SEC + (2)
Which of the following is used to verify data integrity? A. SHA B. 3DES C. AES D. RSA
Answer: A Explanation: SHA stands for "secure hash algorithm". SHA-1 is the most widely used of the existing SHA hash functions, and is employed in several widely used applications and protocols including TLS and SSL, PGP, SSH, S/MIME, and IPsec. It is used to ensure data integrity.
A network stream needs to be encrypted. Sara, the network administrator, has selected a cipher which will encrypt 8 bits at a time before sending the data across the network. Which of the following has Sara selected? A. Block cipher B. Stream cipher C. CRC D. Hashing algorithm
Answer: A Explanation: With a block cipher the algorithm works on chunks of data--encrypting one and then moving to the next. Example: Blowfish is an encryption system that performs a 64-bit block cipher at very fast speeds.
A network administrator wants to block both DNS requests and zone transfers coming from outside IP addresses. The company uses a firewall which implements an implicit allow and is currently configured with the following ACL applied to its external interfacE. PERMIT TCP ANY ANY 80 PERMIT TCP ANY ANY 443 Which of the following rules would accomplish this task? (Select TWO). A. Change the firewall default settings so that it implements an implicit deny B. Apply the current ACL to all interfaces of the firewall C. Remove the current ACL D. Add the following ACL at the top of the current ACLDENY TCP ANY ANY 53 E. Add the following ACL at the bottom of the current ACLDENY ICMP ANY ANY 53 F. Add the following ACL at the bottom of the current ACLDENY IP ANY ANY 53
Answer: AF Explanation: Implicit deny is the default security stance that says if you aren't specifically granted access or privileges for a resource, you're denied access by default. Implicit deny is the default response when an explicit allow or deny isn't present. DNS operates over TCP and UDP port 53. TCP port 53 is used for zone transfers. These are zone file exchanges between DNS servers, special manual queries, or used when a response exceeds 512 bytes. UDP port 53 is used for most typical DNS queries.
A company needs to receive data that contains personally identifiable information. The company requires both the transmission and data at rest to be encrypted. Which of the following achieves this goal? (Select TWO). A. SSH B. TFTP C. NTLM D. TKIP E. SMTP F. PGP/GPG
Answer: AF Explanation: We can use SSH to encrypt the transmission and PGP/GPG to encrypt the data at rest (on disk). A: Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic protocol that can be used to secure network communication. It establishes a secure tunnel over an insecure network. F: Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a data encryption and decryption solution that can be used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partitions and to increase the security of e-mail communications.
An administrator wants to establish a WiFi network using a high gain directional antenna with a narrow radiation pattern to connect two buildings separated by a very long distance. Which of the following antennas would be BEST for this situation? A. Dipole B. Yagi C. Sector D. Omni
Answer: B Explanation: A Yagi-Uda antenna, commonly known simply as a Yagi antenna, is a directional antenna consisting of multiple parallel dipole elements in a line, usually made of metal rods. It consists of a single driven element connected to the transmitter or receiver with a transmission line, and additional parasitic elements: a so-called reflector and one or more directors. The reflector element is slightly longer than the driven dipole, whereas the directors are a little shorter. This design achieves a very substantial increase in the antenna's directionality and gain compared to a simple dipole.
Which of the following application attacks is used to gain access to SEH? A. Cookie stealing B. Buffer overflow C. Directory traversal D. XML injection
Answer: B Explanation: Buffer overflow protection is used to detect the most common buffer overflows by checking that the stack has not been altered when a function returns. If it has been altered, the program exits with a segmentation fault. Microsoft's implementation of Data Execution Prevention (DEP) mode explicitly protects the pointer to the Structured Exception Handler (SEH) from being overwritten. A buffer overflow occurs when a program or process tries to store more data in a buffer (temporary data storage area) than it was intended to hold. Since buffers are created to contain a finite amount of data, the extra information - which has to go somewhere - can overflow into adjacent buffers, corrupting or overwriting the valid data held in them. Although it may occur accidentally through programming error, buffer overflow is an increasingly common type of security attack on data integrity. In buffer overflow attacks, the extra data may contain codes designed to trigger specific actions, in effect sending new instructions to the attacked computer that could, for example, damage the user's files, change data, or disclose confidential information. Buffer overflow attacks are said to have arisen because the C programming language supplied the framework, and poor programming practices supplied the vulnerability.
