Security Architecture Flashcards
3.1 - Compare and contrast security implications of different architecture models 4.1 - Given a scenario, apply common security techniques to computing resources
A company is considering moving its email servers to a cloud-based provider.
Which of the following is a primary security implication of this transition?
(Choose Two)
A) Increased risk of data loss due to potential service outages.
B) Reduced control over data security measures.
C) Improved patch management and reduced vulnerability exposure.
D) Increased reliance on the cloud provider for security updates.
E) Elimination of the need for on-site security personnel.
Answer:
B) Reduced control over data security measures,
D) Increased reliance on the cloud provider for security updates.
Explanation:
- B) Reduced control over data security measures: In a cloud environment, the company relinquishes some control over the physical security of the servers and the underlying infrastructure. This means they rely more on the cloud provider for these aspects of security.
- D) Increased reliance on the cloud provider for security updates: The responsibility for many security updates shifts to the cloud provider. This increases reliance on their expertise and timely patching.
- A) Increased risk of data loss due to potential service outages: While possible, cloud providers typically have robust disaster recovery plans and high availability measures to mitigate this risk.
- C) Improved patch management and reduced vulnerability exposure: This is generally true, as cloud providers often handle patching more efficiently.
- E) Elimination of the need for on-site security personnel: Companies still need to manage user access, data encryption, and other security measures, requiring some on-site security personnel.
A healthcare organization is evaluating a hybrid cloud approach.
What is the primary security concern associated with storing sensitive patient data in the public cloud component of this hybrid environment?
A) Lack of scalability.
B) High latency.
C) Data breaches and unauthorized access.
D) Difficulty in integrating with on-premise systems.
Answer: C) Data breaches and unauthorized access.
Explanation:
* C) Data breaches and unauthorized access: The shared nature of the public cloud environment increases the potential attack surface and the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.
* A) Lack of scalability: Hybrid clouds can be highly scalable.
* B) High latency: While a potential concern, it’s not the primary security concern in this context.
* D) Difficulty in integrating with on-premise systems: Hybrid architectures are designed to facilitate integration between on-premise and cloud environments.
An e-commerce company is experiencing rapid growth and is considering moving its entire IT infrastructure to the cloud.
Which of the following is a potential security disadvantage of this transition?
A) Increased reliance on the cloud provider for security updates.
B) Reduced operational costs.
C) Improved disaster recovery capabilities.
D) Complete control over data location and access.
Answer: D) Complete control over data location and access.
Explanation:
* D) Complete control over data location and access: In the cloud, the company relinquishes some control over where data is stored and who can access it, which can have security implications depending on specific needs and regulations.
* A) Increased reliance on the cloud provider for security updates: This is generally true but not necessarily a disadvantage, as cloud providers often have strong security teams.
* B) Reduced operational costs: Cloud computing often leads to reduced operational costs.
* C) Improved disaster recovery capabilities: Cloud providers often offer robust disaster recovery capabilities.
A company is concerned about the security of its sensitive customer data stored in a public cloud environment.
Which of the following security techniques would be most effective in mitigating this risk?
A) Implementing strong access controls, such as multi-factor authentication.
B) Deploying a firewall on the on-premise network.
C) Purchasing the most expensive cloud computing services.
D) Disabling all non-essential services on the cloud platform.
Answer: A) Implementing strong access controls, such as multi-factor authentication.
Explanation:
* A) Implementing strong access controls, such as multi-factor authentication: Strong access controls are fundamental to protecting data in any environment, including the cloud, by limiting unauthorized access.
* B) Deploying a firewall on the on-premise network: While important for on-premise security, it has a limited direct impact on data security within the public cloud.
* C) Purchasing the most expensive cloud computing services: Expensive services do not inherently guarantee higher security.
* D) Disabling all non-essential services on the cloud platform: This can be overly restrictive and hinder business operations.
A company is experiencing frequent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on its web servers hosted in a public cloud environment.
Which of the following security techniques would be most effective in mitigating these attacks?
A) Implementing intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS).
B) Disabling all incoming traffic to the web servers.
C) Moving the web servers to a private cloud.
D) Deleting all customer data from the cloud.
Answer: A) Implementing intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS).
Explanation:
- A) Implementing intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS): IDPS can effectively detect and block malicious traffic, mitigating the impact of DoS attacks.
- B) Disabling all incoming traffic to the web servers: This is not a viable solution as it would prevent legitimate traffic from reaching the servers.
- C) Moving the web servers to a private cloud: While this might offer some protection, it may not be the most cost-effective or practical solution for every situation.
- D) Deleting all customer data from the cloud: This does not address the root cause of the DoS attacks and would result in significant data loss.
A company notices unusual activity from a virtual machine (VM) on their cloud platform.
