Advanced Security Practitioner

(57) An engineer maintains a corporate-owned mobility infrastructure, and the organization requires that all web browsing using corporate-owned resources be monitored. Which of the following would allow the organization to meet its requirement? (Choose two.) A. Exempt mobile devices from the requirement, as this will lead to privacy violations B. Configure the devices to use an always-on IPSec VPN C. Configure all management traffic to be tunneled into the enterprise via TLS D. Implement a VDI solution and deploy supporting client apps to devices E. Restrict application permissions to establish only HTTPS connections outside of the enterprise boundary

--> B. Configure the devices to use an always-on IPSec VPN, E. Restrict application permissions to establish only HTTPS connections outside of the enterprise boundary

(68) A business is growing and starting to branch out into other locations. In anticipation of opening an office in a different country, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and legal team agree they need to meet the following criteria regarding data to open the new office: Store taxation-related documents for five years Store customer addresses in an encrypted format Destroy customer information after one year Keep data only in the customer's home country Which of the following should the CISO implement to BEST meet these requirements? (Choose three.) A. Capacity planning policy B. Data retention policy C. Data classification standard D. Legal compliance policy E. Data sovereignty policy F. Backup policy G. Acceptable use policy H. Encryption standard

--> B. Data retention policy, C. Data classification standard, E. Data sovereignty policy (could be wrong; investigate)

(39) A security consultant is attempting to discover if the company is utilizing databases on client machines to store the customer data. The consultant reviews the following information: Protocol Local Address Foreign Address Status TCP 127.0.0.1 172.16.10.101:25 Connection established TCP 127.0.0.1 172.16.20.45:443 Connection established UDP 127.0.0.1 172.16.20.80:53 Waiting listening TCP 172.16.10.10:1433 172.16.10.34 Connection established Which of the following commands would have provided this output? A. arp -s B. netstat -a C. ifconfig -arp D. sqlmap -w

--> B. netstat -a

(37) The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has asked the security team to determine whether the organization is susceptible to a zero-day exploit utilized in the banking industry and whether attribution is possible. The CISO has asked what process would be utilized to gather the information, and then wants to apply signatureless controls to stop these kinds of attacks in the future. Which of the following are the MOST appropriate ordered steps to take to meet the CISO-s request? A. 1. Perform the ongoing research of the best practices 2. Determine current vulnerabilities and threats 3. Apply Big Data techniques 4. Use antivirus control B. 1. Apply artificial intelligence algorithms for detection 2. Inform the CERT team 3. Research threat intelligence and potential adversaries 4. Utilize threat intelligence to apply Big Data techniques C. 1. Obtain the latest IOCs from the open source repositories 2. Perform a sweep across the network to identify positive matches 3. Sandbox any suspicious files 4. Notify the CERT team to apply a future proof threat model D. 1. Analyze the current threat intelligence 2. Utilize information sharing to obtain the latest industry IOCs 3. Perform a sweep across the network to identify positive matches 4. Apply machine learning algorithms

--> C

(8) Two new technical SMB security settings have been enforced and have also become policies that increase secure communications. Network Client: Digitally sign communication Network Server: Digitally sign communication A storage administrator in a remote location with a legacy storage array, which contains time-sensitive data, reports employees can no longer connect to their department shares. Which of the following mitigation strategies should an information security manager recommend to the data owner? A. Accept the risk, reverse the settings for the remote location, and have the remote location file a risk exception until the legacy storage device can be upgraded B. Accept the risk for the remote location, and reverse the settings indefinitely since the legacy storage device will not be upgraded C. Mitigate the risk for the remote location by suggesting a move to a cloud service provider. Have the remote location request an indefinite risk exception for the use of cloud storage D. Avoid the risk, leave the settings alone, and decommission the legacy storage device

--> A. Accept the risk, reverse the settings for the remote location, and have the remote location file a risk exception until the legacy storage device can be upgraded - Server Message Block (SMB) operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used for providing shared access to files, printers, and serial ports and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an authenticated inter-process communication mechanism. Most usage of SMB involves computers running Microsoft Windows, where it was known as "Microsoft Windows Network" before the introduction of Active Directory.

(31) A company monitors the performance of all web servers using WMI. A network administrator informs the security engineer that web servers hosting the company-s client-facing portal are running slowly today. After some investigation, the security engineer notices a large number of attempts at enumerating host information via SNMP from multiple IP addresses. Which of the following would be the BEST technique for the security engineer to employ in an attempt to prevent reconnaissance activity? A. Install a HIPS on the web servers B. Disable inbound traffic from offending sources C. Disable SNMP on the web servers D. Install anti-DDoS protection in the DMZ

--> A. Install a HIPS on the web servers -Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) consists of a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification. WMI is Microsoft's implementation of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and Common Information Model (CIM) standards from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).WMI allows scripting languages (such as VBScript or Windows PowerShell) to manage Microsoft Windows personal computers and servers, both locally and remotely. WMI comes preinstalled in Windows 2000 and in newer Microsoft OSes. It is available as a download for Windows NT, Windows 95 and Windows 98.Microsoft also provides a command-line interface to WMI called Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC).

(71) An organization is currently working with a client to migrate data between a legacy ERP system and a cloud-based ERP tool using a global PaaS provider. As part of the engagement, the organization is performing data deduplication and sanitization of client data to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason for the need to sanitize the client data? A. Data aggregation B. Data sovereignty C. Data isolation D. Data volume E. Data analytics

--> A. Data aggregation

(11) Company XYZ finds itself using more cloud-based business tools, and password management is becoming onerous. Security is important to the company; as a result, password replication and shared accounts are not acceptable. Which of the following implementations addresses the distributed login with centralized authentication and has wide compatibility among SaaS vendors? A. Establish a cloud-based authentication service that supports SAML. B. Implement a new Diameter authentication server with read-only attestation. C. Install a read-only Active Directory server in the corporate DMZ for federation. D. Allow external connections to the existing corporate RADIUS server.

--> A. Establish a cloud-based authentication service that supports SAML.

(33) The risk subcommittee of a corporate board typically maintains a master register of the most prominent risks to the company. A centralized holistic view of risk is particularly important to the corporate Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) because: A. IT systems are maintained in silos to minimize interconnected risks and provide clear risk boundaries used to implement compensating controls B. risks introduced by a system in one business unit can affect other business units in ways in which the individual business units have no awareness C. corporate general counsel requires a single system boundary to determine overall corporate risk exposure D. major risks identified by the subcommittee merit the prioritized allocation of scare funding to address cybersecurity concerns

--> A. IT systems are maintained in silos to minimize interconnected risks and provide clear risk boundaries used to implement compensating controls

(15) A finance manager says that the company needs to ensure that the new system can "replay" data, up to the minute, for every exchange being tracked by the investment departments. The finance manager also states that the company's transactions need to be tracked against this data for a period of five years for compliance. How would a security engineer BEST interpret the finance manager's needs? A. Compliance standards B. User requirements C. Data elements D. Data storage E. Acceptance testing F. Information digest G. System requirements

--> B. User requirements

(7) A penetration tester is conducting an assessment on Comptia.org and runs the following command from a coffee shop while connected to the public Internet: C:\nslookup -querytype=MX comptia.org Server: Unknown Address: 198.51.100.45 comptia.org MX preference=10, mail exchanger = 92.68.102.33 comptia.org MX preference=20, mail exchanger = exchgl.comptia.org exchgl.comptia.org Internet address = 192.168.102.67 Which of the following should the penetration tester conclude about the command output? A. The public/private views on the Comptia.org DNS servers are misconfigured B. Comptia.org is running an older mail server, which may be vulnerable to exploits C. The DNS SPF records have not been updated for Comptia.org D. 192.168.102.67 is a backup mail server that may be more vulnerable to attack

--> B. Comptia.org is running an older mail server, which may be vulnerable to exploits

(22) A company has a difficult time communicating between the security engineers, application developers, and sales staff. The sales staff tends to overpromise the application deliverables. The security engineers and application developers are falling behind schedule. Which of the following should be done to solve this? A. Allow the sales staff to shadow the developers and engineers to see how their sales impact the deliverables. B. Allow the security engineering team to do application development so they understand why it takes so long. C. Allow the application developers to attend a sales conference so they understand how business is done. D. Allow the sales staff to learn application programming and security engineering so they understand the whole lifecycle.

--> A. Allow the sales staff to shadow the developers and engineers to see how their sales impact the deliverables.

(42) An advanced threat emulation engineer is conducting testing against a client's network. The engineer conducts the testing in as realistic a manner as possible. Consequently, the engineer has been gradually ramping up the volume of attacks over a long period of time. Which of the following combinations of techniques would the engineer MOST likely use in this testing? (Choose three.) A. Black box testing B. Gray box testing C. Code review D. Social engineering E. Vulnerability assessment F. Pivoting G. Self-assessment H. White teaming I. External auditing

--> A. Black box testing, E. Vulnerability assessment, F. Pivoting

(83) A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is reviewing and revising system configuration and hardening guides that were developed internally and have been used several years to secure the organization's systems. The CISO knows improvements can be made to the guides. Which of the following would be the BEST source of reference during the revision process? A. CVE database B. Internal security assessment reports C. Industry-accepted standards D. External vulnerability scan reports E. Vendor-specific implementation guides

--> A. CVE database

(20) In an effort to minimize costs, the management of a small candy company wishes to explore a cloud service option for the development of its online applications. The company does not wish to invest heavily in IT infrastructure. Which of the following solutions should be recommended? A. A public IaaS B. A public PaaS C. A public SaaS D. A private SaaS E. A private IaaS F. A private PaaS

