Domain 4 - Communication & Network Security Flashcards
Gary wants to distribute a large file and prefers a peer-to-peer
CDN. Which of the following is the most common example of
this type of technology?
A. CloudFlare
B. BitTorrent
C. Amazon CloudFront
D. Akamai Edge
B. BitTorrent
B. BitTorrent is an example of a peer-to-peer (P2P) content
delivery network. It is commonly used for legitimate purposes to
distribute large files like Linux ISOs and other freely distributed
software packages and files in addition to its less legitimate uses.
CloudFlare, CloudFront, and Akamai’s Edge are all hosted
CDNs.
During a security assessment of a wireless network, Jim
discovers that LEAP is in use on a network using WPA. What
recommendation should Jim make?
A. Continue to use LEAP. It provides better security than TKIP for WPA networks.
B. Use an alternate protocol like PEAP or EAP-TLS and implement WPA2 if supported.
C. Continue to use LEAP to avoid authentication issues, but move to WPA2.
D. Use an alternate protocol like PEAP or EAP-TLS, and implement Wired Equivalent Privacy to avoid wireless security issues.
B. Use an alternate protocol like PEAP or EAP-TLS and implement WPA2 if supported.
B. LEAP, the Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol, is
a Cisco proprietary protocol designed to handle problems with
TKIP. Unfortunately, LEAP has significant security issues as
well and should not be used. Any modern hardware should
support WPA2 and technologies like PEAP or EAP-TLS. Using
WEP, the predecessor to WPA and WPA2, would be a major step
back in security for any network.
Ben has connected his laptop to his tablet PC using an 802.11ac
connection. What wireless network mode has he used to connect
these devices?
A. Infrastructure mode
B. Wired extension mode
C. Ad hoc mode
D. Standalone mode
C. Ad hoc mode
C. Ben is using ad hoc mode, which directly connects two
clients. It can be easy to confuse this with standalone mode,
which connects clients using a wireless access point but not to
wired resources like a central network. Infrastructure mode
connects endpoints to a central network, not directly to each
other. Finally, wired extension mode uses a wireless access point
to link wireless clients to a wired network.
Selah’s and Nick’s PCs simultaneously send traffic by
transmitting at the same time. What network term describes the
range of systems on a network that could be affected by this
same issue?
A. The subnet
B. The supernet
C. A collision domain
D. A broadcast domain
C. A collision domain
C. A collision domain is the set of systems that could cause a
collision if they transmitted at the same time. Systems outside a
collision domain cannot cause a collision if they send at the
same time. This is important, as the number of systems in a
collision domain increases the likelihood of network congestion
due to an increase in collisions. A broadcast domain is the set of
systems that can receive a broadcast from each other. A subnet
is a logical division of a network, while a supernet is made up of
two or more networks
Sarah is manually reviewing a packet capture of TCP traffic and
finds that a system is setting the RST flag in the TCP packets it
sends repeatedly during a short period of time. What does this
flag mean in the TCP packet header?
A. RST flags mean “Rest.” The server needs traffic to briefly
pause.
B. RST flags mean “Relay-set.” The packets will be forwarded
to the address set in the packet.
C. RST flags mean “Resume Standard.” Communications will
resume in their normal format.
D. RST means “Reset.” The TCP session will be disconnected.
D. RST means “Reset.” The TCP session will be disconnected.
D. The RST flag is used to reset or disconnect a session. It can
be resumed by restarting the connection via a new three-way
handshake.
Gary is deploying a wireless network and wants to deploy the
fastest possible wireless technology. Which one of the following
wireless networking standards should he use?
A. 802.11a
B. 802.11g
C. 802.11n
D. 802.11ac
D. 802.11ac
D. He should choose 802.11ac, which supports theoretical
speeds up to 3.4 Gbps. 802.11n supports up to 600 Mbps,
802.11g and 802.11a are only capable of 54 Mbps.
Michele wants to replace FTP traffic with a secure replacement.
What secure protocol should she select instead?
A. TFTP
B. HFTPS
C. SecFTP
D. SFTP
D. SFTP
D. Both FTP/S and SFTP are commonly used as replacement
insecure FTP services. SFTP offers the advantage of using SSH
for transfers, making it easy to use existing firewall rules. TFTP
is trivial FTP, an insecure quick transfer method often used to
transfer files for network devices, among other uses. HFTPS and
SecFTP were made up for this question.
Jake has been told that there is a layer 3 problem with his
network. Which of the following is associated with layer 3 in the
OSI model?
A. IP addresses
B. TCP and UDP protocols
C. MAC addresses
D. Sending and receiving bits via hardware
A. IP addresses
A. The Network layer, or layer 3, uses IP addresses for logical
addressing. TCP and UDP protocols are used at the Transport
layer, which is layer 4. Hardware addresses are used at layer 2,
the Data Link layer, and sending and receiving bits via hardware
is done at the Physical layer (layer 1).
Frank is responsible for ensuring that his organization has
reliable, supported network hardware. Which of the following is
not a common concern for network administrators as they work
to ensure their network continues to be operational?