Which of the following security measures would be most effective in identifying and mitigating this threat?
A) Implementing stronger password policies for user accounts.
B) Regularly patching the underlying physical server.
C) Monitoring the VM for unusual network traffic and resource consumption.
D) Implementing multi-factor authentication for all users.
Answer: C) Monitoring the VM for unusual network traffic and resource consumption.
Explanation:
* C) Monitoring the VM for unusual network traffic and resource consumption: Continuous monitoring of VM activity can help detect anomalous behavior, such as excessive resource usage, suspicious network connections, or unusual file access patterns, which could indicate a compromise.
* A) Implementing stronger password policies for user accounts: While important for overall security, this measure is less directly related to identifying and mitigating threats specifically within the virtual environment.
* B) Regularly patching the underlying physical server: While essential, patching the physical server primarily addresses vulnerabilities at the hardware level, not necessarily within the virtual environment itself.
* D) Implementing multi-factor authentication for all users: Multi-factor authentication primarily strengthens user authentication, not necessarily the security of the virtual environment itself.
A company experiences a data breach due to a vulnerability in a shared physical server.
Which of the following security measures would have been most effective in preventing this breach?
A) Implementing secure VM templates.
B) Implementing strong isolation mechanisms, such as secure multi-tenancy.
C) Regularly reviewing and updating security policies.
D) Enforcing strong password policies for all users.
Answer: B) Implementing strong isolation mechanisms, such as secure multi-tenancy.
Explanation:
* B) Implementing strong isolation mechanisms, such as secure multi-tenancy: Secure multi-tenancy provides strong isolation between tenants on the same physical server, minimizing the impact of a compromise on one tenant’s data on others.
* A) Implementing secure VM templates: While important for VM security, it does not directly address the risk of data breaches due to shared physical servers.
* C) Regularly reviewing and updating security policies: This is a general security best practice, but it does not specifically address the vulnerability of shared physical servers.
* D) Enforcing strong password policies for all users: This primarily addresses user authentication, not the security of the shared physical server environment.
A company experiences a data breach due to a disgruntled employee with excessive privileges accessing sensitive customer data.
Which security principle was most likely violated in this scenario?
A) Principle of Least Privilege.
B) Data Remnant Prevention.
C) Secure Multi-tenancy.
D) Single Point of Failure Mitigation.
Answer: A) Principle of Least Privilege.
Explanation:
* A) Principle of Least Privilege: The Principle of Least Privilege dictates that users should only have the minimum necessary privileges to perform their job duties. In this case, the employee likely had excessive privileges, allowing them to access data they should not have had access to.
* B) Data Remnant Prevention: This principle focuses on ensuring complete data deletion, which is not directly related to this scenario.
* C) Secure Multi-tenancy: This principle applies to shared physical server environments, which is not directly relevant to this scenario.
* D) Single Point of Failure Mitigation: This principle focuses on preventing system outages, which is not directly related to this scenario.
A company is experiencing frequent service outages due to the failure of a single critical component in their cloud infrastructure.
Which of the following mitigation strategies would be most effective in addressing this issue?
A) Implementing multi-factor authentication for all users.
B) Implementing redundancy and failover procedures.
C) Regularly patching all software and systems.
D) Enforcing strong password policies.
Answer: B) Implementing redundancy and failover procedures.
Explanation:
* B) Implementing redundancy and failover procedures: This involves creating redundant components and establishing failover mechanisms to ensure that if one component fails, another can seamlessly take over, minimizing service disruption.
* A) Implementing multi-factor authentication for all users: This primarily addresses user authentication, not the issue of single points of failure.
* C) Regularly patching all software and systems: While crucial for security, this does not directly address the issue of single points of failure.
* D) Enforcing strong password policies: This primarily addresses user authentication, not the issue of single points of failure.
A company’s cloud environment lacks clear guidelines for data handling and disposal.
Which of the following is the most significant consequence of this lack of clarity?
A) Increased risk of data breaches due to unauthorized access.
B) Increased vulnerability to denial-of-service attacks.
C) Increased difficulty in complying with data privacy regulations.
D) Increased reliance on cloud providers for security updates.
Answer: C) Increased difficulty in complying with data privacy regulations.
Explanation:
* C) Increased difficulty in complying with data privacy regulations: Clear data handling and disposal policies are essential for compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Without clear guidelines, organizations may inadvertently violate these regulations, leading to significant legal and financial consequences.
* A) Increased risk of data breaches due to unauthorized access: While unclear policies can indirectly contribute to this, it’s not the most significant consequence.
* B) Increased vulnerability to denial-of-service attacks: Unclear policies are not directly related to the risk of DoS attacks.
* D) Increased reliance on cloud providers for security updates: This is not a direct consequence of unclear policies.