--> B. A public PaaS - Public clouds are the most common way of deploying cloud computing. The cloud resources (like servers and storage) are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider and delivered over the Internet. Microsoft Azure is an example of a public cloud. With a public cloud, all hardware, software, and other supporting infrastructure is owned and managed by the cloud provider. In a public cloud, you share the same hardware, storage, and network devices with other organizations or cloud "tenants." You access services and manage your account using a web browser. Public cloud deployments are frequently used to provide web-based email, online office applications, storage, and testing and development environments. (1) Advantages of public clouds: Lower costs—no need to purchase hardware or software, and you pay only for the service you use. (2) No maintenance—your service provider provides the maintenance. (3) Near-unlimited scalability—on-demand resources are available to meet your business needs. (4) High reliability with a vast network of servers ensuring against failure. - A private cloud consists of computing resources used exclusively by one business or organization. The private cloud can be physically located at your organization's on-site datacenter, or it can be hosted by a third-party service provider. But in a private cloud, the services and infrastructure are always maintained on a private network and the hardware and software are dedicated solely to your organization. In this way, a private cloud can make it easier for an organization to customize its resources to meet specific IT requirements. Private clouds are often used by government agencies, financial institutions, any other mid- to large-size organizations with business-critical operations seeking enhanced control over their environment. Advantages of a private clouds: (1) More flexibility—your organization can customize its cloud environment to meet specific business needs. (2) Improved security—resources are not shared with others, so higher levels of control and security are possible. (3) High scalability—private clouds still afford the scalability and efficiency of a public cloud. - Hybrid clouds combine on-premises infrastructure, or private clouds, with public clouds so organizations can reap the advantages of both. In a hybrid cloud, data and applications can move between private and public clouds for greater flexibility and more deployment options. For instance, you can use the public cloud for high-volume, lower-security needs such as web-based email, and the private cloud (or other on-premises infrastructure) for sensitive, business-critical operations like financial reporting. In a hybrid cloud, "cloud bursting" is also an option. This is when an application or resource runs in the private cloud until there is a spike in demand (such as seasonal event like online shopping or tax filing), at which point the organization can "burst through" to the public cloud to tap into additional computing resources. Advantages of hybrid clouds: (1) Control-your organization can maintain a private infrastructure for sensitive assets. (2) Flexibility—you can take advantage of additional resources in the public cloud when you need them. (3) Cost-effectiveness—with the ability to scale to the public cloud, you pay for extra computing power only when needed. (4) Ease—transitioning to the cloud doesn't have to be overwhelming because you can migrate gradually—phasing in workloads over time. - Software as a service (SaaS) allows users to connect to and use cloud-based apps over the Internet. Common examples are email, calendaring and office tools (such as Microsoft Office 365). SaaS provides a complete software solution which you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider. You rent the use of an app for your organisation and your users connect to it over the Internet, usually with a web browser. All of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, app software and app data are located in the service provider's data center. The service provider manages the hardware and software and with the appropriate service agreement, will ensure the availability and the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS allows your organisation to get quickly up and running with an app at minimal upfront cost. Advantages of SaaS: (1) Gain access to sophisticated applications. To provide SaaS apps to users, you don't need to purchase, install, update or maintain any hardware, middleware or software. SaaS makes even sophisticated enterprise applications, such as ERP and CRM, affordable for organisations that lack the resources to buy, deploy and manage the required infrastructure and software themselves. (2) Pay only for what you use. You also save money because the SaaS service automatically scales up and down according to the level of usage. (3) Use free client software. Users can run most SaaS apps directly from their web browser without needing to download and install any software, although some apps require plugins. This means that you don't need to purchase and install special software for your users. (4) Mobilise your workforce easily. SaaS makes it easy to "mobilise" your workforce because users can access SaaS apps and data from any Internet-connected computer or mobile device. You don't need to worry about developing apps to run on different types of computers and devices because the service provider has already done so. In addition, you don't need to bring special expertise onboard to manage the security issues inherent in mobile computing. A carefully chosen service provider will ensure the security of your data, regardless of the type of device consuming it. (5) Access app data from anywhere. With data stored in the cloud, users can access their information from any Internet-connected computer or mobile device. And when app data is stored in the cloud, no data is lost if a user's computer or device fails. - Platform as a service (PaaS) is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications. You purchase the resources you need from a cloud service provider on a pay-as-you-go basis and access them over a secure Internet connection. Like IaaS, PaaS includes infrastructure—servers, storage, and networking—but also middleware, development tools, business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems, and more. PaaS is designed to support the complete web application lifecycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating. PaaS allows you to avoid the expense and complexity of buying and managing software licenses, the underlying application infrastructure and middleware or the development tools and other resources. You manage the applications and services you develop, and the cloud service provider typically manages everything else. Advantages of PaaS: (1) Cut coding time. PaaS development tools can cut the time it takes to code new apps with pre-coded application components built into the platform, such as workflow, directory services, security features, search, and so on. (2) Add development capabilities without adding staff. Platform as a Service components can give your development team new capabilities without your needing to add staff having the required skills. (3) Develop for multiple platforms—including mobile—more easily. Some service providers give you development options for multiple platforms, such as computers, mobile devices, and browsers making cross-platform apps quicker and easier to develop. (4) Use sophisticated tools affordably. A pay-as-you-go model makes it possible for individuals or organizations to use sophisticated development software and business intelligence and analytics tools that they could not afford to purchase outright. (5) Support geographically distributed development teams. Because the development environment is accessed over the Internet, development teams can work together on projects even when team members are in remote locations. (6) Efficiently manage the application lifecycle. PaaS provides all of the capabilities that you need to support the complete web application lifecycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating within the same integrated environment. - Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is an instant computing infrastructure, provisioned and managed over the internet. It's one of the four types of cloud services, along with software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and serverless. IaaS quickly scales up and down with demand, letting you pay only for what you use. It helps you avoid the expense and complexity of buying and managing your own physical servers and other datacenter infrastructure. Each resource is offered as a separate service component, and you only need to rent a particular one for as long as you need it. A cloud computing service provider, such as Azure, manages the infrastructure, while you purchase, install, configure, and manage your own software—operating systems, middleware, and applications. Advantages of IaaS: (1) Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost. IaaS sidesteps the upfront expense of setting up and managing an on-site data centre, making it an economical option for start-ups and businesses testing new ideas. (2) Improves business continuity and disaster recovery. Achieving high availability, business continuity and disaster recovery is expensive, as it requires a significant amount of technology and staff. But with the right service level agreement (SLA) in place, IaaS can reduce this cost, meaning you can access applications and data as usual during a disaster or outage. (3) Innovate rapidly. As soon as you've decided to launch a new product or initiative, the necessary computing infrastructure can be ready in minutes or hours, rather than the days or weeks (and sometimes months) it could take to set up internally. (4) Respond more quickly to shifting business conditions. IaaS enables you to quickly scale up resources to accommodate spikes in demand for your application - during the holidays, for example - then scale resources back down again when activity decreases to save money. (5) Focus on your core business. IaaS frees up your team to focus on your organisation's core business rather than on IT infrastructure. (6) Increase stability, reliability and supportability. With IaaS, there's no need to maintain and upgrade software and hardware or troubleshoot equipment problems. With the appropriate agreement in place, the service provider ensures that your infrastructure is reliable and meets SLAs. (7) Better security. With the appropriate service agreement, a cloud service provider can provide security for your applications and data that may be better than what you can attain in-house. (8) Gets new apps to users faster. Because you don't need to first set up the infrastructure before you can develop and deliver apps, you can get them to users faster with IaaS.

(32) One of the objectives of a bank is to instill a security awareness culture. Which of the following are techniques that could help to achieve this? (Choose two.) A. Blue teaming B. Phishing simulations C. Lunch-and-learn D. Random audits E. Continuous monitoring F. Separation of duties

--> B. Phishing simulations, E. Continuous monitoring

(10) A network engineer wants to deploy user-based authentication across the company's wired and wireless infrastructure at layer 2 of the OSI model. Company policies require that users be centrally managed and authenticated and that each user's network access be controlled based on the user's role within the company. Additionally, the central authentication system must support hierarchical trust and the ability to natively authenticate mobile devices and workstations. Which of the following are needed to implement these requirements? (Select TWO). A. SAML B. WAYF C. LDAP D. RADIUS E. Shibboleth F. PKI

--> C. LDAP, D. RADIUS - Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an open standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between parties, in particular, between an identity provider and a service provider. SAML is an XML-based markup language for security assertions (statements that service providers use to make access-control decisions). SAML is also: A set of XML-based protocol messages, a set of protocol message bindings, and set of profiles (utilizing all mentioned). The single most important use case that SAML addresses is web browser single sign-on (SSO). Single sign-on is relatively easy to accomplish within a security domain (using cookies, for example) but extending SSO across security domains is more difficult and resulted in the proliferation of non-interoperable proprietary technologies. The SAML Web Browser SSO profile was specified and standardized to promote interoperability. (For comparison, the more recent OpenID Connect protocol is an alternative approach to web browser SSO. - Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. The design goals of XML emphasize simplicity, generality, and usability across the Internet. It is a textual data format with strong support via Unicode for different human languages. Although the design of XML focuses on documents, the language is widely used for the representation of arbitrary data structures such as those used in web services. Several schema systems exist to aid in the definition of XML-based languages, while programmers have developed many application programming interfaces (APIs) to aid the processing of XML data. - The goal of a "Where Are You From" (WAYF) service is to guide a user to his or her Identity Provider, aka the "Identity Provider Discovery" service. Basically, all the WAYF has to accomplish is to present the user a list of Identity Providers and redirect the user's web browser to the selected Identity Provider (IdP) or back to the Service Provider (the web application that the user is trying to access). Some WAYFs have additional features which enhance the user's ease-of use. This includes several methods of remembering or guessing the user's Identity Provider selection. Usually by storing a persistent cookie which indicates the user's previous choice of Identity Provider. - The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory services play an important role in developing intranet and Internet applications by allowing the sharing of information about users, systems, networks, services, and applications throughout the network. As examples, directory services may provide any organized set of records, often with a hierarchical structure, such as a corporate email directory. Similarly, a telephone directory is a list of subscribers with an address and a phone number. A common use of LDAP is to provide a central place to store usernames and passwords. This allows many different applications and services to connect to the LDAP server to validate users. LDAP is based on a simpler subset of the standards contained within the X.500 standard. Because of this relationship, LDAP is sometimes called X.500-lite. Protocol Overview: A client starts an LDAP session by connecting to an LDAP server, called a Directory System Agent (DSA), by default on TCP and UDP port 389, or on port 636 for LDAPS (LDAP over SSL, see below).The client then sends an operation request to the server, and the server sends responses in return. With some exceptions, the client does not need to wait for a response before sending the next request, and the server may send the responses in any order. All information is transmitted using Basic Encoding Rules (BER). The client may request the following operations: StartTLS - use the LDAPv3 Transport Layer Security (TLS) extension for a secure connection Bind - authenticate and specify LDAP protocol version Search - search for and/or retrieve directory entries Compare - test if a named entry contains a given attribute value Add a new entry Delete an entry Modify an entry Modify Distinguished Name (DN) - move or rename an entry Abandon - abort a previous request Extended Operation - generic operation used to define other operations Unbind - close the connection (not the inverse of Bind) In addition the server may send "Unsolicited Notifications" that are not responses to any request, e.g. before the connection is timed out. A common alternative method of securing LDAP communication is using an SSL tunnel. The default port for LDAP over SSL is 636. - Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol, operating on port 1812 that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA or Triple A) management for users who connect and use a network service. Because of the broad support and the ubiquitous nature of the RADIUS protocol, it is often used by Internet service providers (ISPs) and enterprises to manage access to the Internet or internal networks, wireless networks, and integrated e-mail services. These networks may incorporate modems, digital subscriber line (DSL), access points, virtual private networks (VPNs), network ports, web servers, etc. RADIUS is a client/server protocol that runs in the application layer, and can use either TCP or UDP as transport. Network access servers, the gateways that control access to a network, usually contain a RADIUS client component that communicates with the RADIUS server. RADIUS is often the back-end of choice for 802.1X authentication as well. The RADIUS server is usually a background process running on a UNIX or Microsoft Windows server. The user or machine sends a request to a Network Access Server (NAS) to gain access to a particular network resource using access credentials. The credentials are passed to the NAS device via the link-layer protocol—for example, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) in the case of many dialup or DSL providers or posted in an HTTPS secure web form. In turn, the NAS sends a RADIUS Access Request message to the RADIUS server, requesting authorization to grant access via the RADIUS protocol.This request includes access credentials, typically in the form of username and password or security certificate provided by the user. Additionally, the request may contain other information which the NAS knows about the user, such as its network address or phone number, and information regarding the user's physical point of attachment to the NAS. The RADIUS server checks that the information is correct using authentication schemes such as PAP, CHAP or EAP. The user's proof of identification is verified, along with, optionally, other information related to the request, such as the user's network address or phone number, account status, and specific network service access privileges. Historically, RADIUS servers checked the user's information against a locally stored flat file database. Modern RADIUS servers can do this, or can refer to external sources—commonly SQL, Kerberos, LDAP, or Active Directory servers—to verify the user's credentials. RADIUS Authentication and Authorization Flow: The RADIUS server then returns one of three responses to the NAS: 1) Access Reject, 2) Access Challenge, or 3) Access Accept. Access Reject: The user is unconditionally denied access to all requested network resources. Reasons may include failure to provide proof of identification or an unknown or inactive user account. Access Challenge: Requests additional information from the user such as a secondary password, PIN, token, or card. Access Challenge is also used in more complex authentication dialogs where a secure tunnel is established between the user machine and the Radius Server in a way that the access credentials are hidden from the NAS. Access Accept: The user is granted access. Once the user is authenticated, the RADIUS server will often check that the user is authorized to use the network service requested. A given user may be allowed to use a company's wireless network, but not its VPN service, for example. Again, this information may be stored locally on the RADIUS server, or may be looked up in an external source such as LDAP or Active Directory. Each of these three RADIUS responses may include a Reply-Message attribute which may give a reason for the rejection, the prompt for the challenge, or a welcome message for the accept. The text in the attribute can be passed on to the user in a return web page. Authorization attributes are conveyed to the NAS stipulating terms of access to be granted. For example, the following authorization attributes may be included in an Access-Accept: The specific IP address to be assigned to the user The address pool from which the user's IP should be chosen The maximum length of time that the user may remain connected An access list, priority queue or other restrictions on a user's access L2TP parameters VLAN parameters Quality of Service (QoS) parameters When a client is configured to use RADIUS, any user of the client presents authentication information to the client. This might be with a customizable login prompt, where the user is expected to enter their username and password. Alternatively, the user might use a link framing protocol such as the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), which has authentication packets which carry this information. Once the client has obtained such information, it may choose to authenticate using RADIUS. To do so, the client creates an "Access- Request" containing such Attributes as the user's name, the user's password, the ID of the client and the Port ID which the user is accessing. When a password is present, it is hidden using a method based on the RSA Message Digest Algorithm MD5. - Shibboleth is a single sign-on log-in system for computer networks and the Internet. It allows people to sign in using just one identity to various systems run by federations of different organizations or institutions. The federations are often universities or public service organizations. The Shibboleth Internet2 middleware initiative created an architecture and open-source implementation for identity management and federated identity-based authentication and authorization (or access control) infrastructure based on Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). Federated identity allows the sharing of information about users from one security domain to the other organizations in a federation. This allows for cross-domain single sign-on and removes the need for content providers to maintain user names and passwords. Identity providers (IdPs) supply user information, while service providers (SPs) consume this information and give access to secure content. Shibboleth's access control is performed by matching attributes supplied by IdPs against rules defined by SPs. An attribute is any piece of information about a user, such as "member of this community", "Alice Smith", or "licensed under contract A". User identity is considered an attribute, and is only passed when explicitly required, which preserves user privacy. Attributes can be written in Java or pulled from directories and databases. Trust between domains is implemented using public key cryptography (often simply TLS server certificates) and metadata that describes providers. The use of information passed is controlled through agreements. Federations are often used to simplify these relationships by aggregating large numbers of providers that agree to use common rules and contracts.