An access point has been configured for AES encryption but a client is unable to connect to it. Which of the following should be configured on the client to fix this issue? A. WEP B. CCMP C. TKIP D. RC4
Answer: B Explanation: CCMP is an encryption protocol designed for Wireless LAN products that implement the standards of the IEEE 802.11i amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard. CCMP is an enhanced data cryptographic encapsulation mechanism designed for data confidentiality based upon the Counter Mode with CBC-MAC (CCM) of the AES standard.
Data execution prevention is a feature in most operating systems intended to protect against which type of attack? A. Cross-site scripting B. Buffer overflow C. Header manipulation D. SQL injection
Answer: B Explanation: Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature included in modern operating systems. It marks areas of memory as either "executable" or "nonexecutable", and allows only data in an "executable" area to be run by programs, services, device drivers, etc. It is known to be available in Linux, OS X, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android operating systems. DEP protects against some program errors, and helps prevent certain malicious exploits, especially attacks that store executable instructions in a data area via a buffer overflow. A buffer overflow occurs when a program or process tries to store more data in a buffer (temporary data storage area) than it was intended to hold. Since buffers are created to contain a finite amount of data, the extra information - which has to go somewhere - can overflow into adjacent buffers, corrupting or overwriting the valid data held in them. Although it may occur accidentally through programming error, buffer overflow is an increasingly common type of security attack on data integrity. In buffer overflow attacks, the extra data may contain codes designed to trigger specific actions, in effect sending new instructions to the attacked computer that could, for example, damage the user's files, change data, or disclose confidential information. Buffer overflow attacks are said to have arisen because the C programming language supplied the framework, and poor programming practices supplied the vulnerability.
Which of the following does full disk encryption prevent? A. Client side attacks B. Clear text access C. Database theft D. Network-based attacks
Answer: B Explanation: Full-disk encryption encrypts the data on the device. This feature ensures that the data on the device cannot be accessed in a useable form should the device be stolen.
During which of the following phases of the Incident Response process should a security administrator define and implement general defense against malware? A. Lessons Learned B. Preparation C. Eradication D. Identification
Answer: B Explanation: Incident response procedures involves: Preparation; Incident identification; Escalation and notification; Mitigation steps; Lessons learned; Reporting; Recover/reconstitution procedures; First responder; Incident isolation (Quarantine; Device removal); Data breach; Damage and loss control. It is important to stop malware before it ever gets hold of a system thus you should know which malware is out there and take defensive measures - this means preparation to guard against malware infection should be done.
All of the following are valid cryptographic hash functions EXCEPT: A. RIPEMD. B. RC4. C. SHA-512. D. MD4.
Answer: B Explanation: RC4 is not a hash function. RC4 is popular with wireless and WEP/WPA encryption.
An achievement in providing worldwide Internet security was the signing of certificates associated with which of the following protocols? A. TCP/IP B. SSL C. SCP D. SSH
Answer: B Explanation: SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is used for establishing an encrypted link between two computers, typically a web server and a browser. SSL is used to enable sensitive information such as login credentials and credit card numbers to be transmitted securely.
