About Lesson
Key Indicators of Cybersecurity Incidents
To identify a cybersecurity incident, organizations must look for specific signs or indicators of compromise (IOCs). These are pieces of evidence that point to potential malicious activities occurring within an organization’s IT environment. IOCs can be categorized into:
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns: Unexplained spikes in network traffic, especially outbound traffic to external servers, could indicate data exfiltration or a DoS attack.
- Suspicious IP addresses: Connections to known malicious IP addresses or unusual foreign IP addresses could indicate a remote attacker.
- Unusual port activity: Attacks often exploit specific ports to gain unauthorized access to systems. Monitoring open ports and associated traffic can help identify malicious behavior.
Host Indicators:
- System crashes: Unexplained system crashes or slowdowns may signal that malware has infected the system.
- Unusual file changes: Unexpected modifications to system files or executables could indicate that malware is altering the system’s behavior.
- Unauthorized access attempts: Multiple failed login attempts or suspicious logins from unfamiliar locations could indicate brute force attacks or credential stuffing.
Application Indicators:
- Changes to application configurations: Attackers often modify application configurations to exploit vulnerabilities.
- Error messages: Repeated or unusual error messages may be the result of malware manipulating the application.
User Behavior Indicators:
- Abnormal user activity: This could involve a user accessing files or systems they normally don’t interact with, potentially indicating a compromised account.
- Out-of-office user logins: If employees or administrators are logging in from unusual locations or outside business hours, it might indicate unauthorized access.
Environmental Indicators:
- Unusual system resource usage: An unexpected increase in CPU, memory, or disk usage may indicate malware activity such as crypto-mining or the use of malicious processes.
- Presence of unknown files or processes: If new or suspicious files are found, especially in system directories, this can indicate an attack or compromise.