(4) A company has entered into a business agreement with a business partner for managed human resources services. The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has been asked to provide documentation that is required to set up a business-to-business VPN between the two organizations. Which of the following is required in this scenario? A. ISA B. BIA C. SLA D. RA

--> C. SLA

(26) An IT Manager is concerned about errors made during the deployment process for a new model of tablet. Which of the following would suggest best practices and configuration parameters that technicians could follow during the deployment process? A. Automated workflow B. Procedure C. Corporate standard D. Guideline E. Policy

--> D. Guideline

(15) A security analyst is reviewing the corporate MDM settings and notices some disabled settings, which consequently permit users to download programs from untrusted developers and manually install them. After some conversations, it is confirmed that these settings were disabled to support the internal development of mobile applications. The security analyst is now recommending that developers and testers have a separate device profile allowing this, and that the rest of the organization-s users do not have the ability to manually download and install untrusted applications. Which of the following settings should be toggled to achieve the goal? (Choose two.) A. OTA updates B. Remote wiping C. Side loading D. Sandboxing E. Containerization F. Signed applications

--> E. Containerization, F. Signed applications

(13) A recent penetration test identified that a web server has a major vulnerability. The web server hosts a critical shipping application for the company and requires 99.99% availability. Attempts to fix the vulnerability would likely break the application. The shipping application is due to be replaced in the next three months. Which of the following would BEST secure the web server until the replacement web server is ready? A. Patch management B. Antivirus C. Application firewall D. Spam filters E. HIDS

--> E. HIDS

(27) A systems administrator at a medical imaging company discovers protected health information (PHI) on a general purpose file server. Which of the following steps should the administrator take NEXT? A. Isolate all of the PHI on its own VLAN and keep it segregated at Layer 2 B. Immediately encrypt all PHI with AES 256 C. Delete all PHI from the network until the legal department is consulted D. Consult the legal department to determine legal requirements

--> B. Immediately encrypt all PHI with AES 256

(69) A company contracts a security engineer to perform a penetration test of its client-facing web portal. Which of the following activities would be MOST appropriate? A. Use a protocol analyzer against the site to see if data input can be replayed from the browser B. Scan the website through an interception proxy and identify areas for the code injection C. Scan the site with a port scanner to identify vulnerable services running on the web server D. Use network enumeration tools to identify if the server is running behind a load balancer

--> C. Scan the site with a port scanner to identify vulnerable services running on the web server

(52) A security architect is implementing security measures in response to an external audit that found vulnerabilities in the corporate collaboration tool suite. The report identified the lack of any mechanism to provide confidentiality for electronic correspondence between users and between users and group mailboxes. Which of the following controls would BEST mitigate the identified vulnerability? A. Issue digital certificates to all users, including owners of group mailboxes, and enable S/MIME B. Federate with an existing PKI provider, and reject all non-signed emails C. Implement two-factor email authentication, and require users to hash all email messages upon receipt D. Provide digital certificates to all systems, and eliminate the user group or shared mailboxes

--> A. Issue digital certificates to all users, including owners of group mailboxes, and enable S/MIME

(6) A penetration tester has been contracted to conduct a physical assessment of a site. Which of the following is the MOST plausible method of social engineering to be conducted during this engagement? A. Randomly calling customer employees and posing as a help desk technician requiring user password to resolve issues B. Posing as a copier service technician and indicating the equipment had -phoned home- to alert the technician for a service call C. Simulating an illness while at a client location for a sales call and then recovering once listening devices are installed D. Obtaining fake government credentials and impersonating law enforcement to gain access to a company facility

--> A. Randomly calling customer employees and posing as a help desk technician requiring user password to resolve issues

(38) A software development team is conducting functional and user acceptance testing of internally developed web applications using a COTS solution. For automated testing, the solution uses valid user credentials from the enterprise directory to authenticate to each application. The solution stores the username in plain text and the corresponding password as an encoded string in a script within a file, located on a globally accessible network share. The account credentials used belong to the development team lead. To reduce the risks associated with this scenario while minimizing disruption to ongoing testing, which of the following are the BEST actions to take? (Choose two.) A. Restrict access to the network share by adding a group only for developers to the share's ACL B. Implement a new COTS solution that does not use hard-coded credentials and integrates with directory services C. Obfuscate the username within the script file with encoding to prevent easy identification and the account used D. Provision a new user account within the enterprise directory and enable its use for authentication to the target applications. Share the username and password with all developers for use in their individual scripts E. Redesign the web applications to accept single-use, local account credentials for authentication

--> A. Restrict access to the network share by adding a group only for developers to the share's ACL, B. Implement a new COTS solution that does not use hard-coded credentials and integrates with directory services

(36) The board of a financial services company has requested that the senior security analyst acts as a cybersecurity advisor in order to comply with recent federal legislation. The analyst is required to give a report on current cybersecurity and threat trends in the financial services industry at the next board meeting. Which of the following would be the BEST methods to prepare this report? (Choose two.) A. Review the CVE database for critical exploits over the past year B. Use social media to contact industry analysts C. Use intelligence gathered from the Internet relay chat channels D. Request information from security vendors and government agencies E. Perform a penetration test of the competitor-s network and share the results with the board

--> A. Review the CVE database for critical exploits over the past year, D. Request information from security vendors and government agencies

(18) A company has hired an external security consultant to conduct a thorough review of all aspects of corporate security. The company is particularly concerned about unauthorized access to its physical offices resulting in network compromises. Which of the following should the consultant recommend be performed to evaluate potential risks? A. The consultant should attempt to gain access to physical offices through social engineering and then attempt data exfiltration B. The consultant should be granted access to all physical access control systems to review logs and evaluate the likelihood of the threat C. The company should conduct internal audits of access logs and employee social media feeds to identify potential insider threats D. The company should install a temporary CCTV system to detect unauthorized access to physical offices

--> A. The consultant should attempt to gain access to physical offices through social engineering and then attempt data exfiltration

(18) A small company is developing a new Internet-facing web application. The security requirements are: 1. Users of the web application must be uniquely identified and authenticated. 2. Users of the web application will not be added to the company's directory services. 3. Passwords must not be stored in the code. Which of the following meets these requirements? A. Use OpenID and allow a third party to authenticate users. B. Use TLS with a shared client certificate for all users. C. Use SAML with federated directory services. D. Use Kerberos and browsers that support SAML.

--> A. Use OpenID and allow a third party to authenticate users.

(67) An architect was recently hired by a power utility to increase the security posture of the company's power generation and distribution sites. Upon review, the architect identifies legacy hardware with highly vulnerable and unsupported software driving critical operations. These systems must exchange data with each other, be highly synchronized, and pull from the Internet time sources. Which of the following architectural decisions would BEST reduce the likelihood of a successful attack without harming operational capability? (Choose two.) A. Isolate the systems on their own network B. Install a firewall and IDS between systems and the LAN C. Employ own stratum-0 and stratum-1 NTP servers D. Upgrade the software on critical systems E. Configure the systems to use government-hosted NTP servers

--> B. Install a firewall and IDS between systems and the LAN, E. Configure the systems to use government-hosted NTP servers (Could be wrong, investigate) - A Stratum 1 Time Server is a network appliance that receives precise time from a hardware reference clock to provide a time resource to client computers. Network Time Protocol (NTP) implements a hierarchical system of time references. The stratum, or hierarchy level, represents the distance of a time server from the source reference clock. At the highest level, Stratum 0 reference clocks are hardware clocks. These include Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and national time and frequency radio broadcasts.

(17) An organization is in the process of integrating its operational technology and information technology areas. As part of the integration, some of the cultural aspects it would like to see include more efficient use of resources during change windows, better protection of critical infrastructure, and the ability to respond to incidents. The following observations have been identified: The ICS supplier has specified that any software installed will result in lack of support. There is no documented trust boundary defined between the SCADA and corporate networks. Operational technology staff have to manage the SCADA equipment via the engineering workstation. There is a lack of understanding of what is within the SCADA network. Which of the following capabilities would BEST improve the security position? A. VNC, router, and HIPS B. SIEM, VPN, and firewall C. Proxy, VPN, and WAF D. IDS, NAC, and log monitoring

--> A. VNC, router, and HIPS -Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a graphical desktop-sharing system that uses the Remote Frame Buffer protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse events from one computer to another, relaying the graphical-screen updates back in the other direction, over a network. -A web application firewall (WAF) filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web application. A WAF is differentiated from a regular firewall in that a WAF is able to filter the content of specific web applications while regular firewalls serve as a safety gate between servers. -Network Access Control (NAC) is an approach to computer security that attempts to unify endpoint security technology (such as antivirus, host intrusion prevention, and vulnerability assessment), user or system authentication and network security enforcement.

