Practice Test 1 Flashcards
What is the longest encryption key supported by the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm?
A. 256 bits
B. 512 bits
C. 1,024 bits
D. 2,048 bits
A. 256 bits
Explanation
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) supports the use of encryption keys that are 128 bits, 192 bits, or 256 bits in length.
Ben owns a coffeehouse and wants to provide wireless Internet service for his customers. Ben’s network is simple and uses a single consumer‐grade wireless router and a cable modem connected via a commercial cable data contract.
After implementing the solution from the first question, Ben receives a complaint about users in his cafe hijacking other customers’ web traffic, including using their usernames and passwords. How is this possible?
A. The password is shared by all users, making traffic vulnerable.
B. A malicious user has installed a Trojan on the router.
C. A user has ARP spoofed the router, making all traffic broadcast to all users.
D. Open networks are unencrypted, making traffic easily sniffable.
D. Open networks are unencrypted, making traffic easily sniffable.
Explanation
Unencrypted open networks broadcast traffic in the clear. This means that unencrypted sessions to websites can be easily captured with a packet sniffer. Some tools like FireSheep have been specifically designed to capture sessions from popular websites. Fortunately, many now use TLS by default, but other sites still send user session information in the clear. Shared passwords are not the cause of the vulnerability, ARP spoofing isn’t an issue with wireless networks, and a Trojan is designed to look like safe software, not to compromise a router.
Ben owns a coffeehouse and wants to provide wireless Internet service for his customers. Ben’s network is simple and uses a single consumer‐grade wireless router and a cable modem connected via a commercial cable data contract.
Ben intends to run an open (unencrypted) wireless network for guests to his organization’s facilities. What approach should he take to connect his business devices to a wireless network?
A. Run WPA3 on the same SSID.
B. Set up a separate SSID using WPA3.
C. Run the open network in Enterprise mod.
D. Set up a separate wireless network using WEP.
B. Set up a separate SSID using WPA3.
Explanation
Many modern wireless routers can provide multiple SSIDs. Ben can create a private, secure network for his business operations, but he will need to make sure that the customer and business networks are firewalled or otherwise logically separated from each other. Running WPA3 on the same SSID isn’t possible without creating another wireless network and would cause confusion for customers (SSIDs aren’t required to be unique). Running a network in Enterprise mode isn’t used for open networks, and WEP is outdated and incredibly vulnerable.
Kathleen needs to set up an Active Directory trust to allow authentication with an existing Kerberos K5 domain. What type of trust does she need to create?
A. A shortcut trust
B. A forest trust
C. An external trust
D. A realm trust
D. A realm trust
Explanation
Kerberos uses realms, and the proper type of trust to set up for an Active Directory environment that needs to connect to a K5 domain is a realm trust.
A shortcut trust is a transitive trust between parts of a domain tree or forest that shortens the trust path, a forest trust is a transitive trust between two forest root domains, and an external trust is a nontransitive trust between AD domains in separate forests.
Kerberos realm trusts support secure cross-domain interactions is key!
What’s Kerberos Realm Trusts (K5 Realm Trust)
Kerberos realm trusts support secure cross-domain interactions.
Kerberos is a network authentication protocol that uses tickets for secure communications between clients and services. In the context of Kerberos Realm Trusts (K5 Realm Trust), it typically refers to the trust relationships established between two Kerberos realms. These trusts allow for secure and authenticated access across different realms within the Kerberos infrastructure. Here’s an outline:
Key Concepts of K5 Realm Trusts:
Kerberos Realm: A Kerberos realm is an administrative domain within which all users, applications, and systems are trusted by a central authority called the Key Distribution Center (KDC). Realms often correspond to organizational or geographic boundaries.
Realm Trust: A trust relationship between two Kerberos realms allows users from one realm to securely access resources in another. This is useful in environments where collaboration across organizational units or domains is needed.
One-Way vs. Two-Way Trusts:
One-Way Trust: Realm A trusts Realm B, but the reverse is not necessarily true.
Two-Way Trust: Both realms trust each other, allowing bidirectional access.
Authentication Process in Trusted Realms: When a user from one realm attempts to access resources in another realm, the trust relationship allows the user’s ticket to be validated by the destination realm’s KDC. The process includes:
Cross-realm authentication, where the user’s credentials are verified across realms.
Ticket granting that allows secure access to the requested resource.
