Which of the following tiers addresses risks from an information system perspective?
Correct Answer: B
The information system level is the tier 3. It addresses risks from an information system perspective, and is guided by the risk decisions at tiers 1 and 2. Risk decisions at tiers 1 and 2 impact the ultimate selection and deployment of requisite safeguards. This also has an impact on the countermeasures at the information system level. The RMF primarily operates at tier3 but it can also have interactions at tiers 1 and 2. Answer A is incorrect. It is an invalid Tier description. Answer D is incorrect. The Organization Level is the Tier 1, and it addresses risks from an organizational perspective. Answer C is incorrect. The mission and business process level is the Tier 2, and it addresses risks from the mission and business process perspective.
Question 42
Billy is the project manager of the HAR Project and is in month six of the project. The project is scheduled to last for 18 months. Management asks Billy how often the project team is participating in risk reassessment in this project. What should Billy tell management if he's following the best practices for risk management?
Correct Answer: D
Explanation/Reference: Explanation: Risk management is an ongoing project activity. It should be an agenda item at every project status meeting. AnswerA is incorrect. Milestones are good times to do reviews, but risk management should happen frequently. Answer: C is incorrect. This answer would only be correct if the project has a status meeting just once per month in the project. Answer: B is incorrect. Risk management happens throughout the project as does project planning.
Question 43
Which of the following is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for the disclosure of an invention?
Correct Answer: D
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for the disclosure of an invention. Answer A is incorrect. A copyright is a form of intellectual property, which secures to its holder the exclusive right to produce copies of his or her works of original expression, such as a literary work, movie, musical work or sound recording, painting, photograph, computer program, or industrial design, for a defined, yet extendable, period of time. It does not cover ideas or facts. Copyright laws protect intellectual property from misuse by other individuals. Answer B is incorrect. Snooping is an activity of observing the content that appears on a computer monitor or watching what a user is typing. Snooping also occurs by using software programs to remotely monitor activity on a computer or network device. Hackers or attackers use snooping techniques and equipment such as keyloggers to monitor keystrokes, capture passwords and login information, and to intercept e-mail and other private communications. Sometimes, organizations also snoop their employees legitimately to monitor their use of organizations' computers and track Internet usage. Answer C is incorrect. A utility model is an intellectual property right to protect inventions.
Question 44
Which of the following refers to a process that is used for implementing information security?
Correct Answer: C
Certification and Accreditation (C&A or CnA) is a process for implementing information security. It is a systematic procedure for evaluating, describing, testing, and authorizing systems prior to or after a system is in operation. The C&A process is used extensively in the U.S. Federal Government. Some C&A processes include FISMA, NIACAP, DIACAP, and DCID 6/3. Certification is a comprehensive assessment of the management, operational, and technical security controls in an information system, made in support of security accreditation, to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome with respect to meeting the security requirements for the system. Accreditation is the official management decision given by a senior agency official to authorize operation of an information system and to explicitly accept the risk to agency operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), agency assets, or individuals, based on the implementation of an agreed-upon set of security controls. Answer D is incorrect. Information Assurance (IA) is the practice of managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information or data and the systems and processes used for those purposes. While focused dominantly on information in digital form, the full range of IA encompasses not only digital but also analog or physical form. Information assurance as a field has grown from the practice of information security, which in turn grew out of practices and procedures of computer security. Answer A is incorrect. The classic information security model is used in the practice of Information Assurance (IA) to define assurance requirements. The classic information security model, also called the CIA Triad, addresses three attributes of information and information systems, confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This C-I-A model is extremely useful for teaching introductory and basic concepts of information security and assurance; the initials are an easy mnemonic to remember, and when properly understood, can prompt systems designers and users to address the most pressing aspects of assurance. Answer B is incorrect. The Five Pillars model is used in the practice of Information Assurance (IA) to define assurance requirements. It was promulgated by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in a variety of publications, beginning with the National Information Assurance Glossary, Committee on National Security Systems Instruction CNSSI-4009. Here is the definition from that publication: "Measures that protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation. These measures include providing for restoration of information systems by incorporating protection, detection, and reaction capabilities." The Five Pillars model is sometimes criticized because authentication and non-repudiation are not attributes of information or systems; rather, they are procedures or methods useful to assure the integrity and authenticity of information, and to protect the confidentiality of the same.
Question 45
Which of the following testing methods tests the system efficiency by systematically selecting the suitable and minimum set of tests that are required to effectively cover the affected changes?
Correct Answer: D
Explanation/Reference: Explanation: Regression testing focuses on finding defects after a major code change has occurred. Specifically, it seeks to uncover software regressions, or old bugs that have come back. Such regressions occur whenever software functionality that was previously working correctly stops working as intended. Typically, regressions occur as an unintended consequence of program changes, when the newly developed part of the software collides with the previously existing code. Regression testing tests the system efficiency by systematically selecting the suitable and minimum set of tests that are required to effectively cover the affected changes. Answer: A is incorrect. Unit testing is a type of testing in which each independent unit of an application is tested separately. During unit testing, a developer takes the smallest unit of an application, isolates it from the rest of the application code, and tests it to determine whether it works as expected. Unit testing is performed before integrating these independent units into modules. The most common approach to unit testing requires drivers and stubs to be written. Drivers and stubs are programs. A driver simulates a calling unit, and a stub simulates a called unit. Answer: C is incorrect. Acceptance testing is performed on the application before its implementation into the production environment. It is done either by a client or an application specialist to ensure that the software meets the requirement for which it was made. Answer: B is incorrect. Integration testing is a software testing that seeks to verify the interfaces between components against a software design. Software components may be integrated in an iterative way or all together ("big bang"). Normally the former is considered a better practice since it allows interface issues to be localized more quickly and fixed. Integration testing works to expose defects in the interfaces and interaction between the integrated components (modules). Progressively larger groups of tested software components corresponding to elements of the architectural design are integrated and tested until the software works as a system.
