CISSP : Chapter 2

What technology could Lauren's employer implement to help prevent confidential data from being emailed out of the organization? A. DLP B. IDS C. A firewall D. UDP

A. A data loss prevention (DLP) system or software is designed to identify labeled data or data that fits specific patterns and descriptions to help prevent it from leaving the organization. An IDS is designed to identify intrusions. Although some IDS systems can detect specific types of sensitive data using pattern matching, they have no ability to stop traffic. A firewall uses rules to control traffic routing, while UDP is a network protocol.

How can a data retention policy help to reduce liabilities? A. By ensuring that unneeded data isn't retained B. By ensuring that incriminating data is destroyed C. By ensuring that data is securely wiped so it cannot be restored for legal discovery D. By reducing the cost of data storage required by law

A. A data retention policy can help to ensure that outdated data is purged, removing potential additional costs for discovery. Many organizations have aggressive retention policies to both reduce the cost of storage and limit the amount of data that is kept on hand and discoverable. Data retention policies are not designed to destroy incriminating data, and legal requirements for data retention must still be met.

Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) is a framework for information technology (IT) management and governance. Which data management role is most likely to select and apply COBIT to balance the need for security controls against business requirements? A. Business owners B. Data processors C. Data owners D. Data stewards

A. Business owners have to balance the need to provide value with regulatory, security, and other requirements. This makes the adoption of a common framework like COBIT attractive. Data owners are more likely to ask that those responsible for control selection identify a standard to use. Data processors are required to perform specific actions under regulations like the EU GDPR. Finally, in many organizations, data stewards are internal roles that oversee how data is used.

If Chris is one of the data owners for the organization, what steps in this process is he most likely responsible for? A. He is responsible for steps 3, 4, and 5. B. He is responsible for steps 1, 2, and 3. C. He is responsible for steps 5, 6, and 7. D. All of the steps are his direct responsibility.

A. Chris is most likely to be responsible for classifying the data that he owns as well as assisting with or advising the system owners on security requirements and control selection. In an organization with multiple data owners, Chris is unlikely to set criteria for classifying data on his own. As a data owner, Chris will also not typically have direct responsibility for scoping, tailoring, applying, or enforcing those controls.

Which of the following concerns should not be part of the decision when classifying data? A. The cost to classify the data B. The sensitivity of the data C. The amount of harm that exposure of the data could cause D. The value of the data to the organization

A. Classification should be conducted based on the value of the data to the organization, its sensitivity, and the amount of harm that could result from exposure of the data. Cost should be considered when implementing controls and is weighed against the damage that exposure would create.

What term is used to describe overwriting media to allow for its reuse in an environment operating at the same sensitivity level? A. Clearing B. Erasing C. Purging D. Sanitization

A. Clearing describes preparing media for reuse. When media is cleared, unclassified data is written over all addressable locations on the media. Once that's completed, the media can be reused. Erasing is the deletion of files or media. Purging is a more intensive form of clearing for reuse in lower-security areas, and sanitization is a series of processes that removes data from a system or media while ensuring that the data is unrecoverable by any means.

What does labeling data allow a DLP system to do? A. The DLP system can detect labels and apply appropriate protections. B. The DLP system can adjust labels based on changes in the classification scheme. C. The DLP system can notify the firewall that traffic should be allowed through. D. The DLP system can delete unlabeled data.

A. Data loss prevention (DLP) systems can use labels on data to determine the appropriate controls to apply to the data. DLP systems won't modify labels in real time and typically don't work directly with firewalls to stop traffic. Deleting unlabeled data would cause big problems for organizations that haven't labeled every piece of data!

Information maintained about an individual that can be used to distinguish or trace their identity is known as what type of information? A. Personally identifiable information (PII) B. Personal health information (PHI) C. Social Security number (SSN) D. Secure identity information (SII)

A. NIST Special Publication 800-122 defines PII as any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as name, Social Security number, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, biometric records, and other information that is linked or linkable to an individual such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information. PHI is health-related information about a specific person, Social Security numbers are issued to individuals in the United States, and SII is a made-up term.

Which attack helped drive vendors to move away from SSL toward TLS-only by default? A. POODLE B. Stuxnet C. BEAST D. CRIME

A. The POODLE (or Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption) attack helped force the move from SSL 3.0 to TLS because it allowed attackers to easily access SSL encrypted messages. Stuxnet was a worm aimed at the Iranian nuclear program, while CRIME and BEAST were earlier attacks against SSL.