Tell me the relationship between Kerberos realm trust, AD, Shortcut trusts, Forest Trust, External Trusts
Kerberos realm trusts and these Active Directory trust types share a similar principle: they establish a trust boundary for secure, cross-domain authentication. In essence:
Shortcut trusts work within forests to reduce Kerberos ticket verification hops.
Forest trusts expand Kerberos authentication across multiple forests, creating interoperability.
External trusts bridge isolated domains or non-Active Directory environments using Kerberos for secure access.
Which one of the following is typically considered a business continuity task?
A. Business impact assessment
B. Alternate facility selection
C. Activation of cold sites
D. Restoration of data from backup
A. Business impact assessment
Explanation
Developing a business impact assessment is an integral part of the business continuity planning effort. The selection of alternate facilities, activation of those facilities, and restoration of data from backup are all disaster recovery tasks.
How many possible keys exist in a cryptographic algorithm that uses 6‐bit encryption keys?
A. 12
B. 16
C. 32
D. 64
D. 64
Explanation
Binary keyspaces contain a number of keys equal to 2 raised to the power of the number of bits. Two to the sixth power is 64, so a 6‐bit keyspace contains 64 possible keys. The number of viable keys is usually smaller in most algorithms because of the presence of parity bits and other algorithmic overhead or security issues that restrict the use of some key values.
Jim is implementing an IDaaS solution for his organization. What type of technology is he putting in place?
A. Identity as a service
B. Employee ID as a service
C. Intrusion detection as a service
D. OAuth
A. Identity as a service
Explanation
Identity as a service (IDaaS) provides an identity platform as a third‐party service. This can provide benefits, including integration with cloud services and removing overhead for maintenance of traditional on‐premise identity systems but can also create risk because of third‐party control of identity services and reliance on an offsite identity infrastructure.
Which one of the following is normally used as an authorization tool?
A. ACL
B. Token
C. Username
D. Password
A. ACL
Explanation
Access control lists (ACLs) are used for determining a user’s authorization level. Usernames are identification tools. Passwords and tokens are authentication tools.
Bill implemented RAID level 5 on a server that he operates using a total of three disks. How many disks may fail without the loss of data?
A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3
B. 1
Explanation
RAID level 5 is also known as disk striping with parity. It uses three or more disks, with one disk containing parity information used to restore data to another disk in the event of failure. When used with three disks, RAID 5 is able to withstand the loss of a single disk.
Fred needs to deploy a network device that can connect his network to other networks while controlling traffic on his network. What type of device is Fred’s best choice?
A. A switch
B. A bridge
C. A gateway
D. A router
D. A router
Explanation
Fred should choose a router. Routers are designed to control traffic on a network while connecting to other similar networks. If the networks are very different, a bridge can help connect them. Gateways are used to connect to networks that use other protocols by transforming traffic to the appropriate protocol or format as it passes through them. Switches are often used to create broadcast domains and to connect endpoint systems or other devices.
When Chris verifies an individual’s identity and adds a unique identifier like a user ID to an identity system, what process has occurred?
A. Identity proofing
B. Registration
C. Directory management
D. Session management
B. Registration
Explanation
Registration is the process of adding a user to an identity management system. This includes creating their unique identifier and adding any attribute information that is associated with their identity. Proofing occurs when the user provides information to prove who they are. Directories are managed to maintain lists of users, services, and other items. Session management tracks application and user sessions.
Which of the following statements is true about heuristic‐based antimal‐ware software?
A. It has a lower false positive rate than signature detection.
B. It requires frequent definition updates to detect new malware.
C. It has a higher likelihood of detecting zero‐day exploits than signature detection.
D. It monitors systems for files with content known to be viruses.
C. It has a higher likelihood of detecting zero‐day exploits than signature detection.
Explanation
Heuristic‐based antimalware software has a higher likelihood of detecting a zero‐day exploit than signature‐based methods. Heuristic‐based software does not require frequent signature updates because it does not rely upon monitoring systems for the presence of known malware. The trade‐off with this approach is that it has a higher false positive rate than signature detection methods.
Susan’s organization is updating its password policy and wants to use the strongest possible passwords. What password requirement will have the highest impact in preventing brute‐force attacks?
A. Change maximum age from 1 year to 180 days.
B. Increase the minimum password length from 8 characters to 16 characters.
C. Increase the password complexity so that at least three character classes (such as uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols) are required.
