Wrap-up; Terms and definitions from Course 5, Week 3

Here we are at the end of  this section! Can you believe it? 
 I had so much fun exploring the world of vulnerabilities. 
 I hope you felt the same. 
 More importantly, I hope you got a better sense of  how complex a landscape the digital world is. 
 This environment is filled with gaps that attackers can  use to gain unauthorized access to assets,  making it a challenge to defend.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We've explored a lot of information this time around,  so let's quickly recap what we've covered.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You learned about the vulnerability management process,  starting with the defense-in-depth model. 
 You learned about the layers of  this security framework and  how each of them work together  to build a stronger defense.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You then learned about the CVE list  that's used to find cataloged vulnerabilities. 
 This is a great addition to  your growing security toolbox.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 After that, you learned of  the attack surfaces that businesses protect. 
 We discussed physical and digital surfaces  and the challenges of defending the cloud.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We finished up by exploring common attack vectors,  where you learned how security teams  use an attacker mindset to  identify the security gaps  that cyber criminals try to exploit. 
   Every one of the vulnerabilities that we've discussed  so far is faced with a number of threats.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 When we get back together,  we're going to expand our attacker mindset  even further by  exploring specific type of attacks  that cybercriminals commonly use. 
 We'll look at things like malware and the techniques  attackers use to compromise defense systems. 
 By exploring how these tools and tactics work,  you'll gain a clearer understanding  of the threats they pose. 
 We'll then wrap up by investigating how security teams  stop these threats from  damaging our organizations' operations,  their reputation, and most importantly,  their customers and employees.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 You've done a fantastic job getting to this point. 
 When you're ready, let's finish the journey together. 
 I'm looking forward to being back with you again. 
 
 
 
 
 Glossary terms from week 3  
 Advanced persistent threat (APT): An instance when a threat actor maintains unauthorized access to a system for an extended period of time  
 Attack surface: All the potential vulnerabilities that a threat actor could exploit 
 Attack tree: A diagram that maps threats to assets 
 Attack vector: The pathways attackers use to penetrate security defenses  
 Bug bounty: Programs that encourage freelance hackers to find and report vulnerabilities 
 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE®) list: An openly accessible dictionary of known vulnerabilities and exposures 
 Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS): A measurement system that scores the severity of a vulnerability 
 CVE Numbering Authority (CNA): An organization that volunteers to analyze and distribute information on eligible CVEs 
 Defense in depth: A layered approach to vulnerability management that reduces risk 
 Exploit: A way of taking advantage of a vulnerability 
 Exposure: A mistake that can be exploited by a threat 
 Hacker: Any person who uses computers to gain access to computer systems, networks, or data 
 MITRE: A collection of non-profit research and development centers 
 Security hardening: The process of strengthening a system to reduce its vulnerability and attack surface 
 Threat actor: Any person or group who presents a security risk 
 Vulnerability: A weakness that can be exploited by a threat 
 Vulnerability assessment: The internal review process of a company’s security systems 
 Vulnerability management: The process of finding and patching vulnerabilities 
 Vulnerability scanner: Software that automatically compares existing common vulnerabilities and exposures against the technologies on the network 
 Zero-day: An exploit that was previously unknown