Domain 2

Question 1

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

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

2. COBIT, Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology, is a framework for 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

Answer 2

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 DPD. Finally, in many organizations, data stewards are internal roles that oversee how data is used.

Question 3

3. What term is used to describe a starting point for a minimum security standard?
   a. Outline
   b. Baseline
   c. Policy
   d. Configuration guide

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

4. 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.

Answer 4

B. Media is typically labeled with the highest classification level of data it contains. This prevents the data from being handled or accessible 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.

Question 5

5. The need to protect sensitive data drives what administrative process?
   a. Information classification
   b. Remanence
   c. Transmitting data
   d. Clearing

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

6. 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

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

7. Staff in an 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

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

8. 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 EU DPD baseline.
   d. Comply with the US-EU Safe Harbor requirements.

Answer 8

D. Safe Harbor compliance helps US companies meet the EU Data Protection Directive. 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!).

Question 9

9. 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.

Answer 9

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, nor do they prevent liability.

Question 10

10 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

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

11. Which of the following classification levels is the US 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

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

12. 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.

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

13. 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

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

For questions 14, 15, and 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.

14. 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

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

For questions 14, 15, and 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.

15. 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

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

For questions 14, 15, and 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.

16. 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

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

17. 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.

Answer 17

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!

Question 18

18. 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.

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

19. 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

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

20 . Which is the proper order from least to most sensitive for US government classifications?

a. Confidential, Secret, Top Secret
b. Confidential, Classified, Secret
c. Top Secret, Secret, Classified, Public, Classified, Top Secret
d. Public, Unclassified, Classified, Top Secret

Answer 20

A. The US government’s classification levels from least to most sensitive are Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.

Question 21

21. 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

Answer 21

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

Question 22

22. 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

Answer 22

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 they aren’t as good of an answer as the PCI DSS standard itself.

Question 23

Use the following scenario for questions 23, 24, and 25.

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.

23. 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

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Use the following scenario for questions 23, 24, and 25.

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.

24. 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

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Use the following scenario for questions 23, 24, and 25.

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.

25. 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.

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

26. 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.

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

27. 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.

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

28. 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)

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

29. What is the primary information security risk to data at rest?
    a. Improper classification
    b. Data breach
    c. Decryption
    d. Loss of data integrity

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

30. 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

Answer 30

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

Question 31

31. 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.

Answer 31

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, 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.

Question 32

32. 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.

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

33. 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.

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

34. 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

Answer 34

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.

Question 35

35. Which of the following is the least effective method of removing data from media?
    a. Degaussing
    b. Purging
    c. Erasing
    d. Clearing

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

36. Safe Harbor is part of a US program to meet what European Union law?
    a. The EU CyberSafe Act
    b. The Network and Information Security (NIS) directives
    c. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
    d. The EU Data Protection Directive

Answer 36

D. Safe Harbor is a framework intended to bridge the different privacy protection laws between the United States and the European Union and is run by the US Department of Commerce. At the time of this writing, Safe Harbor had been declared “invalid” by the European Court of Justice, although the US Department of Commerce has stated that it will continue the Safe Harbor program.
Both the GDPR and NIS are pending EU regulations, and there is no EU CyberSafe Act.

Question 37

Use the following scenario to answer questions 37, 38, and 39.

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.

37. What type of encryption would be appropriate for HIPAA documents in transit?
    a. AES256
    b. DES
    c. TLS
    d. SSL

Answer 37

C. TLS is a modern encryption method used to encrypt and protect data in transit. AES256 is a symmetric cipher often used to protect data at rest. DES and SSL are both outdated encryption methods and should not be used for data that requires high levels of security.

Question 38

Use the following scenario to answer questions 37, 38, and 39.

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.

38. 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

Answer 38

C. Private data is typically considered data that could cause damage. Loss of confidential data is normally classified as able to cause exceptionally grave damage, while exposure of private data could cause serious damage. As you’d expect, public data exposure won’t cause damage.

Question 39

Use the following scenario to answer questions 37, 38, and 39.

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.

39. 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

Answer 39

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.

Question 40

40. A US government database contains Secret, Confidential, and Top Secret data. How should it be classified?
    a. Top Secret
    b. Confidential
    c. Secret
    d. Mixed classification

Answer 40

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.

