CPTIA Exam Dumps : CREST Practitioner Threat Intelligence Analyst

Ping sweeping is a technique used in network reconnaissance to identify which IP addresses in a range are active or live. By sending ICMP echo requests ("ping") to multiple hosts and observing which ones respond, an attacker or, in this case, a red team member like Allan, can determine which systems are up and potentially vulnerable to further exploration or attack. This method is foundational for mapping the network before deploying more targeted exploits or scans.

References:EC-Council's Certified Incident Handler (CREST CPTIA) program discusses various reconnaissance techniques, including ping sweeping, as a preliminary step in network analysis and vulnerability assessment.

In the scenario described, Dickson is performing an active assessment. This type of vulnerability assessment involves using automated tools to actively scan and probe the network for identifying hosts, services, and vulnerabilities. Unlike passive assessments, which rely on monitoring network traffic without direct interaction with the targets, active assessments engage directly with the network infrastructure to discover vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and other security issues by sending data to systems and analyzing the responses. This approach provides a more immediate and detailed view of the security posture but can also generate detectable traffic that might be noticed by defensive systems or affect the performance of live systems.

References:The CREST CPTIA curriculum by EC-Council includes discussions on various methods of conducting vulnerability assessments, highlighting the differences between active and passive techniques, as well as the contexts in which each is most appropriately used.

During the threat modeling process, Mr. Andrews is in the stage of threat profiling and attribution, where he is collecting important information about the threat actor and characterizing the analytic behavior of the adversary. This stage involves understanding the technological details, goals, motives, and potential capabilities of the adversaries, which is essential for building effective countermeasures. Threat profiling and attribution help in creating a detailed picture of the adversary, contributing to a more focused and effective defense strategy.References:

"The Art of Threat Profiling," by John Pirc, SANS Institute Reading Room

"Threat Modeling: Designing for Security," by Adam Shostack