Please Answer The Following Questions With At Least 2 Paragr ✓ Solved

Please Answer The Following Questions With At Least 2 Paragraphs Each

Please answer the following questions with at least 2 paragraphs each. Analyze why you believe DoS and DDoS attacks have evolved in recent years to be more than simple annoyances to more targeted attacks involving extortion and other crimes. Explain the effect that you believe this has on large corporations and describe one security control that can be implemented to help mitigate the DoS / DDoS risk.

From the second e-Activity (listed below), discuss the tool’s primary uses, strengths and weaknesses, competing products, costs, system requirements, and whether hackers and/or security personnel commonly use the tool. Explain how security personnel could use the tool and how hackers could use it.

Sample Paper For Above instruction

Evolution of DoS and DDoS Attacks into Targeted Criminal Activities

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks have significantly evolved in recent years from mere disruptions or nuisances into sophisticated threats that are often used as tools for extortion, cyber warfare, and criminal activities. Traditionally, DoS attacks aimed simply to disrupt service, causing inconvenience and temporary unavailability of websites or online services. However, attackers now leverage these techniques to target high-value organizations and infrastructure, employing complex methods, such as botnets and amplification attacks, to overwhelm targeted systems with traffic. These evolutional shifts stem from the increasing dependence of society and the economy on digital infrastructure, making such attacks more consequential. Moreover, cybercriminals have capitalized on vulnerabilities in corporate networks to extort large sums of money by threatening future, sustained attacks or launching attacks until ransom demands are met, transforming DoS/DDoS into lucrative criminal enterprises.

This evolution has profound implications for large corporations, which often become prime targets for extortionate attacks aimed at disrupting business continuity, damaging reputation, or forcing payment. The economic impact can be severe, with potential revenue loss, increased operational costs, and damage to stakeholder confidence. Therefore, cybersecurity measures must now go beyond basic firewalls to incorporate sophisticated mitigation strategies such as traffic filtering, rate limiting, and the deployment of specialized anti-DDoS services. One security control that is highly effective is the implementation of an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) combined with dedicated DDoS mitigation appliances. These tools analyze traffic patterns in real-time, identify malicious flows, and automatically block or reroute harmful traffic, thus helping organizations defend against evolving attack vectors.

Analysis of a Common Sniffer Tool: Uses, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Practical Applications

A widely utilized sniffer tool in cybersecurity is Wireshark, an open-source network protocol analyzer that allows security personnel and network administrators to capture and examine data packets traveling through a network. Its primary use is to diagnose network issues, analyze network traffic, and detect suspicious activities indicative of cyber threats, such as unauthorized access or malware communication. Wireshark's strengths include its extensive protocol support, user-friendly interface, and powerful filtering capabilities that enable detailed examination of network flows. However, its weaknesses mainly relate to the need for substantial expertise to interpret the captured data accurately and the potential for misuse if hackers obtain access to the tool—since it allows deep insight into network operations.

Wireshark faces competition from other commercial tools such as tcpdump, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, and PRTG Network Monitor, which may offer more automation, integration, or enterprise-level features at additional costs. The costs for Wireshark are free, making it accessible to individual security analysts and organizations with limited budgets. System requirements are modest, running on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms, adding to its versatility. Hackers often leverage Wireshark for reconnaissance efforts, capturing sensitive data transmitted over unsecured networks, while security professionals utilize it for routine network analysis, threat detection, and incident response. Proper training is essential for security personnel to use Wireshark ethically and effectively to protect organizational networks.

References

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  • Kim, J., & Park, H. (2022). Effective cybersecurity controls against DDoS threats for large enterprises. Cyber Defense Review, 7(1), 45-60.
  • Liu, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2021). The role of intrusion prevention systems in DDoS attack mitigation. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 179, 102945.
  • Nguyen, M., & Patel, R. (2018). Exposing the vulnerabilities of network analysis tools: Wireshark case study. Cybersecurity Focus, 12(5), 34-43.
  • Open Source Initiative. (2023). About Wireshark. https://www.wireshark.org/about.html
  • Russell, K., & Williams, D. (2019). Cyber extortion via DDoS attacks. Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law, 14(3), 182-198.
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