While opening an email attachment, Pete, a customer, receives an error that the application has encountered an unexpected issue and must be shut down. This could be an example of which of the following attacks? A. Cross-site scripting B. Buffer overflow C. Header manipulation D. Directory traversal
Answer: B Explanation: When the user opens an attachment, the attachment is loaded into memory. The error is caused by a memory issue due to a buffer overflow attack. A buffer overflow occurs when a program or process tries to store more data in a buffer (temporary data storage area) than it was intended to hold. Since buffers are created to contain a finite amount of data, the extra information - which has to go somewhere - can overflow into adjacent buffers, corrupting or overwriting the valid data held in them. Although it may occur accidentally through programming error, buffer overflow is an increasingly common type of security attack on data integrity. In buffer overflow attacks, the extra data may contain codes designed to trigger specific actions, in effect sending new instructions to the attacked computer that could, for example, damage the user's files, change data, or disclose confidential information. Buffer overflow attacks are said to have arisen because the C programming language supplied the framework, and poor programming practices supplied the vulnerability.
Which of the following algorithms has well documented collisions? (Select TWO). A. AES B. MD5 C. SHA D. SHA-256 E. RSA
Answer: BC Explanation: B: MD5 biggest weakness is that it does not have strong collision resistance, and thus it is no longer recommended for use. C: SHA-1 (also known as SHA) is being retired from most government uses; the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology said, "Federal agencies should stop using SHA-1 for...applications that require collision resistance as soon as practical, and must use the SHA-2 family of hash functions for these applications after 2010", though that was later relaxed. Note: The hashing algorithm must have few or no collisions. This means that hashing two different inputs does not give the same output.Cryptographic hash functions are usually designed to be collision resistant. But many hash functions that were once thought to be collision resistant were later broken. MD5 and SHA-1 in particular both have published techniques more efficient than brute force for finding collisions.
A company is preparing to decommission an offline, non-networked root certificate server. Before sending the server's drives to be destroyed by a contracted company, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) wants to be certain that the data will not be accessed. Which of the following, if implemented, would BEST reassure the CSO? (Select TWO). A. Disk hashing procedures B. Full disk encryption C. Data retention policies D. Disk wiping procedures E. Removable media encryption
Answer: BD Explanation: B: Full disk encryption is when the entire volume is encrypted; the data is not accessible to someone who might boot another operating system in an attempt to bypass the computer's security. Full disk encryption is sometimes referred to as hard drive encryption. D: Disk wiping is the process of overwriting data on the repeatedly, or using a magnet to alter the magnetic structure of the disks. This renders the data unreadable.
In which of the following scenarios is PKI LEAST hardened? A. The CRL is posted to a publicly accessible location. B. The recorded time offsets are developed with symmetric keys. C. A malicious CA certificate is loaded on all the clients. D. All public keys are accessed by an unauthorized user.
Answer: C Explanation: A rogue Certification Authority (CA) certificate allows malicious users to impersonate any Web site on the Internet, including banking and e-commerce sites secured using the HTTPS protocol. A rogue CA certificate would be seen as trusted by Web browsers, and it is harmful because it can appear to be signed by one of the root CAs that browsers trust by default. A rogue certification Authority (CA) certificate can be created using a vulnerability in the Internet Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) used to issue digital certificates for secure Web sites.
The system administrator has deployed updated security controls for the network to limit risk of attack. The security manager is concerned that controls continue to function as intended to maintain appropriate security posture. Which of the following risk mitigation strategies is MOST important to the security manager? A. User permissions B. Policy enforcement C. Routine audits D. Change management
Answer: C Explanation: After you have implemented security controls based on risk, you must perform routine audits. These audits should include reviews of user rights and permissions as well as specific events. You should pay particular attention to false positives and negatives.
A security team has established a security awareness program. Which of the following would BEST prove the success of the program? A. Policies B. Procedures C. Metrics D. Standards
Answer: C Explanation: All types of training should be followed up- be tested to see if it worked and how much was learned in the training process. You must follow up and gather training metrics to validate compliance and security posture. By training metrics, we mean some quantifiable method for determining the efficacy of training.
Matt, a security analyst, needs to select an asymmetric encryption method that allows for the same level of encryption strength with a lower key length than is typically necessary. Which of the following encryption methods offers this capability? A. Twofish B. Diffie-Hellman C. ECC D. RSA
Answer: C Explanation: Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is an approach to public-key cryptography based on the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields. One of the main benefits in comparison with non-ECC cryptography (with plain Galois fields as a basis) is the same level of security provided by keys of smaller size.