Question 41

41. 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

Answer 41

B. A non-disclosure 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.

Question 42

42. What encryption algorithm is used by both BitLocker and Microsoft’s Encrypting File System?
    a. Blowfish
    b. Serpent
    c. AES
    d. 3DES

Answer 42

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.

Question 43

43. 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.

Answer 43

B. Group Policy provides the ability to monitor and apply settings in a security baseline. Manual checks by users or 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.

Question 44

44. 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. SP 800

Answer 44

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.

Question 45

45. What type of policy describes how long data is retained and maintained before destruction?
    a. Classification
    b. Audit
    c. Record retention
    d. Availability

Answer 45

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.

Question 46

46. Which attack helped drive vendors to move away from SSL toward TLS-only by default?
    a. POODLE
    b. Stuxnet
    c. BEAST
    d. CRIME

Answer 46

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.

Question 47

47. 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 AES256 encryption.

Answer 47

D. Using strong encryption, like AES256, 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.

Question 48

48. 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 US 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.

Answer 48

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.

Question 49

49. What protocol is preferred over Telnet for remote server administration via the command line?
    a. SCP
    b. SFTP
    c. WDS
    d. SSH

Answer 49

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.

Question 50

50. What method uses a strong magnetic field to erase media?
    a. Magwipe
    b. Degaussing
    c. Sanitization
    d. Purging

Answer 50

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.

Question 51

51. What primary issue does personnel retention deal with?
    a. Employees quitting
    b. Employees not moving on to new positions
    c. Knowledge gained after employment
    d. Knowledge gained during employment

Answer 51

D. Personnel retention deals with the knowledge that employees gain while employed. Issues related to the knowledge they may leave with and share are often handled with non-disclosure agreements. Knowledge gained after employment, as well as how soon (or how late) employees leave the organization, is not central to this issue.

Question 52

52. Alex works for a government agency that is required to meet US 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.

Answer 52

C. One of the most important parts of labeling the data is ensuring that it receives a mark or label that provides the classification of the data. 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.

Question 53

53. Ben is following the NIST Special Publication 800-88 guidelines for sanitization and disposition as shown in the following diagram. 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?

a. Destroy, validate, document
b. Clear, purge, document
c. Purge, document, validate
d. Purge, validate, document

Answer 53

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.

Question 54

54. What methods are often used to protect data in transit?
    a. Telnet, ISDN, UDP
    b. Encrypted storage media
    c. AES, Serpent, IDEA
    d. TLS, VPN, IPsec

Answer 54

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. Encrypting your storage media before it is transported is a good practice, but transporting media isn’t the type of transit that is meant by the phrase.

Question 55

55. Which data role is described as the person who has ultimate organizational responsibility for data?
    a. System owners
    b. Business owners
    c. Data owners
    d. Mission owners

Answer 55

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.

Question 56

56. What US government agency oversees compliance with the Safe Harbor framework for organizations wishing to use the personal data of EU citizens?
    a. The FTC
    b. The FDA
    c. The DoD
    d. The Department of Commerce

Answer 56

A. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is the US government agency that deals with Safe Harbor. The Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense, and Department of Commerce do not oversee Safe Harbor.

Question 57

For questions 57, 58, and 59, use the following scenario.

Chris has recently been hired into a new organization. The organization that Chris belongs to uses the following classification process:

Criteria are set for classifying data.

Data owners are established for each type of data.

Data is classified.

Required controls are selected for each classification.

Baseline security standards are selected for the organization.

Controls are scoped and tailored.

Controls are applied and enforced.

Access is granted and managed.

Use the classification process to answer the following questions.

57. 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.

Answer 57

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.

Question 58

For questions 57, 58, and 59, use the following scenario.

Chris has recently been hired into a new organization. The organization that Chris belongs to uses the following classification process:

Criteria are set for classifying data.

Data owners are established for each type of data.

Data is classified.

Required controls are selected for each classification.

Baseline security standards are selected for the organization.

Controls are scoped and tailored.

Controls are applied and enforced.

Access is granted and managed.

Use the classification process to answer the following questions.

58. 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.

Answer 58

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.

Question 59

For questions 57, 58, and 59, use the following scenario.

Chris has recently been hired into a new organization. The organization that Chris belongs to uses the following classification process:

Criteria are set for classifying data.

Data owners are established for each type of data.

Data is classified.

Required controls are selected for each classification.

Baseline security standards are selected for the organization.

Controls are scoped and tailored.

Controls are applied and enforced.