(62) A hospital's security team recently determined its network was breached and patient data was accessed by an external entity. The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the hospital approaches the executive management team with this information, reports the vulnerability that led to the breach has already been remediated, and explains the team is continuing to follow the appropriate incident response plan. The executive team is concerned about the hospital's brand reputation and asks the CISO when the incident should be disclosed to the affected patients. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate response? A. When it is mandated by their legal and regulatory requirements B. As soon as possible in the interest of the patients C. As soon as the public relations department is ready to be interviewed D. When all steps related to the incident response plan are completed E. Upon the approval of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to release information to the public

--> A. When it is mandated by their legal and regulatory requirements

(25) An IT manager is concerned about the cost of implementing a web filtering solution in an effort to mitigate the risks associated with malware and resulting data leakage. Given that the ARO is twice per year, the ALE resulting from a data leak is $25,000 and the ALE after implementing the web filter is $15,000. The web filtering solution will cost the organization $10,000 per year. Which of the following values is the single loss expectancy of a data leakage event after implementing the web filtering solution? A. $0 B. $7,500 C. $10,000 D. $12,500 E. $15,000

--> B. $7,500

(72) The code snippet below controls all electronic door locks to a secure facility in which the doors should only fail open in an emergency. In the code, "criticalValue" indicates if an emergency is underway: try { if (criticalValue) openDoors = true else OpenDoors=false } catch (e) { OpenDoors=true } Which of the following is the BEST course of action for a security analyst to recommend to the software developer? A. Rewrite the software to implement fine-grained, conditions-based testing B. Add additional exception handling logic to the main program to prevent doors from being opened C. Apply for a life-safety-based risk exception allowing secure doors to fail open D. Rewrite the software's exception handling routine to fail in a secure state

--> B. Add additional exception handling logic to the main program to prevent doors from being opened

(5) Given the following output from a local PC: C:\>ipconfig Windows IP Configuration Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : comptia.org Link-local IPv6 Address..... : fe80:4551:67ba:77a6:62e1%11 IPv4 Address................ : 172.30.0.28 Subnet Mask................. : 255.255.0.0 Default Gateway............. : 172.30.0.5 C:\> Which of the following ACLs on a stateful host-based firewall would allow the PC to serve an intranet website? A. Allow 172.30.0.28:80 -> ANY B. Allow 172.30.0.28:80 -> 172.30.0.0/16 C. Allow 172.30.0.28:80 -> 172.30.0.28:443 D. Allow 172.30.0.28:80 -> 172.30.0.28:53

--> B. Allow 172.30.0.28:80 -> 172.30.0.0/16

(41) A company wants to perform analysis of a tool that is suspected to contain a malicious payload. A forensic analyst is given the following snippet: ^32^[34fda19(fd^43gfd/home/user/lib/module.so.343jk^rfw(342fds43g Which of the following did the analyst use to determine the location of the malicious payload? A. Code deduplicators B. Binary reverse-engineering C. Fuzz testing D. Security containers

--> B. Binary reverse-engineering

(74) Given the code snippet below: int main (void) { char username[8]; printf("Enter your username: "); gets (username) printf("\n"); if (username == NULL) { printf("you did not enter a username\n"); } if strcmp(username, "admin") { printf)"%s", "Admin user, enter your physical token value: "); } else { printf("Standard user, enter your password: "); } } Which of the following vulnerability types in the MOST concerning? A. Only short usernames are supported, which could result in brute forcing of credentials. B. Buffer overflow in the username parameter could lead to a memory corruption vulnerability. C. Hardcoded usernames with different code paths taken depend on which user is entered. D. Format string vulnerability is present for admin users but not for standard users.

--> B. Buffer overflow in the username parameter could lead to a memory corruption vulnerability.

(9) A company Chief Information Officer (CIO) is unsure which set of standards should govern the company's IT policy. The CIO has hired consultants to develop use cases to test against various government and industry security standards. The CIO is convinced that there is large overlap between the configuration checks and security controls governing each set of standards. Which of the following selections represent the BEST option for the CIO? A. Issue a RFQ for vendors to quote a complete vulnerability and risk management solution to the company. B. Issue a policy that requires only the most stringent security standards be implemented throughout the company. C. Issue a policy specifying best practice security standards and a baseline to be implemented across the company. D. Issue a RFI for vendors to determine which set of security standards is best for the company.

--> C. Issue a policy specifying best practice security standards and a baseline to be implemented across the company.

(17) A company is trying to decide how to manage hosts in a branch location connected via a slow WAN link. The company desires to provide the same level of performance and functionality to the branch office as it provides to the main campus. The company uses Active Directory for its directory service and host configuration management. The branch location does not have a datacenter, and the physical security posture of the building is weak. Which of the following designs is MOST appropriate for this scenario? A. Deploy a branch location Read-Only Domain Controller in the DMZ at the main campus with a two-way trust. B. Deploy a corporate Read-Only Domain Controller to the branch location. C. Deploy a corporate Domain Controller in the DMZ at the main campus. D. Deploy a branch location Read-Only Domain Controller to the branch office location with a one- way trust. E. Deploy a corporate Domain Controller to the branch location. F. Deploy a branch location Domain Controller to the branch location with a one-way trust.

--> B. Deploy a corporate Read-Only Domain Controller to the branch location. - On Microsoft Servers, a domain controller (DC) is a server computer that responds to security authentication requests (logging in, checking permissions, etc.) within a Windows domain. A domain is a concept introduced in Windows NT whereby a user may be granted access to a number of computer resources with the use of a single username and password combination. One DC serves as the primary domain controller (PDC). Others, if they exist, are usually a backup domain controller (BDC). The PDC is typically designated as the "first". The "User Manager for Domains" is a utility for maintaining user/group information. It uses the domain security database on the primary controller. The PDC has the master copy of the user accounts database which it can access and modify. The BDC computers have a copy of this database, but these copies are read-only. The PDC will replicate its account database to the BDCs on a regular basis. The BDCs exist in order to provide a backup to the PDC, and can also be used to authenticate users logging on to the network. If a PDC should fail, one of the BDCs can then be promoted to take its place. The PDC will usually be the first domain controller that was created unless it was replaced by a promoted BDC. Windows Server can be one of three kinds: Active Directory "domain controllers" (ones that provide identity and authentication), Active Directory "member servers" (ones that provide complimentary services such as file repositories and schema) and Windows Workgroup "stand-alone servers". The term "Active Directory Server" is sometimes used by Microsoft as synonymous to "Domain Controller" but the term is discouraged.

(85) Security policies that are in place at an organization prohibit USB drives from being utilized across the entire enterprise, with adequate technical controls in place to block them. As a way to still be able to work from various locations on different computing resources, several sales staff members have signed up for a web-based storage solution without the consent of the IT department. However, the operations department is required to use the same service to transmit certain business partner documents. Which of the following would BEST allow the IT department to monitor and control this behavior? A. Enabling AAA B. Deploying a CASB C. Configuring an NGFW D. Installing a WAF E. Utilizing a vTPM

--> B. Deploying a CASB - The AAA accounting feature enables you to track the services that users are accessing and the amount of network resources that they are consuming. AAA accounting has the same rules as authentication and authorization: You must first define a named list of accounting methods. - A cloud access security broker (CASB) is on-premises or cloud based software that sits between cloud service users and cloud applications, and monitors all activity and enforces security policies. A CASB can offer a variety of services, including but not limited to monitoring user activity, warning administrators about potentially hazardous actions, enforcing security policy compliance, and automatically preventing malware. - A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology, combining a traditional firewall with other network device filtering functionalities, such as an application firewall using in-line deep packet inspection (DPI), and intrusion prevention system (IPS). Other techniques might also be employed, such as TLS/SSL encrypted traffic inspection, website filtering, QoS/bandwidth management, antivirus inspection and third-party identity management integration (i.e. LDAP, RADIUS, Active Directory). - Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) can be used to virtualize a TPM.

(50) A forensics analyst suspects that a breach has occurred. Security logs show the company's OS patch system may be compromised, and it is serving patches that contain a zero-day exploit and backdoor. The analyst extracts an executable file from a packet capture of communication between a client computer and the patch server. Which of the following should the analyst use to confirm this suspicion? A. File size B. Digital signature C. Checksums D. Anti-malware software E. Sandboxing

--> B. Digital signature - A Checksum is a value used to ensure data are stored or transmitted without error. -To create a digital signature, signing software, such as an email program, creates a one-way hash of the electronic data to be signed. The private key is then used to encrypt the hash. The encrypted hash, along with other information, such as the hashing algorithm, is the digital signature.

(22) A user workstation was infected with a new malware variant as a result of a drive-by download. The security administrator reviews key controls on the infected workstation and discovers the following: Antivirus = Enabled AV Engine = Current AV Signatures = Auto Update Update Status = Success Heuristic Scanning = Enabled Scan Type = On Access Scanning Malware Engine = Enabled Auto System Update = Enabled Last System Update = Yesterday 2 PM DLP Agent = Disabled DLP DB Update = Poll every 5 mins Proxy Settings = Auto Which of the following would BEST prevent the problem from reoccurring in the future? (Choose two.) A. Install HIPS B. Enable DLP C. Install EDR D. Install HIDS E. Enable application blacklisting F. Improve patch management processes

--> B. Enable DLP, E. Enable application blacklisting

(21) The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for an organization wants to develop custom IDS rulesets faster, prior to new rules being released by IDS vendors. Which of the following BEST meets this objective? A. Identify a third-party source for IDS rules and change the configuration on the applicable IDSs to pull in the new rulesets B. Encourage cybersecurity analysts to review open-source intelligence products and threat database to generate new IDS rules based on those sources C. Leverage the latest TCP- and UDP-related RFCs to arm sensors and IDSs with appropriate heuristics for anomaly detection D. Use annual hacking conventions to document the latest attacks and threats, and then develop IDS rules to counter those threats

--> B. Encourage cybersecurity analysts to review open-source intelligence products and threat database to generate new IDS rules based on those sources -visit or "drive by" a web page, without stopping to click or accept any software, and the malicious code can download in the background to your device. A drive-by download refers to the unintentional download of a virus or malicious software (malware) onto your computer or mobile device. A drive-by download will usually take advantage of (or "exploit") a browser, app, or operating system that is out of date and has a security flaw. This initial code that is downloaded is often very small (so you probably wouldn't notice it), since its job is often simply to contact another computer where it can pull down the rest of the code on to your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Often, a web page will contain several different types of malicious code, in hopes that one of them will match a weakness on your computer.

(47) An organization is preparing to develop a business continuity plan. The organization is required to meet regulatory requirements relating to confidentiality and availability, which are well-defined. Management has expressed concern following initial meetings that the organization is not fully aware of the requirements associated with the regulations. Which of the following would be MOST appropriate for the project manager to solicit additional resources for during this phase of the project? A. After-action reports B. Gap assessment C. Security requirements traceability matrix D. Business impact assessment E. Risk analysis

--> B. Gap assessment - A gap analysis is a method of assessing the differences in performance between a business' information systems or software applications to determine whether business requirements are being met and, if not, what steps should be taken to ensure they are met successfully. - Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM) is a grid that supplies documentation and a straightforward presentation of the required elements for security of a system.

(60) Legal authorities notify a company that its network has been compromised for the second time in two years. The investigation shows the attackers were able to use the same vulnerability on different systems in both attacks. Which of the following would have allowed the security team to use historical information to protect against the second attack? A. Key risk indicators B. Lessons learned C. Recovery point objectives D. Tabletop exercise

--> B. Lessons learned - A key risk indicator (KRI) is a measure used in management to indicate how risky an activity is. Key risk indicators are metrics used by organizations to provide an early signal of increasing risk exposures in various areas of the enterprise. It differs from a key performance indicator (KPI) in that the latter is meant as a measure of how well something is being done while the former is an indicator of the possibility of future adverse impact. KRI give an early warning to identify potential event that may harm continuity of the activity/project. - The recovery point objective (RPO) is the age of files that must be recovered from backup storage for normal operations to resume if a computer, system, or network goes down as a result of a hardware, program, or communications failure. - Tabletop exercises are discussion-based sessions where team members meet in an informal, classroom setting to discuss their roles during an emergency and their responses to a particular emergency situation. A facilitator guides participants through a discussion of one or more scenarios.

