11) Operating System Security

Question 1

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

All user IDs are password protected and were changed when setting up the computer.

Answer 1

Alter default accounts

Question 2

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

Admin and Administrator usernames are changed

Answer 2

Alter default accounts

Question 3

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

Regular user IDs do not have the ability to install software.

Answer 3

Apply the principle of least privilege

Question 4

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

Never connect a new computer to the corporate network unless patches have already installed.

Answer 4

Perform updates

Question 5

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

Knowing what ports are open is useful to complete this hardening task.

Answer 5

Remove all unessential services

Question 6

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

The database server is stripped down except for mySQL.

Answer 6

Remove all unnecessary software

Question 7

What type of OS hardening is the following action:

The trail of significant OS events are placed on the hard drive.

Answer 7

Turn on logging and auditing

Question 8

(T/F) Executable space protection is a software technology implemented by operating systems to stop attacks using the same techniques used in malware.

Answer 8

False

Executable space protection requires two components to function: a hardware component and a software component. Both AMD and Intel CPU chips manufacturers support the hardware and many operating systems support the software required.

Question 9

This type of host-based software may communicate with the management device by sending regular beacons.

Answer 9

HIDS

Question 10

HIDS is a type of host-based software that may communicate with the management device by sending regular beacons. What does HIDS stand for?

Answer 10

Host intrusion detection system

Question 11

What type of security tool is the following:

Metasploit

Answer 11

Exploit Framework

Question 12

What type of security tool is the following:

CANVAS

Answer 12

Exploit Framework

Question 13

What type of security tool is the following:

Nmap

Answer 13

Scanner

Question 14

What type of security tool is the following:

Nesus

Answer 14

Vulnerability Assessment Tool

Question 15

The process of reducing the number of available avenues through which our operating system might be attacked.

Answer 15

Operating system hardening

Question 16

The total of the areas through which our operating system might be attacked.

Answer 16

Attack surface

Question 17

A principle that states we should only allow a party the absolute minimum permission needed for it to carry out its function.

Answer 17

The principle of least privilege

Question 18

A particularly complex and impactful item of malware that targeted the SCADA systems that run various industrial processes; this piece of malware raised the bar for malware from largely being a virtual-based attack to actually being physically destructive.

Answer 18

Stuxnet

Question 19

Stuxnet is a particularly complex and impactful item of malware that targeted the SCADA systems that run various industrial processes. What does SCADA stand for?

Answer 19

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

Question 20

A type of tool that uses signature matching or anomaly detection to detect malware threats, either in real-time or by performing scans of files and processes.

Answer 20

Anti-malware tool

Question 21

The process of anomaly detection used by anti-malware tools to detect malware without signatures.

Answer 21

Heuristics

Question 22

A hardware/software-based technology that prevents certain portions of the memory used by the operating system and applications from being used to execute code.

Answer 22

Executable space protection

Question 23

The act of inputting more data than an application is expecting from a particular input, creating the possibility of executing commands by specifically crafting the excess data.

Answer 23

Buffer overflow attack

Question 24

A security method that involves shifting the contents of memory around to make tampering difficult.

Answer 24

ASLR

Question 25

An ASLR is a security method that involves shifting the contents of memory around to make tampering difficult. What does ASLR stand for?

Answer 25

Address space layout randomization

Question 26

This type of firewall generally contains a subset of the features on a large firewall application, but is often capable of similar packet filtering and stateful packet inspection activities.

Answer 26

Software firewall

Question 27

A system used to analyze the activities on or directed at the network interface of a particular host.

Answer 27

HIDS

Question 28

A HIDS is a system used to analyze the activities on or directed at the network interface of a particular host. What does HIDS stand for?

Answer 28

Host intrusion detection system

Question 29

A type of tool that can detect various security flaws when examining hosts.

Answer 29

Scanner

Question 30

A tool that is aimed specifically at the task of finding and reporting network services on hosts that have known vulnerabilites.

Answer 30

Vulnerability assessment tool

Question 31

A well-known vulnerability assessment tool (it also includes a port scanner)

Answer 31

Nessus

Question 32

A group of tools that can include network mapping tools, sniffers, and exploits.

Answer 32

Exploit framework

Question 33

Small bits of software that take advantage of flaws in other software or applications in order to cause them to behave in ways that were not intended by their creators.

Answer 33

Exploits

Question 34

The total of the available avenues through which our operating system might be attacked.

Answer 34

Attack surface

Question 35

What security strategy best protects an operating system from buffer overflow attacks?

a) Implement anti-malware tools
b) Apply software updates
c) Implement executable space protection
d) Install a host intrusion detection system

Answer 35

c) Implement executable space protection

Question 36

Which well-known tool is a scanner with a large and broad set of functionality?

a) Nmap
b) Hping3
c) NetStumbler
d) Metasploit
e) Stuxnet

Answer 36

a) Nmap

Question 37

Which tool is a well-known vulnerability assessment tool that also includes a port scanner?

a) NetStumbler
b) Metasploit
c) Nessus
d) Immunity CANVAS

Answer 37

c) Nessus

Question 38

Small bits of software that take advantage of flaws in other software or application to cause them to behave in ways that were not intended by their creators.

Answer 38

Exploits