Access is granted and managed.

Use the classification process to answer the following questions.

59. 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

Answer 59

C. According to the European Union’s Data Protection Directive, 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.

Question 60

60. Which of the following is not a part of the European Union’s Data Protection principles?
    a. Notice
    b. Reason
    c. Security
    d. Access

Answer 60

B. The European Data Protection Directive has seven primary tenets:

Notice

Choice

Onward transfer

Security

Data integrity

Access

Enforcement

Reason is not included in this list.

Question 61

61. Ben’s company, which is based in the EU, hires a third-party organization that processes data for it. Who has responsibility to protect the privacy of the data and ensure that it isn’t used for anything other than its intended purpose?
    a. Ben’s company is responsible.
    b. The third-party data processor is responsible.
    c. The data controller is responsible.
    d. Both organizations bear equal responsibility.

Answer 61

B. Under the EU’s DPD, data processors like the third-party company in this question bear responsibility for ensuring that the data is not used for anything other than the purpose for which it is intended. Ben’s company is the data controller, while the third party is the data processor, leaving the third party with that role.

Question 62

62. Major Hunter, a member of the US armed forces, has been entrusted with information that, if exposed, could cause serious damage to national security. Under US government classification standards, how should this data be classified?
    a. Unclassified
    b. Top Secret
    c. Confidential
    d. Secret

Answer 62

D. The US government specifies Secret as the classification level for information that, if disclosed, could cause serious harm to national security. Top Secret is reserved for information that could cause exceptionally grave harm, while confidential data could be expected to cause less harm. Unclassified is not an actual classification but only indicates that the data may be released to unclassified individuals. Organizations may still restrict access to unclassified information.

Question 63

63. When a computer is removed from service and disposed of, the process that ensures that all storage media has been removed or destroyed is known as what?
    a. Sanitization
    b. Purging
    c. Destruction
    d. Declassification

Answer 63

A. Sanitization is the combination of processes used to remove data from a system or media. When a PC is disposed of, sanitization includes the removal or destruction of drives, media, and any other storage devices it may have. Purging, destruction, and declassification are all other handling methods.

Question 64

64. Linux systems that use bcrypt are using a tool based on what DES alternative encryption scheme?
    a. 3DES
    b. AES
    c. Diffie-Hellman
    d. Blowfish

Answer 64

D. Bcrypt is based on Blowfish (the b is a key hint here). AES and 3DES are both replacements for DES, while Diffie-Hellman is a protocol for key exchange.

Question 65

65. Susan works in an organization that labels all removable media with the classification level of the data it contains, including public data. Why would Susan’s employer label all media instead of labeling only the media that contains data that could cause harm if it was exposed?
    a. It is cheaper to order all prelabeled media.
    b. It prevents sensitive media from not being marked by mistake.
    c. It prevents reuse of public media for sensitive data.
    d. Labeling all media is required by HIPAA.

Answer 65

C. Requiring all media to have a label means that when unlabeled media is found, it should immediately be considered suspicious. This helps to prevent mistakes that might leave sensitive data un-labeled. Prelabeled media is not necessarily cheaper (nor may it make sense to buy!), while reusing public media simply means that it must be classified based on the data it now contains. HIPAA does not have specific media labeling requirements.

Question 66

66. Data stored in RAM is best characterized as what type of data?
    a. Data at rest
    b. Data in use
    c. Data in transit
    d. Data at large

Answer 66

B. Data in use is data that is in a temporary storage location while an application or process is using it. Thus, data in memory is best described as data in use or ephemeral data. Data at rest is in storage, while data in transit is traveling over a network or other channel. Data at large is a made-up term.

Question 67

67. What issue is the validation portion of the NIST SP 800-88 sample certificate of sanitization intended to help prevent?
    a. Destruction
    b. Reuse
    c. Data remanence
    d. Attribution

Answer 67

C. Validation processes are conducted to ensure that the sanitization process was completed, avoiding data remanence. A form like this one helps to ensure that each device has been checked and that it was properly wiped, purged, or sanitized. This can allow reuse, does not prevent destruction, and does not help with attribution, which is a concept used with encryption to prove who created or sent a file.

Question 68

68. Why is declassification rarely chosen as an option for media reuse?
    a. Purging is sufficient for sensitive data.
    b. Sanitization is the preferred method of data removal.
    c. It is more expensive than new media and may still fail.
    d. Clearing is required first.