(40) Management is reviewing the results of a recent risk assessment of the organization's policies and procedures. During the risk assessment it is determined that procedures associated with background checks have not been effectively implemented. In response to this risk, the organization elects to revise policies and procedures related to background checks and use a third-party to perform background checks on all new employees. Which of the following risk management strategies has the organization employed? A. Transfer B. Mitigate C. Accept D. Avoid E. Reject

--> B. Mitigate

(55) A company is developing requirements for a customized OS build that will be used in an embedded environment. The company procured hardware that is capable of reducing the likelihood of successful buffer overruns while executables are processing. Which of the following capabilities must be included for the OS to take advantage of this critical hardware-based countermeasure? A. Application whitelisting B. NX/XN bit C. ASLR D. TrustZone E. SCP

--> B. NX/XN bit - The NX bit (no-execute) is a technology used in CPUs to segregate areas of memory for use by either storage of processor instructions (code) or for storage of data. An operating system with support for the NX bit may mark certain areas of memory as non-executable. The processor will then refuse to execute any code residing in these areas of memory. - TrustZone is a set of security extensions added to ARMv6 processors and greater, such as ARM11, CortexA8, CortexA9 and CortexA15. To improve security, these ARM processors can run a secure operating system (secure OS) and a normal operating system (normal OS) at the same time from a single core. - Secure copy protocol (SCP) is a means of securely transferring computer files between a local host and a remote host or between two remote hosts. It is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. "SCP" commonly refers to both the Secure Copy Protocol and the program itself.

(75) To meet a SLA, which of the following documents should be drafted, defining the company's internal interdependent unit responsibilities and delivery timelines? A. BPA B. OLA C. MSA D. MOU

--> B. OLA - A blanket purchase agreement (BPA) is a simplified acquisition method that government agencies use to fill anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services. Essentially, BPAs are like "charge accounts" set up with trusted suppliers. - An operational-level agreement (OLA) defines the interdependent relationships in support of a service-level agreement (SLA).[1] The agreement describes the responsibilities of each internal support group toward other support groups, including the process and timeframe for delivery of their services. The objective of the OLA is to present a clear, concise and measurable description of the service provider's internal support relationships. OLA is sometimes expanded to other phrases but they all have the same meaning: Organisational-level agreement, Operating-level agreement, or Operations-level agreement. - A master service agreement (MSA) is a contract reached between parties, in which the parties agree to most of the terms that will govern future transactions or future agreements. A master service agreement allows the involved parties to more quickly negotiate future transactions or agreements, because they can rely on the strong foundation of the master agreement for future business, so that the same terms need not be repetitively negotiated, and you only need to negotiate terms specific to the latest deal. - A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a type of agreement between two or more parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action.

(24) Following a security assessment, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is reviewing the results of the assessment and evaluating potential risk treatment strategies. As part of the CISO's evaluation, a judgment of potential impact based on the identified risk is performed. To prioritize response actions, the CISO uses past experience to take into account the exposure factor as well as the external accessibility of the weakness identified. Which of the following is the CISO performing? A. Documentation of lessons learned B. Quantitative risk assessment C. Qualitative assessment of risk D. Business impact scoring E. Threat modeling

--> B. Quantitative risk assessment -A business impact analysis (BIA) predicts the consequences of disruption of a business function and process and gathers information needed to develop recovery strategies. Potential loss scenarios should be identified during a risk assessment.

(82) An information security officer is responsible for one secure network and one office network. Recent intelligence suggests there is an opportunity for attackers to gain access to the secure network due to similar login credentials across networks. To determine the users who should change their information, the information security officer uses a tool to scan a file with hashed values on both networks and receives the following data: Corporate Network Secure Network james.bond ashHU8$1bg jbond asHU8$1bg tom.jones wit4njyt%I tom.jones wit5njyt%I dade.murphy mUrpHTIME7 d.murph3 t%w3BT9)n herbie.hancock hh2016!# hhanco hh2016!#2 suzy.smith lLi*#HFadf ssmith 1LI*#HFadf Which of the following tools was used to gather this information from the hashed values in the file? A. Vulnerability scanner B. Fuzzer C. MD5 generator D. Password cracker E. Protocol analyzer

--> C. MD5 generator

(78) A company's existing forward proxies support software-based TLS decryption, but are currently at 60% load just dealing with AV scanning and content analysis for HTTP traffic. More than 70% outbound web traffic is currently encrypted. The switching and routing network infrastructure precludes adding capacity, preventing the installation of a dedicated TLS decryption system. The network firewall infrastructure is currently at 30% load and has software decryption modules that can be activated by purchasing additional license keys. An existing project is rolling out agent updates to end-user desktops as part of an endpoint security refresh. Which of the following is the BEST way to address these issues and mitigate risks to the organization? A. Purchase the SSL decryption license for the firewalls and route traffic back to the proxies for end-user categorization and malware analysis. B. Roll out application whitelisting to end-user desktops and decommission the existing proxies, freeing up network ports. C. Use an EDP solution to address the malware issue and accept the diminishing role of the proxy for URL categorization in the short term. D. Accept the current risk and seek possible funding approval in the next budget cycle to replace the existing proxies with ones with more capacity.

--> B. Roll out application whitelisting to end-user desktops and decommission the existing proxies, freeing up network ports.

(19) A server (10.0.0.2) on the corporate network is experiencing a DoS from a number of marketing desktops that have been compromised and are connected to a separate network segment. The security engineer implements the following configuration on the management router: Router(config)# ip route 192.168.3.1 255.255.255.255 Null0 Router(config)# route-map DATA Router(config-route-map) #match tag 101 Router(config-route-map) #set ip next-hop 192.168.3.1 Router(config-route-map) #set community no-export Router(config-router) #redistribute static route-map DATA Router(config) ip route 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.255 Null0 tag 101 Which of the following is the engineer implementing? A. Remotely triggered black hole B. Route protection C. Port security D. Transport security E. Address space layout randomization

--> B. Route protection

(23) After embracing a BYOD policy, a company is faced with new security challenges from unmanaged mobile devices and laptops. The company-s IT department has seen a large number of the following incidents: Duplicate IP addresses Rogue network devices Infected systems probing the company's network Which of the following should be implemented to remediate the above issues? (Choose two.) A. Port security B. Route protection C. NAC D. HIPS E. NIDS

--> B. Route protection, C. NAC -Route protection is primarily maintained by means of IPSec. IPSec protects networks by securing IP packets with encryption and enforcement of trusted communication. IPSec is the most widely used standard for protecting IP datagrams. Because IPSec can be applied below the application layer, it can be used by any or all applciations and is transparent to end users. IPSec can be configured to communicate in tunnel and transport modes. -Port Security helps secure the network by preventing unknown devices from forwarding packets. When a link goes down, all dynamically locked addresses are freed. The port security feature offers the following benefits: You can limit the number of MAC addresses on a given port. Packets that have a matching MAC address (secure packets) are forwarded; all other packets (unsecure packets) are restricted.You can enable port security on a per port basis. Port security implements two traffic filtering methods, dynamic locking and static locking. These methods can be used concurrently. Dynamic locking. You can specify the maximum number of MAC addresses that can be learned on a port. The maximum number of MAC addresses is platform dependent and is given in the software Release Notes. After the limit is reached, additional MAC addresses are not learned. Only frames with an allowable source MAC addresses are forwarded.Note: If you want to set a specific MAC address for a port, set the dynamic entries to 0, then allow only packets with a MAC address matching the MAC address in the static list.Dynamically locked addresses can be converted to statically locked addresses. Dynamically locked MAC addresses are aged out if another packet with that address is not seen within the age-out time. You can set the time out value. Dynamically locked MAC addresses are eligible to be learned by another port. Static MAC addresses are not eligible for aging. Static locking. You can manually specify a list of static MAC addresses for a port. Dynamically locked addresses can be converted to statically locked addresses. -Because NAC represents an emerging category of security products its definition is both evolving and controversial. The overarching goals of the concept can be distilled as: Mitigation of non-zero-day attacks; Authorization, Authentication and Accounting of network connections; Encryption of traffic to the wireless and wired network using protocols for 802.1X such as EAP-TLS, EAP-PEAP or EAP-MSCHAP; Role-based controls of user, device, application or security posture post authentication; Automation with other tools to define network role based on other information such as known vulnerabilities, jailbreak status etc; The main benefit of NAC solutions is to prevent end-stations that lack antivirus, patches, or host intrusion prevention software from accessing the network and placing other computers at risk of cross-contamination of computer worms. Policy enforcement. NAC solutions allow network operators to define policies, such as the types of computers or roles of users allowed to access areas of the network, and enforce them in switches, routers, and network middleboxes. Identity and access management - where conventional IP networks enforce access policies in terms of IP addresses, NAC environments attempt to do so based on authenticated user identities, at least for user end-stations such as laptops and desktop computers.

(43) A security engineer must establish a method to assess compliance with company security policies as they apply to the unique configuration of individual endpoints, as well as to the shared configuration policies of common devices. Policy Device Type %Device Compliant Local Administration Accounts Renamed Server 65% Guest Account Disabled Host 30% Local Firewall Enabled Host 80% Password Complexity Enabled Server 46% Which of the following tools is the security engineer using to produce the above output? A. Vulnerability scanner B. SIEM C. Port scanner D. SCAP scanner

--> B. SIEM (could be D. SCAP scanner) -The Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) is a method for using specific standards to enable the automated vulnerability management, measurement, and policy compliance evaluation of systems deployed in an organization, including e.g., FISMA compliance. The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is the U.S. government content repository for SCAP. SCAP comprises a number of open standards that are widely used to enumerate software flaws and configuration issues related to security. Applications which conduct security monitoring use the standards when measuring systems to find vulnerabilities, and offer methods to score those findings in order to evaluate the possible impact.

(21) A senior network security engineer has been tasked to decrease the attack surface of the corporate network. Which of the following actions would protect the external network interfaces from external attackers performing network scanning? A. Remove contact details from the domain name registrar to prevent social engineering attacks. B. Test external interfaces to see how they function when they process fragmented IP packets. C. Enable a honeynet to capture and facilitate future analysis of malicious attack vectors. D. Filter all internal ICMP message traffic, forcing attackers to use full-blown TCP port scans against external network interfaces.

--> B. Test external interfaces to see how they function when they process fragmented IP packets.

