CompTIA Security+ Question E-7

An organization must implement controls to protect the confidentiality of its most sensitive data. The company is currently using a central storage system and group based access control for its sensitive information. Which of the following controls can further secure the data in the central storage system?

A. Data encryption
B. Patching the system
C. Digital signatures
D. File hashing

Answer: A

Explanation:
Data encryption makes data unreadable to anyone who does not have the required key to decrypt the data. The question states that the sensitive data is stored on a central storage system. Group based access control is used to control who can access the sensitive data. However, this offers no physical security for the data. Someone could steal the central storage system or remove the hard disks from it with the plan of placing the hard disks into another system to read the data on the disks. With the data encrypted, the data would be unreadable.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-6

After Ann, a user, logs into her banking websites she has access to her financial institution mortgage, credit card, and brokerage websites as well. Which of the following is being described?

A. Trusted OS
B. Mandatory access control
C. Separation of duties
D. Single sign-on

Answer: D

Explanation:
Single sign-on means that once a user (or other subject) is authenticated into a realm, re-authentication is not required for access to resources on any realm entity. The question states that when Ann logs into her banking websites she has access to her financial institution mortgage, credit card, and brokerage websites as well. This describes an SSO scenario.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-91

Which of the following wireless security measures can an attacker defeat by spoofing certain properties of their network interface card?

A. WEP
B. MAC filtering
C. Disabled SSID broadcast
D. TKIP

Answer: B

Explanation:
MAC filtering is typically used in wireless networks. In computer networking, MAC Filtering (or GUI filtering, or layer 2 address filtering) refers to a security access control method whereby the 48-bit address assigned to each network card is used to determine access to the network. MAC addresses are uniquely assigned to each card, so using MAC filtering on a network permits and denies network access to specific devices through the use of blacklists and whitelists. While the restriction of network access through the use of lists is straightforward, an individual person is not identified by a MAC address, rather a device only, so an authorized person will need to have a whitelist entry for each device that he or she would use to access the network. While giving a wireless network some additional protection, MAC filtering can be circumvented by scanning a valid MAC (via airodumping) and then spoofing one’s own MAC into a validated one.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-64

A security administrator is tasked with ensuring that all devices have updated virus definition files before they are allowed to access network resources. Which of the following technologies would be used to accomplish this goal?

A. NIDS
B. NAC
C. DLP
D. DMZ
E. Port Security

Answer: B

Explanation:
Network Access Control (NAC) means controlling access to an environment through strict adherence to and implementation of security policies.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-58

A company has several conference rooms with wired network jacks that are used by both employees and guests. Employees need access to internal resources and guests only need access to the Internet. Which of the following combinations is BEST to meet the requirements?

A. NAT and DMZ
B. VPN and IPSec
C. Switches and a firewall
D. 802.1x and VLANs

Answer: D

Explanation:
802.1x is a port-based authentication mechanism. It’s based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and is commonly used in closed-environment wireless networks. 802.1x was initially used to compensate for the weaknesses of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), but today it’s often used as a component in more complex authentication and connection-management systems, including Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS), Diameter, Cisco System’s Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System Plus (TACACS+), and Network Access Control (NAC).

A virtual local area network (VLAN) is a hardware-imposed network segmentation created by switches. By default, all ports on a switch are part of VLAN 1. But as the switch administrator changes the VLAN assignment on a port-by-port basis, various ports can be grouped together and be distinct from other VLAN port designations. VLANs are used for traffic management. Communications between ports within the same VLAN occur without hindrance, but communications between VLANs require a routing function.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-57

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

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.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-48

Which of the following allows a network administrator to implement an access control policy based on individual user characteristics and NOT on job function?

A. Attributes based
B. Implicit deny
C. Role based
D. Rule based

Answer: A

Explanation:
Attribute-based access control allows access rights to be granted to users via policies, which combine attributes together. The policies can make use of any type of attributes, which includes user attributes, resource attributes and environment attributes.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-40

The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is concerned that users could bring their personal laptops to work and plug them directly into the network port under their desk. Which of the following should be configured on the network switch to prevent this from happening?

A. Access control lists
B. Loop protection
C. Firewall rule
D. Port security

Answer: D

CompTIA Security+ Question D-37

A technician is reviewing the logical access control method an organization uses. One of the senior managers requests that the technician prevent staff members from logging on during nonworking days. Which of the following should the technician implement to meet managements request?

A. Enforce Kerberos
B. Deploy smart cards
C. Time of day restrictions
D. Access control lists

Answer: C

Explanation:
Time of day restrictions limit when users can access specific systems based on the time of day or week. It can limit access to sensitive environments to normal business hours.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-35

The Human Resources department has a parent shared folder setup on the server. There are two groups that have access, one called managers and one called staff. There are many sub folders under the parent shared folder, one is called payroll. The parent folder access control list propagates all subfolders and all subfolders inherit the parent permission. Which of the following is the quickest way to prevent the staff group from gaining access to the payroll folder?

A. Remove the staff group from the payroll folder
B. Implicit deny on the payroll folder for the staff group
C. Implicit deny on the payroll folder for the managers group
D. Remove inheritance from the payroll folder

Answer: B

Explanation:
Implicit deny is the default security stance that says if you aren’t specifically granted access or privileges for a resource, you’re denied access by default.