Sara, a user, downloads a keygen to install pirated software. After running the keygen, system performance is extremely slow and numerous antivirus alerts are displayed. Which of the following BEST describes this type of malware? A. Logic bomb B. Worm C. Trojan D. Adware
Answer: C Explanation: In computers, a Trojan is a program in which malicious or harmful code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data in such a way that it can get control and do its chosen form of damage, such as ruining the file allocation table on your hard disk. In one celebrated case, a Trojan was a program that was supposed to find and destroy computer viruses. A Trojan horse may be widely redistributed as part of a computer virus.
Which of the following is an authentication and accounting service that uses TCP for connecting to routers and switches? A. DIAMETER B. RADIUS C. TACACS+ D. Kerberos
Answer: C Explanation: TACACS+ is an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) service that makes us of TCP only.
Which of the following protocols is used to validate whether trust is in place and accurate by returning responses of either "good", "unknown", or "revoked"? A. CRL B. PKI C. OCSP D. RA
Answer: C Explanation: The Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) is an Internet protocol used for obtaining the revocation status of an X.509 digital certificate.An OCSP responder (a server typically run by the certificate issuer) may return a signed response signifying that the certificate specified in the request is 'good', 'revoked', or 'unknown'. If it cannot process the request, it may return an error code.
Which of the following protocols is used to authenticate the client and server's digital certificate? A. PEAP B. DNS C. TLS D. ICMP
Answer: C Explanation: Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. It uses X.509 certificates and hence asymmetric cryptography to authenticate the counterparty with whom it is communicating, and to exchange a symmetric key.
Which of the following has a storage root key? A. HSM B. EFS C. TPM D. TKIP
Answer: C Explanation: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a hardware-based encryption solution that is embedded in the system's motherboard and is enabled or disable in BIOS. It helps with hash key generation and stores cryptographic keys, passwords, or certificates on non-volatile (NV) memory. Data stored on NV memory is retained unaltered when the device has no power. The storage root key is embedded in the TPM to protect TPM keys created by applications, so that these keys cannot be used without the TPM.
A security researcher wants to reverse engineer an executable file to determine if it is malicious. The file was found on an underused server and appears to contain a zero-day exploit. Which of the following can the researcher do to determine if the file is malicious in nature? A. TCP/IP socket design review B. Executable code review C. OS Baseline comparison D. Software architecture review
Answer: C Explanation: Zero-Day Exploits begin exploiting holes in any software the very day it is discovered. It is very difficult to respond to a zero-day exploit. Often, the only thing that you as a security administrator can do is to turn off the service. Although this can be a costly undertaking in terms of productivity, it is the only way to keep the network safe. In this case you want to check if the executable file is malicious. Since a baseline represents a secure state is would be possible to check the nature of the executable file in an isolated environment against the OS baseline.
A vulnerability assessment indicates that a router can be accessed from default port 80 and default port 22. Which of the following should be executed on the router to prevent access via these ports? (Select TWO). A. FTP service should be disabled B. HTTPS service should be disabled C. SSH service should be disabled D. HTTP service should disabled E. Telnet service should be disabled
Answer: CD Explanation: Port 80 is used by HTTP. Port 22 is used by SSH. By disabling the HTTP and Telnet services, you will prevent access to the router on ports 80 and 22.
