BIOS/UEFI

Question 1

What is BIOS?

Answer 1

BIOS is a program used by a computer’s microprocessor to initialize and boot the system after power-on

Question 2

What does BIOS do?

Answer 2

Manages data flow between the operating system and hardware devices

Question 3

Where is BIOS stored?

Answer 3

Stored in ROM and be updated via flashing

Question 4

What is UEFI?

Answer 4

Modern replacement for BIOS

Question 5

How does UEFI interface differ from BIOS

Answer 5

UEFI has a GUI and mouse and keyboard support

Question 6

What storage devices does UEFI support?

Answer 6

Storage devices larger than 2.2 TB

Question 7

What does BIOS use for partitioning?

Answer 7

MBR

Question 8

What does UEFI use for partitioning?

Answer 8

GPT

Question 9

What is Power-On Self-Test?

Answer 9

Diagnostic sequence to verify the functionality of essential hardware during setup

Question 10

What is boot order?

Answer 10

It determines the sequence in which the system checks devices for an operating system

Question 11

What is the best way to protect the device while booting?

Answer 11

Disabling booting from external devices

Question 12

What is the Supervisor/Administrator/Setup password?

Answer 12

It restricts access to the BIOS/UEFI configuration menu

Question 13

What is the User/System Password?

Answer 13

It prevents access to the system until a password is entered

Question 14

What is the Storage/Hard Drive Password?

Answer 14

It locks the hard drive to prevent unauthorized access to its data

Question 15

What is secure boot?

Answer 15

It verifies the integrity of firmware, OS loaders and boot-critical drivers

Question 16

How does secure boot ensure safety?

Answer 16

It protects against rootkits and ensures the OS has not been tampered with

Question 17

Does Secure Boot come standard?

Answer 17

No, UEFI with Secure Boot enabled and the OS itself must support Secure Boot

Question 18

What does restricting USB ports protect against?

Answer 18

Malware introduction via USB and data exfiltration

Question 19

What is Root of Trust?

Answer 19

It’s the foundation for secure operations of a computing system

Question 20

What is Trusted Platform Module?

Answer 20

A hardware-based Root of Trust embedded in modern systems

Question 21

What is an Endorsement Key?

Answer 21

A unique, unchangeable key for system security

Question 22

What is a Storage Root Key (SRK)

Answer 22

Used for encrypting storage devices

Question 23

What do the Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs) do?

Answer 23

Monitor boot metrics

Question 24

What do the Attestation Identity Keys (AIKS) do?

Answer 24

Ensure system integrity

Question 25

What is the Hardware Security Module (HSM)?

Answer 25

A specialized appliance for secure generation and storage of cryptographic keys

Question 26

How is TPM configured?

Answer 26

It is managed via UEFI or OS tools such as 'tpm.msc' in Windows

Question 27

How does TPM protect against tampering?

Answer 27

It prevents tampering doing the boot up process

Question 28

How does HSM protect against tampering?

Answer 28

It utilizes tamper-resistant hardware

Question 29

How does HSM protect data on hard drives?

Answer 29

By providing a digital key for encrypting and decrypting data drives

Question 30

What is key management in HSM?

Answer 30

Storing and managing encryption keys securely

Question 31

What is Quiet Mode?

Answer 31

Reducing fan speed for quieter operation while sacrificing cooling of the system

Question 32

What is Cool Mode?

Answer 32

Increases fan speed for maximum cooling

Question 33

How does temperature-based fan control work?

Answer 33

It uses the motherboard temperature sensors to adjust fan speed to maintain temperature levels

Question 34

What is ACPI setting?

Answer 34

It manages power options like hibernation and sleep rate

Question 35

What is CPU configuration in BIOS?

Answer 35

Options for enabling/disabling specific cores and Hyper-Threading

Question 36

What is memory configuration in BIOS?

Answer 36

Configuration of memory modules and operation

Question 37

Does Secure Boot and GPT work on all systems?

Answer 37

No. Only UEFI

Question 38

What does "+" and "-" do on in boot priority settings?

Answer 38

Reorders boot devices

Question 39

What does "x" do in boot priority settings?

Answer 39

Excludes unwanted devices

Question 40

What does "F10" do in BIOS settings?

Answer 40

Saves and exits BIOS configuration

Question 41

What does "F9" do in BIOS settings?

Answer 41

Reverts to manufacturer settings

Question 42

What is displayed in "System Summary" in BIOS?

Answer 42

Details such as CPU type, speed, cores, memory size and bus speed as well as storage devices

Question 43

What is displayed in "Device Configuration" in BIOS?

Answer 43

USB and ACPI configuration

Question 44

What is displayed in security settings in BIOS?

Answer 44

Administrator password, Power-On Password, Hard Disk Password and Secure Boot