Answer 68

C. Ensuring that data cannot be recovered is difficult, and the time and effort required to securely and completely wipe media as part of declassification can exceed the cost of new media. Sanitization, purging, and clearing may be part of declassification, but they are not reasons that it is not frequently chosen as an option for organizations with data security concerns.

Question 69

69. NIST SP 800-60 provides a process shown in the following diagram to assess information systems. What process does this diagram show?

a. Selecting a standard and implementing it
b. Categorizing and selecting controls
c. Baselining and selecting controls
d. Categorizing and sanitizing

Answer 69

B. In the NIST SP 800-60 diagram, the process determines appropriate categorization levels resulting in security categorization and then uses that as an input to determine controls. Standard selection would occur at an organizational level, while baselining occurs when systems are configured to meet a baseline. Sanitization would require the intentional removal of data from machines or media.

Question 70

70. The following image shows a typical workstation and server and their connections to each other and the Internet. Use the image to answer questions 70, 71, and 72.

70. Which letters should be associated with data at rest?
    a. A, B, and C
    b. C and E
    c. A and E
    d. B, D, and F

Answer 70

C. A and E can both be expected to have data at rest. C, the Internet, is an unknown, and the data can’t be guaranteed to be at rest. B, D, and F are all data in transit across network links.

Question 71

The following image shows a typical workstation and server and their connections to each other and the Internet. Use the image to answer questions 70, 71, and 72.

71. What would be the best way to secure data at points B, D, and F?
    a. AES256
    b. SSL
    c. TLS
    d. 3DES

Answer 71

C. B, D, and F all show network links. Of the answers provided, Transport Layer Security (TLS) provides the best security for data in motion. AES256 and 3DES are both symmetric ciphers and are more likely to be used for data at rest. SSL has been replaced with TLS and should not be a preferred solution.

Question 72

The following image shows a typical workstation and server and their connections to each other and the Internet. Use the image to answer questions 70, 71, and 72.

72. What is the best way to secure files that are sent from workstation A via the Internet service (C) to remote server E?
    a. Use AES at rest at point A, and TLS in transit via B and D.
    b. Encrypt the data files and send them.
    c. Use 3DES and TLS to provide double security.
    d. Use full disk encryption at A and E, and use SSL at B and D.

Answer 72

B. Sending a file that is encrypted before it leaves means that exposure of the file in transit will not result in a confidentiality breach and the file will remain secure until decrypted at location E. Since answers A, C, and D do not provide any information about what happens at point C, they should be considered insecure, as the file may be at rest at point C in an unencrypted form.

Question 73

73. Incineration, crushing, shredding, and disintegration all describe what stage in the life cycle of media?
    a. Sanitization
    b. Degaussing
    c. Purging
    d. Destruction

Answer 73

D. Destruction is the final stage in the life cycle of media and can be done via disintegration, incineration, or a variety of other methods that result in the media and data being nonrecoverable. Sanitization is a combination of processes used when data is being removed from a system or media. Purging is an intense form of clearing, and degaussing uses strong magnetic fields to wipe data from magnetic media.

Question 74

74. The European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive’s seven principles do not include which of the following key elements?
    a. The need to inform subjects when their data is being collected
    b. The need to set a limit on how long data is retained
    c. The need to keep the data secure
    d. The need to allow data subjects to be able to access and correct their data

Answer 74

B. The Data Protection Directive’s principles do not address data retention time periods. The seven principles are notice, purpose, consent, security, disclosure, access, and accountability.

Question 75

75. Why might an organization use unique screen backgrounds or designs on workstations that deal with data of different classification levels?
    a. To indicate the software version in use
    b. To promote a corporate message
    c. To promote availability
    d. To indicate the classification level of the data or system

Answer 75

D. Visual indicators like a distinctive screen background can help employees remember what level of classification they are dealing with and thus the handling requirements that they are expected to follow.

Question 76

76. Charles has been asked to downgrade the media used for storage of private data for his organization. What process should Charles follow?
    a. Degauss the drives, and then relabel them with a lower classification level.
    b. Pulverize the drives, and then reclassify them based on the data they contain.
    c. Follow the organization’s purging process, and then downgrade and replace labels.
    d. Relabel the media, and then follow the organization’s purging process to ensure that the media matches the label.

