CompTIA Security+ Question B-40

A user ID and password together provide which of the following?

A. Authorization
B. Auditing
C. Authentication
D. Identification

Answer: C

Explanation:
Authentication generally requires one or more of the following: Something you know: a password, code, PIN, combination, or secret phrase. Something you have: a smart card, token device, or key. Something you are: a fingerprint, a retina scan, or voice recognition; often referred to as biometrics, discussed later in this chapter. Somewhere you are: a physical or logical location. Something you do: typing rhythm, a secret handshake, or a private knock.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-39

A user attempts to install new and relatively unknown software recommended by a colleague. The user is unable to install the program, despite having successfully installed other programs previously. Which of the following is MOST likely the cause for the user’s inability to complete the installation?

A. Application black listing
B. Network Intrusion Prevention System
C. Group policy
D. Application white listing

Answer: A

CompTIA Security+ Question B-38

Which of the following access controls enforces permissions based on data labeling at specific levels?

A. Mandatory access control
B. Separation of duties access control
C. Discretionary access control
D. Role based access control

Answer: A

Explanation:
In a MAC environment everything is assigned a classification marker. Subjects are assigned a clearance level and objects are assigned a sensitivity label.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-37

Peter, a security engineer, is trying to inventory all servers in a rack. The engineer launches RDP sessions to five different PCs and notices that the hardware properties are similar. Additionally, the MAC addresses of all five servers appear on the same switch port. Which of the following is MOST likely the cause?

A. The system is running 802.1x.
B. The system is using NAC.
C. The system is in active-standby mode.
D. The system is virtualized.

Answer: D

Explanation:
Virtualization allows a single set of hardware to host multiple virtual machines.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-36

Emily, a user, downloads a keygen to install pirated software. After running the keygen, system performance is extremely slow and numerous antivirus alerts are displayed. Which of the following BEST describes this type of malware?

A. Logic bomb
B. Worm
C. Trojan
D. Adware

Answer: C

Explanation:
In computers, a Trojan is a program in which malicious or harmful code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data in such a way that it can get control and do its chosen form of damage, such as ruining the file allocation table on your hard disk. In one celebrated case, a Trojan was a program that was supposed to find and destroy computer viruses. A Trojan horse may be widely redistributed as part of a computer virus.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-35

A compromised workstation utilized in a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack has been removed from the network and an image of the hard drive has been created. However, the system administrator stated that the system was left unattended for several hours before the image was created. In the event of a court case, which of the following is likely to be an issue with this incident?

A. Eye Witness
B. Data Analysis of the hard drive
C. Chain of custody
D. Expert Witness

Answer: C

Explanation:
Chain of custody deals with how evidence is secured, where it is stored, and who has access to it. When you begin to collect evidence, you must keep track of that evidence at all times and show who has it, who has seen it, and where it has been. The evidence must always be within your custody, or you’re open to dispute about possible evidence tampering.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-34

A set of standardized system images with a pre-defined set of applications is used to build end-user workstations. The security administrator has scanned every workstation to create a current inventory of all applications that are installed on active workstations and is documenting which applications are out-of-date and could be exploited. The security administrator is determining the:

A. attack surface.
B. application hardening effectiveness.
C. application baseline.
D. OS hardening effectiveness.

Answer: A

Explanation:
In this question, we have out-of-date applications that could be exploited. The out-of-date applications are security vulnerabilities. The combination of all vulnerabilities that could be exploited (or attacked) is known as the attack surface.

The attack surface of a software environment is the sum of the different points (the “attack vectors”) where an unauthorized user (the “attacker”) can try to enter data to or extract data from an environment. The basic strategies of attack surface reduction are to reduce the amount of code running, reduce entry points available to untrusted users, and eliminate services requested by relatively few users. One approach to improving information security is to reduce the attack surface of a system or software. By turning off unnecessary functionality, there are fewer security risks. By having less code available to unauthorized actors, there will tend to be fewer failures. Although attack surface reduction helps prevent security failures, it does not mitigate the amount of damage an attacker could inflict once a vulnerability is found.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-32

Which of the following tools will allow a technician to detect security-related TCP connection anomalies?

A. Logical token
B. Performance monitor
C. Public key infrastructure
D. Trusted platform module

Answer: B

Explanation:
Performance Monitor in a Windows system can monitor many different ‘counters’. For TCP network connections, you can monitor specific TCP related counters including the following: Connection Failures Connections Active Connections Established Connections Passive Connections Reset Segments Received/sec Segments Retransmitted/sec Segments Sent/sec Total Segments/sec

By monitoring the counters listed above, you will be able to detect security-related TCP connection anomalies.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-31

Which of the following software allows a network administrator to inspect the protocol header in order to troubleshoot network issues?

A. URL filter
B. Spam filter
C. Packet sniffer
D. Switch

Answer: C

Explanation:
Every data packet transmitted across a network has a protocol header. To view a protocol header, you need to capture and view the contents of the packet with a packet sniffer.

A sniffer (packet sniffer) is a tool that intercepts data flowing in a network. If computers are connected to a local area network that is not filtered or switched, the traffic can be broadcast to all computers contained in the same segment. This doesn’t generally occur, since computers are generally told to ignore all the comings and goings of traffic from other computers. However, in the case of a sniffer, all traffic is shared when the sniffer software commands the Network Interface Card (NIC) to stop ignoring the traffic. The NIC is put into promiscuous mode, and it reads communications between computers within a particular segment. This allows the sniffer to seize everything that is flowing in the network, which can lead to the unauthorized access of sensitive data. A packet sniffer can take the form of either a hardware or software solution. A sniffer is also known as a packet analyzer.