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Which of the following assessment techniques would a security administrator implement to ensure that systems and software are developed properly? A. Baseline reporting B. Input validation C. Determine attack surface D. Design reviews - - correct ans- - Answer: D Explanation: When implementing systems and software, an important step is the design of the systems and software. The systems and software should be designed to ensure that the system works as intended and is secure. The design review assessment examines the ports and protocols used, the rules, segmentation, and access control in the system or application. A design review is basically a check to ensure that the design of the system meets the security requirements. A financial company requires a new private network link with a business partner to cater for realtime and batched data flows. Which of the following activities should be performed by the IT security staff member prior to establishing the link? A. Baseline reporting B. Design review C. Code review D. SLA reporting - - correct ans- - Answer: B
Explanation: This question is asking about a new private network link (a VPN) with a business partner. This will provide access to the local network from the business partner. When implementing a VPN, an important step is the design of the VPN. The VPN should be designed to ensure that the security of the network and local systems is not compromised. The design review assessment examines the ports and protocols used, the rules, segmentation, and access control in the systems or applications. A design review is basically a check to ensure that the design of the system meets the security requirements. Which of the following assessments would Pete, the security administrator, use to actively test that an application's security controls are in place? A. Code review B. Penetration test C. Protocol analyzer D. Vulnerability scan - - correct ans- - Answer: B Explanation: Penetration testing (also called pen testing) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Pen tests can be automated with software applications or they can be performed manually. Either way, the process includes gathering information about the target before the test (reconnaissance), identifying possible entry points, attempting to break in (either virtually or for real) and reporting back the findings. The main objective of penetration testing is to determine security weaknesses. A pen test can also be used to test an organization's security policy compliance, its employees' security awareness and the organization's ability to identify and respond to security incidents. Penetration tests are sometimes called white hat attacks because in a pen test, the good guys are attempting to break in.
During an anonymous penetration test, Jane, a system administrator, was able to identify a shared print spool directory, and was able to download a document from the spool. Which statement BEST describes her privileges? A. All users have write access to the directory. B. Jane has read access to the file. C. All users have read access to the file. D. Jane has read access to the directory - - correct ans- - Answer: C Explanation: The question states that Jane was able to download a document from the spool directory. To view and download the document, Jane must have at least Read access to the file. The fact that the document belonged to someone else suggests that all users have read access to the file. During a penetration test from the Internet, Jane, the system administrator, was able to establish a connection to an internal router, but not successfully log in to it. Which ports and protocols are MOST likely to be open on the firewall? (Select FOUR). A. 21 B. 22 C. 23 D. 69 E. 3389 F. SSH G. Terminal services H. Rlogin I. Rsync J. Telnet - - correct ans- - Answer: B,C,F,J
Explanation: The question states that Jane was able to establish a connection to an internal router. Typical ports and protocols used to connect to a router include the following: B, F: Port 22 which is used by SSH (Secure Shell). C, J: Port 23 which is used by Telnet. SSH and Telnet both provide command line interfaces for administering network devices such as routers and switches. Mike, a security professional, is tasked with actively verifying the strength of the security controls on a company's live modem pool. Which of the following activities is MOST appropriate? A. War dialing B. War chalking C. War driving D. Bluesnarfing - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: War dialing is a technique of using a modem to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for computers, Bulletin board systems and fax machines. Hackers use the resulting lists for various purposes: hobbyists for exploration, and crackers - malicious hackers who specialize in computer security - for guessing user accounts (by capturing voicemail greetings), or locating modems that might provide an entry-point into computer or other electronic systems. It may also be used by security personnel, for example, to detect unauthorized devices, such as modems or faxes, on a company's telephone network Which of the following is BEST utilized to actively test security controls on a particular system? A. Port scanning B. Penetration test
A security administrator is aware that a portion of the company's Internet-facing network tends to be non-secure due to poorly configured and patched systems. The business owner has accepted the risk of those systems being compromised, but the administrator wants to determine the degree to which those systems can be used to gain access to the company intranet. Which of the following should the administrator perform? A. Patch management assessment B. Business impact assessment C. Penetration test D. Vulnerability assessment - - correct ans- - Answer: C Explanation: Penetration testing is the most intrusive type of testing because you are actively trying to circumvent the system's security controls to gain access to the system. It is also used to determine the degree to which the systems can be used to gain access to the company intranet (the degree of access to local network resources). Penetration testing (also called pen testing) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Pen tests can be automated with software applications or they can be performed manually. Either way, the process includes gathering information about the target before the test (reconnaissance), identifying possible entry points, attempting to break in (either virtually or for real) and reporting back the findings. The main objective of penetration testing is to determine security weaknesses. A pen test can also be used to test an organization's security policy compliance, its employees' security awareness and the organization's ability to identify and respond to security incidents. Penetration tests are sometimes called white hat attacks because in a pen test, the good guys are attempting to break in. Pen test strategies include: Targeted testing Targeted testing is performed by the organization's IT team and the penetration testing team working together. It's sometimes referred to as a "lights-turned-on" approach because everyone can see the test being carried out.