A. If the devices have vendor support
B. If the devices are under warranty
C. If major devices support redundant power supplies
D. If all devices support redundant power supplies
D. If all devices support redundant power supplies
D. Most networks include many edge devices like wireless
access points and edge switches. These devices often have a
single power supply to balance cost against reliability and will
simply be replaced if they fail. More critical devices like routers
and core switches are typically equipped with redundant power
supplies to ensure that larger segments of the network do not
fail if a component fails. Of course, making sure devices are
supported so they get updates and that they are under warranty
are both common practices for supportable networks.
Brian is selecting an authentication protocol for a PPP
connection. He would like to select an option that encrypts both
usernames and passwords and protects against replay using a
challenge/response dialog. He would also like to reauthenticate
remote systems periodically. Which protocol should he use?
A. PAP
B. CHAP
C. EAP
D. LEAP
B. CHAP
B. The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol, or
CHAP, is used by PPP servers to authenticate remote clients. It
encrypts both the username and password and performs
periodic reauthentication while connected using techniques to
prevent replay attacks. LEAP provides reauthentication but was
designed for WEP, while PAP sends passwords unencrypted.
EAP is extensible and was used for PPP connections, but it
doesn’t directly address the listed items.
Which one of the following protocols is commonly used to
provide back-end authentication services for a VPN?
A. HTTPS
B. RADIUS
C. ESP
D. AH
B. RADIUS
B. The Remote Access Dial In User Service (RADIUS) protocol
was originally designed to support dial-up modem connections
but is still commonly used for VPN-based authentication.
HTTPS is not an authentication protocol. ESP and AH are IPsec
protocols but do not provide authentication services for other
systems.
Isaac wants to ensure that his VoIP session initialization is
secure. What protocol should he ensure is enabled and
required?
A. SVOIP
B. PBSX
C. SIPS
D. SRTP
C. SIPS
C. SIPS, the secure version of the Session Initialization Protocol
for VoIP, adds TLS encryption to keep the session initialization
process secure. SVOIP and PBSX are not real protocols, but
SRTP is the secure version of RTP, the Real time Transport
Protocol.
Internet
|A|
Firewall -|B|- Web Server
Router -|C|- VPN Concentrator
||
Switch
||
Workstations
What type of firewall design is shown in the diagram?
A. A single-tier firewall
B. A two-tier firewall
C. A three-tier firewall
D. A four-tier firewall
B. A two-tier firewall
B. The firewall in the diagram has two protected zones behind
it, making it a two-tier firewall design.
Internet
|A|
Firewall -|B|- Web Server
Router -|C|- VPN Concentrator
Switch
Workstations
If the VPN grants remote users the same access to network and
system resources as local workstations have, what security issue
should Chris raise?
A. VPN users will not be able to access the web server.
B. There is no additional security issue; the VPN
concentrator’s logical network location matches the logical
network location of the workstations.
C. Web server traffic is not subjected to stateful inspection.
D. VPN users should only connect from managed PCs.
D. VPN users should only connect from managed PCs.
D. Remote PCs that connect to a protected network need to
comply with security settings and standards that match those
required for the internal network. The VPN concentrator
logically places remote users in the protected zone behind the
firewall, but that means user workstations (and users) must be
trusted in the same way that local workstations are.
Internet
|A|
Firewall -|B|- Web Server
Router -|C|- VPN Concentrator
Switch
Workstations
If Chris wants to stop cross-site scripting attacks against the web
server, what is the best device for this purpose, and where
should he put it?
A. A firewall, location A
B. An IDS, location A
C. An IPS, location B
D. A WAF, location C
|
C. An IPS, location B
C. An intrusion protection system can scan traffic and stop both
known and unknown attacks. A web application firewall, or
WAF, is also a suitable technology, but placing it at location C
would only protect from attacks via the organization’s VPN,
which should only be used by trusted users. A firewall typically
won’t have the ability to identify and stop cross-site scripting
attacks, and IDS systems only monitor and don’t stop attacks.
Susan is deploying a routing protocol that maintains a list of
destination networks with metrics that include the distance in
hops to them and the direction traffic should be sent to them.
What type of protocol is she using?
A. A link-state protocol
B. A link-distance protocol
C. A destination metric protocol
D. A distance-vector protocol
D. A distance-vector protocol
D. Distance-vector protocols use metrics including the direction
and distance in hops to remote networks to make decisions. A
link-state routing protocol considers the shortest distance to a
remote network. Destination metric and link-distance protocols
don’t exist.
Ben has configured his network to not broadcast an SSID. Why
might Ben disable SSID broadcast, and how could his SSID be
discovered?
A. Disabling SSID broadcast prevents attackers from discovering the encryption key. The SSID can be recovered from decrypted packets.
B. Disabling SSID broadcast hides networks from unauthorized personnel. The SSID can be discovered using a wireless sniffer.
C. Disabling SSID broadcast prevents issues with beacon frames. The SSID can be recovered by reconstructing the BSSID.
D. Disabling SSID broadcast helps avoid SSID conflicts. The SSID can be discovered by attempting to connect to the network.