Answer 76

C. If an organization allows media to be downgraded, the purging process should be followed, and then the media should be relabeled. Degaussing may be used for magnetic media but won’t handle all types of media. Pulverizing would destroy the media, preventing reuse, while relabeling first could lead to mistakes that result in media that hasn’t been purged entering use.

Question 77

77. Which of the following tasks are not performed by a system owner per NIST SP 800-18?
    a. Develops a system security plan
    b. Establishes rules for appropriate use and protection of data
    c. Identifies and implements security controls
    d. Ensures that system users receive appropriate security training

Answer 77

B. The data owner sets the rules for use and protection of data. The remaining options all describe tasks for the system owner, including implementation of security controls.

Question 78

78. Susan needs to provide a set of minimum security requirements for email. What steps should she recommend for her organization to ensure that the email remains secure?
    a. All email should be encrypted.
    b. All email should be encrypted and labeled.
    c. Sensitive email should be encrypted and labeled.
    d. Only highly sensitive email should be encrypted.

Answer 78

C. Encrypting and labeling sensitive email will ensure that it remains confidential and can be identified. Performing these actions only on sensitive email will reduce the cost and effort of encrypting all email, allowing only sensitive email to be the focus of the organization’s efforts. Only encrypting highly sensitive email not only skips labeling but might expose other classifications of email that shouldn’t be exposed.

Question 79

79. What term describes the process of reviewing baseline security controls and selecting only the controls that are appropriate for the IT system you are trying to protect?
    a. Standard creation
    b. CIS benchmarking
    c. Baselining
    d. Scoping

Answer 79

D. Scoping is performed when you match baseline controls to the IT system you’re working to secure. Creation of standards is part of the configuration process and may involve the use of baselines. Baselining can mean the process of creating a security baseline or configuring systems to meet the baseline. CIS, the Center for Internet Security, provides a variety of security baselines.

Question 80

80. What data role does a system that is used to process data have?
    a. Mission owner
    b. Data owner
    c. Data processor
    d. Custodian

Answer 80

C. Systems used to process data are data processors. Data owners are typically CEOs or other very senior staff, custodians are granted rights to perform day-to-day tasks when handling data, and mission owners are typically program or information system owners.

Question 81

81. Which of the following will be superceded in 2018 by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
    a. The EU Data Protection Directive
    b. NIST SP 800-12
    c. The EU Personal Data Protection Regulation
    d. COBIT

Answer 81

A. The EU GDPR is slated to replace the EU DPD, with adoption starting in 2015 and 2016 and full enforcement occurring in 2017 and 2018. NIST standards and special publications apply to the United States, while COBIT is an IT management framework. There is no EU Personal Data Protection Regulation.

Question 82

82. What type of health information is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act required to protect?
    a. PII
    b. PHI
    c. SHI
    d. HPHI

Answer 82

B. Protected health information, or PHI, includes a variety of data in multiple formats, including oral and recorded data, such as that created or received by healthcare providers, employers, and life insurance providers. PHI must be protected by HIPAA. PII is personally identifiable information. SHI and HPHI are both made-up acronyms.

Question 83

83. What encryption algorithm would provide strong protection for data stored on a USB thumb drive?
    a. TLS
    b. SHA1
    c. AES
    d. DES

Answer 83

C. AES is a strong symmetric cipher that is appropriate for use with data at rest. SHA1 is a cryptographic hash, while TLS is appropriate for data in motion. DES is an outdated and insecure symmetric encryption method.

Question 84

84. Lauren’s multinational company wants to ensure compliance with the EU Data Protection Directive. If she allows data to be used against the requirements of the notice principle and against what users selected in the choice principle, what principle has her organization violated?
    a. Onward transfer
    b. Data integrity
    c. Enforcement
    d. Access

Answer 84

B. The principle of data integrity states that data should be reliable and that information should not be used for purposes other than those that users are made aware of by notice and that they have accepted through choice.
Enforcement is aimed at ensuring that compliance with principles is assured. Access allows individuals to correct, change, or delete their information, while onward transfer limits transfers to other organizations that comply with the principles of notice and choice.

Question 85

85. What is the best method to sanitize a solid-state drive (SSD)?
    a. Clearing
    b. Zero fill
    c. Disintegration
    d. Degaussing

Answer 85

C. Due to problems with remnant data, the US National Security Agency requires physical destruction of SSDs. This process, known as disintegration, results in very small fragments via a shredding process. Zero fill wipes a drive by replacing data with zeros, degaussing uses magnets to wipe magnetic media, and clearing is the process of preparing media for reuse.