Which type of hypervisor runs directly on the host hardware without an underlying operating system?
A) Type 1 Hypervisor
B) Type 2 Hypervisor
C) Container
D) Virtual Machine
Answer: A) Type 1 Hypervisor
Explanation:
* A) Type 1 Hypervisor: Type 1 hypervisors, also known as bare-metal hypervisors, run directly on the host hardware, interacting directly with the hardware.
* B) Type 2 Hypervisor: Type 2 hypervisors operate within a host operating system (e.g., Windows, Linux).
* C) Container: Containers share the host operating system’s kernel, making them different from full virtualization.
* D) Virtual Machine: Virtual machines are software emulations of a complete computer system, including hardware and operating system, not the hypervisor itself.
Which of the following is a key advantage of containerization compared to full machine virtualization?
A) Greater resource isolation.
B) Improved performance and efficiency.
C) Increased hardware requirements.
D) Easier to manage multiple operating systems.
Answer: B) Improved performance and efficiency.
Explanation:
* B) Improved performance and efficiency: Containers share the host operating system’s kernel, leading to more efficient resource utilization and improved performance compared to full virtualization.
* A) Greater resource isolation: While containers provide some isolation, full virtualization generally offers stronger isolation between virtual machines.
* C) Increased hardware requirements: Containers generally have lower hardware requirements compared to full virtualization.
* D) Easier to manage multiple operating systems: Full virtualization is generally more suitable for managing multiple operating systems on a single physical server.
A company is experiencing slow performance on their virtual servers.
Which of the following factors could contribute to this performance issue?
A) Resource contention among multiple VMs on the same physical server.
B) Inadequate hypervisor updates.
C) Insufficient memory allocated to the VMs.
D) All of the above.
Answer: D) All of the above.
Explanation:
* D) All of the above:
* Resource contention: When multiple VMs compete for limited resources (CPU, memory, I/O) on a single physical server, performance can degrade.
* Inadequate hypervisor updates: Outdated hypervisors may contain performance bottlenecks or security vulnerabilities that can impact VM performance.
* Insufficient memory allocated to the VMs: Insufficient memory can lead to “thrashing,” where the operating system spends more time swapping data between RAM and disk, resulting in slow performance.
Which of the following vulnerabilities occurs when an attacker is able to break out of the isolation of a virtual machine and gain access to the host system or other VMs?
A) Privilege escalation.
B) VM escape.
C) Resource reuse.
D) Live VM migration.
Answer: B) VM escape.
Explanation:
* B) VM escape: VM escape refers to the situation where an attacker can break out of the isolation of a virtual machine and gain access to the host system or other VMs on the same physical server.
* A) Privilege escalation: This refers to the situation where a user gains elevated privileges within a system, not necessarily breaking out of VM isolation.
* C) Resource reuse: This refers to the potential for sensitive data from previous tasks to be exposed to subsequent tasks due to improper resource clearing.
* D) Live VM migration: This refers to the process of moving a running VM from one physical server to another.
Which of the following security best practices is crucial for securing virtual machines?
A) Implementing strong password policies for user accounts.
B) Regularly updating the hypervisor and guest operating systems.
C) Limiting the number of virtual machines on a single physical server.
D) Disabling all network connections to the virtual machines.
Answer: B) Regularly updating the hypervisor and guest operating systems.
Explanation:
* B) Regularly updating the hypervisor and guest operating systems: Keeping the hypervisor and guest operating systems up-to-date with the latest security patches is crucial to address vulnerabilities and prevent exploitation.
* A) Implementing strong password policies for user accounts: While important, this primarily focuses on user authentication, not the security of the virtualization environment itself.
* C) Limiting the number of virtual machines on a single physical server: While this can improve performance, it’s not the most crucial security best practice.
* D) Disabling all network connections to the virtual machines: This is not a practical solution as it would prevent necessary communication and functionality.
Which of the following best describes serverless computing?
A) Computing without the use of any servers.
B) A model where developers manage all aspects of the infrastructure.
C) A model where developers focus on writing functions that are triggered by events.
D) A technology that eliminates the need for any infrastructure.
Answer: C) A model where developers focus on writing functions that are triggered by events.
Explanation:
* C) A model where developers focus on writing functions that are triggered by events: Serverless computing focuses on event-driven functions, where developers write code that executes in response to specific triggers (e.g., incoming data, user actions).
- A) Computing without the use of any servers: This is a misnomer. Serverless computing still relies on servers, but these servers are managed by the cloud provider.
- B) A model where developers manage all aspects of the infrastructure: In serverless computing, developers are largely relieved from managing infrastructure concerns.
- D) A technology that eliminates the need for any infrastructure: While serverless minimizes the need for developers to manage infrastructure directly, it still relies on the underlying infrastructure of the cloud provider.