(10) A systems security engineer is assisting an organization's market survey team in reviewing requirements for an upcoming acquisition of mobile devices. The engineer expresses concerns to the survey team about a particular class of devices that uses a separate SoC for baseband radio I/O. For which of the following reasons is the engineer concerned? A. These devices can communicate over networks older than HSPA+ and LTE standards, exposing device communications to poor encryptions routines B. The organization will be unable to restrict the use of NFC, electromagnetic induction, and Bluetooth technologies C. The associated firmware is more likely to remain out of date and potentially vulnerable D. The manufacturers of the baseband radios are unable to enforce mandatory access controls within their driver set

--> B. The organization will be unable to restrict the use of NFC, electromagnetic induction, and Bluetooth technologies

(14) An IT manager is working with a project manager from another subsidiary of the same multinational organization. The project manager is responsible for a new software development effort that is being outsourced overseas, while customer acceptance testing will be performed in house. Which of the following capabilities is MOST likely to cause issues with network availability? A. Source code vulnerability scanning B. Time-based access control lists C. ISP to ISP network jitter D. File-size validation E. End to end network encryption

--> B. Time-based access control lists

(8) A security administrator was recently hired in a start-up company to represent the interest of security and to assist the network team in improving security in the company. The programmers are not on good terms with the security team and do not want to be distracted with security issues while they are working on a major project. Which of the following is the BEST time to make them address security issues in the project? A. In the middle of the project B. At the end of the project C. At the inception of the project D. At the time they request

--> C. At the inception of the project

(28) A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is reviewing the results of a gap analysis with an outside cybersecurity consultant. The gap analysis reviewed all procedural and technical controls and found the following: High-impact controls implemented: 6 out of 10 Medium-impact controls implemented: 409 out of 472 Low-impact controls implemented: 97 out of 1000 The report includes a cost-benefit analysis for each control gap. The analysis yielded the following information: Average high-impact control implementation cost: $15,000; Probable ALE for each high-impact control gap: $95,000 Average medium-impact control implementation cost: $6,250; Probable ALE for each medium-impact control gap: $11,000 Due to the technical construction and configuration of the corporate enterprise, slightly more than 50% of the medium-impact controls will take two years to fully implement. Which of the following conclusions could the CISO draw from the analysis? A. Too much emphasis has been placed on eliminating low-risk vulnerabilities in the past B. The enterprise security team has focused exclusively on mitigating high-level risks C. Because of the significant ALE for each high-risk vulnerability, efforts should be focused on those controls D. The cybersecurity team has balanced residual risk for both high and medium controls

--> C. Because of the significant ALE for each high-risk vulnerability, efforts should be focused on those controls

(61) A web developer has implemented HTML5 optimizations into a legacy web application. One of the modifications the web developer made was the following client side optimization: localStorage.setItem(-session-cookie-, document.cookie); Which of the following should the security engineer recommend? A. SessionStorage should be used so authorized cookies expire after the session ends B. Cookies should be marked as -secure- and -HttpOnly- C. Cookies should be scoped to a relevant domain/path D. Client-side cookies should be replaced by server-side mechanisms

--> C. Cookies should be scoped to a relevant domain/path

(70) A large enterprise with thousands of users is experiencing a relatively high frequency of malicious activity from the insider threats. Much of the activity appears to involve internal reconnaissance that results in targeted attacks against privileged users and network file shares. Given this scenario, which of the following would MOST likely prevent or deter these attacks? (Choose two.) A. Conduct role-based training for privileged users that highlights common threats against them and covers best practices to thwart attacks B. Increase the frequency at which host operating systems are scanned for vulnerabilities, and decrease the amount of time permitted between vulnerability identification and the application of corresponding patches C. Enforce command shell restrictions via group policies for all workstations by default to limit which native operating system tools are available for use D. Modify the existing rules of behavior to include an explicit statement prohibiting users from enumerating user and file directories using available tools and/or accessing visible resources that do not directly pertain to their job functions E. For all workstations, implement full-disk encryption and configure UEFI instances to require complex passwords for authentication F. Implement application blacklisting enforced by the operating systems of all machines in the enterprise

--> C. Enforce command shell restrictions via group policies for all workstations by default to limit which native operating system tools are available for use, D. Modify the existing rules of behavior to include an explicit statement prohibiting users from enumerating user and file directories using available tools and/or accessing visible resources that do not directly pertain to their job functions - The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware. UEFI replaces the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware interface originally present in all IBM PC-compatible personal computers, with most UEFI firmware implementations providing legacy support for BIOS services. UEFI can support remote diagnostics and repair of computers, even with no operating system installed.

(2) A security administrator is hardening a TrustedSolaris server that processes sensitive data. The data owner has established the following security requirements: The data is for internal consumption only and shall not be distributed to outside individuals The systems administrator should not have access to the data processed by the server The integrity of the kernel image is maintained Which of the following host-based security controls BEST enforce the data owner-s requirements? (Choose three.) A. SELinux B. DLP C. HIDS D. Host-based firewall E. Measured boot F. Data encryption G. Watermarking

--> C. HIDS, E. Measured boot, F. Data encryption - Host intrusion detection systems (HIDS) and network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) are methods of security management for computers and networks. In HIDS, anti-threat applications such as firewalls, antivirus software and spyware-detection programs are installed on every network computer that has two-way access to the outside environment such as the Internet. In NIDS, anti-threat software is installed only at specific points such as servers that interface between the outside environment and the network segment to be protected. - Measured boot measures each component, from firmware up through the boot start drivers, stores those measurements in the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on the machine, and then makes available a log that can be tested remotely to verify the boot state of the client.

(16) A security incident responder discovers an attacker has gained access to a network and has overwritten key system files with backdoor software. The server was reimaged and patched offline. Which of the following tools should be implemented to detect similar attacks? A. Vulnerability scanner B. TPM C. Host-based firewall D. File integrity monitor E. NIPS

--> C. Host-based firewall, D. File integrity monitor

(19) An educational institution would like to make computer labs available to remote students. The labs are used for various IT networking, security, and programming courses. The requirements are: 1. Each lab must be on a separate network segment. 2. Labs must have access to the Internet, but not other lab networks. 3. Student devices must have network access, not simple access to hosts on the lab networks. 4. Students must have a private certificate installed before gaining access. 5. Servers must have a private certificate installed locally to provide assurance to the students. 6. All students must use the same VPN connection profile. Which of the following components should be used to achieve the design in conjunction with directory services? A. L2TP VPN over TLS for remote connectivity, SAML for federated authentication, firewalls between each lab segment B. SSL VPN for remote connectivity, directory services groups for each lab group, ACLs on routing equipment C. IPSec VPN with mutual authentication for remote connectivity, RADIUS for authentication, ACLs on network equipment D. Cloud service remote access tool for remote connectivity, OAuth for authentication, ACL on routing equipment

--> C. IPSec VPN with mutual authentication for remote connectivity, RADIUS for authentication, ACLs on network equipment

(3) An SQL database is no longer accessible online due to a recent security breach. An investigation reveals that unauthorized access to the database was possible due to an SQL injection vulnerability. To prevent this type of breach in the future, which of the following security controls should be put in place before bringing the database back online? (Choose two.) A. Secure storage policies B. Browser security updates C. Input validation D. Web application firewall E. Secure coding standards F. Database activity monitoring

--> C. Input validation, F. Database activity monitoring

(24) An IT manager is working with a project manager to implement a new ERP system capable of transacting data between the new ERP system and the legacy system. As part of this process, both parties must agree to the controls utilized to secure data connections between the two enterprise systems. This is commonly documented in which of the following formal documents? A. Memorandum of Understanding B. Information System Security Agreement C. Interconnection Security Agreement D. Interoperability Agreement E. Operating Level Agreement

--> C. Interconnection Security Agreement

(53) Which of the following BEST represents a risk associated with merging two enterprises during an acquisition? A. The consolidation of two different IT enterprises increases the likelihood of the data loss because there are now two backup systems B. Integrating two different IT systems might result in a successful data breach if threat intelligence is not shared between the two enterprises C. Merging two enterprise networks could result in an expanded attack surface and could cause outages if trust and permission issues are not handled carefully D. Expanding the set of data owners requires an in-depth review of all data classification decisions, impacting availability during the review

--> C. Merging two enterprise networks could result in an expanded attack surface and could cause outages if trust and permission issues are not handled carefully

(51) A company is acquiring incident response and forensic assistance from a managed security service provider in the event of a data breach. The company has selected a partner and must now provide required documents to be reviewed and evaluated. Which of the following documents would BEST protect the company and ensure timely assistance? (Choose two.) A. RA B. BIA C. NDA D. RFI E. RFQ F. MSA

--> C. NDA, F. MSA - Business impact analysis (BIA) is a systematic process to determine and evaluate the potential effects of an interruption to critical business operations as a result of a disaster, accident or emergency. - An Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information or trade secrets. - A Request for Information (RFI) is a standard business process used by customers to collect written information regarding the capabilities of various suppliers, which will better inform buying decisions. - A request for quotation (RfQ) is a standard business process whose purpose is to invite suppliers into a bidding process to bid on specific products or services. - A master service agreement (MSA) is a contract reached between parties, in which the parties agree to most of the terms that will govern future transactions or future agreements. A master service agreement allows the involved parties to more quickly negotiate future transactions or agreements, because they can rely on the strong foundation of the master agreement for future business, so that the same terms need not be repetitively negotiated, and you only need to negotiate terms specific to the latest deal.

(64) During a security event investigation, a junior analyst fails to create an image of a server's hard drive before removing the drive and sending it to the forensics analyst. Later, the evidence from the analysis is not usable in the prosecution of the attackers due to the uncertainty of tampering. Which of the following should the junior analyst have followed? A. Continuity of operations B. Chain of custody C. Order of volatility D. Data recovery

--> C. Order of volatility

(26) A recent assessment identified that several users' mobile devices are running outdated versions of endpoint security software that do not meet the company-s security policy. Which of the following should be performed to ensure the users can access the network and meet the company-s security requirements? A. Vulnerability assessment B. Risk assessment C. Patch management D. Device quarantine E. Incident management

--> C. Patch management

(16) A multi-national company has a highly mobile workforce and minimal IT infrastructure. The company utilizes a BYOD and social media policy to integrate presence technology into global collaboration tools by individuals and teams. As a result of the dispersed employees and frequent international travel, the company is concerned about the safety of employees and their families when moving in and out of certain countries. Which of the following could the company view as a downside of using presence technology? A. Insider threat B. Network reconnaissance C. Physical security D. Industrial espionage

--> C. Physical security

(7) A well-known retailer has experienced a massive credit card breach. The retailer had gone through an audit and had been presented with a potential problem on their network. Vendors were authenticating directly to the retailer's AD servers, and an improper firewall rule allowed pivoting from the AD server to the DMZ where credit card servers were kept. The firewall rule was needed for an internal application that was developed, which presents risk. The retailer determined that because the vendors were required to have site to site VPN's no other security action was taken. To prove to the retailer the monetary value of this risk, which of the following type of calculations is needed? A. Residual Risk calculation B. A cost/benefit analysis C. Quantitative Risk Analysis D. Qualitative Risk Analysis

--> C. Quantitative Risk Analysis

(1) An infrastructure team is at the end of a procurement process and has selected a vendor. As part of the final negotiations, there are a number of outstanding issues, including: 1. Indemnity clauses have identified the maximum liability 2. The data will be hosted and managed outside of the company's geographical location. The number of users accessing the system will be small, and no sensitive data will be hosted in the solution. As the security consultant on the project, which of the following should the project-s security consultant recommend as the NEXT step? A. Develop a security exemption, as it does not meet the security policies B. Mitigate the risk by asking the vendor to accept the in-country privacy principles C. Require the solution owner to accept the identified risks and consequences D. Review the entire procurement process to determine the lessons learned

--> C. Require the solution owner to accept the identified risks and consequences

(34) An insurance company has two million customers and is researching the top transactions on its customer portal. It identifies that the top transaction is currently password reset. Due to users not remembering their secret questions, a large number of calls are consequently routed to the contact center for manual password resets. The business wants to develop a mobile application to improve customer engagement in the future, continue with a single factor of authentication, minimize management overhead of the solution, remove passwords, and eliminate to the contact center. Which of the following techniques would BEST meet the requirements? (Choose two.) A. Magic link sent to an email address B. Customer ID sent via push notification C. SMS with OTP sent to a mobile number D. Third-party social login E. Certificate sent to be installed on a device F. Hardware tokens sent to customers

--> C. SMS with OTP sent to a mobile number, E. Certificate sent to be installed on a device -One-Time Password Verification module verifies Email Address/Mobile Number of users by sending verification code (OTP) during registration. It removes the possibility of a user registering with fake Email Address/Mobile Number.

(27) An information security assessor for an organization finished an assessment that identified critical issues with the human resource new employee management software application. The assessor submitted the report to senior management but nothing has happened. Which of the following would be a logical next step? A. Meet the two key VPs and request a signature on the original assessment. B. Include specific case studies from other organizations in an updated report. C. Schedule a meeting with key human resource application stakeholders. D. Craft an RFP to begin finding a new human resource application.

--> C. Schedule a meeting with key human resource application stakeholders.