Question 86

For questions 86, 87, and 88, use the following scenario.

As shown in the following security life cycle diagram (loosely based on the NIST reference architecture), NIST uses a five-step process for risk management. Using your knowledge of data roles and practices, answer the following questions based on the NIST framework process.

86. What data role will own responsibility for step 1, the categorization of information systems, to whom will they delegate step 2, and what data role will be responsible for step 3?
    a. Data owners, system owners, custodians
    b. Data processors, custodians, users
    c. Business owners, administrators, custodians
    d. System owners, business owners, administrators

Answer 86

A. The data owner bears responsibility for categorizing information systems and delegates selection of controls to system owners, while custodians implement the controls. Users don’t perform any of these actions, while business owners are tasked with ensuring that systems are fulfilling their business purpose.

Question 87

For questions 86, 87, and 88, use the following scenario.

As shown in the following security life cycle diagram (loosely based on the NIST reference architecture), NIST uses a five-step process for risk management. Using your knowledge of data roles and practices, answer the following questions based on the NIST framework process.

87. If the systems that are being assessed all handle credit card information (and no other sensitive data), at what step would the PCI DSS first play an important role?
    a. Step 1
    b. Step 2
    c. Step 3
    d. Step 4

Answer 87

B. PCI DSS provides a set of required security controls and standards. Step 2 would be guided by the requirements of PCI DSS. PCI DSS will not greatly influence step 1 because all of the systems handle credit card information, making PCI DSS apply to all systems covered. Steps 3 and 4 will be conducted after PCI DSS has guided the decisions in step 2.

Question 88

For questions 86, 87, and 88, use the following scenario.

As shown in the following security life cycle diagram (loosely based on the NIST reference architecture), NIST uses a five-step process for risk management. Using your knowledge of data roles and practices, answer the following questions based on the NIST framework process.

88. What data security role is primarily responsible for step 5?
    a. Data owners
    b. Data processors
    c. Custodians
    d. Users

Answer 88

C. Custodians are tasked with the day-to-day monitoring of the integrity and security of data. Step 5 requires monitoring, which is a custodial task. A data owner may grant rights to custodians but will not be responsible for conducting monitoring. Data processors process data on behalf of the data controller, and a user simply uses the data via a computing system.

Question 89

89. Susan’s organization performs a zero fill on hard drives before they are sent to a third-party organization to be shredded. What issue is her organization attempting to avoid?
    a. Data remanence while at the third-party site
    b. Mishandling of drives by the third party
    c. Classification mistakes
    d. Data permanence

Answer 89

B. Susan’s organization is limiting its risk by sending drives that have been sanitized before they are destroyed. This limits the possibility of a data breach if drives are mishandled by the third party, allowing them to be stolen, resold, or simply copied. The destruction of the drives will handle any issues with data remanence, while classification mistakes are not important if the drives have been destroyed. Data permanence and the life span of the data are not important on a destroyed drive.

Question 90

90. Embedded data used to help identify the owner of a file is an example of what type of label?
    a. Copyright notice
    b. DLP
    c. Digital watermark
    d. Steganography

Answer 90

C. A digital watermark is used to identify the owner of a file or to otherwise label it. A copyright notice provides information about the copyright asserted on the file, while data loss prevention (DLP) is a solution designed to prevent data loss. Steganography is the science of hiding information, often in images or files.

Question 91

91. Retaining and maintaining information for as long as it is needed is known as what?
    a. Data storage policy
    b. Data storage
    c. Asset maintenance
    d. Record retention

Answer 91

D. Record retention is the process of retaining and maintaining information for as long as it is needed. A data storage policy describes how and why data is stored, while data storage is the process of actually keeping the data. Asset maintenance is a non-information-security-related process for maintaining physical assets.

Question 92

92. Which of the following activities is not a consideration during data classification?
    a. Who can access the data
    b. What the impact would be if the data was lost or breached
    c. How much the data cost to create
    d. What protection regulations may be required for the data

Answer 92

C. The cost of the data is not directly included in the classification process. Instead, the impact to the organization if the data were exposed or breached is considered. Who can access the data and what regulatory or compliance requirements cover the data are also important considerations.

