ISC SSCP Online Practice Questions and Exam Preparation

ISC SSCP Online Questions & Answers

• Question 381:

  External consistency ensures that the data stored in the database is:

  A. in-consistent with the real world.
  B. remains consistant when sent from one system to another.
  C. consistent with the logical world.
  D. consistent with the real world.
  D. consistent with the real world.

  ---

  External consistency ensures that the data stored in the database is consistent with the real world.

  Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley and Sons, page 33.

• Question 382:

  Why does compiled code pose more of a security risk than interpreted code?

  A. Because malicious code can be embedded in compiled code and be difficult to detect.
  B. If the executed compiled code fails, there is a chance it will fail insecurely.
  C. Because compilers are not reliable.
  D. There is no risk difference between interpreted code and compiled code.
  A. Because malicious code can be embedded in compiled code and be difficult to detect.

  ---

  From a security standpoint, a compiled program is less desirable than an interpreted one because malicious code can be

  resident somewhere in the compiled code, and it is difficult to detect in a very large program.

  Incorrect answers:

  There is a risk difference between interpreted code and compiled code.

  Compilers are reliable.

  The risk of a program failing insecurely is not the result of compiled or interpreted code.

  Sources:

  KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley and Sons, 2001, Chapter 7: Applications and Systems Development (page 263).

  KRUTZ, Ronald and VINES, Russel, The CISSP Prep Guide: Gold Edition, Wiley Publishing Inc., 2003, Chapter 2: Security Architecture and Models, Software (page 258).

• Question 383:

  Network cabling comes in three flavors, they are:

  A. twisted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic.
  B. tagged pair, coaxial, and fiber optic.
  C. trusted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic.
  D. twisted pair, control, and fiber optic.
  A. twisted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic.

  ---

  Network cabling comes in three flavors: twisted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic.

  Twisted pair

  Twisted pair cabling is a form of wiring in which two wires (the forward and return conductors of a single circuit) are twisted together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic interference (EMI) from external sources. This type of

  cable is used for home and corporate Ethernet networks. Twisted pair cables consist of two insulated copper wires. There are three types of twisted pair cables: Shielded, Unshielded and Foil

  Fiber Optic cable

  An optical fiber cable consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective material. The outer insulating jacket is made of Teflon or PVC to prevent interference. It is expensive but has higher bandwidth and can transmit

  data over longer distances.

  Coaxial cable

  Coaxial lines confine the electromagnetic wave to area inside the cable, between the center conductor and the shield. The transmission of energy in the line occurs totally through the dielectric inside the cable between the conductors. Coaxial

  lines can therefore be bent and twisted (subject to limits) without negative effects, and they can be strapped to conductive supports without inducing unwanted currents in them and though.

  The most common use for coaxial cables is for television and other signals with bandwidth of multiple megahertz. Although in most homes coaxial cables have been installed for transmission of TV signals, new technologies (such as the ITU-T

  G.hn standard) open the possibility of using home coaxial cable for high- speed home networking applications (Ethernet over coax).

  See the following page for more details: http://fcit.usf.edu/network/chap4/chap4.htm Reference used for this question:

  KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley and Sons, Page 101.

  and

  Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Networking_cables

• Question 384:

  During the testing of the business continuity plan (BCP), which of the following methods of results analysis provides the BEST assurance that the plan is workable?

  A. Measurement of accuracy
  B. Elapsed time for completion of critical tasks
  C. Quantitatively measuring the results of the test
  D. Evaluation of the observed test results
  C. Quantitatively measuring the results of the test

  ---

  It is important to have ways to measure the success of the plan and tests against the stated objectives. Therefore, results must be quantitatively gauged as opposed to an evaluation based only on observation. Quantitatively measuring the results of the test involves a generic statement measuring all the activities performed during BCP, which gives the best assurance of an effective plan. Although choices A and B are also quantitative, they relate to specific areas, or an analysis of results from one viewpoint, namely the accuracy of the results and the elapsed time.

  Source: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, Chapter 5: Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (page 269).

• Question 385:

  An alternative to using passwords for authentication in logical or technical access control is:

  A. manage without passwords
  B. biometrics
  C. not there
  D. use of them for physical access control
  B. biometrics

  ---

  An alternative to using passwords for authentication in logical or technical access control is biometrics. Biometrics are based on the Type 3 authentication mechanism-something you are. Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley and Sons, Page 37.

• Question 386:

  Which of the following is NOT a technical control?

  A. Password and resource management
  B. Identification and authentication methods
  C. Monitoring for physical intrusion
  D. Intrusion Detection Systems
  C. Monitoring for physical intrusion

  ---

  It is considered to be a 'Physical Control'

  There are three broad categories of access control: administrative, technical, and physical. Each category has different access control mechanisms that can be carried out manually or automatically. All of these access control mechanisms should work in concert with each other to protect an infrastructure and its data. Each category of access control has several components that fall within it, a partial list is shown here. Not all controls fall into a single category, many of the controls will be in two or more categories. Below you have an example with backups

  where it is in all three categories: Administrative Controls Policy and procedures

  -A backup policy would be in place Personnel controls Supervisory structure Security-awareness training Testing Physical Controls Network segregation Perimeter security Computer controls Work area separation

  Data backups (actual storage of the media, i:e Offsite Storage Facility) Cabling Technical Controls System access Network architecture Network access Encryption and protocols Control zone Auditing Backup (Actual software doing the backups) The following answers are incorrect : Password and resource management is considered to be a logical or technical control. Identification and authentication methods is considered to be a logical or technical control. Intrusion Detection Systems is considered to be a logical or technical control. Reference : Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter - 4 : Access Control , Page : 180 - 185

• Question 387:

  Which of the following is the primary security feature of a proxy server?