(65) A team is at the beginning stages of designing a new enterprise-wide application. The new application will have a large database and require a capital investment in hardware. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) has directed the team to save money and reduce the reliance on the datacenter, and the vendor must specialize in hosting large databases in the cloud. Which of the following cloud-hosting options would BEST meet these needs? A. Multi-tenancy SaaS B. Hybrid IaaS C. Single-tenancy PaaS D. Community IaaS

--> C. Single-tenancy PaaS

(28) In a situation where data is to be recovered from an attacker's location, which of the following are the FIRST things to capture? (Select TWO). A. Removable media B. Passwords written on scrap paper C. Snapshots of data on the monitor D. Documents on the printer E. Volatile system memory F. System hard drive

--> C. Snapshots of data on the monitor, E. Volatile system memory

(63) A deployment manager is working with a software development group to assess the security of a new version of the organization's internally developed ERP tool. The organization prefers to not perform assessment activities following deployment, instead focusing on assessing security throughout the life cycle. Which of the following methods would BEST assess the security of the product? A. Static code analysis in the IDE environment B. Penetration testing of the UAT environment C. Vulnerability scanning of the production environment D. Penetration testing of the production environment E. Peer review prior to unit testing

--> C. Vulnerability scanning of the production environment - An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger. Most modern IDEs have intelligent code completion. - User acceptance testing (UAT) is the last phase of the software testing process. During UAT, actual software users test the software to make sure it can handle required tasks in real-world scenarios, according to specifications.

(58) After multiple service interruptions caused by an older datacenter design, a company decided to migrate away from its datacenter. The company has successfully completed the migration of all datacenter servers and services to a cloud provider. The migration project includes the following phases: Selection of a cloud provider Architectural design Microservice segmentation Virtual private cloud Geographic service redundancy Service migration The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is still concerned with the availability requirements of critical company applications. Which of the following should the company implement NEXT? A. Multicloud solution B. Single-tenancy private cloud C. Hybrid cloud solution D. Cloud access security broker

--> D. Cloud access security broker - Multicloud is the use of multiple cloud computing and storage services in a single heterogeneous architecture. This is also known as a Polynimbus cloud strategy. This also refers to the distribution of cloud assets, software, applications, etc. across several cloud-hosting environments. With a typical multicloud architecture utilizing two or more public clouds as well as multiple private clouds, a multicloud environment aims to eliminate the reliance on any single cloud provider. It differs from hybrid cloud in that it refers to multiple cloud services rather than multiple deployment modes (public, private, legacy). Also, in a multicloud environment, synchronization between different vendors is not essential to complete a computation process, unlike parallel computing or distributed computing environments. - Single Tenant - A single instance of the software and supporting infrastructure serve a single customer. With single tenancy, each customer has his or her own independent database and instance of the software. Essentially, there is no sharing happening with this option. Multi-Tenant - Multi-tenancy means that a single instance of the software and its supporting infrastructure serves multiple customers. Each customer shares the software application and also shares a single database. Each tenant's data is isolated and remains invisible to other tenants. - Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms. By allowing workloads to move between private and public clouds as computing needs and costs change, hybrid cloud gives businesses greater flexibility and more data deployment options.Establishing a hybrid cloud requires the availability of: A public infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform; The construction of a private cloud, either on premises or through a hosted private cloud provider; And adequate wide area network (WAN) connectivity between those two environments. - A cloud access security broker (CASB) is on-premises or cloud based software that sits between cloud service users and cloud applications, and monitors all activity and enforces security policies. A CASB can offer a variety of services, including but not limited to monitoring user activity, warning administrators about potentially hazardous actions, enforcing security policy compliance, and automatically preventing malware.

(46) A security administrator wants to allow external organizations to cryptographically validate the company's domain name in email messages sent by employees. Which of the following should the security administrator implement? A. SPF B. S/MIME C. TLS D. DKIM

--> D. DKIM - Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an anti-spam approach in which the Internet domain of an e-mail sender can be authenticated for that sender, thereby discouraging spam mailers, who routinely disguise the origin of their e-mail - Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) is a widely accepted method (or more precisely, a protocol) for sending digitally signed and encrypted messages. S/MIME allows you to encrypt emails and digitally sign them. When you use S/MIME with an email message, it helps the people who receive that message to be certain that what they see in their inbox is the exact message that started with the sender. It will also help people who receive messages to be certain that the message came from the specific sender and not from someone pretending to be the sender. To do this, S/MIME provides for cryptographic security services such as authentication, message integrity, and non-repudiation of origin (using digital signatures). It also helps enhance privacy and data security (using encryption) for electronic messaging. - Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that provides end-to-end communications security over networks and is widely used for internet communications and online transactions. It is an IETF standard intended to prevent eavesdropping, tampering and message forgery. - DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication method designed to detect forged sender addresses in emails. DKIM allows the receiver to check that an email claimed to have come from a specific domain was indeed authorized by the owner of that domain. It achieves this by affixing a digital signature, linked to a domain name, to each outgoing email message. The recipient system can verify this by looking up the sender's public key published in the DNS. A valid signature also guarantees that some parts of the email (possibly including attachments) have not been modified since the signature was affixed. Usually, DKIM signatures are not visible to end-users, and are affixed or verified by the infrastructure rather than the message's authors and recipients.

(81) A network engineer is attempting to design-in resiliency characteristics for an enterprise network's VPN services. If the engineer wants to help ensure some resilience against zero-day vulnerabilities exploited against the VPN implementation, which of the following decisions would BEST support this objective? A. Implement a reverse proxy for VPN traffic that is defended and monitored by the organization's SOC with near-real-time alerting to administrators. B. Subscribe to a managed service provider capable of supporting the mitigation of advanced DDoS attacks on the enterprise's pool of VPN concentrators. C. Distribute the VPN concentrators across multiple systems at different physical sites to ensure some backup services are available in the event of primary site loss. D. Employ a second VPN layer concurrently where the other layer's cryptographic implementation is sourced from a different vendor.

--> D. Employ a second VPN layer concurrently where the other layer's cryptographic implementation is sourced from a different vendor. (Could be wrong; investigate)

(84) A systems administrator recently joined an organization and has been asked to perform a security assessment of controls on the organization's file servers, which contain client data from a number of sensitive systems. The administrator needs to compare documented access requirements to the access implemented within the file system. Which of the following is MOST likely to be reviewed during the assessment? (Select two.) A. Access control list B. Security requirements traceability matrix C. Data owner matrix D. Roles matrix E. Data design document F. Data access policies

--> D. Roles matrix, F. Data access policies

(48) A SaaS-based email service provider often receives reports from legitimate customers that their IP netblocks are on blacklists and they cannot send email. The SaaS has confirmed that affected customers typically have IP addresses within broader network ranges and some abusive customers within the same IP ranges may have performed spam campaigns. Which of the following actions should the SaaS provider perform to minimize legitimate customer impact? A. Inform the customer that the service provider does not have any control over third-party blacklist entries. The customer should reach out to the blacklist operator directly B. Perform a takedown of any customer accounts that have entries on email blacklists because this is a strong indicator of hostile behavior C. Work with the legal department and threaten legal action against the blacklist operator if the netblocks are not removed because this is affecting legitimate traffic D. Establish relationship with a blacklist operators so broad entries can be replaced with more granular entries and incorrect entries can be quickly pruned

--> D. Establish relationship with a blacklist operators so broad entries can be replaced with more granular entries and incorrect entries can be quickly pruned

(12) The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at a large organization has been reviewing some security-related incidents at the organization and comparing them to current industry trends. The desktop security engineer feels that the use of USB storage devices on office computers has contributed to the frequency of security incidents. The CISO knows the acceptable use policy prohibits the use of USB storage devices. Every user receives a popup warning about this policy upon login. The SIEM system produces a report of USB violations on a monthly basis; yet violations continue to occur. Which of the following preventative controls would MOST effectively mitigate the logical risks associated with the use of USB storage devices? A. Revise the corporate policy to include possible termination as a result of violations B. Increase the frequency and distribution of the USB violations report C. Deploy PKI to add non-repudiation to login sessions so offenders cannot deny the offense D. Implement group policy objects

--> D. Implement group policy objects - Group policy is a feature of Microsoft Windows Active Directory that adds additional controls to user and computer accounts. Group policies provide centralized management and operating systems configurations of user's computing environments. Group policies are another method of securing user's computers from infiltration and data breaches. A Group Policy Object is a collection of settings systems administrators create with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Group Policy Editor. The GPO can be associated with one or more of the Active Directory containers, such as sites, domains, or organizational units (OUs). Active Directory applies GPOs in the following predictable and logical order: Local policies, Site policies, Domain policies, and OU policies. Group policies can disable outdated protocols like SSLv2, prevent users from making changes to local group policies, and much more. There are several advantages to implementing GPOs outside of security. Ease of management: Setting up new users on the network used to be a long and tedious process. Pre-existing GPOs apply a standardized environment to each new user and computer that joins your domain which saves many hours of configurations. One-stop administration: Sysadmins can deploy patches, software, and other updates via GPO. Password policy enforcement: Passwords can be easily brute-forced if they aren't changed regularly, contain simple words, or are short. GPOs establish length, reuse rules, and other requirements for passwords to keep your network safe. Folder redirections: Do you want users to keep important company files on a centralized and monitored storage system? Use a folder redirection GPO to redirect their user folder to your NAS.

(73) A software development manager is running a project using agile development methods. The company cybersecurity engineer has noticed a high number of vulnerabilities have been making it into production code on the project. Which of the following methods could be used in addition to an integrated development environment to reduce the severity of the issue? A. Conduct a penetration test on each function as it is developed B. Develop a set of basic checks for common coding errors C. Adopt a waterfall method of software development D. Implement unit tests that incorporate static code analyzers

--> D. Implement unit tests that incorporate static code analyzers

(54) Two competing companies experienced similar attacks on their networks from various threat actors. To improve response times, the companies wish to share some threat intelligence about the sources and methods of attack. Which of the following business documents would be BEST to document this engagement? A. Business partnership agreement B. Memorandum of understanding C. Service-level agreement D. Interconnection security agreement

--> D. Interconnection security agreement - A memorandum of understanding (MOU) is a nonbinding agreement between two or more parties outlining the terms and details of an understanding, including each parties' requirements and responsibilities. An MOU is often the first stage in the formation of a formal contract. - A service-level agreement (SLA) is a commitment between a service provider and a client. Particular aspects of the service - quality, availability, responsibilities - are agreed between the service provider and the service user. - The Interconnection Security Agreement (ISA) is a security document that specifies the technical and security requirements for establishing, operating, and maintaining the interconnection.

