CompTIA Security+ Question H-76

Ann, the network administrator, has learned from the helpdesk that employees are accessing the wireless network without entering their domain credentials upon connection. Once the connection is made, they cannot reach any internal resources, while wired network connections operate smoothly. Which of the following is MOST likely occurring?

A. A user has plugged in a personal access point at their desk to connect to the network wirelessly.
B. The company is currently experiencing an attack on their internal DNS servers.
C. The company’s WEP encryption has been compromised and WPA2 needs to be implemented instead.
D. An attacker has installed an access point nearby in an attempt to capture company information.

Answer: D

Explanation:
The question implies that users should be required to enter their domain credentials upon connection to the wireless network. The fact that they are connecting to a wireless network without being prompted for their domain credentials and they are unable to access network resources suggests they are connecting to a rogue wireless network. A rogue access point is a wireless access point that has either been installed on a secure company network without explicit authorization from a local network administrator, or has been created to allow a hacker to conduct a man-in-the-middle attack. Rogue access points of the first kind can pose a security threat to large organizations with many employees, because anyone with access to the premises can install (maliciously or non-maliciously) an inexpensive wireless router that can potentially allow access to a secure network to unauthorized parties. Rogue access points of the second kind target networks that do not employ mutual authentication (client-server server-client) and may be used in conjunction with a rogue RADIUS server, depending on security configuration of the target network. To prevent the installation of rogue access points, organizations can install wireless intrusion prevention systems to monitor the radio spectrum for unauthorized access points.

CompTIA Security+ Question H-4

An administrator notices an unusual spike in network traffic from many sources. The administrator suspects that:

A. it is being caused by the presence of a rogue access point.
B. it is the beginning of a DDoS attack.
C. the IDS has been compromised.
D. the internal DNS tables have been poisoned.

Answer: B

Explanation:
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is an attack from several different computers targeting a single computer. One common method of attack involves saturating the target machine with external communications requests, so much so that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered essentially unavailable. Such attacks usually lead to a server overload.

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack occurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system, usually one or more web servers. Such an attack is often the result of multiple compromised systems (for example a botnet) flooding the targeted system with traffic. When a server is overloaded with connections, new connections can no longer be accepted. The major advantages to an attacker of using a distributed denial-of-service attack are that multiple machines can generate more attack traffic than one machine, multiple attack machines are harder to turn off than one attack machine, and that the behavior of each attack machine can be stealthier, making it harder to track and shut down. These attacker advantages cause challenges for defense mechanisms. For example, merely purchasing more incoming bandwidth than the current volume of the attack might not help, because the attacker might be able to simply add more attack machines. This after all will end up completely crashing a website for periods of time. Malware can carry DDoS attack mechanisms; one of the better-known examples of this was MyDoom. Its DoS mechanism was triggered on a specific date and time. This type of DDoS involved hardcoding the target IP address prior to release of the malware and no further interaction was necessary to launch the attack.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-50

Which of the following implementation steps would be appropriate for a public wireless hot-spot?

A. Reduce power level
B. Disable SSID broadcast
C. Open system authentication
D. MAC filter

Answer: C

Explanation:
For a public wireless hot-spot, you want members of the public to be able to access the wireless network without having to provide them with a password. Therefore, Open System Authentication is the best solution.

Open System Authentication (OSA) is a process by which a computer can gain access to a wireless network that uses the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol. With OSA, a computer equipped with a wireless modem can access any WEP network and receive files that are not encrypted. For OSA to work, the service set identifier (SSID) of the computer should match the SSID of the wireless access point. The SSID is a sequence of characters that uniquely names a wireless local area network (WLAN). The process occurs in three steps. First, the computer sends a request for authentication to the access point. Then the access point generates an authentication code, usually at random, intended for use only during that session. Finally, the computer accepts the authentication code and becomes part of the network as long as the session continues and the computer remains within range of the original access point. If it is necessary to exchange encrypted data between a WEP network access point and a wireless-equipped computer, a stronger authentication process called Shared Key Authentication (SKA) is required.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-49

An access point has been configured for AES encryption but a client is unable to connect to it. Which of the following should be configured on the client to fix this issue?

A. WEP
B. CCMP
C. TKIP
D. RC4

Answer: B

Explanation:
CCMP is an encryption protocol designed for Wireless LAN products that implement the standards of the IEEE 802.11i amendment to the original IEEE 802.11 standard. CCMP is an enhanced data cryptographic encapsulation mechanism designed for data confidentiality and based upon the Counter Mode with CBC-MAC (CCM) of the AES standard.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-15

Ann, a security administrator, has concerns regarding her company’s wireless network. The network is open and available for visiting prospective clients in the conference room, but she notices that many more devices are connecting to the network than should be.
Which of the following would BEST alleviate Ann’s concerns with minimum disturbance of current functionality for clients?

A. Enable MAC filtering on the wireless access point.
B. Configure WPA2 encryption on the wireless access point.
C. Lower the antenna’s broadcasting power.
D. Disable SSID broadcasting.