Which one of the following administrative processes assists organizations in assigning appropriate levels of security control to sensitive information? A. Information classification B. Remanence C. Transmitting data D. Clearing

A. The need to protect sensitive data drives information classification. This allows organizations to focus on data that needs to be protected rather than spending effort on less important data. Remanence describes data left on media after an attempt is made to remove the data. Transmitting data isn't a driver for an administrative process to protect sensitive data, and clearing is a technical process for removing data from media.

A U.S. government database contains Secret, Confidential, and Top Secret data. How should it be classified? A. Top Secret B. Confidential C. Secret D. Mixed classification

A. When data is stored in a mixed classification environment, it is typically classified based on the highest classification of data included. In this case, the US government's highest classification is Top Secret. Mixed classification is not a valid classification in this scheme.

What term is used to describe a set of common security configurations, often provided by a third party? A. Security policy B. Baseline C. DSS D. NIST SP 800-53

B. A baseline is a set of security configurations that can be adopted and modified to fit an organization's security needs. A security policy is written to describe an organization's approach to security, while DSS is the second half of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. The NIST SP-800 series of documents address computer security in a variety of areas.

What term is used to describe a starting point for a minimum security standard? A. Outline B. Baseline C. Policy D. Configuration guide

B. A baseline is used to ensure a minimum security standard. A policy is the foundation that a standard may point to for authority, and a configuration guide may be built from a baseline to help staff who need to implement it to accomplish their task. An outline is helpful, but outline isn't the term you're looking for here.

What tool is used to prevent employees who leave from sharing proprietary information with their new employers? A. Encryption B. NDA C. Classification D. Purging

B. A nondisclosure agreement, or NDA, is a legal agreement that prevents employees from sharing proprietary data with their new employers. Purging is used on media, while classification is used on data. Encryption can help secure data, but it doesn't stop employees who can decrypt or copy the data from sharing it.

What type of encryption should you use on the file servers for the proprietary data, and how might you secure the data when it is in motion? A. TLS at rest and AES in motion B. AES at rest and TLS in motion C. VPN at rest and TLS in motion D. DES at rest and AES in motion

B. AES is a strong modern symmetric encryption algorithm that is appropriate for encrypting data at rest. TLS is frequently used to secure data when it is in transit. A virtual private network is not necessarily an encrypted connection and would be used for data in motion, while DES is an outdated algorithm and should not be used for data that needs strong security.

What term describes data that remains after attempts have been made to remove the data? A. Residual bytes B. Data remanence C. Slack space D. Zero fill For questions 14-16, please refer to the following scenario: Your organization regularly handles three types of data: information that it shares with customers, information that it uses internally to conduct business, and trade secret information that offers the organization significant competitive advantages. Information shared with customers is used and stored on web servers, while both the internal business data and the trade secret information are stored on internal file servers and employee workstations.

B. Data remanence is a term used to describe data left after attempts to erase or remove data. Slack space describes unused space in a disk cluster, zero fill is a wiping methodology that replaces all data bits with zeroes, and residual bytes is a made-up term.

What method uses a strong magnetic field to erase media? A. Magwipe B. Degaussing C. Sanitization D. Purging

B. Degaussing uses strong magnetic fields to erase magnetic media. Magwipe is a made-up term. Sanitization is a combination of processes used to remove data from a system or media to ensure that it cannot be recovered. Purging is a form of clearing used on media that will be reused in a lower classification or lower-security environment.

Fred's organization allows downgrading of systems for reuse after projects have been finished and the systems have been purged. What concern should Fred raise about the reuse of the systems from his Top Secret classified project for a future project classified as Secret? A. The Top Secret data may be commingled with the Secret data, resulting in a need to relabel the system. B. The cost of the sanitization process may exceed the cost of new equipment. C. The data may be exposed as part of the sanitization process. D. The organization's DLP system may flag the new system due to the difference in data labels.

B. Downgrading systems and media is rare due to the difficulty of ensuring that sanitization is complete. The need to completely wipe (or destroy) the media that systems use means that the cost of reuse is often significant and may exceed the cost of purchasing a new system or media. The goal of purging is to ensure that no data remains, so commingling data should not be a concern, nor should the exposure of the data; only staff with the proper clearance should handle the systems! Finally, a DLP system should flag data based on labels, not on the system it comes from.

