Security Governance Concepts, Principles, and Policies

Question 1

Which of the following contains the primary goals and objectives of security?

A. A network’s border perimeter
B. The CIA Triad
C. A stand-alone system
D. The Internet

Answer 1

1. B. The primary goals and objectives of security are confidentiality, integrity, and availability, commonly referred to as the CIA Triad.

Question 2

Vulnerabilities and risks are evaluated based on their threats against which of the following?

A. One or more of the CIA Triad principles
B. Data usefulness
C. Due care
D. Extent of liability

Answer 2

A. Vulnerabilities and risks are evaluated based on their threats against one or more of the CIA Triad principles.

Question 3

Which of the following is a principle of the CIA Triad that means authorized subjects are granted timely and uninterrupted access to objects?

A. Identification
B. Availability
C. Encryption
D. Layering

Answer 3

B. Availability means that authorized subjects are granted timely and uninterrupted access to objects.

Question 4

Which of the following is not considered a violation of confidentiality?

A. Stealing passwords
B. Eavesdropping
C. Hardware destruction
D. Social engineering

Answer 4

C. Hardware destruction is a violation of availability and possibly integrity. Violations of confidentiality include capturing network traffic, stealing password files, social engineering, port scanning, shoulder surfing, eavesdropping, and sniffing.

Question 5

Which of the following is not true?

A. Violations of confidentiality include human error.
B. Violations of confidentiality include management oversight.
C. Violations of confidentiality are limited to direct intentional attacks.
D. Violations of confidentiality can occur when a transmission is not properly encrypted.

Answer 5

C. Violations of confidentiality are not limited to direct intentional attacks. Many instances of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information are due to human error, oversight, or ineptitude.

Question 6

Confidentiality is dependent upon which of the following?

A. Accountability
B. Availability
C. Nonrepudiation
D. Integrity

Answer 6

D. Without integrity, confidentiality cannot be maintained.

Question 7

If a security mechanism offers availability, then it offers a high level of assurance that authorized subjects can____________ the data, objects, and resources.

A. Control
B. Audit
C. Access
D. Repudiate

Answer 7

C. Accessibility of data, objects, and resources is the goal of availability. If a security mechanism offers availability, then it is highly likely that the data, objects, and resources are accessible to authorized subjects.

Question 8

Which of the following describes the freedom from being observed, monitored, or examined without consent or knowledge?

A. Integrity
B. Privacy
C. Authentication
D. Accountability

Answer 8

B. One definition of privacy is freedom from being observed, monitored, or examined without consent or knowledge.

Question 9

All but which of the following items require awareness for all individuals affected?

A. Restricting personal email
B. Recording phone conversations
C. Gathering information about surfing habits
D. The backup mechanism used to retain email messages

Answer 9

D. Users should be aware that email messages are retained, but the backup mechanism used to perform this operation does not need to be disclosed to them.

Question 10

What element of data categorization management can override all other forms of access control?

A. Classification
B. Physical access
C. Custodian responsibilities
D. Taking ownership

Answer 10

D. Ownership grants an entity full capabilities and privileges over the object they own. The ability to take ownership is often granted to the most powerful accounts in an operating system because it can be used to overstep any access control limitations otherwise implemented.

Question 11

What ensures that the subject of an activity or event cannot deny that the event occurred?

A. CIA Triad
B. Abstraction
C. Nonrepudiation
D. Hash totals

Answer 11

C. Nonrepudiation ensures that the subject of an activity or event cannot deny that the event occurred.

Question 12

Which of the following is the most important and distinctive concept in relation to layered security?

A. Multiple
B. Series
C. Parallel
D. Filter

Answer 12

B. Layering is the deployment of multiple security mechanisms in a series. When security restrictions are performed in a series, they are performed one after the other in a linear fashion. Therefore, a single failure of a security control does not render the entire solution ineffective.

Question 13

Which of the following is not considered an example of data hiding?