Which of the following IP addresses would be hosts on the same subnet given the subnet mask 255.255.255.224? (Select TWO). A. 10.4.4.125 B. 10.4.4.158 C. 10.4.4.165 D. 10.4.4.189 E. 10.4.4.199
Answer: CD Explanation: With the given subnet mask, a maximum number of 30 hosts between IP addresses 10.4.4.161 and 10.4.4.190 are allowed. Therefore, option C and D would be hosts on the same subnet, and the other options would not. http://www.subnetonline.com/pages/subnet-calculators/ip-subnet-calculator.php
While configuring a new access layer switch, the administrator, Joe, was advised that he needed to make sure that only devices authorized to access the network would be permitted to login and utilize resources. Which of the following should the administrator implement to ensure this happens? A. Log Analysis B. VLAN Management C. Network separation D. 802.1x
Answer: D Explanation: 802.1x is a port-based authentication mechanism. It's based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and is commonly used in closed-environment wireless networks. 802.1x was initially used to compensate for the weaknesses of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), but today it's often used as a component in more complex authentication and connection-management systems, including Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), Diameter, Cisco System's Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System Plus (TACACS+), and Network Access Control (NAC).
An administrator needs to submit a new CSR to a CA. Which of the following is a valid FIRST step? A. Generate a new private key based on AES. B. Generate a new public key based on RSA. C. Generate a new public key based on AES. D. Generate a new private key based on RSA.
Answer: D Explanation: Before creating a CSR, the applicant first generates a key pair, keeping the private key secret. The private key is needed to produce, but it is not part of, the CSR. The private key is an RSA key. The private encryption key that will be used to protect sensitive information. Note: A CSR or Certificate Signing request is a block of encrypted text that is generated on the server that the certificate will be used on. It contains information that will be included in your certificate such as your organization name, common name (domain name), locality, and country. It also contains the public key that will be included in your certificate. A private key is usually created at the same time that you create the CSR.
A security administrator must implement a network authentication solution which will ensure encryption of user credentials when users enter their username and password to authenticate to the network. Which of the following should the administrator implement? A. WPA2 over EAP-TTLS B. WPA-PSK C. WPA2 with WPS D. WEP over EAP-PEAP
Answer: D Explanation: D: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is designed to provide security equivalent to that of a wired network. WEP has vulnerabilities and isn't considered highly secure. Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) provides a framework for authentication that is often used with wireless networks. Among the five EAP types adopted by the WPA/ WPA2 standard are EAP-TLS, EAP-PSK, EAP- MD5, as well as LEAP and PEAP. PEAP is similar in design to EAP-TTLS, requiring only a server-side PKI certificate to create a secure TLS tunnel to protect user authentication, and uses server-side public key certificates to authenticate the server. It then creates an encrypted TLS tunnel between the client and the authentication server. In most configurations, the keys for this encryption are transported using the server's public key. The ensuing exchange of authentication information inside the tunnel to authenticate the client is then encrypted and user credentials are safe from eavesdropping.
Which of the following is an authentication service that uses UDP as a transport medium? A. TACACS+ B. LDAP C. Kerberos D. RADIUS
Answer: D Explanation: RADIUS runs in the application layer and makes use of UDP as transport.
When creating a public / private key pair, for which of the following ciphers would a user need to specify the key strength? A. SHA B. AES C. DES D. RSA
Answer: D Explanation: RSA (an asymmetric algorithm) uses keys of a minimum length of 2048 bits.
The security administrator is currently unaware of an incident that occurred a week ago. Which of the following will ensure the administrator is notified in a timely manner in the future? A. User permissions reviews B. Incident response team C. Change management D. Routine auditing
Answer: D Explanation: Routine audits are carried out after you have implemented security controls based on risk. These audits include aspects such as user rights and permissions and specific events.
Which of the following ports and protocol types must be opened on a host with a host- based firewall to allow incoming SFTP connections? A. 21/UDP B. 21/TCP C. 22/UDP D. 22/TCP
Answer: D Explanation: SSH uses TCP port 22. All protocols encrypted by SSH, including SFTP, SHTTP, SCP, SExec, and slogin, also use TCP port 22.
Which of the following protocols uses an asymmetric key to open a session and then establishes a symmetric key for the remainder of the session? A. SFTP B. HTTPS C. TFTP D. TLS
Answer: D Explanation: SSL establishes a session using asymmetric encryption and maintains the session using symmetric encryption.