What problem with FTP and Telnet makes using SFTP and SSH better alternatives? A. FTP and Telnet aren't installed on many systems. B. FTP and Telnet do not encrypt data. C. FTP and Telnet have known bugs and are no longer maintained. D. FTP and Telnet are difficult to use, making SFTP and SSH the preferred solution.

B. FTP and Telnet do not provide encryption for the data they transmit and should not be used if they can be avoided. SFTP and SSH provide encryption to protect both the data they send and the credentials that are used to log in via both utilities.

Full disk encryption like Microsoft's BitLocker is used to protect data in what state? A. Data in transit B. Data at rest C. Unlabeled data D. Labeled data

B. Full disk encryption only protects data at rest. Since it encrypts the full disk, it does not distinguish between labeled and unlabeled data.

Chris is responsible for his organization's security standards and has guided the selection and implementation of a security baseline for Windows PCs in his organization. How can Chris most effectively make sure that the workstations he is responsible for are being checked for compliance and that settings are being applied as necessary? A. Assign users to spot-check baseline compliance. B. Use Microsoft Group Policy. C. Create startup scripts to apply policy at system start. D. Periodically review the baselines with the data owner and system owners.

B. Group Policy provides the ability to monitor and apply settings in a security baseline. Manual checks by users and using startup scripts provide fewer reviews and may be prone to failure, while periodic review of the baseline won't result in compliance being checked.

The government defense contractor that Saria works for has recently shut down a major research project and is planning on reusing the hundreds of thousands of dollars of systems and data storage tapes used for the project for other purposes. When Saria reviews the company's internal processes, she finds that she can't reuse the tapes and that the manual says they should be destroyed. Why isn't Saria allowed to degauss and then reuse the tapes to save her employer money? A. Data permanence may be an issue. B. Data remanence is a concern. C. The tapes may suffer from bitrot. D. Data from tapes can't be erased by degaussing.

B. Many organizations require the destruction of media that contains data at higher levels of classification. Often the cost of the media is lower than the potential costs of data exposure, and it is difficult to guarantee that reused media doesn't contain remnant data. Tapes can be erased by degaussing, but degaussing is not always fully effective. Bitrot describes the slow loss of data on aging media, while data permanence is a term sometimes used to describe the life span of data and media.

When media is labeled based on the classification of the data it contains, what rule is typically applied regarding labels? A. The data is labeled based on its integrity requirements. B. The media is labeled based on the highest classification level of the data it contains. C. The media is labeled with all levels of classification of the data it contains. D. The media is labeled with the lowest level of classification of the data it contains.

B. Media is typically labeled with the highest classification level of data it contains. This prevents the data from being handled or accessed at a lower classification level. Data integrity requirements may be part of a classification process but don't independently drive labeling in a classification scheme.

Steve is concerned about the fact that employees leaving his organization were often privy to proprietary information. Which one of the following controls is most effective against this threat? A. Sanitization B. NDAs C. Clearing D. Encryption

B. Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) are used to enforce confidentiality agreements with employees and may remain in effect even after an employee leaves the organization. Other controls, such as sanitization, clearing, and encryption, would not be effective against information in an employee's memory.

Sue's employer has asked her to use an IPsec VPN to connect to its network. When Sue connects, what does the IPsec VPN allow her to do? A. Send decrypted data over a public network and act like she is on her employer's internal network. B. Create a private encrypted network carried via a public network and act like she is on her employer's internal network. C. Create a virtual private network using TLS while on her employer's internal network. D. Create a tunneled network that connects her employer's network to her internal home network

B. One way to use an IPsec VPN is to create a private, encrypted network (or tunnel) via a public network, allowing users to be a virtual part of their employer's internal network. IPsec is distinct from TLS and provides encryption for confidentiality and integrity, and of course, in this scenario Sue is connecting to her employer's network rather than the employer connecting to hers.

Adjusting the CIS benchmarks to your organization's mission and your specific IT systems would involve what two processes? A. Scoping and selection B. Scoping and tailoring C. Baselining and tailoring D. Tailoring and selection

B. Scoping involves selecting only the controls that are appropriate for your IT systems, while tailoring matches your organization's mission and the controls from a selected baseline. Baselining is the process of configuring a system or software to match a baseline or building a baseline itself. Selection isn't a technical term used for any of these processes.

