Which of the following is the most secure method of authentication?
Correct Answer: A
Explanation/Reference: Explanation: Biometrics is a method of authentication that uses physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, scars, retinal patterns, and other forms of biophysical qualities to identify a user. Nowadays, the usage of biometric devices such as hand scanners and retinal scanners is becoming more common in the business environment. It is the most secure method of authentication. AnswerB is incorrect. Username and password is the least secure method of authentication in comparison of smart card and biometrics authentication. Username and password can be intercepted. AnswerD is incorrect. Smart card authentication is not as reliable as biometrics authentication. Answer: C is incorrect. Anonymous authentication does not provide security as a user can log on to the system anonymously and he is not prompted for credentials.
Question 2
An attacker exploits actual code of an application and uses a security hole to carry out an attack before the application vendor knows about the vulnerability. Which of the following types of attack is this?
Correct Answer: B
Explanation/Reference: Explanation: A zero-day attack, also known as zero-hour attack, is a computer threat that tries to exploit computer application vulnerabilities which are unknown to others, undisclosed to the software vendor, or for which no security fix is available. Zero-day exploits (actual code that can use a security hole to carry out an attack) are used or shared by attackers before the software vendor knows about the vulnerability. User awareness training is the most effective technique to mitigate such attacks. AnswerA is incorrect. A replay attack is a type of attack in which attackers capture packets containing passwords or digital signatures whenever packets pass between two hosts on a network. In an attempt to obtain an authenticated connection, the attackers then resend the captured packet to the system. In this type of attack, the attacker does not know the actual password, but can simply replay the captured packet. Answer: C is incorrect. Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when an attacker successfully inserts an intermediary software or program between two communicating hosts. The intermediary software or program allows attackers to listen to and modify the communication packets passing between the two hosts. The software intercepts the communication packets and then sends the information to the receiving host. The receiving host responds to the software, presuming it to be the legitimate client. AnswerD is incorrect. A Denial-of- Service (DoS) attack is mounted with the objective of causing a negative impact on the performance of a computer or network. It is also known as network saturation attack or bandwidth consumption attack. Attackers perform DoS attacks by sending a large number of protocol packets to a network.
Question 3
Which of the following is an example of penetration testing?
Correct Answer: C
Penetration testing is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from a malicious source, known as a Black Hat Hacker, or Cracker. The process involves an active analysis of the system for any potential vulnerabilities that may result from poor or improper system configuration, known and/or unknown hardware or software flaws, or operational weaknesses in process or technical countermeasures. This analysis is carried out from the position of a potential attacker, and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Any security issues that are found will be presented to the system owner together with an assessment of their impact and often with a proposal for mitigation or a technical solution. The intent of a penetration testing is to determine feasibility of an attack and the amount of business impact of a successful exploit, if discovered. It is a component of a full security audit. Answer A, B, and D are incorrect. Implementing NIDS and HIDS and configuring firewall to block unauthorized traffic are not examples of penetration testing.
Question 4
Which of the following specifies access privileges to a collection of resources by using the URL mapping?
Correct Answer: B
is incorrect. Code Access Security (CAS), in the Microsoft .NET framework, is Microsoft's solution to prevent untrusted code from performing privileged actions. When the CLR (common language runtime) loads an assembly it will obtain evidence for the assembly and use this to identify the code group that the assembly belongs to. A code group contains a permission set (one or more permissions). Code that performs a privileged action will perform a code access demand, which will cause the CLR to walk up the call stack and examine the permission set granted to the assembly of each method in the call stack. The code groups and permission sets are determined by the administrator of the machine who defines the security policy. Answer D is incorrect. Access Management is used to grant authorized users the right to use a service, while preventing access to non- authorized users. The Access Management process essentially executes policies defined in IT Security Management. It is sometimes also referred to as Rights Management or Identity Management. It is part of Service Operation and the owner of Access Management is the Access Manager. Access Management is added as a new process to ITIL V3. The sub-processes of Access Management are as follows: Maintain Catalogue of User Roles and Access Profiles Manage User Access Requests Answer C is incorrect. Configuration Management (CM) is an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) IT Service Management (ITSM) process. It tracks all of the individual Configuration Items (CI) in an IT system, which may be as simple as a single server, or as complex as the entire IT department. In large organizations a configuration manager may be appointed to oversee and manage the CM process.
Question 5
Which of the following organizations assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies?
Correct Answer: A
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a Cabinet-level office, and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) of the United States. The current OMB Director is Peter Orszag and was appointed by President Barack Obama. The OMB's predominant mission is to assist the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and to supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies. In helping to formulate the President's spending plans, the OMB evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, assesses competing funding demands among agencies, and sets funding priorities. The OMB ensures that agency reports, rules, testimony, and proposed legislation are consistent with the President's Budget and with Administration policies. Answer D is incorrect. The DCAA has the aim to monitor contractor costs and perform contractor audits. Answer C is incorrect. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is a crypto-logic intelligence agency of the United States government. It is administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. NSA is responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, which involves cryptanalysis. NSA is also responsible for protecting U.S. government communications and information systems from similar agencies elsewhere, which involves cryptography. NSA is a key component of the U.S. Intelligence Community, which is headed by the Director of National Intelligence. The Central Security Service is a co-located agency created to coordinate intelligence activities and cooperation between NSA and U.S. military cryptanalysis agencies. NSA's work is limited to communications intelligence. It does not perform field or human intelligence activities. Answer B is incorrect. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), is a measurement standards laboratory which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. The institute's official mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life.
