A Flashcards
You’ve hired a third-party to gather information about
your company’s servers and data. The third-party will not
have direct access to your internal network but can gather
information from any other source.
Which of the following would BEST describe this
approach?
❍ A. Backdoor testing
❍ B. Passive footprinting
❍ C. OS fingerprinting
❍ D. Partially known environment
The Answer: B. Passive footprinting
Passive footprinting focuses on learning as much information from
open sources such as social media, corporate websites, and business
organizations.
A7. Which of these protocols use TLS to provide secure communication?
(Select TWO) ❍ A. HTTPS ❍ B. SSH ❍ C. FTPS ❍ D. SNMPv2 ❍ E. DNSSEC ❍ F. SRTP
The Answer: A. HTTPS and C. FTPS
TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a cryptographic protocol used to
encrypt network communication. HTTPS is the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol over TLS, and FTPS is the File Transfer Protocol over TLS.
An earlier version of TLS is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Although
we don’t commonly see SSL in use any longer, you may see TLS
communication referenced as SSL.
A8. Which of these threat actors would be MOST likely to attack systems for
direct financial gain?
❍ A. Organized crime
❍ B. Hacktivist
❍ C. Nation state
❍ D. Competitor
The Answer: A. Organized crime
An organized crime actor is motivated by money, and their hacking
objectives are usually based around objectives that can be easily exchanged
for financial capital.
A9. A security incident has occurred on a file server. Which of the following data sources should be gathered to address file storage volatility? (Select TWO) ❍ A. Partition data ❍ B. Kernel statistics ❍ C. ROM data ❍ D. Temporary file systems ❍ E. Process table
The Answer: A. Partition data and D. Temporary file systems
Both temporary file system data and partition data are part of the file
storage subsystem.
A10. An IPS at your company has found a sharp increase in traffic from
all-in-one printers. After researching, your security team has found a
vulnerability associated with these devices that allows the device to be
remotely controlled by a third-party. Which category would BEST
describe these devices?
❍ A. IoT
❍ B. RTOS
❍ C. MFD
❍ D. SoC
The Answer: C. MFD An all-in-one printer that can print, scan, and fax is often categorized as an MFD (Multifunction Device).
The incorrect answers: A. IoT Wearable technology and home automation devices are commonly called IoT (Internet of Things) devices. B. RTOS RTOS (Real-time Operating Systems) are commonly used in manufacturing and automobiles. D. SoC Multiple components that
A11. Which of the following standards provides information on privacy and managing PII? ❍ A. ISO 31000 ❍ B. ISO 27002 ❍ C. ISO 27701 ❍ D. ISO 27001
The Answer: C. ISO 27701
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 27701
standard extends the ISO 27001 and 27002 standards to include detailed
management of PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and data privacy.
The incorrect answers:
A. ISO 31000
The ISO 31000 standard sets international standards for risk management
practices.
B. ISO 27002
Information security controls are the focus of the ISO 27002 standard.
D. ISO 27001
The ISO 27001 standard is the foundational standard for Information
Security Management Systems (ISMS).
A12. Elizabeth, a security administrator, is concerned about the potential for
data exfiltration using external storage drives. Which of the following
would be the BEST way to prevent this method of data exfiltration?
❍ A. Create an operating system security policy to prevent
the use of removable media
❍ B. Monitor removable media usage in host-based firewall logs
❍ C. Only allow applications that do not use removable media
❍ D. Define a removable media block rule in the UTM
The Answer: A. Create an operating system security policy to prevent
the use of removable media
Removable media uses hot-pluggable interfaces such as USB to connect
storage drives. A security policy in the operating system can prevent any
files from being written to a removable drive.
The incorrect answers:
B. Monitor removable media usage in host-based firewall logs
A host-based firewall monitors traffic flows and does not commonly log
hardware or USB drive access.
C. Only allow applications that do not use removable media
File storage access options are not associated with applications, so it’s not
possible to allow based on external storage drive usage.