Which of the following is not one of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles? A. Information must be processed fairly. B. Information must be deleted within one year of acquisition. C. Information must be maintained securely. D. Information must be accurate.

B. The GDPR does include requirements that data be processed fairly, maintained securely, and maintained accurately. It does not include a requirement that information be deleted within one year, although it does specify that information should not be kept longer than necessary.

What is the primary information security risk to data at rest? A. Improper classification B. Data breach C. Decryption D. Loss of data integrity

B. The biggest threat to data at rest is typically a data breach. Data at rest with a high level of sensitivity is often encrypted to help prevent this. Decryption is not as significant of a threat if strong encryption is used and encryption keys are well secured. Data integrity issues could occur, but proper backups can help prevent this, and of course data could be improperly classified, but this is not the primary threat to the data.

How should you determine what controls from the baseline a given system or software package should receive? A. Consult the custodians of the data. B. Select based on the data classification of the data it stores or handles. C. Apply the same controls to all systems. D. Consult the business owner of the process the system or data supports.

B. The controls implemented from a security baseline should match the data classification of the data used or stored on the system. Custodians are trusted to ensure the day-to-day security of the data and should do so by ensuring that the baseline is met and maintained. Business owners often have a conflict of interest between functionality and data security, and of course, applying the same controls everywhere is expensive and may not meet business needs or be a responsible use of resources.

Chris manages a team of system administrators. What data role are they fulfilling if they conduct steps 6, 7, and 8 of the classification process? A. They are system owners and administrators. B. They are administrators and custodians. C. They are data owners and administrators. D. They are custodians and users.

B. The system administrators are acting in the roles of data administrators who grant access and will also act as custodians who are tasked with the day-to-day application of security controls. They are not acting as data owners who own the data itself. Typically, system administrators are delegated authority by system owners, such as a department head, and of course they are tasked with providing access to users.

Why is it cost effective to purchase high-quality media to contain sensitive data? A. Expensive media is less likely to fail. B. The value of the data often far exceeds the cost of the media. C. Expensive media is easier to encrypt. D. More expensive media typically improves data integrity.

B. The value of the data contained on media often exceeds the cost of the media, making more expensive media that may have a longer life span or additional capabilities like encryption support a good choice. While expensive media may be less likely to fail, the reason it makes sense is the value of the data, not just that it is less likely to fail. In general, the cost of the media doesn't have anything to do with the ease of encryption, and data integrity isn't ensured by better media.

What technique could you use to mark your trade secret information in case it was released or stolen and you need to identify it? A. Classification B. Symmetric encryption C. Watermarks D. Metadata

C. A watermark is used to digitally label data and can be used to indicate ownership. Encryption would have prevented the data from being accessed if it was lost, while classification is part of the set of security practices that can help make sure the right controls are in place. Finally, metadata is used to label data and might help a data loss prevention system flag it before it leaves your organization.

What encryption algorithm is used by both BitLocker and Microsoft's Encrypting File System? A. Blowfish B. Serpent C. AES D. 3DES

C. By default, BitLocker and Microsoft's Encrypting File System (EFS) both use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), which is the NIST-approved replacement for DES (Data Encryption Standard). Serpent was a competitor of AES, and 3DES was created as a possible replacement for DES.

What scenario describes data at rest? A. Data in an IPSec tunnel B. Data in an e-commerce transaction C. Data stored on a hard drive D. Data stored in RAM

C. Data at rest is inactive data that is physically stored. Data in an IPsec tunnel or part of an e-commerce transaction is data in motion. Data in RAM is ephemeral and is not inactive.

Alex works for a government agency that is required to meet U.S. federal government requirements for data security. To meet these requirements, Alex has been tasked with making sure data is identifiable by its classification level. What should Alex do to the data? A. Classify the data. B. Encrypt the data. C. Label the data. D. Apply DRM to the data.

C. Data labels are crucial to identify the classification level of information contained on the media. Digital rights management (DRM) tools provide ways to control how data is used, while encrypting it can help maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the data. Classifying the data is necessary to label it, but it doesn't automatically place a label on the data.

