Access Control

Question 2

All of the following are needed for system accountability except for one. Which one is not needed?

A) Identification
B) Authentication
C) Auditing
D) Authorization

Answer 2

Authorization

Authorization is not needed for accountability. However, users must be idetified and authenticated and their actions logged using some type of auditing to provide accountability.

Question 3

Which of the following is true related to a subject?

A) A subject is always a user account.

B) The subject is always the entity that provides or hosts the information or data.

C) The subject is always the entity that receives information about or data from the object.

D) A single entity can never change roles between subject and object.

Answer 3

The subject is always the entity that receives information about or data from the object.

The subject is active and is always the entity that receives information about or data from the object. A subject can be a user, a program, a process, a file, a computer, a database, and so on. The object is always the entity that provides or hosts information or data. The roles of subject and object can switch while two entities communicate to accomplish a task.

Question 4

A large table includes multiple subjects and objects. It identifies the specific access each subject has to different objects. What is this table called?

A) Access control list
B) Access control matrix
C) Federation
D) Creeping privilege

Answer 4

Access control matrix

An access control matrix includes multiple subjects and objects and lists subjects’ access to various objects.

A single list of subjects for any specific object within an access control matrix is an access control list.

A federation refers to a group of companies that share a federated identity management system for single sign-on. Creeping privileges refers to excessive privileges a subject gathers over time.

Question 5

Which of the following is the best choice to support federated identity management systems?

A) Kerberos
B) Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
C) Extensible Markup Language (XML)
D) Service Provisioning Markup Language (SPML)

Answer 5

Service Provisioning Markup Language (SPML)

SPML is an XML-based framework used to exchange user information for single sign on (SSO) between organizations within a federated identity management system.

Kerberos supports SSO in a single organization, not a federation. HTML only describes how data is displayed. XML could be used, but it would require redefining tags already defined in SPML.

Question 6

Which of the following authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) protocols is based on RADIUS and supports Mobile IP and Voice over IP?

A) Distributed access control
B) Diameter
C) TACACS+
D) TACACS

Answer 6

Diameter

Diameter is based on RADIUS and it supports Mobile IP and Voice over IP.

Distributed access control systems such as a federated identity management system are not a specific protocol, and they don’t necessarily provide authentication, authorization, and accounting. TACACS and TACACS+ are AAA protocols, but they are alternatives to RADIUS, not based on RADIUS.

Question 7

What would detect when a user has more privileges than necessary?

A) Account management
B) User entitlement audit
C) Logging
D) Reporting

Answer 7

User entitlement audit

A user entitlement audit can detect when users have more privileges than necessary. Account management practices attempt to ensure that privileges are assigned correctly.

The audit detects whether the management practices are followed. Logging records activity, but the logs need to be reviewed to determine if practices are followed. Reporting is the result of an audit.

Question 8

What type of attack uses email and attempts to trick high-level executives?

A) Phishing
B) Spear phishing
C) Whaling
D) Vishing

Answer 8

Whaling

Whaling is a form of phishing that targets high-level executives.

Spear phishing targets a specific group of people but not necessarily high-level executives.

Vishing is a form of phishing that commonly uses Voice over IP (VoIP).

Question 9

Which of the following can help mitigate the success of an online brute-force attack?

A) Rainbow table
B) Account lockout
C) Salting passwords
D) Encryption of password

Answer 9

Account lockout

An account lockout policy will prevent someone from logging into an account after they have entered an incorrect password too many times.

A rainbow table is used by an attacker in offline password attacks, and password salts reduce the effectiveness of rainbow tables.

Encrypting the password protects the password, but not against a brute-force attack.

Question 10

What can be used as an authentication factor that is a behavioral or physiological characteristic unique to a subject?

A) Account ID
B) Biometric factor
C) Token
D) PIV

Answer 10

Biometric factor

A biometric factor is a behavioral or physiological characteristic that is unique to a subject, such as fingerprints and face scans, and is also known as a

Type 3 authentication factor. An account ID provides identification. A token is a Type 2 authentication factor.

A Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card is a smart card that includes a picture of the user.

Question 11

Which of the following is considered a primary goal of access control?

A) Preserve confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems.
B) Ensure that only valid objects can authenticate on a system.
C) Prevent unauthorized access to subjects.
D) Ensure that all subjects are authenticated.