D. Define a removable media block rule in the UTM
A UTM (Unified Threat Manager) watches traffic flows across the
network and does not commonly manage the storage options on individual
computers.
A13. A CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) would like to decrease
the response time when addressing security incidents. Unfortunately, the
company does not have the budget to hire additional security engineers.
Which of the following would assist the CISO with this requirement?
❍ A. ISO 27701
❍ B. PKI
❍ C. IaaS
❍ D. SOAR
The Answer: D. SOAR
SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) is designed
to make security teams more effective by automating processes and
integrating third-party security tools.
The incorrect answers:
A. ISO 27701
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 27701 standard
focuses on privacy and securing PII.
B. PKI
A PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) describes the processes and procedures
associated with maintaining digital certificates.
C. IaaS
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) describes a cloud service that provides
the hardware required for
A14. An insurance company has created a set of policies to handle data
breaches. The security team has been given this set of requirements based
on these policies:
• Access records from all devices must be saved and archived
• Any data access outside of normal working hours
must be immediately reported
• Data access must only occur inside of the country
• Access logs and audit reports must be created from a single database
Which of the following should be implemented by the security team to
meet these requirements? (Select THREE)
❍ A. Restrict login access by IP address and GPS location
❍ B. Require government-issued identification
during the onboarding process
❍ C. Add additional password complexity for accounts that access data
❍ D. Conduct monthly permission auditing
❍ E. Consolidate all logs on a SIEM
❍ F. Archive the encryption keys of all disabled accounts
❍ G. Enable time-of-day restrictions on the authentication server
The Answer: A. Restrict login access by IP address and GPS location,
E. Consolidate all logs on a SIEM, and
G. Enable time-of-day restrictions on
the authentication server
Adding location-based policies will prevent direct data access from outside
of the country. Saving log information from all devices and creating audit
reports from a single database can be implemented through the use of a
SIEM (Security Information and Event Manager). Adding a check for the
time-of-day will report any access that occurs during non-working hours.
The incorrect answers:
B. Require government-issued identification during the
onboarding process
Requiring proper identification is always a good idea, but it’s not one of
the listed requirements.
C. Add additional password complexity for accounts that access data
Additional password complexity is another good best practice, but it’s not
part of the provided requirements.
D. Conduct monthly permission auditing
No requirements for ongoing auditing were included in the requirements,
but ongoing auditing is always an important consideration.
F. Archive the encryption keys of all disabled accounts
If an account is disabled, there may still be encrypted data that needs to be
recovered later. Archiving the encryption keys will allow access to that data
after the account is no longer in use.
A15. Rodney, a security engineer, is viewing this record from the firewall logs:
UTC 04/05/2018 03:09:15809 AV Gateway Alert
136.127.92.171 80 -> 10.16.10.14 60818
Gateway Anti-Virus Alert:
XPACK.A_7854 (Trojan) blocked.
Which of the following can be observed from this log information?
❍ A. The victim’s IP address is 136.127.92.171
❍ B. A download was blocked from a web server
❍ C. A botnet DDoS attack was blocked
❍ D. The Trojan was blocked, but the file was not
The Answer: B. A download was blocked from a web server
A traffic flow from a web server port number (80) to a device port (60818)
indicates that this traffic flow originated on port 80 of the web server. A
file download is one of the most common ways to deliver a Trojan, and
this log entry shows that the file containing the XPACK.A_7854 Trojan
was blocked.
The incorrect answers:
A. The victim’s IP address is 136.127.92.171
The format for this log entry uses an arrow to differentiate between the
attacker and the victim. The attacker IP address is 136.127.92.171, and the
victim’s IP address is 10.16.10.14.
C. A botnet DDoS attack was blocked
A botnet attack would not commonly include a Trojan horse as part of a
distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
D. The Trojan was blocked, but the file was not
A Trojan horse attack involves malware that is disguised as legitimate
software. The Trojan malware and the file are the same entity, so there isn’t
a way to decouple the malware from the file.
A16. A user connects to a third-party website and receives this message:
Your connection is not private.