Angela is an information security architect at a bank and has been assigned to ensure that transactions are secure as they traverse the network. She recommends that all transactions use TLS. What threat is she most likely attempting to stop, and what method is she using to protect against it? A. Man-in-the-middle, VPN B. Packet injection, encryption C. Sniffing, encryption D. Sniffing, TEMPEST

C. Encryption is often used to protect traffic like bank transactions from sniffing. While packet injection and man-in-the-middle attacks are possible, they are far less likely to occur, and if a VPN were used, it would be used to provide encryption. TEMPEST is a specification for techniques used to prevent spying using electromagnetic emissions and wouldn't be used to stop attacks at any normal bank.

Which of the following is the least effective method of removing data from media? A. Degaussing B. Purging C. Erasing D. Clearing

C. Erasing, which describes a typical deletion process in many operating systems, typically removes only the link to the file and leaves the data that makes up the file itself. The data will remain in place but not indexed until the space is needed and it is overwritten. Degaussing works only on magnetic media, but it can be quite effective on it. Purging and clearing both describe more elaborate removal processes.

What civilian data classifications best fit this data? A. Unclassified, confidential, top secret B. Public, sensitive, private C. Public, sensitive, proprietary D. Public, confidential, private

C. Information shared with customers is public, internal business could be sensitive or private, and trade secrets are proprietary. Thus, public, sensitive, proprietary matches this most closely. Confidential is a military classification, which removes two of the remaining options, and trade secrets are more damaging to lose than a private classification would allow.

If you are selecting a security standard for a Windows 10 system that processes credit cards, what security standard is your best choice? A. Microsoft's Windows 10 security baseline B. The CIS Windows 10 baseline C. PCI DSS D. The NSA Windows 10 baseline For questions 23-25, please refer to the following scenario: The Center for Internet Security (CIS) works with subject matter experts from a variety of industries to create lists of security controls for operating systems, mobile devices, server software, and network devices. Your organization has decided to use the CIS benchmarks for your systems. Answer the following questions based on this decision.

C. PCI DSS, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, provides the set of requirements for credit card processing systems. The Microsoft, NSA, and CIS baseline are all useful for building a Windows 10 security standard, but the PCI DSS standard is a better answer.

What type of policy describes how long data is retained and maintained before destruction? A. Classification B. Audit C. Record retention D. Availability

C. Record retention policies describe how long an organization should retain data and may also specify how and when destruction should occur. Classification policies describe how and why classification should occur and who is responsible, while availability and audit policies may be created for specific purposes.

Chris is responsible for workstations throughout his company and knows that some of the company's workstations are used to handle proprietary information. Which option best describes what should happen at the end of their lifecycle for workstations he is responsible for? A. Erasing B. Clearing C. Sanitization D. Destruction

C. Sanitization is a combination of processes that ensure that data from a system cannot be recovered by any means. Erasing and clearing are both prone to mistakes and technical problems that can result in remnant data and don't make sense for systems that handled proprietary information. Destruction is the most complete method of ensuring that data cannot be exposed, and some organizations opt to destroy the entire workstation, but that is not a typical solution due to the cost involved.

Ben has been tasked with identifying security controls for systems covered by his organization's information classification system. Why might Ben choose to use a security baseline? A. It applies in all circumstances, allowing consistent security controls. B. They are approved by industry standards bodies, preventing liability. C. They provide a good starting point that can be tailored to organizational needs. D. They ensure that systems are always in a secure state.

C. Security baselines provide a starting point to scope and tailor security controls to your organization's needs. They aren't always appropriate to specific organizational needs, they cannot ensure that systems are always in a secure state, and they do not prevent liability.

What encryption technology would be appropriate for HIPAA documents in transit? A. BitLocker B. DES C. TLS D. SSL

C. TLS is a modern encryption method used to encrypt and protect data in transit. BitLocker is a full disk encryption technology used for data at rest. DES and SSL are both outdated encryption methods and should not be used for data that requires high levels of security.

Which of the following classification levels is the United States (U.S.) government's classification label for data that could cause damage but wouldn't cause serious or grave damage? A. Top Secret B. Secret C. Confidential D. Classified

C. The US government uses the label Confidential for data that could cause damage if it was disclosed without authorization. Exposure of Top Secret data is considered to potentially cause grave damage, while Secret data could cause serious damage. Classified is not a level in the US government classification scheme.

Which one of the following data roles bears ultimate organizational responsibility for data? A. System owners B. Business owners C. Data owners D. Mission owners

C. The data owner has ultimate responsibility for data belonging to an organization and is typically the CEO, president, or another senior employee. Business and mission owners typically own processes or programs. System owners own a system that processes sensitive data.