  A. Virus Detection
  B. URL blocking
  C. Route blocking
  D. Content filtering
  D. Content filtering

  ---

  In many organizations, the HTTP proxy is used as a means to implement content filtering, for instance, by logging or blocking traffic that has been defined as, or is assumed to be nonbusiness related for some reason.

  Although filtering on a proxy server or firewall as part of a layered defense can be quite effective to prevent, for instance, virus infections (though it should never be the only protection against viruses), it will be only moderately effective in

  preventing access to unauthorized services (such as certain remote-access services or file sharing), as well as preventing the download of unwanted content. HTTP Tunneling. HTTP tunneling is technically a misuse of the protocol on the part

  of the designer of such tunneling applications. It has become a popular feature with the rise of the first streaming video and audio applications and has been implemented into many applications that have a market need to bypass user policy

  restrictions.

  Usually, HTTP tunneling is applied by encapsulating outgoing traffic from an application in an HTTP request and incoming traffic in a response. This is usually not done to circumvent security, but rather, to be compatible with existing firewall

  rules and allow an application to function through a firewall without the need to apply special rules, or additional configurations.

  The following are incorrect choices:

  Virus Detection A proxy is not best at detection malware and viruses within content. A antivirus product would be use for that purpose.

  URL blocking This would be a subset of Proxying, based on the content some URL's may be blocked by the proxy but it is not doing filtering based on URL addresses only. This is not the BEST answer. Route blocking This is a function that

  would be done by Intrusion Detection and Intrusion prevention system and not the proxy. This could be done by filtering devices such as Firewalls and Routers as well.

  Again, not the best choice.

  Reference(s) used for this question:

  Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 6195-6201). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

• Question 388:

  Which of the following was designed as a more fault-tolerant topology than Ethernet, and very resilient when properly implemented?

  A. Token Link.
  B. Token system.
  C. Token Ring.
  D. Duplicate ring.
  C. Token Ring.

  ---

  Token Ring was designed to be a more fault-tolerant topology than Ethernet, and can be a very resilient topology when properly implemented.

  Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley and Sons, Page 72.

• Question 389:

  Which of the following type of cryptography is used when both parties use the same key to communicate securely with each other?

  A. Symmetric Key Cryptography
  B. PKI - Public Key Infrastructure
  C. Diffie-Hellman
  D. DSS - Digital Signature Standard
  A. Symmetric Key Cryptography

  ---

  Symmetric-key algorithms are a class of algorithms for cryptography that use the same cryptographic keys for both encryption of plaintext (sender) and decryption of ciphertext (receiver). The keys may be identical, in practice, they represent

  a shared secret between two or more parties that can be used to maintain a private information link.

  This requirement that both parties have access to the secret key is one of the main drawbacks of symmetric key encryption, in comparison to public-key encryption. This is also known as secret key encryption. In symmetric key cryptography,

  each end of the conversation must have the same key or they cannot decrypt the message sent to them by the other party.

  Symmetric key crypto is very fast but more difficult to manage due to the need to distribute the key in a secure means to all parts needing to decrypt the data. There is no key management built within Symmetric crypto. PKI provides CIA - Confidentiality (Through encryption) Integrity (By guaranteeing that the message hasn't change in transit) and Authentication (Non-repudiation). Symmetric key crypto provides mostly Confidentiality. The following answers are incorrect:

  -

  PKI - Public Key Infrastructure: This is the opposite of symmetric key crypto. Each side in PKI has their own private key and public key. What one key encrypt the other one can decrypt. You make use of the receiver public key to communicate securely with a remote user. The receiver will use their matching private key to decrypt the data.

  -

  Diffie-Hellman: Sorry, this is an asymmetric key technique. It is used for key agreement over an insecure network such as the Internet. It allows two parties who has never met to negotiate a secret key over an insecure network while preventing Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks.

  -

  DSS - Digital Signature Standard: Sorry, this is an asymmetric key technique. The following reference(s) was used to create this question:

  To learn more about this

• Question 390:

  Which of the following biometric characteristics cannot be used to uniquely authenticate an individual's identity?

  A. Retina scans
  B. Iris scans
  C. Palm scans
  D. Skin scans
  D. Skin scans

  ---

  The following are typical biometric characteristics that are used to uniquely authenticate an individual's identity: Fingerprints Retina scans

  Iris scans

  Facial scans

  Palm scans

  Hand geometry

  Voice

  Handwritten signature dynamics

  Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. and VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley and Sons, Page 39.

  And: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 4:

  Access Control (pages 127-131).