Cybersecurity Ops with bash

Chapter 4. Principles of Defense and Offense

In this book, we will be discussing the command line and bash in the context of cybersecurity. To enable that, we include a brief review of the foundational concepts of defensive and offensive security operations in order to establish a common understanding and lexicon.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting information and the systems that store or process information. It is defined by five principles:

• Confidentiality

• Integrity

• Availability

• Nonrepudiation

• Authentication

Confidentiality

Information has confidentiality if it can be accessed and read only by authorized users. Authorized users typically include the person generating the information and the intended recipients of the information. Violating confidentiality is often the goal of many cyberattacks. To violate confidentiality attackers may intercept the information while in transit (such as over an insecure WiFi connection or the internet), or they may bypass security controls on a system to steal the information while at rest.

Information commonly targeted by attackers includes personal communications (e-mail, text messages), pictures, trade secrets, payment information (credit/debit card numbers), personal identifiers (social security numbers), and sensitive government and military information.

Encryption and access control are typical mechanisms used to protect confidentiality.

Integrity

Information has integrity if it can be modified only ...