A. Preventing an authorized reader of an object from deleting that object
B. Keeping a database from being accessed by unauthorized visitors
C. Restricting a subject at a lower classification level from accessing data at a higher classification level
D. Preventing an application from accessing hardware directly

Answer 13

A. Preventing an authorized reader of an object from deleting that object is just an example of access control, not data hiding. If you can read an object, it is not hidden from you.

Question 14

What is the primary goal of change management?

A. Maintaining documentation
B. Keeping users informed of changes
C. Allowing rollback of failed changes
D. Preventing security compromises

Answer 14

D. The prevention of security compromises is the primary goal of change management.

Question 15

What is the primary objective of data classification schemes?

A. To control access to objects for authorized subjects
B. To formalize and stratify the process of securing data based on assigned labels of importance and sensitivity
C. To establish a transaction trail for auditing accountability
D. To manipulate access controls to provide for the most efficient means to grant or restrict functionality

Answer 15

B. The primary objective of data classification schemes is to formalize and stratify the process of securing data based on assigned labels of importance and sensitivity.

Question 16

Which of the following is typically not a characteristic considered when classifying data?

A. Value
B. Size of object
C. Useful lifetime
D. National security implications

Answer 16

B. Size is not a criterion for establishing data classification. When classifying an object, you should take value, lifetime, and security implications into consideration.

Question 17

What are the two common data classification schemes?

A. Military and private sector
B. Personal and government
C. Private sector and unrestricted sector
D. Classified and unclassified

Answer 17

A. Military (or government) and private sector (or commercial business) are the two common data classification schemes.

Question 18

Which of the following is the lowest military data classification for classified data?

A. Sensitive
B. Secret
C. Sensitive but unclassified
D. Private

Answer 18

B. Of the options listed, secret is the lowest classified military data classification. Keep in mind that items labeled as confidential, secret, and top secret are collectively known as classified, and confidential is below secret in the list.

Question 19

Which commercial business/private sector data classification is used to control information about individuals within an organization?

A. Confidential
B. Private
C. Sensitive
D. Proprietary

Answer 19

B. The commercial business/private sector data classification of private is used to protect information about individuals.

Question 20

Data classifications are used to focus security controls over all but which of the following?

A. Storage
B. Processing
C. Layering
D. Transfer

Answer 20

20. C. Layering is a core aspect of security mechanisms, but it is not a focus of data classifications.

Question 21

Discuss and describe the CIA Triad.

Answer 21

The CIA Triad is the combination of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This term is used to indicate the three key components of a security solution.

Question 22

What are the requirements to hold a person accountable for the actions of their user account?

Answer 22

The requirements of accountability are identification, authentication, authorization, and auditing. Each of these components needs to be legally supportable to truly hold someone accountable for their actions.

Question 23

Describe the benefits of change control management.

Answer 23

The benefits of change control management include preventing unwanted security reduction because of uncontrolled change, documenting and tracking of all alterations in the environment, standardization, conforming with security policy, and the ability to roll back changes in the event of an unwanted or unexpected outcome.

Question 24

What are the seven major steps or phases in the implementation of a classification scheme?

Answer 24

(1) Identify the custodian, and define their responsibilities. (2) Specify the evaluation criteria of how the information will be classified and labeled. (3) Classify and label each resource. Although the owner conducts this step, a supervisor should review it. (4) Document any exceptions to the classification policy that are discovered, and integrate them into the evaluation criteria. (5) Select the security controls that will be applied to each classification level to provide the necessary level of protection. (6) Specify the procedures for declassifying resources and the procedures for transferring custody of a resource to an external entity. (7) Create an enterprise-wide awareness program to instruct all personnel about the classification system.

Question 25

Name the six primary security roles as defined by ISC2 for CISSP.

Answer 25

The six security roles are senior management, IT/security staff, owner, custodian, operator/user, and auditor.

Question 26

What are the four components of a complete organizational security policy and their basic purpose?

Answer 26

The four components of a security policy are policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures. Policies are broad security statements. Standards are definitions of hardware and software security compliance. Guidelines are used when there is not an appropriate procedure. Procedures are detailed step-by-step instructions for performing work tasks in a secure manner.