Users can authenticate to a company's web applications using their credentials from a popular social media site. Which of the following poses the greatest risk with this integration? A. Malicious users can exploit local corporate credentials with their social media credentials B. Changes to passwords on the social media site can be delayed from replicating to the company C. Data loss from the corporate servers can create legal liabilities with the social media site D. Password breaches to the social media site affect the company application as well
Answer: D Explanation: Social networking and having you company's application authentication `linked' to users' credential that they use on social media sites exposes your company's application exponentially more than is necessary. You should strive to practice risk avoidance.
Which of the following is the MOST specific plan for various problems that can arise within a system? A. Business Continuity Plan B. Continuity of Operation Plan C. Disaster Recovery Plan D. IT Contingency Plan
Answer: D Explanation: An IT contingency plan would focus on the IT aspect in particular to ensure business continuity.
A small company can only afford to buy an all-in-one wireless router/switch. The company has 3 wireless BYOD users and 2 web servers without wireless access. Which of the following should the company configure to protect the servers from the user devices? (Select TWO). A. Deny incoming connections to the outside router interface. B. Change the default HTTP port C. Implement EAP-TLS to establish mutual authentication D. Disable the physical switch ports E. Create a server VLAN F. Create an ACL to access the server
Answer: EF Explanation: We can protect the servers from the user devices by separating them into separate VLANs(virtual local area networks).The network device in the question is a router/switch. We can use the router to allow access from devices in one VLAN to the servers in the other VLAN. We can configure an ACL (Access Control List) on the router to determine who is able to access the server.In computer networking, a single layer-2 network may be partitioned to create multiple distinct broadcast domains, which are mutually isolated so that packets can only pass between them via one or more routers; such a domain is referred to as a virtual local area network, virtual LAN or VLAN. This is usually achieved on switch or router devices. Simpler devices only support partitioning on a port level (if at all), so sharing VLANs across devices requires running dedicated cabling for each VLAN. More sophisticated devices can mark packets through tagging, so that a single interconnect (trunk) may be used to transport data for multiple VLANs. Grouping hosts with a common set of requirements regardless of their physical location by VLAN can greatly simplify network design. A VLAN has the same attributes as a physical local area network (LAN), but it allows for end stations to be grouped together more easily even if they are not on the same network switch. The network described in this question is a DMZ, not a VLAN.
Which of the following implementation steps would be appropriate for a public wireless hot- spot? A. Reduce power level B. Disable SSID broadcast C. Open system authentication D. MAC filter
C Open System Authentication (OSA) is a process by which a computer can gain access to a wireless network that uses the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol. With OSA, a computer equipped with a wireless modem can access any WEP network and receive files that are not encrypted.
Pete, the system administrator, is reviewing his disaster recovery plans. He wishes to limit the downtime in the event of a disaster, but does not have the budget approval to implement or maintain an offsite location that ensures 99.99% availability. Which of the following would be Pete's BEST option? A. Use hardware already at an offsite location and configure it to be quickly utilized. B. Move the servers and data to another part of the company's main campus from the server room. C. Retain data back-ups on the main campus and establish redundant servers in a virtual environment. D. Move the data back-ups to the offsite location, but retain the hardware on the main campus for redundancy.
Answer: A Explanation: A warm site provides some of the capabilities of a hot site, but it requires the customer to do more work to become operational. Warm sites provide computer systems and compatible media capabilities. If a warm site is used, administrators and other staff will need to install and configure systems to resume operations. For most organizations, a warm site could be a remote office, a leased facility, or another organization with which yours has a reciprocal agreement. Warm sites may be for your exclusive use, but they don't have to be. A warm site requires more advanced planning, testing, and access to media for system recovery. Warm sites represent a compromise between a hot site, which is very expensive, and a cold site, which isn't preconfigured.
Configuring the mode, encryption methods, and security associations are part of which of the following? A. IPSec B. Full disk encryption C. 802.1x D. PKI
Answer: A Explanation: IPSec can operate in tunnel mode or transport mode. It uses symmetric cryptography to provide encryption security. Furthermore, it makes use of Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP).