Answer 11

Preserve confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems.

Access control mechanisms help to prevent losses, including any loss of confidentiality, loss of availability, or loss of integrity.

Subjects authenticate on a system and objects are accessed. A first step in access control is the identification and authentication of subjects, but access control also includes authorization and accountability.

Question 12

Users are given a device that generates one-time passwords every 60 seconds. A server hosted within the organization knows what this password is at any given time. What type of device is this?

A) Synchronous token
B) Asynchronous token
C) Smart card
D) Common access card

Answer 12

Synchronous token

A synchronous token generates one-time passwords and displays them in an LCD, and this password is synchronized with an authentication server.

An asynchronous token uses a challenge-response process to generate the token. Smart cards do not generate one-time passwords, and common access cards are a version of a smart card that includes a picture of the user.

Question 13

Which of the following types of access control uses fences, security policies, security awareness training, and antivirus software to stop an unwanted or unauthorized activity from occurring?

A) Preventive
B) Detective
C) Corrective
D) Authoritative

Answer 13

Preventive

A preventive access control is deployed to stop an unwanted or unauthorized activity from occurring. Detective controls discover the activity after it has occurred, and corrective controls attempt to reverse any problems caused by the activity.

Access controls are not categorized as authoritative.

Question 14

What does the crossover error rate (CER) for a biometric device indicate?

A) It indicates that the sensitivity is tuned too high.
B) It indicates that the sensitivity is tuned too low.
C) It indicates the point where false rejection rate and the false acceptance rate are equal.
D) It indicates that the biometric device is not properly configured.

Answer 14

It indicates the point where false rejection rate and the false acceptance rate are equal.

The point at which biometric Type 1 errors (false rejection rate) and Type 2 errors (false acceptance rate) are equal is the crossover error rate (CER). The CER level is used as a standard assessment point to compare biometric authentication systems. It does not indicate that sensitivity is too high or too low or whether the device is configured properly.

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of a Type 2 authentication factor?

A) “Something you have,” such as a smart card, ATM card, token device, and memory card

B) “Something you are,” such as fingerprints, voice print, retina pattern, iris pattern, face shape, palm topology, and hand geometry

C) “Something you do,” such as typing a passphrase, or signing your name

D) “Something you know,” such as a password, personal identification number (PIN), lock combination, passphrase, mother’s maiden name, and favorite color

Answer 15

“Something you have,” such as a smart card, ATM card, token device, and memory card

A Type 2 authentication factor is “something you have,” including a smart card, token device, or memory card.

Type 3 authentication is “something you are,” and some behavioral biometrics include “something you do.”

Type 1 authentication is “something you know.”

Question 16

What would an organization do to identify weaknesses?

A) Asset valuation
B) Threat modeling
C) Vulnerability analysis
D) Access review

Answer 16

Vulnerability analysis

A vulnerability analysis identifies weaknesses and can include periodic vulnerability scans and penetration tests.

Asset valuation determines the value of assets, not weaknesses.

Threat modeling attempts to identify threats, and threats are often paired with vulnerabilities to identify risk, but threat modeling doesn’t identify weaknesses. An access review audits account management and object access practices.

Question 17

What provides data for recreating the history of an event, intrusion, or system failure?

A) Security policies
B) Log files
C) Audit reports
D) Business continuity planning

Answer 17

Log files

Log files provide an audit trail for recreating the history of an event, intrusion, or system failure. An audit trail includes log files and can reconstruct an event, extract information about an incident, and prove or disprove culpability.

Security policies are documents that define security requirements for an organization. An audit report includes details gleaned from log files. Business continuity planning occurs before an event, in an attempt to reduce the impact.

Question 18

When performing access review audits, which type of account is the most important to audit?

A) None is more important. They are all equal.
B) Regular user accounts
C) Auditor accounts
D) Privileged accounts

Answer 18

Privileged accounts

Privileged accounts (such as administrator accounts) are granted the most access and should be a primary focus in an access review audit. Regular user and auditor accounts don’t have as much access as privileged accounts and are not as important to audit.

Question 19

The absence of which of the following can result in the perception that due care is not being maintained?