If Chris's company operates in the European Union and has been contracted to handle the data for a third party, what role is his company operating in when it uses this process to classify and handle data? A. Business owners B. Mission owners C. Data processors D. Data administrators

C. Third-party organizations that process personal data on behalf of a data controller are known as data processors. The organization that they are contracting with would act in the role of the business or mission owners, and others within Chris's organization would have the role of data administrators, granting access as needed to the data based on their operational procedures and data classification.

Lauren's employer asks Lauren to classify patient X-ray data that has an internal patient identifier associated with it but does not have any way to directly identify a patient. The company's data owner believes that exposure of the data could cause damage (but not exceptional damage) to the organization. How should Lauren classify the data? A. Public B. Sensitive C. Private D. Confidential

C. We know that the data classification will not be the top level classification of "Confidential" because the loss of the data would not cause severe damage. This means we have to choose between private (PHI) and sensitive (confidential). Calling this private due to the patient's personal health information fits the classification scheme, giving us the correct answer.

What is the primary purpose of data classification? A. It quantifies the cost of a data breach. B. It prioritizes IT expenditures. C. It allows compliance with breach notification laws. D. It identifies the value of the data to the organization.

D. Classification identifies the value of data to an organization. This can often help drive IT expenditure prioritization and could help with rough cost estimates if a breach occurred, but that's not the primary purpose. Finally, most breach laws call out specific data types for notification rather than requiring organizations to classify data themselves.

Staff in an information technology (IT) department who are delegated responsibility for day-to-day tasks hold what data role? A. Business owner B. User C. Data processor D. Custodian

D. Custodians are delegated the role of handling day-to-day tasks by managing and overseeing how data is handled, stored, and protected. Data processors are systems used to process data. Business owners are typically project or system owners who are tasked with making sure systems provide value to their users or customers.

What methods are often used to protect data in transit? A. Telnet, ISDN, UDP B. BitLocker, FileVault C. AES, Serpent, IDEA D. TLS, VPN, IPSec

D. Data in transit is data that is traversing a network or is otherwise in motion. TLS, VPNs, and IPsec tunnels are all techniques used to protect data in transit. AES, Serpent, and IDEA are all symmetric algorithms, while Telnet, ISDN, and UDP are all protocols. BitLocker and FileVault are both used to encrypt data, but they protect only stored data, not data in transit.

Joe works at a major pharmaceutical research and development company and has been tasked with writing his organization's data retention policy. As part of its legal requirements, the organization must comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. To do so, it is required to retain records with electronic signatures. Why would a signature be part of a retention requirement? A. It ensures that someone has reviewed the data. B. It provides confidentiality. C. It ensures that the data has not been changed. D. It validates who approved the data.

D. Electronic signatures, as used in this rule, prove that the signature was provided by the intended signer. Electronic signatures as part of the FDA code are intended to ensure that electronic records are "trustworthy, reliable, and generally equivalent to paper records and handwritten signatures executed on paper." Signatures cannot provide confidentiality or integrity and don't ensure that someone has reviewed the data.

Susan works for an American company that conducts business with customers in the European Union. What is she likely to have to do if she is responsible for handling PII from those customers? A. Encrypt the data at all times. B. Label and classify the data according to HIPAA. C. Conduct yearly assessments to the PCI DSS standard. D. Comply with a standard such as the US-EU Privacy Shield.

D. Privacy Shield compliance helps US companies meet the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Yearly assessments may be useful, but they aren't required. HIPAA is a US law that applies specifically to healthcare and related organizations, and encrypting all data all the time is impossible (at least if you want to use the data!). PCI DSS is a global contractual regulation for the handling of credit card information.

What protocol is preferred over Telnet for remote server administration via the command line? A. SCP B. SFTP C. WDS D. SSH

D. Secure Shell (SSH) is an encrypted protocol for remote login and command-line access. SCP and SFTP are both secure file transfer protocols, while WDS is the acronym for Windows Deployment Services, which provides remote installation capabilities for Windows operating systems.

What issue is common to spare sectors and bad sectors on hard drives as well as overprovisioned space on modern SSDs? A. They can be used to hide data. B. They can only be degaussed. C. They are not addressable, resulting in data remanence. D. They may not be cleared, resulting in data remanence.

