating with each other and the volume of traffic. While it can be useful for identifying unusual traffic patterns or sources of high traffic that might indicate suspicious activity, it generally provides less detail about specific events or changes compared to syslog server messages. So, for detailed data about the firewall's configuration and logs, syslog server messages would still be the most detailed source.

NetFlow is used in compromise situations.

NetFlow data provides detailed information about traffic flows on all network segments

A is correct i think, because it is a border firewall, and if it was attacked from outside, NetFlow will not have captured anything of it. The syslog server in the internal network however, will very likely still have the firewall logs.

With NetFlow Data, you can see what type of traffic is consuming all the resources on the network. You can see if it's Facebook, or Twitter. You may not want a lot of your bandwidth being used by people browsing social media, but if you're a social media marketing company, you would expect this. You can also look at the application type that is generating traffic such as Web, NetBIOS, VoIP, ICMP, or even BitTorrents. Understanding the data flow of your network, you can increase your overall performance, or even block traffic types that are not generating any value for your business. A network outage can be caused by overuse from a specific website that is trying to consume way too many resources from your network.

Netflow collects the data and interprets it. Sys Log gives the severity level of the problem that the Netflow collects.

While NetFlow data can be helpful in identifying unusual traffic patterns or a large amount of data leaving the network, it might not offer the level of detail needed to determine how the firewall was compromised. NetFlow data is more focused on network traffic and might not capture the specific events or actions that led to the wiping of the firewall's configuration and logs. In contrast, syslog server messages are specifically designed to capture detailed information about various system events, including security-related incidents. They often provide information about specific activities, errors, warnings, and other events that occur on the network devices, making them a valuable source of information for investigating security incidents and determining the cause of network outages or breaches.

I vote for Netflow as it can show you the unusual/suspicious network behavior that compromises the firewall.

GPT picks (A): "Among the given options, the source that can provide the MOST detailed data in an investigation to determine how the firewall was compromised is (A) Syslog server messages. Syslog is a standard protocol used for collecting and sending log messages from devices on a network. When a network attack occurs, various network devices including firewalls can generate syslog messages that provide details about the attack, the affected systems, the methods used, and potentially other contextual information. Syslog messages can give insights into the sequence of events leading up to the network outage, the nature of the attack, the exploited vulnerabilities, and other related information. Analyzing these messages can help security professionals reconstruct the timeline of the attack and understand how the firewall was compromised. The other options have their own uses, but they may not provide as detailed information for this specific scenario."

correct answer is A, because the logs provide the most data

A. Syslog server messages would be the best source to provide the most detailed data in an investigation to determine how the firewall was compromised. Syslog server messages can contain a wealth of information related to network activity, including messages related to firewall activity, such as configuration changes and log messages. In this scenario, reviewing the syslog messages from the firewall prior to the attack could provide insight into the attack method and the source of the attack.

A. Syslog server messages can provide the MOST detailed data in an investigation to determine how the firewall was compromised. Syslog server messages contain detailed log information such as date and time stamps, source and destination IP addresses, and actions taken by the firewall. This information can be used to identify and track any suspicious or malicious activity on the network, helping to determine how the firewall was compromised. The MIB, network baseline reports, and NetFlow aggregate data may also provide valuable information, but syslog messages are likely to provide the most complete and detailed picture of the attack and its aftermath.