A) Periodic security audits
B) Deployment of all available controls
C) Performance reviews
D) Audit reports for shareholders

Answer 19

Periodic security audits

Failing to perform periodic security audits can result in the perception that due care is not being maintained. Such audits alert personnel that senior management is practicing due diligence in maintaining system security. An organization should not indiscriminately deploy all available controls but should choose the most effective ones based on risks. Performance reviews are useful managerial practices but not directly related to due care. Audit reports should not be shared with the public.

Question 20

A biometric system has falsely rejected a valid user, indicating that the user is not recognized. What type of error is this?

A) Type 1 error
B) Type 2 error
C) Crossover error rate
D) Equal error rate

Answer 20

Type 1 error

A Type 1 error occurs when a valid subject is not authenticated and is also known as a false negative authentication. A Type 2 error occurs when an invalid subject is authenticated. This is also known as a false positive authentication. The crossover error rate (also called equal error rate) compares the rate of Type 1 errors to Type 2 errors and provides a measurement of the accuracy of the biometric system.

Question 21

What is an access control list (ACL) based on?

A) An object
B) A subject
C) A role
D) An account

Answer 21

An object

An ACL is based on an object and includes a list of subjects that are granted access.

A capability table is focused on a subject and includes a list of objects the subject can access.

Roles and accounts are examples of subjects and may be included in an ACL, but they aren’t the focus.

Question 22

Which of the following types of access control seeks to discover evidence of unwanted, unauthorized, or illicit behavior or activity?

A) Preventive
B) Deterrent
C) Detective
D) Corrective

Answer 22

Detective

Detective access controls are used to discover (and document) unwanted or unauthorized activity.

Question 23

Which of the following options is a methodical examination or review of an environment to ensure compliance with regulations and to detect abnormalities, unauthorized occurrences, or outright crimes?

A) Penetration testing
B) Auditing
C) Risk analysis
D) Entrapment

Answer 23

Auditing

Auditing is a methodical examination or review of an environment to ensure compliance with regulations and to detect abnormalities, unauthorized occurrences, or outright crimes.

Penetration testing attempts to exploit vulnerabilities. Risk analysis attempts to analyze risks based on identified threats and vulnerabilities.

Entrapment is tricking someone into performing an illegal or unauthorized action.

Question 24

Which of the following is not a valid measure to take to improve protection against bruteforce and dictionary attacks?

A) Enforce strong passwords through a security policy.
B) Maintain strict control over physical access.
C) Require all users to log in remotely.
D) Use two-factor authentication.

Answer 24

Require all users to log in remotely.

Requiring users to log in remotely does not protect against password attacks such as brute-force or dictionary attacks. Strong password policies, physical access control, and two-factor authentication all improve the protection against brute-force and dictionary password attacks.

Question 25

When an organization is attempting to identify risks, what should they identify first?

A) Assets
B) Threats
C) Vulnerabilities
D) Public attacks

Answer 25

Assets

An organization must first identify the value of assets when identifying risks so that they can focus on risks to their most valuable assets. They can then identify threats and vulnerabilities. Public attacks can be evaluated to determine if they present a risk to the organization, but this should not be the first step.

Question 26

What type of access controls rely upon the use of labels?

A) Discretionary
B) Nondiscretionary
C) Mandatory
D) Role based

Answer 26

Mandatory

Mandatory access controls rely on use of labels for subjects and objects. Discretionary access control systems allow an owner of an object to control access to the object. Nondiscretionary access controls have centralized management such as a rule-based access control deployed on a firewall. Role-based access controls define a subject’s access based on job-related roles.

Question 27

What can be used to reduce the amount of logged or audited data using nonstatistical methods?

A) Clipping levels
B) Sampling
C) Log analysis
D) Alarm triggers

Answer 27

Clipping levels

Clipping is a form of nonstatistical sampling that reduces the amount of logged data based on a clipping-level threshold.

Sampling is a statistical method that extracts meaningful data from audit logs.

Log analysis reviews log information looking for trends, patterns, and abnormal or unauthorized events.

An alarm trigger is a notification sent to administrators when specific events or thresholds occur.

Question 28

Which of the following is not used to support single sign-on?

A) Kerberos
B) Federated identity management system
C) TACACS+
D) SPML

Answer 28

TACACS+

TACACS+ is a centralized authentication service used for remote access clients but not for single sign-on.

Kerberos and federated identity management systems are used to support single sign-on.

