CompTIA Security+ Question L-4

An administrator is investigating a system that may potentially be compromised, and sees the following log entries on the router.
*Jul 15 14:47:29.779:%Router1: list 101 permitted tcp 192.10.3.204(57222) (FastEthernet 0/3) ->
10.10.1.5 (6667), 3 packets.
*Jul 15 14:47:38.779:%Router1: list 101 permitted tcp 192.10.3.204(57222) (FastEthernet 0/3) ->
10.10.1.5 (6667), 6 packets.
*Jul 15 14:47:45.779:%Router1: list 101 permitted tcp 192.10.3.204(57222) (FastEthernet 0/3) ->
10.10.1.5 (6667), 8 packets.
Which of the following BEST describes the compromised system?

A. It is running a rogue web server
B. It is being used in a man-in-the-middle attack
C. It is participating in a botnet
D. It is an ARP poisoning attack

Answer: C

Explanation:
In this question, we have a source computer (192.10.3.204) sending data to a single destination IP address 10.10.1.5. No data is being received back by source computer which suggests the data being sent is some kind of Denial-of-service attack. This is common practice for computers participating in a botnet. The port used is TCP 6667 which is IRC (Internet Relay Chat). This port is used by many Trojans and is commonly used for DoS attacks.

Software running on infected computers called zombies is often known as a botnet. Bots, by themselves, are but a form of software that runs automatically and autonomously. (For example, Google uses the Googlebot to find web pages and bring back values for the index.) Botnet, however, has come to be the word used to describe malicious software running on a zombie and under the control of a bot-herder. Denial-of-service attacks—DoS and DDoS—can be launched by botnets, as can many forms of adware, spyware, and spam (via spambots). Most bots are written to run in the background with no visible evidence of their presence. Many malware kits can be used to create botnets and modify existing ones.

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-12

Which of the following BEST describes the type of attack that is occurring? (Select TWO).

A. DNS spoofing
B. Man-in-the-middle
C. Backdoor
D. Replay
E. ARP attack
F. Spear phishing
G. Xmas attack

Answer: A,E

Explanation:
We have a legit bank web site and a hacker bank web site. The hacker has a laptop connected to the network. The hacker is redirecting bank web site users to the hacker bank web site instead of the legit bank web site. This can be done using two methods: DNS Spoofing and ARP Attack (ARP Poisoning).

A: DNS spoofing (or DNS cache poisoning) is a computer hacking attack, whereby data is introduced into a Domain Name System (DNS) resolver’s cache, causing the name server to return an incorrect IP address, diverting traffic to the attacker’s computer (or any other computer). A domain name system server translates a human-readable domain name (such as example.com) into a numerical IP address that is used to route communications between nodes. Normally if the server doesn’t know a requested translation it will ask another server, and the process continues recursively. To increase performance, a server will typically remember (cache) these translations for a certain amount of time, so that, if it receives another request for the same translation, it can reply without having to ask the other server again. When a DNS server has received a false translation and caches it for performance optimization, it is considered poisoned, and it supplies the false data to clients. If a DNS server is poisoned, it may return an incorrect IP address, diverting traffic to another computer (in this case, the hacker bank web site server).

E: Address Resolution Protocol poisoning (ARP poisoning) is a form of attack in which an attacker changes the Media Access Control (MAC) address and attacks an Ethernet LAN by changing the target computer’s ARP cache with a forged ARP request and reply packets. This modifies the layer -Ethernet MAC address into the hacker’s known MAC address to monitor it. Because the ARP replies are forged, the target computer unintentionally sends the frames to the hacker’s computer first instead of sending it to the original destination. As a result, both the user’s data and privacy are compromised. An effective ARP poisoning attempt is undetectable to the user. ARP poisoning is also known as ARP cache poisoning or ARP poison routing (APR).

CompTIA Security+ Question C-97

Peter, the security engineer, would like to prevent wireless attacks on his network. Peter has implemented a security control to limit the connecting MAC addresses to a single port. Which of the following wireless attacks would this address?

A. Interference
B. Man-in-the-middle
C. ARP poisoning
D. Rogue access point

Answer: D

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.

In this question, a rogue access point would need to be able to connect to the network to provide access to network resources. If the MAC address of the rogue access point isn’t allowed to connect to the network port, then the rogue access point will not be able to connect to the network.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-42

Which of the following attacks could be used to initiate a subsequent man-in-the-middle attack?

