New Release 300-215 CyberOps Professional Questions

The string shown is long, alphanumeric, and includes both uppercase and lowercase letters with numbers—characteristics of Base64 encoding. This format is widely used to obfuscate payloads in malicious scripts, particularly in phishing or malware campaigns. Base64 encoding is also supported by Python and other platforms for data transformation.

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The syntax in the code snippet includes:

On Error Resume Next– a classic VBScript error-handling directive.

function ... end functionstructure.

Use ofMid(),Chr(), andAsc()functions – all commonly used in VBScript for string manipulation.

CInt()for conversion – typical in VBScript.

These characteristics alignexactly with VBScript, which is frequently used in malicious macros and obfuscated payloads for malware distribution, as covered in the Cisco CyberOps Associate curriculum when analyzing scripts and encoded threats.

TheCisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (Firepower)includes advanced capabilities such as intrusion prevention, URL filtering, and deep packet inspection. According to the CyberOps guide, it can detect and block C2 communications by analyzing traffic patterns and comparing them to threat intelligence data. The guide specifically states: "Advanced solutions such as Firepower provide detection capabilities for command and control (C2) traffic by identifying unusual outbound connections and behavioral anomalies".

Fileless malwareoperates in memory and often leverages legitimate tools such asPowerShellto avoid traditional file-based detection. Since these threats don't leave typical file traces, analysts must rely onPowerShell event logsto trace suspicious or unauthorized script execution.

The Cisco CyberOps Associate guide explicitly states:

“PowerShell logs provide insight into script block execution and can reveal indicators of fileless attacks that reside in memory.”

Hence,PowerShell event logsare the most effective forensic source for detecting fileless malware activity on Windows systems.