External testing This type of pen test targets a company's externally visible servers or devices including domain name servers (DNS), e-mail servers, Web servers or firewalls. The objective is to find out if an outside attacker can get in and how far they can get in once they've gained access. Internal testing This test mimics Ann, a security analyst, is preparing for an upcoming security audit. To ensure that she identifies unapplied security controls and patches without attacking or compromising the system, Ann would use which of the following? A. Vulnerability scanning B. SQL injection C. Penetration testing D. Antivirus update - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: A vulnerability scan is the process of scanning the network and/or I.T. infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities. The threats and vulnerabilities are then evaluated in a risk assessment and the necessary actions taken to resolve and vulnerabilities. A vulnerability scan scans for known weaknesses such as missing patches or security updates. A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security.
A vulnerability scan is the process of scanning the network and/or I.T. infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities. The threats and vulnerabilities are then evaluated in a risk assessment and the necessary actions taken to resolve and vulnerabilities. A vulnerability scan scans for known weaknesses such as missing patches or security updates. A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security. Jane has recently implemented a new network design at her organization and wishes to passively identify security issues with the new network. Which of the following should Jane perform? A. Vulnerability assessment B. Black box testing C. White box testing D. Penetration testing - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: Vulnerability scanning has minimal impact on network resources due to the passive nature of the scanning. A vulnerability scan is the process of scanning the network and/or I.T. infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities. The threats and vulnerabilities are then evaluated in a risk assessment and the necessary actions taken to resolve and vulnerabilities. A vulnerability scan scans for known weaknesses such as missing patches or security updates. A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for
communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security. A company hires outside security experts to evaluate the security status of the corporate network. All of the company's IT resources are outdated and prone to crashing. The company requests that all testing be performed in a way which minimizes the risk of system failures. Which of the following types of testing does the company want performed? A. Penetration testing B. WAF testing C. Vulnerability scanning D. White box testing - - correct ans- - Answer: C Explanation: Vulnerability scanning has minimal impact on network resource due to the passive nature of the scanning. A vulnerability scan is the process of scanning the network and/or I.T. infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities. The threats and vulnerabilities are then evaluated in a risk assessment and the necessary actions taken to resolve and vulnerabilities. A vulnerability scan scans for known weaknesses such as missing patches or security updates. A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security.
Explanation: The most common threat to computers is computer viruses. A computer can become infected with a virus through day-to-day activities such as browsing web sites or emails. As browsing and opening emails are the most common activities performed by all users, computer viruses represent the most likely risk to a business Which of the following is BEST utilized to identify common misconfigurations throughout the enterprise? A. Vulnerability scanning B. Port scanning C. Penetration testing D. Black box - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: A vulnerability scan is the process of scanning the network and/or I.T. infrastructure for threats and vulnerabilities. The threats and vulnerabilities are then evaluated in a risk assessment and the necessary actions taken to resolve and vulnerabilities. A vulnerability scan scans for known weaknesses such as missing patches or security updates. A vulnerability scan is the automated process of proactively identifying security vulnerabilities of computing systems in a network in order to determine if and where a system can be exploited and/or threatened. While public servers are important for communication and data transfer over the Internet, they open the door to potential security breaches by threat agents, such as malicious hackers. Vulnerability scanning employs software that seeks out security flaws based on a database of known flaws, testing systems for the occurrence of these flaws and generating a report of the findings that an individual or an enterprise can use to tighten the network's security. Which of the following is an example of a false positive? A. Anti-virus identifies a benign application as malware. B. A biometric iris scanner rejects an authorized user wearing a new contact lens.
C. A user account is locked out after the user mistypes the password too many times. D. The IDS does not identify a buffer overflow. - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: A false positive is an error in some evaluation process in which a condition tested for is mistakenly found to have been detected. In spam filters, for example, a false positive is a legitimate message mistakenly marked as UBE - unsolicited bulk email, as junk email is more formally known. Messages that are determined to be spam -- whether correctly or incorrectly -- may be rejected by a server or client-side spam filter and returned to the sender as bounce e-mail. One problem with many spam filtering tools is that if they are configured stringently enough to be effective, there is a fairly high chance of getting false positives. The risk of accidentally blocking an important message has been enough to deter many companies from implementing any anti-spam measures at all. False positives are also common in security systems. A host intrusion prevention system (HIPS), for example, looks for anomalies, such as deviations in bandwidth, protocols and ports. When activity varies outside of an acceptable range - for example, a remote application attempting to open a normally closed port -- an intrusion may be in progress. However, an anomaly, such as a sudden spike in bandwidth use, does not guarantee an actual attack, so this approach amounts to an educated guess and the chance for false positives can be high. False positives contrast with false negatives, which are results indicating mistakenly that some condition tested for is absent. Joe a company's new security specialist is assigned a role to conduct monthly vulnerability scans across the network. He notices that the scanner is returning a large amount of false positives or failed audits. Which of the following should Joe recommend to remediate these issues? A. Ensure the vulnerability scanner is located in a segmented VLAN that has access to the company's servers B. Ensure the vulnerability scanner is configured to authenticate with a privileged account C. Ensure the vulnerability scanner is attempting to exploit the weaknesses it discovers
A. Grey box testing B. Black box testing C. Penetration testing D. White box testing - - correct ans- - Answer: B Explanation: Black-box testing is a method of software testing that examines the functionality of an application without peering into its internal structures or workings. This method of test can be applied to virtually every level of software testing: unit, integration, system and acceptance. It typically comprises most if not all higher level testing, but can also dominate unit testing as well. Specific knowledge of the application's code/internal structure and programming knowledge in general is not required. The tester is aware of what the software is supposed to do but is not aware of how it does it. For instance, the tester is aware that a particular input returns a certain, invariable output but is not aware of how the software produces the output in the first place. A process in which the functionality of an application is tested without any knowledge of the internal mechanisms of the application is known as: A. Black box testing B. White box testing C. Black hat testing D. Gray box testing - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: Black-box testing is a method of software testing that examines the functionality of an application without peering into its internal structures or workings. This method of test can be applied to virtually every level of software testing: unit, integration, system and acceptance. It typically comprises most if not all higher level testing, but can also dominate unit testing as well.