(79) A recent CRM upgrade at a branch office was completed after the desired deadline. Several technical issues were found during the upgrade and need to be discussed in depth before the next branch office is upgraded. Which of the following should be used to identify weak processes and other vulnerabilities? A. Gap analysis B. Benchmarks and baseline results C. Risk assessment D. Lessons learned report

--> D. Lessons learned report (might be wrong; investigate)

(80) A threat advisory alert was just emailed to the IT security staff. The alert references specific types of host operating systems that can allow an unauthorized person to access files on a system remotely. A fix was recently published, but it requires a recent endpoint protection engine to be installed prior to running the fix. Which of the following MOST likely need to be configured to ensure the system are migrated accordingly? (Select two.) A. Antivirus B. HIPS C. Application whitelisting D. Patch management E. Group policy implementation F. Firmware updates

--> D. Patch management, F. Firmware updates

(66) A company wants to extend its help desk availability beyond business hours. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) decides to augment the help desk with a third-party service that will answer calls and provide Tier 1 problem resolution, such as password resets and remote assistance. The security administrator implements the following firewall change: PERMIT TCP FROM 74.23.2.4 TO 192.168.20.20 PORT 80 PERMIT TCP FROM 74.23.2.4 TO 192.168.20.20 PORT 636 PERMIT TCP FROM 74.23.2.4 TO 192.168.20.20 PORT 5800 PERMIT TCP FROM 74.23.2.4 TO 192.168.20.20 PORT 1433 The administrator provides the appropriate path and credentials to the third-party company. Which of the following technologies is MOST likely being used to provide access to the third company? A. LDAP B. WAYF C. OpenID D. RADIUS E. SAML

--> D. RADIUS - The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Directory services play an important role in developing intranet and Internet applications by allowing the sharing of information about users, systems, networks, services, and applications throughout the network. As examples, directory services may provide any organized set of records, often with a hierarchical structure, such as a corporate email directory. - The goal of a "Where Are You From" (WAYF) service is to guide a user to his or her Identity Provider. Some documentation also calls this the "Identity Provider Discovery" service. Basically, all the WAYF has to accomplish, is to present the user a list of Identity Providers and redirect the user's web browser to the selected Identity Provider (IdP) or back to the Service Provider (the web application that the user is trying to access). Some WAYFs have additional features which enhance the user's ease-of use. This includes several methods of remembering or guessing the user's Identity Provider selection. Usually by storing a persistent cookie which indicates the user's previous choice of Identity Provider. - OpenID is an open standard and decentralized authentication protocol. Promoted by the non-profit OpenID Foundation, it allows users to be authenticated by co-operating sites (known as relying parties, or RP) using a third-party service, eliminating the need for webmasters to provide their own ad hoc login systems, and allowing users to log into multiple unrelated websites without having to have a separate identity and password for each. Users create accounts by selecting an OpenID identity provider, and then use those accounts to sign onto any website that accepts OpenID authentication. Several large organizations either issue or accept OpenIDs on their websites according to the OpenID Foundation. - Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is a networking protocol, operating on port 1812 that provides centralized Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA or Triple A) management for users who connect and use a network service. Because of the broad support and the ubiquitous nature of the RADIUS protocol, it is often used by Internet service providers (ISPs) and enterprises to manage access to the Internet or internal networks, wireless networks, and integrated e-mail services. These networks may incorporate modems, digital subscriber line (DSL), access points, virtual private networks (VPNs), network ports, web servers, etc. RADIUS is a client/server protocol that runs in the application layer, and can use either TCP or UDP as transport. Network access servers, the gateways that control access to a network, usually contain a RADIUS client component that communicates with the RADIUS server. RADIUS is often the back-end of choice for 802.1X authentication as well. The RADIUS server is usually a background process running on a UNIX or Microsoft Windows server. - Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an open standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between parties, in particular, between an identity provider and a service provider. SAML is an XML-based markup language for security assertions (statements that service providers use to make access-control decisions). SAML is also: A set of XML-based protocol messages A set of protocol message bindings A set of profiles (utilizing all of the above) The single most important use case that SAML addresses is web browser single sign-on (SSO). Single sign-on is relatively easy to accomplish within a security domain (using cookies, for example) but extending SSO across security domains is more difficult and resulted in the proliferation of non-interoperable proprietary technologies. The SAML Web Browser SSO profile was specified and standardized to promote interoperability. - The well known TCP port for SSL is 636 while TLS is negotiated within a plain TCP connection on port 389. - Port 5800 and 5900 are opened by the VNC system allowing remote multi-platform console access. - TCP port 1433 is the default port for SQL Server. This port is also the official Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) socket number for SQL Server. Client systems use TCP 1433 to connect to the database engine; SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) uses the port to manage SQL Server instances across the network.

(13) The IT Security Analyst for a small organization is working on a customer's system and identifies a possible intrusion in a database that contains PII. Since PII is involved, the analyst wants to get the issue addressed as soon as possible. Which of the following is the FIRST step the analyst should take in mitigating the impact of the potential intrusion? A. Contact the local authorities so an investigation can be started as quickly as possible. B. Shut down the production network interfaces on the server and change all of the DBMS account passwords. C. Disable the front-end web server and notify the customer by email to determine how the customer would like to proceed. D. Refer the issue to management for handling according to the incident response process.

--> D. Refer the issue to management for handling according to the incident response process.

(44) A newly hired systems administrator is trying to connect a new and fully updated, but very customized, Android device to access corporate resources. However, the MDM enrollment process continually fails. The administrator asks a security team member to look into the issue. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason the MDM is not allowing enrollment? A. The OS version is not compatible B. The OEM is prohibited C. The device does not support FDE D. The device is rooted

--> D. The device is rooted -Rooting is a process that allows you to attain root access to the Android operating system code (the equivalent term for Apple devices id jailbreaking). It gives you privileges to modify the software code on the device or install other software that the manufacturer wouldn't normally allow you to. -OEM, (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and resells them. -Full disk encryption (FDE) encrypts all the data on your storage device. ... As data is written, it's automatically encrypted, and as it's read, it's automatically decrypted. Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have encryption options that will also provide protection of storage.

(49) An agency has implemented a data retention policy that requires tagging data according to type before storing it in the data repository. The policy requires all business emails be automatically deleted after two years. During an open records investigation, information was found on an employee's work computer concerning a conversation that occurred three years prior and proved damaging to the agency's reputation. Which of the following MOST likely caused the data leak? A. The employee manually changed the email client retention settings to prevent deletion of emails B. The file that contained the damaging information was mistagged and retained on the server for longer than it should have been C. The email was encrypted and an exception was put in place via the data classification application D. The employee saved a file on the computer-s hard drive that contained archives of emails, which were more than two years old

--> D. The employee saved a file on the computer-s hard drive that contained archives of emails, which were more than two years old

(25) A Chief Information Officer (CIO) publicly announces the implementation of a new financial system. As part of a security assessment that includes a social engineering task, which of the following tasks should be conducted to demonstrate the BEST means to gain information to use for a report on social vulnerability details about the financial system? A. Call the CIO and ask for an interview, posing as a job seeker interested in an open position B. Compromise the email server to obtain a list of attendees who responded to the invitation who is on the IT staff C. Notify the CIO that, through observation at events, malicious actors can identify individuals to befriend D. Understand the CIO is a social drinker, and find the means to befriend the CIO at establishments the CIO frequents

--> D. Understand the CIO is a social drinker, and find the means to befriend the CIO at establishments the CIO frequents

(30) A financial consulting firm recently recovered from some damaging incidents that were associated with malware installed via rootkit. Post-incident analysis is ongoing, and the incident responders and systems administrators are working to determine a strategy to reduce the risk of recurrence. The firm-s systems are running modern operating systems and feature UEFI and TPMs. Which of the following technical options would provide the MOST preventive value? A. Update and deploy GPOs B. Configure and use measured boot C. Strengthen the password complexity requirements D. Update the antivirus software and definitions

--> D. Update the antivirus software and definitions

(9) A security engineer is designing a system in which offshore, outsourced staff can push code from the development environment to the production environment securely. The security engineer is concerned with data loss, while the business does not want to slow down its development process. Which of the following solutions BEST balances security requirements with business need? A. Set up a VDI environment that prevents copying and pasting to the local workstations of outsourced staff members B. Install a client-side VPN on the staff laptops and limit access to the development network C. Create an IPSec VPN tunnel from the development network to the office of the outsourced staff D. Use online collaboration tools to initiate workstation-sharing sessions with local staff who have access to the development network

--> D. Use online collaboration tools to initiate workstation-sharing sessions with local staff who have access to the development network

(56) A software development team has spent the last 18 months developing a new web-based front-end that will allow clients to check the status of their orders as they proceed through manufacturing. The marketing team schedules a launch party to present the new application to the client base in two weeks. Before the launch, the security team discovers numerous flaws that may introduce dangerous vulnerabilities, allowing direct access to a database used by manufacturing. The development team did not plan to remediate these vulnerabilities during development. Which of the following SDLC best practices should the development team have followed? A. Implementing regression testing B. Completing user acceptance testing C. Verifying system design documentation D. Using a SRTM

--> D. Using a SRTM - Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM) is a grid that supplies documentation and a straightforward presentation of the required elements for security of a system. It is vital to incorporate the best level of security in technical projects that require such. SRTM can be used for any type of project. Requirements and tests can be easily tracked in relationship to one another. SRTM assures accountability for all processes and completion of all work. An SRTM between security requirements and test activities have a grid, comparable to an Excel spreadsheet.This spreadsheet contains a column for these items: Requirement identification number Description of the requirement Source of the requirement Objective of the test Verification method for the test Each row indicates a new requirement. An SRTM provides a simple way to review and compare the different requirements and tests appropriated for a specific security project.

(45) A hospital uses a legacy electronic medical record system that requires multicast for traffic between the application servers and databases on virtual hosts that support segments of the application. Following a switch upgrade, the electronic medical record is unavailable despite physical connectivity between the hypervisor and the storage being in place. The network team must enable multicast traffic to restore access to the electronic medical record. The ISM states that the network team must reduce the footprint of multicast traffic on the network. VLAN Description 201 Server VLAN1 202 Server VLAN2 400 Hypervisor Management VLAN 680 Storage Management VLAN 700 Database Server VLAN Using the above information, on which VLANs should multicast be enabled? A. VLAN201, VLAN202, VLAN400 B. VLAN201, VLAN202, VLAN700 C. VLAN201, VLAN202, VLAN400, VLAN680, VLAN700 D. VLAN400, VLAN680, VLAN700

--> D. VLAN400, VLAN680, VLAN700 -In computer networking, multicast is group communication where data transmission is addressed to a group of destination computers simultaneously. Multicast can be one-to-many or many-to-many distribution.

(59) A security controls assessor intends to perform a holistic configuration compliance test of networked assets. The assessor has been handed a package of definitions provided in XML format, and many of the files have two common tags within them: -- and - ef=-¦ />-. Which of the following tools BEST supports the use of these definitions? A. HTTP interceptor B. Static code analyzer C. SCAP scanner D. XML fuzzer

--> D. XML fuzzer - An interceptor pattern is a software design pattern that is used when software systems or frameworks want to offer a way to change, or augment, their usual processing cycle. For example, a (simplified) typical processing sequence for a web-server is to receive a URI from the browser, map it to a file on disk, open the file and send its contents to the browser. Any of these steps could be replaced or changed, e.g. by replacing the way URIs are mapped to filenames, or by inserting a new step which processes the files contents. - Static program analysis is the analysis of computer software that is performed without actually executing programs, in contrast with dynamic analysis, which is analysis performed on programs while they are executing. - A Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) scanner is a tool that compares a target computer or application's configuration and/or patch level against that of the SCAP content baseline. The tool will note any deviations and produce a report. Some SCAP scanners also have the ability to correct the target computer and bring it into compliance with the standard baseline. - An XML fuzzer takes a valid XML as input and generates a set of modified, potentially invalid, XMLs based on the input.

(23) A facilities manager has observed varying electric use on the company's metered service lines. The facility management rarely interacts with the IT department unless new equipment is being delivered. However, the facility manager thinks that there is a correlation between spikes in electric use and IT department activity. Which of the following business processes and/or practices would provide better management of organizational resources with the IT department's needs? (Select TWO). A. Deploying a radio frequency identification tagging asset management system B. Designing a business resource monitoring system C. Hiring a property custodian D. Purchasing software asset management software E. Facility management participation on a change control board F. Rewriting the change board charter G. Implementation of change management best practices

--> E. Facility management participation on a change control board, G. Implementation of change management best practices

(12) An organization has employed the services of an auditing firm to perform a gap assessment in preparation for an upcoming audit. As part of the gap assessment, the auditor supporting the assessment recommends the organization engage with other industry partners to share information about emerging attacks to organizations in the industry in which the organization functions. Which of the following types of information could be drawn from such participation? A. Threat modeling B. Risk assessment C. Vulnerability data D. Threat intelligence E. Risk metrics F. Exploit frameworks

--> F. Exploit frameworks -Exploitation frameworks are supported software packages that contain reliable exploit modules and other useful features, such as agents used for successful re positioning.