NET::ERR_CERT_INVALID
Which of the following attacks would be the MOST likely reason
for this message?
❍ A. Brute force
❍ B. DoS
❍ C. On-path
❍ D. Disassociation
The Answer: C. On-path
An on-path attack is often associated with a third-party who is actively
intercepting network traffic. This entity in the middle would not be able
to provide a valid SSL certificate for a third-party website, and this error
would appear in the browser as a warning.
The incorrect answers:
A. Brute force
A brute force attack is commonly associated with password hacks. Brute
force attacks would not cause the certificate on a website to be invalid.
B. DoS
A DoS (Denial of Service) attack would prevent communication to a
server and most likely provide a timeout error. This error is not related to a
service availability issue.
D. Disassociation
Disassociation attacks are commonly associated with wireless networks,
and they usually cause disconnects and lack of connectivity. The error
message in this example does not appear to be associated with a network
outage or disconnection.
A17. Which of the following would be the BEST way to provide a website
login using existing credentials from a third-party site?
❍ A. Federation
❍ B. 802.1X
❍ C. PEAP
❍ D. EAP-FAST
A17. Which of the following would be the BEST way to provide a website
login using existing credentials from a third-party site?
❍ A. Federation
❍ B. 802.1X
❍ C. PEAP
❍ D. EAP-FAST
The Answer: A. Federation
Federation would allow members of one organization to authenticate
using the credentials of another organization.
A18. A system administrator, Daniel, is working on a contract that will specify
a minimum required uptime for a set of Internet-facing firewalls. Daniel
needs to know how often the firewall hardware is expected to fail between
repairs. Which of the following would BEST describe this information?
❍ A. MTBF
❍ B. RTO
❍ C. MTTR
❍ D. MTTF
The Answer: A. MTBF
The MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is a prediction of how often a
repairable system will fail.
The incorrect answers:
B. RTO
RTO (Recovery Time Objectives) define a set of objectives needed to
restore a particular service level.
C. MTTR
MTTR (Mean Time to Restore) is the amount of time it takes to repair a
component.
D. MTTF
MTTF (Mean Time to Failure) is the expected lifetime of a nonrepairable
product or system.
A19. An attacker calls into a company’s help desk and pretends to be the
director of the company’s manufacturing department. The attacker
states that they have forgotten their password and they need to have the
password reset quickly for an important meeting. What kind of attack
would BEST describe this phone call?
❍ A. Social engineering
❍ B. Tailgating
❍ C. Vishing
❍ D. On-path
The Answer: A. Social engineering
A social engineering attack takes advantage of authority and urgency
principles in an effort to convince someone else to circumvent normal
security controls.
The incorrect answers:
B. Tailgating
A tailgating attack follows someone else with proper credentials through a
door. This allows the attack to gain access to an area that’s normally locked.
C. Vishing
Vishing (voice phishing) attacks use the phone to obtain private
information from others. In this example, the attacker was not asking for
confidential information.
D. On-path
An on-path attack commonly occurs without any knowledge to the parties
involved, and there’s usually no additional notification that an attack is
underway. In this question, the attacker contacted the help desk engineer
directly.
A20. A security administrator has been using EAP-FAST wireless
authentication since the migration from WEP to WPA2. The company’s
network team now needs to support additional authentication protocols
inside of an encrypted tunnel. Which of the following would meet the
network team’s requirements?
❍ A. EAP-TLS
❍ B. PEAP
❍ C. EAP-TTLS
❍ D. EAP-MSCHAPv2
The Answer: C. EAP-TTLS
EAP-TTLS (Extensible Authentication Protocol - Tunneled Transport
Layer Security) allows the use of multiple authentication protocols
transported inside of an encrypted TLS (Transport Layer Security) tunnel.
This allows the use of any authentication while maintaining confidentiality
with TLS.
The incorrect answers:
A. EAP-TLS
EAP-TLS does not provide a mechanism for using multiple
authentication types within a TLS tunnel.