Specific knowledge of the application's code/internal structure and programming knowledge in general is not required. The tester is aware of what the software is supposed to do but is not aware of how it does it. For instance, the tester is aware that a particular input returns a certain, invariable output but is not aware of how the software produces the output in the first place. The security consultant is assigned to test a client's new software for security, after logs show targeted attacks from the Internet. To determine the weaknesses, the consultant has no access to the application program interfaces, code, or data structures. This is an example of which of the following types of testing? A. Black box B. Penetration C. Gray box D. White box - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: Black-box testing is a method of software testing that examines the functionality of an application without peering into its internal structures or workings. This method of test can be applied to virtually every level of software testing: unit, integration, system and acceptance. It typically comprises most if not all higher level testing, but can also dominate unit testing as well. Specific knowledge of the application's code/internal structure and programming knowledge in general is not required. The tester is aware of what the software is supposed to do but is not aware of how it does it. For instance, the tester is aware that a particular input returns a certain, invariable output but is not aware of how the software produces the output in the first place. Matt, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), tells the network administrator that a security company has been hired to perform a penetration test against his network. The security company asks Matt which type of testing would be most beneficial for him. Which of the following BEST describes what the security company might do during a black box test?
Explanation: White box testing is the process of testing an application when you have detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the application. White-box testing (also known as clear box testing, glass box testing, transparent box testing, and structural testing) is a method of testing software that tests internal structures or workings of an application, as opposed to its functionality (i.e. black-box testing). In white-box testing an internal perspective of the system, as well as programming skills, are used to design test cases. The tester chooses inputs to exercise paths through the code and determine the appropriate outputs. This is analogous to testing nodes in a circuit, e.g. in- circuit testing (ICT). White-box testing can be applied at the unit, integration and system levels of the software testing process. Although traditional testers tended to think of white-box testing as being done at the unit level, it is used for integration and system testing more frequently today. It can test paths within a unit, paths between units during integration, and between subsystems during a system-level test. Pete, a developer, writes an application. Jane, the security analyst, knows some things about the overall application but does not have all the details. Jane needs to review the software before it is released to production. Which of the following reviews should Jane conduct? A. Gray Box Testing B. Black Box Testing C. Business Impact Analysis D. White Box Testing - - correct ans- - Answer: A Explanation: Gray box testing, also called gray box analysis, is a strategy for software debugging in which the tester has limited knowledge of the internal details of the program. A gray box is a device, program or system whose workings are partially understood.
Gray box testing can be contrasted with black box testing, a scenario in which the tester has no knowledge or access to the internal workings of a program, or white box testing, a scenario in which the internal particulars are fully known. Gray box testing is commonly used in penetration tests. Gray box testing is considered to be non-intrusive and unbiased because it does not require that the tester have access to the source code. With respect to internal processes, gray box testing treats a program as a black box that must be analyzed from the outside. During a gray box test, the person may know how the system components interact but not have detailed knowledge about internal program functions and operation. A clear distinction exists between the developer and the tester, thereby minimizing the risk of personnel conflicts. An IT auditor tests an application as an authenticated user. This is an example of which of the following types of testing? A. Penetration B. White box C. Black box D. Gray box - - correct ans- - Answer: D Explanation: In this question, the tester is testing the application as an authenticated user. We can assume from this that the tester has at least limited knowledge of the application. This meets the criteria of a grey-box test. Gray box testing, also called gray box analysis, is a strategy for software debugging in which the tester has limited knowledge of the internal details of the program. A gray box is a device, program or system whose workings are partially understood. Gray box testing can be contrasted with black box testing, a scenario in which the tester has no knowledge or access to the internal workings of a program, or white box testing, a scenario inwhich the internal particulars are fully known. Gray box testing is commonly used in penetration tests. Gray box testing is considered to be non-intrusive and unbiased because it does not require that the tester have access to the source code. With respect to internal processes,