Answer: C

Explanation:
Some access points include power level controls that allow you to reduce the amount of output provided if the signal is traveling too far.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-62

After a user performed a war driving attack, the network administrator noticed several similar markings where WiFi was available throughout the enterprise. Which of the following is the term used to describe these markings?

A. IV attack
B. War dialing
C. Rogue access points
D. War chalking

Answer: D

Explanation:
War chalking is the act of making chalk marks on outdoor surfaces (walls, sidewalks, buildings, sign posts, trees) to indicate the existence of an open wireless network connection, usually offering an Internet connection so that others can benefit from the free wireless access. The open connections typically come from the access points of wireless networks located within buildings to serve enterprises. The chalk symbols indicate the type of access point that is available at that specific spot.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-24

After reviewing the firewall logs of her organization’s wireless APs, Ann discovers an unusually high amount of failed authentication attempts in a particular segment of the building. She remembers that a new business moved into the office space across the street. Which of the following would be the BEST option to begin addressing the issue?

A. Reduce the power level of the AP on the network segment
B. Implement MAC filtering on the AP of the affected segment
C. Perform a site survey to see what has changed on the segment
D. Change the WPA2 encryption key of the AP in the affected segment

Answer: A

Explanation:
Some access points include power level controls that allow you to reduce the amount of output provided if the signal is traveling too far.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-22

Users have been reporting that their wireless access point is not functioning. They state that it allows slow connections to the internet, but does not provide access to the internal network. The user provides the SSID and the technician logs into the company’s access point and finds no issues. Which of the following should the technician do?

A. Change the access point from WPA2 to WEP to determine if the encryption is too strong
B. Clear all access logs from the AP to provide an up-to-date access list of connected users
C. Check the MAC address of the AP to which the users are connecting to determine if it is an imposter
D. Reconfigure the access point so that it is blocking all inbound and outbound traffic as a troubleshooting gap

Answer: C

Explanation:
The users may be connecting to a rogue access point. The rogue access point could be hosting a wireless network that has the same SSID as the corporate wireless network. The only way to tell for sure if the access point the users are connecting to is the correct one is to check the MAC address. Every network card has a unique 48-bit address assigned. A media access control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet and WiFi. Logically, MAC addresses are used in the media access control protocol sublayer of the OSI reference model. MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface controller (NIC) and are stored in its hardware, such as the card’s read-only memory or some other firmware mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered identification number and may be referred to as the burned-in address (BIA). It may also be known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address. This can be contrasted to a programmed address, where the host device issues commands to the NIC to use an arbitrary address. A network node may have multiple NICs and each NIC must have a unique MAC address. MAC addresses are formed according to the rules of one of three numbering name spaces managed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): MAC-48, EUI-48, and EUI-64.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-95

A security technician is attempting to access a wireless network protected with WEP. The technician does not know any information about the network. Which of the following should the technician do to gather information about the configuration of the wireless network?

A. Spoof the MAC address of an observed wireless network client
B. Ping the access point to discover the SSID of the network
C. Perform a dictionary attack on the access point to enumerate the WEP key
D. Capture client to access point disassociation packets to replay on the local PC’s loopback

Answer: A

Explanation:
With ARP spoofing (also known as ARP poisoning), the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the data is faked. By faking this value, it is possible to make it look as if the data came from a network that it did not. This can be used to gain access to the network, to fool the router into sending data here that was intended for another host, or to launch a DoS attack. In all cases, the address being faked is an address of a legitimate user, and that makes it possible to get around such measures as allow/deny lists. Note: As an example, the initialization vector (IV) that WEP uses for encryption is 24-bit, which is quite weak and means that IVs are reused with the same key. By examining the repeating result, it was easy for attackers to crack the WEP secret key. This is known as an IV attack.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-85

An employee connects a wireless access point to the only jack in the conference room to provide Internet access during a meeting. The access point is configured to use WPA2-TKIP. A malicious user is able to intercept clear text HTTP communication between the meeting attendees and the Internet. Which of the following is the reason the malicious user is able to intercept and see the clear text communication?

A. The malicious user has access to the WPA2-TKIP key.
B. The wireless access point is broadcasting the SSID.
C. The malicious user is able to capture the wired communication.
D. The meeting attendees are using unencrypted hard drives.

Answer: C

Explanation:
In this question, the wireless users are using WPA2-TKIP. While TKIP is a weak encryption protocol, it is still an encryption protocol. Therefore, the wireless communications between the laptops and the wireless access point are encrypted. The question states that user was able to intercept ‘clear text’ HTTP communication between the meeting attendees and the Internet. The HTTP communications are unencrypted as they travel over the wired network. Therefore, the malicious user must have been able to capture the wired communication.

TKIP and AES are two different types of encryption that can be used by a Wi-Fi network. TKIP stands for “Temporal Key Integrity Protocol.” It was a stopgap encryption protocol introduced with WPA to replace the very-insecure WEP encryption at the time. TKIP is actually quite similar to WEP encryption. TKIP is no longer considered secure, and is now deprecated.