B. PEAP
PEAP (Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol) encapsulates EAP
within a TLS tunnel, but does not provide a method of encapsulating
other authentication methods.
D. EAP-MSCHAPv2
EAP-MSCHAPv2 (EAP - Microsoft Challenge Handshake
Authentication Protocol v2) is a common implementation of PEAP.
A21. Which of the following would be commonly provided
by a CASB? (Select TWO)
❍ A. List of all internal Windows devices that have not installed the
latest security patches
❍ B. List of applications in use
❍ C. Centralized log storage facility
❍ D. List of network outages for the previous month
❍ E. Verification of encrypted data transfers
❍ F. VPN connectivity for remote users
The Answer: B. A list of applications in use
E. Verification of encrypted data transfers
A CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) can be used to apply security
policies to cloud-based implementations. Two common functions of a
CASB are visibility into application use and data security policy use. Other
common CASB functions are the verification of compliance with formal
standards and the monitoring and identification of threats.
The incorrect answers:
A. List of all internal Windows devices that have not installed the latest
security patches
A CASB focuses on policies associated with cloud-based services and not
internal devices.
C. Centralized log storage facility
Using Syslog to centralize log storage is most commonly associated with a
SIEM (Security Information and Event Manager).
D. List of network outages for the previous month
A network availability report would be outside the scope of a CASB.
F. VPN connectivity for remote users
VPN concentrators are commonly used to provide security connectivity
for remote users.
A22. The embedded OS in a company’s time clock appliance is configured to
reset the file system and reboot when a file system error occurs. On one
of the time clocks, this file system error occurs during the startup process
and causes the system to constantly reboot. Which of the following
BEST describes this issue? ❍ A. DLL injection ❍ B. Resource exhaustion ❍ C. Race condition ❍ D. Weak configuration
The Answer: C. Race condition
A race condition occurs when two processes occur at similar times, usually
with unexpected results. The file system problem is usually fixed before
a reboot, but a reboot is occurring before the fix can be applied. This has
created a race condition that results in constant reboots.
The incorrect answers:
A. DLL injection
One method of exploiting an application is to take advantage of the
libraries reference by the application rather than the application itself.
DLL (Dynamic Link Library) injection manipulates the library as the
attack vector.
B. Resource exhaustion
If the time clock was running out of storage space or memory, it would
most likely be unusable. In this example, the issue isn’t based on a lack of
resources.
D. Weak configuration
If the system is poorly configured, there may be unintended access to a
service or data. This time clock issue wasn’t related to any misconfiguration
or weak configuration on the time clock appliance.
A23. A recent audit has found that existing password policies do not include
any restrictions on password attempts, and users are not required to
periodically change their passwords. Which of the following would
correct these policy issues? (Select TWO)
❍ A. Password complexity
❍ B. Password expiration
❍ C. Password history
❍ D. Password lockout
❍ E. Password recovery
The Answer: B. Password expiration and D. Password lockout
Password expiration would require a new password after the expiration
date. Password lockout would disable an account after a predefined
number of unsuccessful login attempts.
A24. What kind of security control is associated with a login banner? ❍ A. Preventive ❍ B. Deterrent ❍ C. Corrective ❍ D. Detective ❍ E. Compensating ❍ F. Physical
The Answer: B. Deterrent
A deterrent control does not directly stop an attack, but it may discourage
an action.
The incorrect answers:
A. Preventive
A preventive control physically limits access to a device or area.
C. Corrective
A corrective control can actively work to mitigate any damage.
D. Detective
A detective control may not prevent access, but it can identify and record
any intrusion attempts.
E. Compensating
A compensating security control doesn’t prevent an attack, but it does
restore from an attack using other means.
F. Physical
A physical control is real-world security, such as a fence or door lock.
A25. A security team has been provided with a non-credentialed vulnerability
scan report created by a third-party. Which of the following would they
expect to see on this report?