Question 93

93. What type of encryption is typically used for data at rest?
    a. Asymmetric encryption
    b. Symmetric encryption
    c. DES
    d. OTP

Answer 93

B. Symmetric encryption like AES is typically used for data at rest. Asymmetric encryption is often used during transactions or communications when the ability to have public and private keys is necessary. DES is an outdated encryption standard, and OTP is the acronym for one-time password.

Question 94

94. Which data role is tasked with granting appropriate access to staff members?
    a. Data processors
    b. Business owners
    c. Custodians
    d. Administrators

Answer 94

D. Administrators have the rights to assign permissions to access and handle data. Custodians are trusted to handle day-to-day data handling tasks. Business owners are typically system or project owners, and data processors are systems used to process data.

Question 95

95. Which California law requires conspicuously posted privacy policies on commercial websites that collect the personal information of California residents?
    a. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
    b. The California Online Privacy Protection Act
    c. California Online Web Privacy Act
    d. California Civil Code 1798.82

Answer 95

B. The California Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires that operators of commercial websites and services post a prominently displayed privacy policy if they collect personal information on California residents.
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is a Canadian privacy law, while California Civil Code 1798.82 is part of the set of California codes that requires breach notification. The California Online Web Privacy Act does not exist.

Question 96

96. Fred is preparing to send backup tapes off site to a secure third-party storage facility. What steps should Fred take before sending the tapes to that facility?
    a. Ensure that the tapes are handled the same way the original media would be handled based on their classification.
    b. Increase the classification level of the tapes because they are leaving the possession of the company.
    c. Purge the tapes to ensure that classified data is not lost.
    d. Encrypt the tapes in case they are lost in transit.

Answer 96

A. Tapes are frequently exposed due to theft or loss in transit. That means that tapes that are leaving their normal storage facility should be handled according to the organization’s classification schemes and handling requirements. Purging the tapes would cause the loss of data, while increasing the classification level of the tapes or encrypting them may create extra work that isn’t required by the classification level of the tapes.

Question 97

97. Which of the following does not describe data in motion?
    a. Data on a backup tape that is being shipped to a storage facility
    b. Data in a TCP packet
    c. Data in an e-commerce transaction
    d. Data in files being copied between locations

Answer 97

A. The correct answer is the tape that is being shipped to a storage facility. You might think that the tape in shipment is “in motion,” but the key concept is that the data is not being accessed and is instead in storage. Data in a TCP packet, in an e-commerce transaction, or in local RAM is in motion and is actively being used.

Question 98

98. A new law is passed that would result in significant financial harm to your company if the data that it covers was stolen or inadvertently released. What should your organization do about this?
    a. Select a new security baseline.
    b. Relabel the data.
    c. Encrypt all of the data at rest and in transit.
    d. Review its data classifications and classify the data appropriately.

Answer 98

D. When the value of data changes due to legal, compliance, or business reasons, reviewing classifications and reclassifying the data is an appropriate response. Once the review is complete, data can be reclassified and handled according to its classification level. Simply relabeling the data avoids the classification process and may not result in the data being handled appropriately. Similarly, selecting a new baseline or simply encrypting the data may not handle all of the needs that the changes affecting the data create.

Question 99

Ed has been asked to send data that his organization classifies as confidential and proprietary via email. What encryption technology would be appropriate to ensure that the contents of the files attached to the email remain confidential as they traverse the Internet?

a. SSL
b. TLS
c. PGP
d. VPN

Answer 99

C. PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy (or its open-source alternative, GPG) provide strong encryption of files, which can then be sent via email. Email traverses multiple servers and will be unencrypted at rest at multiple points along its path as it is stored and forwarded to its destination.

Question 100

Which mapping correctly matches data classifications between nongovernment and government classification schemes?

a. Top Secret - Confidential/Proprietary

Secret – Private

Confidential – Sensitive

b. Secret - Business confidential

Classifed - Proprietary

Confidential - Business Internal

c. Top Secret - Business sensitive

Secret - Business internal

Confidential - Business proprietary

d. Secret - Proprietary

Classified - Private

Unclassified - Public

Answer 100

A. While many non-government organizations create their own classification schemes, a common model with levels that align with the U.S. government’s classification labels is shown below. In the given options, B and D do not match the US government’s Top Secret, Secret, Confidential scheme, and C incorrectly matches business proprietary data with confidential data as well as Top Secret data with business sensitive data. Business internal is often another term for business sensitive, meaning that it is used to match two classifications!