Which of the following allows a company to maintain access to encrypted resources when employee turnover is high? A. Recovery agent B. Certificate authority C. Trust model D. Key escrow
Answer: A Explanation: If an employee leaves and we need access to data he has encrypted, we can use the key recovery agent to retrieve his decryption key. We can use this recovered key to access the data. A key recovery agent is an entity that has the ability to recover a key, key components, or plaintext messages as needed. As opposed to escrow, recovery agents are typically used to access information that is encrypted with older keys.
Jane, a security administrator, has been tasked with explaining authentication services to the company's management team. The company runs an active directory infrastructure. Which of the following solutions BEST relates to the host authentication protocol within the company's environment? A. Kerberos B. Least privilege C. TACACS+ D. LDAP
Answer: A Explanation: Kerberos was accepted by Microsoft as the chosen authentication protocol for Windows 2000 and Active Directory domains that followed.
A network engineer is designing a secure tunneled VPN. Which of the following protocols would be the MOST secure? A. IPsec B. SFTP C. BGP D. PPTP
Answer: A Explanation: Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) came about through a partnership between Cisco and Microsoft with the intention of providing a more secure VPN protocol. L2TP is considered to be a more secure option than PPTP, as the IPSec protocol which holds more secure encryption algorithms, is utilized in conjunction with it. It also requires a pre-shared certificate or key. L2TP's strongest level of encryption makes use of 168 bit keys, 3 DES encryption algorithm and requires two levels of authentication. L2TP has a number of advantages in comparison to PPTP in terms of providing data integrity and authentication of origin verification designed to keep hackers from compromising the system. However, the increased overhead required to manage this elevated security means that it performs at a slower pace than PPTP.
Privilege creep among long-term employees can be mitigated by which of the following procedures? A. User permission reviews B. Mandatory vacations C. Separation of duties D. Job function rotation
Answer: A Explanation: Privilege creep is the steady build-up of access rights beyond what a user requires to perform his/her task. Privilege creep can be decreased by conducting sporadic access rights reviews, which will confirm each user's need to access specific roles and rights in an effort to find and rescind excess privileges.
A security administrator must implement a wireless encryption system to secure mobile devices' communication. Some users have mobile devices which only support 56-bit encryption. Which of the following wireless encryption methods should be implemented? A. RC4 B. AES C. MD5 D. TKIP
Answer: A Explanation: RC4 is popular with wireless and WEP/WPA encryption. It is a streaming cipher that works with key sizes between 40 and 2048 bits, and it is used in SSL and TLS.
An organization has introduced token-based authentication to system administrators due to risk of password compromise. The tokens have a set of numbers that automatically change every 30 seconds. Which of the following type of authentication mechanism is this? A. TOTP B. Smart card C. CHAP D. HOTP
Answer: A Explanation: Time-based one-time password (TOTP) tokens are devices or applications that generate passwords at fixed time intervals. In this case, it's every 30 seconds.
Matt, a security consultant, has been tasked with increasing server fault tolerance and has been given no budget to accomplish his task. Which of the following can Matt implement to ensure servers will withstand hardware failure? A. Hardware load balancing B. RAID C. A cold site D. A host standby
Answer: B Explanation: Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to sustain operations in the event of a component failure. Fault-tolerant systems can continue operation even though a critical component, such as a disk drive, has failed. This capability involves overengineering systems by adding redundant components and subsystems. RAID can achieve fault tolerance using software which can be done using the existing hardware and software.
Which of the following can use RC4 for encryption? (Select TWO). A. CHAP B. SSL C. WEP D. AES E. 3DES
Answer: BC Explanation: B: In cryptography, RC4 (Rivest Cipher 4 also known as ARC4 or ARCFOUR meaning Alleged RC4) is the most widely used software stream cipher and is used in popular Internet protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). C: WEP also uses RC4, however WEP is still unsecure.