❍ A. A summary of all files with invalid group assignments
❍ B. A list of all unpatched operating system files
❍ C. The version of web server software in use
❍ D. A list of local user accounts
The Answer: C. The version of web server software in use
A scanner like Nmap can query services and determine version numbers
without any special rights or permissions, which makes it well suited for
non-credentialed scans.
The incorrect answers:
A. A summary of all files with invalid group assignments
Viewing file permissions and rights requires authentication to the
operating system, so you would not expect to see this information if the
scan did not have credentials.
B. A list of all unpatched operating system files
Viewing detailed information about the operating system files requires
authentication to the OS, and an uncredentialed scan does not have those
permissions.
D. A list of local user accounts
Local user accounts are usually protected by the operating system, so you
would need to have credentials to view this information.
A26. A business manager is documenting a set of steps for processing orders
if the primary Internet connection fails. Which of these would BEST
describe these steps?
❍ A. Communication plan
❍ B. Continuity of operations
❍ C. Stakeholder management
❍ D. Tabletop exercise
The Answer: B. Continuity of operations
It’s always useful to have an alternative set of processes to handle any type
of outage or issue. Continuity of operations planning ensures that the
business will continue to operate when these issues occur.
The incorrect answers:
A. Communication plan
A communication plan is a predefined list of contacts and processes used
to inform key members of the organization.
C. Stakeholder management
Stakeholder management describes the ongoing relationship between the
IT team and the business customer.
D. Tabletop exercise
A tabletop exercise usually consists of a meeting where members of a
recovery team or disaster recovery talk through a disaster scenario.
A27. A security administrator is concerned about data exfiltration resulting
from the use of malicious phone charging stations. Which of the
following would be the BEST way to protect against this threat?
❍ A. USB data blocker
❍ B. Personal firewall
❍ C. MFA
❍ D. FDE
The Answer: A. USB data blocker
USB data blockers are physical USB cables that allow power connections
but prevent data connections. With a USB data blocker attached, any
power source can be used without a security concern.
The incorrect answers:
B. Personal firewall
Personal firewall software is useful for blocking inbound network traffic,
but it won’t provide much security for physical USB connections.
C. MFA
MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is used during the authentication
process. Incorporating multiple authentication factors won’t prohibit the
transfer of data over a USB connection.
D. FDE
FDE (Full Disk Encryption) is a security method for encrypting all
data stored on a device. In this example, the encryption applied to the
storage would not prevent the transfer of data through a malicious USB
connection.
A28. A company would like to protect the data stored on laptops used in
the field. Which of the following would be the BEST choice for this
requirement?
❍ A. MAC
❍ B. SED
❍ C. CASB
❍ D. SOAR
The Answer: B. SED
A SED (Self-Encrypting Drive) provides data protection of a storage
device using full-disk encryption in the drive hardware.
The incorrect answers:
A. MAC
MAC (Mandatory Access Control) is an access control system that assigns
labels to objects in an operating system. MAC would not prevent external
access to data on a laptop’s storage drive.
C. CASB
CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) is a solution for administering
and managing security policies in the cloud. CASB will not provide any
security for data stored on laptops and other mobile devices.
D. SOAR
SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) describes
a process for automating security activities. SOAR would not provide a
mechanism for protecting data on a laptop’s storage drive.
A29. A file server has a full backup performed each Monday at 1 AM.
Incremental backups are performed at 1 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday. The system administrator needs to perform a full
recovery of the file server on Thursday afternoon. How many backup sets
would be required to complete the recovery?
❍ A. 2
❍ B. 3
❍ C. 4
❍ D. 1
The Answer: C. 4
Each incremental backup will archive all of the files that have changed
since the last full or incremental backup. To complete this full restore, the
administrator will need the full backup from Monday and the incremental
backups from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The incorrect answers:
A. 2
If the daily backup was differential, the administrator would only need the
full backup and the differential backup from Thursday.
B. 3
Since the incremental backup only archives files that have changed, he will
need all three daily incremental backups as well as Monday’s full backup.
D. 1
To recover incremental backups, you’ll need the full backup and all
incremental backups since the full backup.