D. Spare sectors, bad sectors, and space provided for wear leveling on SSDs (overprovisioned space) may all contain data that was written to the space that will not be cleared when the drive is wiped. Most wiping utilities only deal with currently addressable space on the drive. SSDs cannot be degaussed, and wear leveling space cannot be reliably used to hide data. These spaces are still addressable by the drive, although they may not be seen by the operating system.

The CIS benchmarks are an example of what practice? A. Conducting a risk assessment B. Implementing data labeling C. Proper system ownership D. Using security baselines

D. The CIS benchmarks are an example of a security baseline. A risk assessment would help identify which controls were needed, and proper system ownership is an important part of making sure baselines are implemented and maintained. Data labeling can help ensure that controls are applied to the right systems and data.

Ben is following the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-88 guidelines for sanitization and disposition as shown here. He is handling information that his organization classified as sensitive, which is a moderate security categorization in the NIST model. If the media is going to be sold as surplus, what process does Ben need to follow? (Refer to diagram #53) A. Destroy, validate, document B. Clear, purge, document C. Purge, document, validate D. Purge, validate, document

D. The NIST SP 800-88 process for sanitization and disposition shows that media that will be reused and was classified at a moderate level should be purged and then that purge should be validated. Finally, it should be documented.

What U.S. government agency oversees compliance with the Privacy Shield framework for organizations wishing to use the personal data of EU citizens? A. The FAA B. The FDA C. The DoD D. The Department of Commerce For questions 57-59, please refer to the following scenario: Chris has recently been hired into a new organization. The organization that Chris belongs to uses the following classification process: 1. Criteria are set for classifying data. 2. Data owners are established for each type of data. 3. Data is classified. 4. Required controls are selected for each classification. 5. Baseline security standards are selected for the organization. 6. Controls are scoped and tailored. 7. Controls are applied and enforced. 8. Access is granted and managed.

D. The US Department of Commerce oversees Privacy Shield. Only US organizations subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or US air carriers and ticket agents subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation (DOT) are permitted to participate in Safe Harbor.

What security measure can provide an additional security control in the event that backup tapes are stolen or lost? A. Keep multiple copies of the tapes. B. Replace tape media with hard drives. C. Use appropriate security labels. D. Use AES-256 encryption.

D. Using strong encryption, like AES-256, can help ensure that loss of removable media like tapes doesn't result in a data breach. Security labels may help with handling processes, but they won't help once the media is stolen or lost. Having multiple copies will ensure that you can still access the data but won't increase the security of the media. Finally, using hard drives instead of tape only changes the media type and not the risk from theft or loss.

Rearrange the following U.S. government data classification levels in order, from least sensitive to most sensitive. A. Secret B. Confidential C. Unclassified D. Top Secret

The US government's classification levels from least to most sensitive are: C. Unclassified B. Confidential A. Secret D. Top Secret

Match each of the numbered data elements shown here with one of the lettered categories. You may use the categories once, more than once, or not at all. If a data element matches more than one category, choose the one that is most specific. Data elements 1. Medical records 2. Credit card numbers 3. Social Security numbers 4. Driver's license numbers Categories A. PCI DSS B. PHI C. PII For questions 37-39, please refer to the following scenario: The healthcare company that Lauren works for handles HIPAA data as well as internal business data, protected health information, and day-to-day business communications. Its internal policy uses the following requirements for securing HIPAA data at rest and in transit. Classification Handling Requirements Confidential (HIPAA) -Encrypt at rest and in transit. -Full disk encryption required for all workstations. -Files can only be sent in encrypted form, and passwords must be transferred under separate cover. -Printed documents must be labeled with "HIPAA handling required." Private (PHI) -Encrypt at rest and in transit. -PHI must be stored on secure servers, and copies should not be kept on local workstations. -Printed documents must be labeled with "Private." Sensitive (business confidential) -Encryption is recommended but not required. Public -Information can be sent unencrypted.

The data elements match with the categories as follows: Data elements 1. Medical records: B. PHI. 2. Credit card numbers: A. PCI DSS. 3. Social Security numbers: C. PII. 4. Driver's license numbers: C. PII. Medical records are an example of protected health information (PHI). Credit card numbers are personally identifiable information (PII), but they are also covered by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which is a more specific category governing only credit card information and is a better answer. Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers are examples of PII.