A. ARP poisoning
B. DoS
C. Replay
D. Brute force

Answer: C

Explanation:
A replay attack (also known as playback attack) is a form of network attack in which a valid data transmission is maliciously or fraudulently repeated or delayed. This is carried out either by the originator or by an adversary who intercepts the data and retransmits it, possibly as part of a masquerade attack by IP packet substitution (such as stream cipher attack).

For example: Suppose Alice wants to prove her identity to Bob. Bob requests her password as proof of identity, which Alice dutifully provides (possibly after some transformation like a hash function); meanwhile, Eve is eavesdropping on the conversation and keeps the password (or the hash). After the interchange is over, Eve (posing as Alice) connects to Bob; when asked for a proof of identity, Eve sends Alice’s password (or hash) read from the last session, which Bob accepts thus granting access to Eve.

Countermeasures: A way to avoid replay attacks is by using session tokens: Bob sends a one­time token to Alice, which Alice uses to transform the password and send the result to Bob (e.g. computing a hash function of the session token appended to the password). On his side Bob performs the same computation; if and only if both values match, the login is successful. Now suppose Eve has captured this value and tries to use it on another session; Bob sends a different session token, and when Eve replies with the captured value it will be different from Bob’s computation. Session tokens should be chosen by a (pseudo-) random process. Otherwise Eve may be able to pose as Bob, presenting some predicted future token, and convince Alice to use that token in her transformation. Eve can then replay her reply at a later time (when the previously predicted token is actually presented by Bob), and Bob will accept the authentication. One-time passwords are similar to session tokens in that the password expires after it has been used or after a very short amount of time. They can be used to authenticate individual transactions in addition to sessions. The technique has been widely implemented in personal online banking systems. Bob can also send nonces but should then include a message authentication code (MAC), which Alice should check. Timestamping is another way of preventing a replay attack. Synchronization should be achieved using a secure protocol. For example Bob periodically broadcasts the time on his clock together with a MAC. When Alice wants to send Bob a message, she includes her best estimate of the time on his clock in her message, which is also authenticated. Bob only accepts messages for which the timestamp is within a reasonable tolerance. The advantage of this scheme is that Bob does not need to generate (pseudo-) random numbers, with the trade-off being that replay attacks, if they are performed quickly enough i.e. within that ‘reasonable’ limit, could succeed.

CompTIA Security+ Simulation 12

Which of the following BEST describes the type of attack that is occurring? (Select TWO).

A. DNS spoofing
B. Man-in-the-middle
C. Backdoor
D. Replay
E. ARP attack
F. Spear phishing
G. Xmas attack






Correct Answer: A, E

We have a legit bank web site and a hacker bank web site. The hacker has a laptop connected to the network. The hacker is redirecting bank web site users to the hacker bank web site instead of the legit bank web site. This can be done using two methods: DNS Spoofing and ARP Attack (ARP Poisoning).

A: DNS spoofing (or DNS cache poisoning) is a computer hacking attack, whereby data is introduced into a Domain Name System (DNS) resolver’s cache, causing the name server to return an incorrect IP address, diverting traffic to the attacker’s computer (or any other computer).

A domain name system server translates a human-readable domain name (such as example.com) into a numerical IP address that is used to route communications between nodes. Normally if the server doesn’t know a requested translation it will ask another server, and the process continues recursively. To increase performance, a server will typically remember (cache) these translations for a certain amount of time, so that, if it receives another request for the same translation, it can reply without having to ask the other server again.

When a DNS server has received a false translation and caches it for performance optimization, it is considered poisoned, and it supplies the false data to clients. If a DNS server is poisoned, it may return an incorrect IP address, diverting traffic to another computer (in this case, the hacker bank web site server).

E: Address Resolution Protocol poisoning (ARP poisoning) is a form of attack in which an attacker changes the Media Access Control (MAC) address and attacks an Ethernet LAN by changing the target computer’s ARP cache with a forged ARP request and reply packets. This modifies the layer -Ethernet MAC address into the hacker’s known MAC address to monitor it. Because the ARP replies are forged, the target computer unintentionally sends the frames to the hacker’s computer first instead of sending it to the original destination. As a result, both the user’s data and privacy are compromised. An effective ARP poisoning attempt is undetectable to the user. ARP poisoning is also known as ARP cache poisoning or ARP poison routing (APR).

CompTIA Network+ Question C-37

A client is receiving certificate errors in other languages when trying to access the company’s main intranet site. Which of the following is MOST likely the cause?

A. DoS
B. Reflective DNS
C. Man-in-the-middle
D. ARP poisoning

Correct Answer: C