What are the main characteristics of a network operating system?
To start off, network operating systems provide general, basic support for an OS for clients across an entire network. They also provide support for devices like printers, or applications that need to be shared on the network. Generally, they will include a shared database, or a file sharing system similar that can be used by networked clients. Finally, they have a variety of security protocols in place to prevent unauthorized access, and limit access should an intrusion be successful.
Compare DHCP with APIPA. What are the benefits of having both of these protocols available within a network?
DHCP automatically hosts with an IP address when it connects to a network while APIPA allows clients to obtain IP addresses when DHCP servers go down. In essence, APIPA acts as a redundancy or a back-up if DHCP server(s) goes down. This way, a network isn’t crippled for clients who are trying to connect to the network.
What are the main differences between a PowerShell variable and a constant?
A constant is a variable that can’t be changed; it must remain the same and it cannot be deleted. A regular variable can be changed and deleted as needed. Constants should be used when you want to assign a value that doesn’t need to change.
Compare the System File Checker tool to the File Signature Verification tool (Sigverif). What are the benefits of having both of these tools available within PowerShell?
The system file checker can help if you run into an issue with a missing, or a corrupted file on your system/network. The File Signature Verification is used to check the integrity of critical OS files, and if they have been digitally signed. System File Checker is generally used on regular files while File Signature Verification is used on much more important files; both works to make sure that system integrity is maintained.
The Shadow Brokers are believed to be affiliated with which country, and what do we know about their origins and allegiances?
The Shadow Brokers appear to be a group of Russian hackers, and there’s a high chance of them being backed by the Russian Government. The reasoning behind this is I the podcast, they say that the Shadow Brokers go active after Russia is mentioned in the news for hacking, and they cause the NSA a lot of embarrassment by leaking their tools and causing them to take a lot of heat. They also seemed to, at one point, support Doland Trump which again lines up with the Russian-affiliate theory in part.
The Shadow Brokers declared their allegiance to which President of the United States, and what implications did this decision have?
They seemed to have allegiance to Trump, who was largely rumored to be in the pocket, or at least allied with, Russian interests. The implications of that strengthened the allegations that Russia was support Trump, they had a hand in messing with the 2016 elections, and that they were using it as a huge opportunity to destabilize the US internally, and externally. A hacker group that is largely suspected to be allied with Russia, leaking NSA tools, and credentials of some members, like Jake in the podcast is a huge threat if they ally with the wrong person.
Once the Shadow Brokers group stole NSA hacking tools, what did they attempt to do with stolen tools, and should we have questions about the security of government networks and the safety of confidential data?
After stealing the NSA tools, they basically just dropped them out into the public for any hacker, or script kiddie to use. The biggest threat posed by them being public instead of just the Shadow Brokers stealing them to use was now that everyone, everywhere, potentially could be a cyber threat. You could potentially track the one threat, but now you have potentially millions of threats to look out for until who knows when.
I think the NSA needs to re-evaluate who has access to these tools, and where they store them. If they were leaked once, even more sophisticated tools or info could leak again