Which of the following is a key benefit of serverless computing?
A) Increased reliance on a single vendor.
B) Reduced operational overhead.
C) Decreased scalability and flexibility.
D) Higher upfront costs compared to traditional models.
Answer: B) Reduced operational overhead.
Explanation:
* B) Reduced operational overhead: Serverless computing significantly reduces operational overhead for developers as they don’t need to manage servers, operating systems, or infrastructure.
- A) Increased reliance on a single vendor: This is a potential risk, not a benefit.
- C) Decreased scalability and flexibility: Serverless computing offers excellent scalability and flexibility due to its event-driven nature and on-demand resource provisioning.
- D) Higher upfront costs compared to traditional models: In many cases, serverless computing can actually reduce costs, especially for applications with variable workloads.
A company is considering migrating their application to a serverless architecture. Which of the following factors should they consider before making the decision?
A) The specific needs and requirements of their application.
B) The availability of skilled serverless developers.
C) The potential for vendor lock-in.
D) All of the above.
Answer: D) All of the above.
Explanation:
* D) All of the above:
* A) The specific needs and requirements of their application: Serverless is not suitable for all applications. It’s crucial to evaluate if the application’s workload is well-suited for an event-driven model.
* B) The availability of skilled serverless developers: Migrating to serverless may require developers to acquire new skills.
* C) The potential for vendor lock-in: Evaluating the potential for vendor lock-in and the availability of alternative solutions is crucial.
How does serverless computing achieve automatic scaling?
A) Developers manually adjust resources based on demand.
B) The cloud provider automatically scales resources based on the number of active users.
C) The cloud provider automatically scales resources based on the number of events triggered.
D) The application automatically scales resources based on internal metrics.
Answer: C) The cloud provider automatically scales resources based on the number of events triggered.
Explanation:
* C) The cloud provider automatically scales resources based on the number of events triggered: In serverless computing, the cloud provider automatically provisions and scales the necessary resources to handle the incoming events, ensuring that the application can handle fluctuating workloads effectively.
Which of the following is NOT a potential challenge associated with serverless computing?
A) Improved application performance.
B) Vendor lock-in.
C) Debugging and troubleshooting challenges.
D) Immaturity of best practices.
Answer: A) Improved application performance.
Explanation:
* A) Improved application performance: Serverless computing can often lead to improved application performance due to its on-demand scaling capabilities and efficient resource utilization.
* B) Vendor lock-in: This is a potential challenge, as relying on a single cloud provider can limit flexibility and increase costs.
* C) Debugging and troubleshooting challenges: Debugging serverless functions can sometimes be more challenging due to the distributed nature of the environment.
* D) Immaturity of best practices: Serverless is a relatively new field, and best practices are still evolving, which can present challenges for developers.
Which of the following best describes a microservices architecture?
A) A single, large application with all components tightly coupled.
B) A collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other.
C) A centralized system where all services rely on a single database.
D) A system where all services are written in the same programming language.
Answer: B) A collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other.
Explanation:
* B) A collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other: This accurately defines a microservices architecture, where large applications are broken down into smaller, independently deployable services.
* A) A single, large application with all components tightly coupled: This describes a monolithic architecture.
* C) A centralized system where all services rely on a single database: While some microservices architectures may use a shared database, it’s not a fundamental characteristic.
* D) A system where all services are written in the same programming language: Microservices can be written in different programming languages, offering flexibility in technology choices.
What is a key advantage of using a microservices architecture compared to a monolithic architecture?
A) Increased complexity.
B) Reduced scalability.
C) Improved resilience to failures.
D) Higher initial development costs.
Answer: C) Improved resilience to failures.
Explanation:
* C) Improved resilience to failures: In a microservices architecture, if one service fails, it typically does not bring down the entire system, improving overall system resilience.
- A) Increased complexity: While complexity is a potential challenge, it’s not a key advantage.
- B) Reduced scalability: Microservices architectures offer enhanced scalability compared to monolithic architectures.
- D) Higher initial development costs: While there may be higher initial development costs, the long-term benefits of microservices can outweigh these costs.
Which of the following is a potential challenge associated with microservices architecture?
A) Difficulty in scaling individual services.
B) Increased data consistency challenges.
C) Reduced flexibility in technology choices.
D) Lower development velocity.
Answer: B) Increased data consistency challenges.
Explanation:
* B) Increased data consistency challenges: Maintaining data consistency across multiple services with potentially different databases can be challenging in a microservices architecture.
* A) Difficulty in scaling individual services: Microservices are designed to be easily scaled independently.
- C) Reduced flexibility in technology choices: Microservices offer greater flexibility in choosing technologies for each service.
- D) Lower development velocity: Microservices can potentially increase development velocity due to independent deployments and faster updates.