Mastering Cybersecurity

Privilege escalation occurs when a user or attacker obtains permissions beyond those originally assigned, allowing access to restricted functions, data, or systems. Certification exams may distinguish vertical privilege escalation, in which someone gains a more powerful role, from horizontal privilege escalation, in which someone accesses another user’s resources at a similar permission level. An attacker might exploit a software flaw to become an administrator or manipulate an application request to view another customer’s records. Defenses include least privilege, secure coding, patch management, role-based access control, privileged-access management, application authorization checks, and monitoring for unusual permission changes. Investigators should identify the original access level, determine how privileges changed, review actions performed afterward, and remove any persistence created with the elevated access. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Session hijacking occurs when an attacker steals, predicts, intercepts, or reuses the token that an application relies on to recognize an authenticated user. Certification exams may test why possession of a session cookie or bearer token can allow access without entering the victim’s password or completing multifactor authentication again. Attackers may obtain session information through malware, insecure connections, cross-site scripting, exposed logs, or compromised browsers. Defenses include encrypted communications, secure cookie attributes, short session lifetimes, token rotation, reauthentication for sensitive actions, browser protections, and immediate session revocation after suspicious activity. During an investigation, defenders should terminate active sessions, reset credentials when appropriate, review changes made during the compromised period, and determine how the session information was exposed. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

MFA fatigue is an attack in which a threat actor repeatedly sends multifactor authentication prompts to a user after obtaining or guessing the user’s password. Certification questions may describe numerous unexpected approval requests and ask candidates to identify the attack or select the strongest mitigation. The attacker expects the user to approve a prompt accidentally, out of frustration, or because a convincing phone call or message claims the request is legitimate. Number matching, contextual login details, limited prompt frequency, user reporting options, and phishing-resistant authentication methods reduce this risk. Users should deny unexpected requests and report them immediately rather than simply ignoring repeated prompts. Security teams should investigate the originating login attempts, reset compromised credentials, revoke sessions, review account activity, and determine whether the attacker achieved access. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Credential stuffing is an attack that uses stolen username-and-password combinations from one service to attempt access to accounts on other services. Certification exams frequently connect this technique with password reuse because the attack succeeds when a person uses the same credentials across multiple websites or applications. Attackers may automate thousands of login attempts and then exploit successful access for fraud, data theft, account takeover, or additional credential collection. Defenses include unique passwords, password managers, multifactor authentication, breached-password detection, login-rate controls, device and location analysis, and alerts for unusual authentication patterns. When investigating suspected credential stuffing, defenders should identify affected accounts, terminate active sessions, reset credentials, review account changes, and determine whether the compromised password was reused elsewhere. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Password spraying is an authentication attack in which an attacker tests one or a small number of commonly used passwords against many different accounts. Certification exams may ask candidates to distinguish this method from a traditional brute-force attack that repeatedly targets one account with many password combinations. By distributing attempts across multiple usernames, the attacker may avoid account-lockout thresholds and make the activity appear less obvious. Passwords based on seasons, company names, welcome phrases, or predictable patterns are common targets. Defenses include multifactor authentication, banned-password lists, strong password policies, smart lockout controls, centralized authentication monitoring, and alerts for repeated failures across many accounts. Investigators should examine the source, timing, affected usernames, successful logins, and whether the attempts continued from additional addresses. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Account deprovisioning is the process of disabling, removing, or modifying access when a person leaves an organization, changes roles, completes a contract, or no longer requires specific privileges. Certification exams often test whether candidates understand that disabling a primary directory account may not eliminate every form of access. A departing user may still have active cloud sessions, application accounts, virtual private network credentials, mobile devices, shared passwords, physical badges, API tokens, or locally stored information. Effective deprovisioning requires coordination among human resources, management, information technology, security, facilities, and application owners. Organizations should use documented checklists, automated identity workflows, immediate action for high-risk departures, verification of completed steps, and follow-up reviews to confirm that no overlooked access remains. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

A dormant account is an enabled account that has not been used for an extended period but still retains the ability to authenticate or access resources. Certification questions may present an old employee, vendor, administrator, test, or service account and ask why it creates risk. Because dormant accounts are rarely monitored by their original owners, attackers may use them without immediately attracting attention. They may also retain outdated passwords, excessive permissions, or access to systems that are no longer reviewed. Organizations should define inactivity thresholds, identify unused accounts automatically, confirm whether they remain necessary, and disable or remove them according to policy. Service accounts require additional investigation because inactivity in interactive logins does not always mean the account is unused by an application or scheduled process. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

An access review is a formal examination of user, administrator, service, and application permissions to determine whether each account still requires its assigned access. Certification exams may describe excessive or outdated privileges and ask which governance activity should identify and correct them. Reviewers should compare permissions with current job duties, employment status, business ownership, segregation requirements, and approved access requests. Managers, system owners, data owners, and security personnel may all participate because no single reviewer may understand every permission. A meaningful review requires evidence, informed decisions, documented approval, and prompt removal of unnecessary access rather than simply distributing a spreadsheet for confirmation. Regular access reviews help identify privilege accumulation, dormant accounts, unauthorized role changes, and access that remained after transfers or project completion. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Separation of duties is a control that divides a sensitive task or business process among multiple individuals or roles so that one person cannot complete every critical step independently. Certification exams may test this principle through scenarios involving financial transactions, system changes, account creation, or access approval. For example, one administrator may request a firewall change, another may approve it, and a third may implement or review it. This division reduces the opportunity for fraud, unauthorized activity, and undetected mistakes. Effective separation of duties requires clearly assigned responsibilities, independent approval, documented actions, and monitoring for users who accumulate conflicting roles. Organizations should also establish compensating controls when limited staffing makes complete separation difficult. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!

Least privilege is the security principle of granting a user, application, service, or device only the permissions required to perform its assigned function and no more. Certification exams often present scenarios involving excessive access and ask which control would most effectively limit the resulting risk. An employee who only prepares reports should not have permission to modify payroll records, and a service account used to read a database should not be able to delete tables. Administrators should define roles carefully, separate standard and privileged accounts, review permissions regularly, and remove access when responsibilities change. Applying least privilege reduces the damage caused by mistakes, malware, compromised credentials, and malicious insiders while still allowing authorized work to continue. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with. And dont forget Cyberauthor.me for the companion study guide and flash cards!