200-201 Exam Dumps - Cisco CyberOps Associate Questions and Answers

A rootkit is a type of malicious software specifically designed to maintain persistent, unauthorized control over a compromised system while evading detection. Rootkits operate by embedding themselves deep within the operating system, often at the kernel level, allowing attackers to hide processes, files, network connections, and registry entries.

Once installed, a rootkit enables long-term access even after system reboots, making it a powerful persistence mechanism. Attackers use rootkits to maintain control, execute commands, capture credentials, and install additional malware without alerting security tools or administrators.

Option B, ARP spoofing, is a network-level attack used for traffic interception, not persistence. Option C, DDoS, is an availability attack and does not provide control over a device. Option D, encryption, is a defensive technology and does not grant persistence.

Cybersecurity operations and incident response documentation consistently identify rootkits as high-severity threats because of their stealth, durability, and ability to undermine trust in the operating system. Detecting rootkits often requires specialized tools, integrity checks, and sometimes full system reimaging.

Therefore, the technology used to maintain persistent control of an exploited device is a rootkit, making Option A the correct answer.

The exhibit shows a UNIX command being used to filter data from an Apache access log file. The use of “cat” to display the content of the log file, “grep” to filter specific IP addresses, and “cut” to organize the output are all indicative of operations performed on a UNIX-based system. Additionally, the structure of the logs (GET requests) aligns with the format typically found in Apache server logs. References := The Cisco Cybersecurity source documents or study guide are not directly referenced here as I need to search for specific content related to this question.

 The unauthorized usage of “Tcpdump” tool indicates that the malicious insider was attempting to obtain all information within datagrams passing through a specific interface on the network. Tcpdump allows users to capture packet data from a live network or read packets from a previously saved capture file. References := Cisco CyberOps - Module 3: Network Data and Event Analysis

TOR is a network that enables anonymous communication over the internet by routing the traffic through a series of relays or nodes. TOR alters the data content during transit by encrypting it and the destination information over multiple layers, using a technique called onion routing. Each layer of encryption can only be decrypted by a specific relay in the network, which reveals the next destination. This way, no single relay knows the complete path or the content of the data, making it difficult to trace or monitor the communication. References := Cisco Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals, Module 2: Security Monitoring, Lesson 2.1: The Network as a Sensor, Topic 2.1.3: Network Data Exfiltration Techniques

This type of analysis is deterministic because it assigns fixed values to the scenario and calculates the expected outcomes based on those values. Deterministic analysis does not account for uncertainty or randomness in the scenario. References: https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/on-demand-e-learning/understanding-cisco-cybersecurity-operations-fundamentals-cbrops-v1-0/CSCU-LP-CBROPS-V1-028093.html (Module 3, Lesson 3.1.2)

Delivery: This step involves transmitting the weapon to the target.

Weaponization: In this step, the intruder creates a malware weapon like a virus, worm or such in order to exploit the vulnerabilities of the target. Depending on the target and thepurpose of the attacker, this malware can exploit new, undetected vulnerabilities (also known as the zero-day exploits) or it can focus on a combination of different vulnerabilities.

Reconnaissance: In this step, the attacker / intruder chooses their target. Then they conduct an in-depth research on this target to identify its vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

TCP injection is an attack where the attacker sends crafted packets into an existing TCP session. These packets appear to be part of the session.

The presence of many SYN packets with the same sequence number, source, and destination IP but different payloads indicates that an attacker might be injecting packets into the session.

This method can be used to disrupt communication, inject malicious commands, or manipulate the data being transmitted.

References

Understanding TCP Injection Attacks

Analyzing Packet Captures for Injection Attacks

Network Security Monitoring Techniques