D. Retain a password history of at least four passwords to prevent reuse.
B. Increase the minimum password length from 8 characters to 16 characters.
Explanation
Password complexity is driven by length, and a longer password will be more effective against brute‐force attacks than a shorter password. Each character of additional length increases the difficulty by the size of the potential character set (for example, a single lowercase character makes the passwords 26 times more difficult to crack). While each of the other settings is useful for a strong password policy, they won’t have the same impact on brute‐force attacks.
In what model of cloud computing do two or more organizations collaborate to build a shared cloud computing environment that is for their own use?
A. Public cloud
B. Private cloud
C. Community cloud
D. Shared cloud
C. Community cloud
Explanation
In the community cloud computing model, two or more organizations pool their resources to create a cloud environment that they then share.
In what cloud computing model does the customer build a cloud computing environment in his or her own data center or build an environment in another data center that is for the customer’s exclusive use?
A. Public cloud
B. Private cloud
C. Hybrid cloud
D. Shared cloud
B. Private cloud
Explanation
In the private cloud computing model, the cloud computing environment is dedicated to a single organization and does not follow the shared tenancy model. The environment may be built by the company in its own data center or built by a vendor at a co‐location site.
How many possible keys exist when using a cryptographic algorithm that has an 8‐bit binary encryption key?
A. 16
B. 128
C. 256
D. 512
C. 256
Explanation
Binary keyspaces contain a number of keys equal to 2 raised to the power of the number of bits. Two to the eighth power is 256, so an 8‐bit keyspace contains 256 possible keys.
Kolin is searching for a network security solution that will allow him to help reduce zero‐day attacks while using identities to enforce a security policy on systems before they connect to the network. What type of solution should Kolin implement?
A. A firewall
B. A NAC system
C. An intrusion detection system
D. Port security
B. A NAC system
Explanation
Network access control (NAC) systems can be used to authenticate users and then validate their system’s compliance with a security standard before they are allowed to connect to the network. Enforcing security profiles can help reduce zero‐day attacks, making NAC a useful solution. A firewall can’t enforce system security policies, whereas an IDS can only monitor for attacks and alarm when they happen. Thus, neither a firewall nor an IDS meets Kolin’s needs. Finally, port security is a MAC address–based security feature that can restrict only which systems or devices can connect to a given port.
What type of virus is characterized by the use of two or more different propagation mechanisms to improve its likelihood of spreading between systems?
A. Stealth virus
B. Polymorphic virus
C. Multipartite virus
D. Encrypted virus
C. Multipartite virus
Explanation
Multipartite viruses use multiple propagation mechanisms to spread between systems. This improves their likelihood of successfully infecting a system because it provides alternative infection mechanisms that may be successful against systems that are not vulnerable to the primary infection mechanism.
Sally’s organization needs to be able to prove that certain staff members sent emails, and she wants to adopt a technology that will provide that capability without changing their existing email system. What is the technical term for the capability Sally needs to implement as the owner of the email system, and what tool could she use to do it?
A. Integrity; IMAP
B. Repudiation; encryption
C. Nonrepudiation; digital signatures
C. Nonrepudiation; digital signatures
Explanation
Sally needs to provide nonrepudiation, the ability to provably associate a given email with a sender. Digital signatures can provide nonrepudiation and are her best option. IMAP is a mail protocol, encryption can provide confidentiality, and DKIM is a tool for identifying domains that send email.
What two logical network topologies can be physically implemented as a star topology?
A. A bus and a mesh
B. A ring and a mesh
C. A bus and a ring
D. It is not possible to implement other topologies as a star.
C. A bus and a ring
Explanation
Both a logical bus and a logical ring can be implemented as a physical star. Ethernet is commonly deployed as a physical star by placing a switch as the center of a star, but Ethernet still operates as a bus. Similarly, Token Ring deployments using a multistation access unit (MAU) were deployed as physical stars but operated as rings.
Renee is using encryption to safeguard sensitive business secrets when in transit over the Internet. What risk metric is she attempting to lower?
A. Likelihood
B. RTO
C. MTO
D. Impact
A. Likelihood
Explanation
Using encryption reduces risk by lowering the likelihood that an eavesdropper will be able to gain access to sensitive information.
Callback to a landline phone number is an example of what type of factor?
A. Something you know
B. Somewhere you are
C. Something you have
D. Something you are
B. Somewhere you are
Explanation
A callback to a landline phone number is an example of a “somewhere you are” factor because of the fixed physical location of a wired phone. A callback to a mobile phone would be a “something you have” factor.