B. Disabling SSID broadcast hides networks from unauthorized personnel. The SSID can be discovered using a wireless sniffer.
B. Disabling SSID broadcast can help prevent unauthorized
personnel from attempting to connect to the network. Since the
SSID is still active, it can be discovered by using a wireless
sniffer. Encryption keys are not related to SSID broadcast,
beacon frames are used to broadcast the SSID, and it is possible
to have multiple networks with the same SSID.
What network tool can be used to protect the identity of clients
while providing Internet access by accepting client requests,
altering the source addresses of the requests, mapping requests
to clients, and sending the modified requests out to their
destination?
A. A switch
B. A proxy
C. A router
D. A firewall
B. A proxy
B. A proxy is a form of gateway that provides clients with a
filtering, caching, or other service that protects their information
from remote systems. A router connects networks, while a
firewall uses rules to limit traffic permitted through it. A switch
is used to connect systems and does not provide these
capabilities.
Susan wants to secure her communications traffic via multiple
internet service providers as it is sent to her company’s second
location. What technology should she use to protect the traffic
for an always on, always connected link between the sites?
A. FCoE
B. SDWAN
C. A point-to-point IPsec VPN
D. Zigbee
C. A point-to-point IPsec VPN
C. A point-to-point IPsec VPN can provide a secure, encrypted
channel that is established on an ongoing basis between the two
sites, ensuring that Susan’s traffic is not exposed along the path
that it travels. FCoE is Fibre Channel over Ethernet, a storage
protocol. SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network, and
Zigbee is a low-power wireless protocol. None of these addresses
Susan’s needs.
Melissa wants to combine multiple physical networks in her
organization in a way that is transparent to users but allows the
resources to be allocated as needed for networked services.
What type of network should she deploy?
A. iSCSI
B. A virtual network
C. SDWAN
D. A CDN
B. A virtual network
B. A virtual network can be used to combine existing networks
or to divide a network into multiple segments. Melissa can use a
virtual network to combine existing networks and then use
software-defined networking capabilities to allocate and manage
network resources. iSCSI is a converged storage protocol. An
SD-WAN is a software-defined wide area network, and this
question does not specify LAN or WAN technologies. A CDN is a
content distribution network and helps with load and denial-ofservice attacks.
Which email security solution provides two major usage modes:
(1) signed messages that provide integrity, sender
authentication, and nonrepudiation; and (2) an enveloped
message mode that provides integrity, sender authentication,
and confidentiality?
A. S/MIME
B. MOSS
C. PEM
D. DKIM
A. S/MIME
A. S/MIME supports both signed messages and a secure
envelope method. While the functionality of S/MIME can be
replicated with other tools, the secure envelope is an S/MIMEspecific concept. MOSS, or MIME Object Security Services, and
PEM can also both provide authentication, confidentiality,
integrity, and nonrepudiation, while DKIM, or Domain Keys
Identified Mail, is a domain validation tool
During a security assessment, Jim discovers that the
organization he is working with uses a multilayer protocol to
handle SCADA systems and recently connected the SCADA
network to the rest of the organization’s production network.
What concern should he raise about serial data transfers carried
via TCP/IP?
A. SCADA devices that are now connected to the network can now be attacked over the network.
B. Serial data over TCP/IP cannot be encrypted.
C. Serial data cannot be carried in TCP packets.
D. TCP/IP’s throughput can allow for easy denial-of-service attacks against serial devices.
A. SCADA devices that are now connected to the network can now be attacked over the network.
A. Multilayer protocols like DNP3 allow SCADA and other
systems to use TCP/IP-based networks to communicate. Many
SCADA devices were never designed to be exposed to a network,
and adding them to a potentially insecure network can create
significant risks. TLS or other encryption can be used on TCP
packets, meaning that even serial data can be protected. Serial
data can be carried via TCP packets because TCP packets don’t
care about their content; it is simply another payload. Finally,
TCP/IP does not have a specific throughput as designed, so
issues with throughput are device-level issues.
Alicia’s company has implemented multifactor authentication
using SMS messages to provide a numeric code. What is the
primary security concern that Alicia may want to express about
this design?
A. SMS messages are not encrypted.
B. SMS messages can be spoofed by senders.
C. SMS messages may be received by more than one phone.
D. SMS messages may be stored on the receiving phone.
A. SMS messages are not encrypted.
A. SMS messages are not encrypted, meaning that they could be
sniffed and captured. While using two factors is more secure
than a single factor, SMS is one of the less secure ways to
implement two-factor authentication because of this. SMS
messages can be spoofed, can be received by more than one
phone, and are typically stored on the recipient’s phone. The
primary threat here, however, is the unencrypted message itself.
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and the Reverse
Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) operate at what layer of the
OSI model?
A. Layer 1
B. Layer 2
C. Layer 3
D. Layer 4
B. Layer 2
B. ARP and RARP operate at the Data Link layer, the second
layer of the OSI model. Both protocols deal with physical
hardware addresses, which are used above the Physical layer
(layer 1) and below the Network layer (layer 3), thus falling at
the Data Link layer.