CompTIA Security+ Question E-11

Which of the following is described as an attack against an application using a malicious file?

A. Client side attack
B. Spam
C. Impersonation attack
D. Phishing attack

Answer: A

Explanation:
In this question, a malicious file is used to attack an application. If the application is running on a client computer, this would be a client side attack. Attacking a service or application on a server would be a server side attack.

Client-side attacks target vulnerabilities in client applications interacting with a malicious data. The difference is the client is the one initiating the bad connection. Client-side attacks are becoming more popular. This is because server side attacks are not as

easy as they once were according to apache.org. Attackers are finding success going after weaknesses in desktop applications such as browsers, media players, common office applications and e-mail clients. To defend against client-side attacks keep-up the most current application patch levels, keep antivirus software updated and keep authorized software to a minimum.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-27

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) receives a suspicious voice mail warning of credit card fraud. No one else received the voice mail. Which of the following BEST describes this attack?

A. Whaling
B. Vishing
C. Spear phishing
D. Impersonation

Answer: A

Explanation:
Whaling is a specific kind of malicious hacking within the more general category of phishing, which involves hunting for data that can be used by the hacker. In general, phishing efforts are focused on collecting personal data about users. In whaling, the targets are high-ranking bankers, executives or others in powerful positions or job titles. Hackers who engage in whaling often describe these efforts as “reeling in a big fish,” applying a familiar metaphor to the process of scouring technologies for loopholes and opportunities for data theft. Those who are engaged in whaling may, for example, hack into specific networks where these powerful individuals work or store sensitive data. They may also set up keylogging or other malware on a work station associated with one of these executives. There are many ways that hackers can pursue whaling, leading C-level or top-level executives in business and government to stay vigilant about the possibility of cyber threats.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-24

A database administrator receives a call on an outside telephone line from a person who states that they work for a well-known database vendor. The caller states there have been problems applying the newly released vulnerability patch for their database system, and asks what version is being used so that they can assist. Which of the following is the BEST action for the administrator to take?

A. Thank the caller, report the contact to the manager, and contact the vendor support line to verify any reported patch issues.
B. Obtain the vendor’s email and phone number and call them back after identifying the number of systems affected by the patch.
C. Give the caller the database version and patch level so that they can receive help applying the patch.
D. Call the police to report the contact about the database systems, and then check system logs for attack attempts.

Answer: A

Explanation:
Impersonation is where a person, computer, software application or service pretends to be someone or something it’s not. Impersonation is commonly non-maliciously used in client/server applications. However, it can also be used as a security threat.

In this question, the person making the call may be impersonating someone who works for a well-known database vendor. The actions described in this answer would mitigate the risk. By not divulging information about your database system and contacting the vendor directly, you can be sure that you are talking to the right people.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-18

Emily, an attacker, is recording a person typing in their ID number into a keypad to gain access to the building. Emily then calls the helpdesk and informs them that their PIN no longer works and would like to change it. Which of the following attacks occurred LAST?

A. Phishing
B. Shoulder surfing
C. Impersonation
D. Tailgating

Answer: C

Explanation:
Two attacks took place in this question. The first attack was shoulder surfing. This was the act of Emily recording a person typing in their ID number into a keypad to gain access to the building. The second attack was impersonation. Emily called the helpdesk and used the PIN to impersonate the person she recorded.

CompTIA Security+ Question C-47

Which of the following is characterized by an attacker attempting to map out an organization’s staff hierarchy in order to send targeted emails?

A. Whaling
B. Impersonation
C. Privilege escalation
D. Spear phishing

Answer: A

Explanation:
A whaling attack is targeted at company executives. Mapping out an organization’s staff hierarchy to determine who the people at the top are is also part of a whaling attack. Whaling is a specific kind of malicious hacking within the more general category of phishing, which involves hunting for data that can be used by the hacker. In general, phishing efforts are focused on collecting personal data about users. In whaling, the targets are high-ranking bankers, executives or others in powerful positions or job titles. Hackers who engage in whaling often describe these efforts as “reeling in a big fish,” applying a familiar metaphor to the process of scouring technologies for loopholes and opportunities for data theft. Those who are engaged in whaling may, for example, hack into specific networks where these powerful individuals work or store sensitive data. They may also set up keylogging or other malware on a work station associated with one of these executives. There are many ways that hackers can pursue whaling, leading C-level or top-level executives in business and government to stay vigilant about the possibility of cyber threats.

CompTIA Security+ Question C-3

All executive officers have changed their monitor location so it cannot be easily viewed when passing by their offices. Which of the following attacks does this action remediate?

A. Dumpster Diving
B. Impersonation
C. Shoulder Surfing
D. Whaling

Answer: C

Explanation:
Viewing confidential information on someone’s monitor is known as shoulder surfing. By moving their monitors so they cannot be seen, the executives are preventing users passing by ‘shoulder surfing’.

Shoulder surfing is using direct observation techniques, such as looking over someone’s shoulder, to get information. Shoulder surfing is an effective way to get information in crowded places because it’s relatively easy to stand next to someone and watch as they fill out a form, enter a PIN number at an ATM machine, or use a calling card at a public pay phone. Shoulder surfing can also be done long distance with the aid of binoculars or other vision-enhancing devices. To prevent shoulder surfing, experts recommend that you shield paperwork or your keypad from view by using your body or cupping your hand.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-89

A network analyst received a number of reports that impersonation was taking place on the network. Session tokens were deployed to mitigate this issue and defend against which of the following attacks?

A. Replay
B. DDoS
C. Smurf
D. Ping of Death

Answer: A

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+ Question B-7

Maintenance workers find an active network switch hidden above a dropped-ceiling tile in the CEO’s office with various connected cables from the office. Which of the following describes the type of attack that was occurring?

A. Spear phishing
B. Packet sniffing
C. Impersonation
D. MAC flooding

Answer: B

Explanation:
A Protocol Analyzer is a hardware device or more commonly a software program used to capture network data communications sent between devices on a network. Capturing packets sent from a computer system is known as packet sniffing. However, packet sniffing requires a physical connection to the network. The switch hidden in the ceiling is used to provide the physical connection to the network. Well known software protocol analyzers include Message Analyzer (formerly Network Monitor) from Microsoft and Wireshark (formerly Ethereal).

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.

CompTIA Security+ Question A-80

A network administrator identifies sensitive files being transferred from a workstation in the LAN to an unauthorized outside IP address in a foreign country. An investigation determines that the firewall has not been altered, and antivirus is up-to-date on the workstation. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason for the incident?

A. MAC Spoofing
B. Session Hijacking
C. Impersonation
D. Zero-day

Answer: D

Explanation:
This question states that antivirus is up-to-date on the workstation and the firewall has not been altered. The antivirus software is up to date with all ‘known’ viruses. A zero day vulnerability is an unknown vulnerability so a patch or virus definition has not been released yet.

A zero day vulnerability refers to a hole in software that is unknown to the vendor. This security hole is then exploited by hackers before the vendor becomes aware and hurries to fix it—this exploit is called a zero day attack. Uses of zero day attacks can include infiltrating malware, spyware or allowing unwanted access to user information. The term “zero day” refers to the unknown nature of the hole to those outside of the hackers, specifically, the developers. Once the vulnerability becomes known, a race begins for the developer, who must protect users.