Service Provisioning Markup Language (SPML) is a language used with some federated identity systems.

Question 29

What is an attack that attempts to detect flaws in smart cards?

A) Whaling
B) Side-channel attack
C) Brute-force
D) Rainbow table attack

Answer 29

Side-channel attack

A side-channel attack is a passive, noninvasive attack to observe the operation of a device. Methods include power monitoring, timing, and fault analysis attacks.

Whaling is a type of phishing attack that targets high level executives.

A brute-force attack attempts to discover passwords by using all possible character combinations.

A rainbow table attack is used to crack passwords.

Question 30

What type of access controls are hardware or software mechanisms used to manage access to resources and systems and to provide protection for those resources and systems?

A) Administrative
B) Logical/technical
C) Physical
D) Preventive

Answer 30

Logical/technical

Logical/technical access controls are the hardware or software mechanisms used to manage access to resources and systems and to provide protection for those resources and systems.

Administrative controls are managerial controls and physical controls use physical items to control physical access. A preventive control attempts to prevent security incidents.

Question 31

Audit trails are considered to be what type of security control?

A) Administrative
B) Passive detective
C) Corrective
D) Physical

Answer 31

Passive detective

Audit trails are a passive form of detective security control. Administrative controls are management practices. Corrective controls can correct problems related to an incident, and physical controls are controls that you can physically touch.

Question 32

What is used to keep subjects accountable for their actions while they are authenticated to a system?

A) Authentication
B) Monitoring
C) Account lockout
D) User entitlement reviews

Answer 32

Monitoring

Accountability is maintained by monitoring the activities of subjects and objects as well as core system functions that maintain the operating environment and the security mechanisms.

Authentication is required for effective monitoring, but it doesn’t provide accountability by itself. Account lockout prevents login to an account if the wrong password is entered too many times. User entitlement reviews can identify excessive privileges.

Question 33

What type of attack can detect passwords sent across a network in clear text?

A) Spoofing attack
B) Spamming attack
C) Sniffing attack
D) Side-channel attack

Answer 33

Sniffing attack

A sniffing attack uses a sniffer (also called a packet analyzer or protocol analyzer) to capture data and can be used to read passwords sent across a network in cleartext. A spoofing attack attempts to hide the identity of the attacker. A spamming attack involves sending massive amounts of email. A side-channel attack is a passive, noninvasive attack used against smart cards.

Question 34

An organization has created an access control policy that grants specific privileges to accountants. What type of access control is this?

A) Discretionary
B) Mandatory
C) Rule based
D) Role based

Answer 34

Role based

A role-based access control policy grants specific privileges based on roles, and roles are frequently job based or task based.

Discretionary access controls allow owners to control privileges, mandatory access controls use labels to control privileges, and rule-based access controls use rules.

Question 35

Which of the following focuses more on the patterns and trends of data than on the actual content?

A) Keystroke monitoring
B) Traffic analysis
C) Event logging
D) Security auditing

Answer 35

Traffic analysis

Traffic analysis focuses more on the patterns and trends of data rather than the actual content.

Keystroke monitoring records specific keystrokes to capture data.

Event logging logs specific events to record data. Security auditing records security events and/or reviews logs to detect security incidents.

Question 36

Why should access to audit reports be controlled and restricted?

A) They contain copies of confidential data stored on the network.
B) They contain information about the vulnerabilities of the system.
C) They are useful only to upper management.
D) They include the details about the configuration of security controls.

Answer 36

They contain information about the vulnerabilities of the system.

Audit reports should be secured because they contain information about the vulnerabilities of the system and disclosure of such vulnerabilities to the wrong person could lead to security breaches. They would not normally contain confidential data from the network. They are useful to both upper management and security professionals. They would not normally include details about security control configuration.

Question 37

Define and detail the aspects of password selection that distinguish good password choices from ultimately poor password choices.

A) Difficult to guess or unpredictable
B) Meet minimum length requirements
C) Meet specific complexity requirements
D) All of these are correct

Answer 37

All of these are correct

Strong password choices are difficult to guess, unpredictable, and of specified minimum lengths to ensure that password entries cannot be computationally determined.

They may be randomly generated and utilize all the alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation characters; they should never be written down or shared; they should not be stored in publicly accessible or generally readable locations; and they shouldn’t be transmitted in the clear.