Joe, an employee, was escorted from the company premises due to suspicion of revealing trade secrets to a competitor. Joe had already been working for two hours before leaving the premises. A security technician was asked to prepare a report of files that had changed since last night's integrity scan. Which of the following could the technician use to prepare the report? (Select TWO). A. PGP B. MD5 C. ECC D. AES E. Blowfish F. HMAC
Answer: BF Explanation: B: MD5 can be used to locate the data which has changed. The Message Digest Algorithm (MD) creates a hash value and uses a one-way hash. The hash value is used to help maintain integrity. There are several versions of MD; the most common are MD5, MD4, and MD2. F: A common method of verifying integrity involves adding a message authentication code (MAC) to the message. HMAC (Hash-Based Message Authentication Code) uses a hashing algorithm along with a symmetric key.
A CRL is comprised oF. A. Malicious IP addresses. B. Trusted CA's. C. Untrusted private keys. D. Public keys.
Answer: D Explanation: A certificate revocation list (CRL) is created and distributed to all CAs to revoke a certificate or key. By checking the CRL you can check if a particular certificate has been revoked. The certificates for which a CRL should be maintained are often X.509/public key certificates, as this format is commonly used by PKI schemes.
An IT security technician needs to establish host based security for company workstations. Which of the following will BEST meet this requirement? A. Implement IIS hardening by restricting service accounts. B. Implement database hardening by applying vendor guidelines. C. Implement perimeter firewall rules to restrict access. D. Implement OS hardening by applying GPOs.
Answer: D Explanation: Hardening is the process of securing a system by reducing its surface of vulnerability. Reducing the surface of vulnerability typically includes removing or disabling unnecessary functions and features, removing or disabling unnecessary user accounts, disabling unnecessary protocols and ports, and disabling unnecessary services. This can be implementedusing the native security features of an operating system, such as Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
A security engineer is asked by the company's development team to recommend the most secure method for password storage. Which of the following provide the BEST protection against brute forcing stored passwords? (Select TWO). A. PBKDF2 B. MD5 C. SHA2 D. Bcrypt E. AES F. CHAP
Explanation: A: PBKDF2 (Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2) is part of PKCS #5 v. 2.01. It applies some function (like a hash or HMAC) to the password or passphrase along with Salt to produce a derived key. D: bcrypt is a key derivation function for passwords based on the Blowfish cipher. Besides incorporating a salt to protect against rainbow table attacks, bcrypt is an adaptive function: over time, the iteration count can be increased to make it slower, so it remains resistant to brute-force search attacks even with increasing computation power. The bcrypt function is the default password hash algorithm for BSD and many other systems.
Which of the following is an application security coding problem? A. Error and exception handling B. Patch management C. Application hardening D. Application fuzzing
Answer: A Explanation: Exception handling is an aspect of secure coding. When errors occur, the system should revert back to a secure state. This must be coded into the system by the programmer, and should capture errors and exceptions so that they could be handled by the application.
Which of the following MOST interferes with network-based detection techniques? A. Mime-encoding B. SSL C. FTP D. Anonymous email accounts
Answer: B Explanation: Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used to establish secure TCP communication between two machines by encrypting the communication. Encrypted communications cannot easily be inspected for anomalies by network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDS).
A system administrator is using a packet sniffer to troubleshoot remote authentication. The administrator detects a device trying to communicate to TCP port 49. Which of the following authentication methods is MOST likely being attempted? A. RADIUS B. TACACS+ C. Kerberos D. LDAP
Answer: B Explanation: TACACS makes use of TCP port 49 by default.
Methods to test the responses of software and web applications to unusual or unexpected inputs is known as: A. Brute force. B. HTML encoding. C. Web crawling. D. Fuzzing.
Answer: D Explanation: Fuzzing is a software testing technique that involves providing invalid, unexpected, or random data to as inputs to a computer program. The program is then monitored for exceptions such as crashes, or failed validation, or memory leaks.
