CompTIA Security+ Question L-80

A security administrator is reviewing the below output from a password auditing tool:
P@ss.
@pW1.
S3cU4
Which of the following additional policies should be implemented based on the tool’s output?

A. Password age
B. Password history
C. Password length
D. Password complexity

Answer: C

Explanation:
The output shows that all the passwords are either 4 or 5 characters long. This is way too short, 8 characters are shown to be the minimum for password length.

CompTIA Security+ Question J-89

A recent audit has discovered that at the time of password expiration clients are able to recycle the previous credentials for authentication. Which of the following controls should be used together to prevent this from occurring? (Select TWO).

A. Password age
B. Password hashing
C. Password complexity
D. Password history
E. Password length

Answer: A,D

Explanation:
D: Password history determines the number of previous passwords that cannot be used when a user changes his password. For example, a password history value of 5 would disallow a user from changing his password to any of his previous 5 passwords.

A: When a user is forced to change his password due to a maximum password age period expiring, he could change his password to a previously used password. Or if a password history value of 5 is configured, the user could change his password six times to cycle back round to his original password. This is where the minimum password age comes in. This is the period that a password must be used for. For example, a minimum password age of 30 would determine that when a user changes his password, he must continue to use the same password for at least 30 days.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-13

An administrator discovers that many users have used their same passwords for years even though the network requires that the passwords be changed every six weeks. Which of the following, when used together, would BEST prevent users from reusing their existing password? (Select TWO).

A. Length of password
B. Password history
C. Minimum password age
D. Password expiration
E. Password complexity
F. Non-dictionary words

Answer: B,C

Explanation:
In this question, users are forced to change their passwords every six weeks. However, they are able to change their password and enter the same password as the new password.

Password history determines the number of previous passwords that cannot be used when a user changes his password. For example, a password history value of 5 would disallow a user from changing his password to any of his previous 5 passwords.

When a user is forced to change his password due to a maximum password age period expiring, (the question states that the network requires that the passwords be changed every six weeks) he could change his password to a previously used password. Or if a password history value of 5 is configured, the user could change his password six times to cycle back round to his original password. This is where the minimum password age comes in. This is the period that a password must be used for. For example, a minimum password age of 30 would determine that when a user changes his password, he must continue to use the same password for at least 30 days.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-11

An organizations’ security policy requires that users change passwords every 30 days. After a security audit, it was determined that users were recycling previously used passwords. Which of the following password enforcement policies would have mitigated this issue?

A. Password history
B. Password complexity
C. Password length
D. Password expiration

Answer: A

Explanation:
Password history determines the number of previous passwords that cannot be used when a user changes his password. For example, a password history value of 5 would disallow a user from changing his password to any of his previous 5 passwords. However, without a minimum password age setting, the user could change his password six times and cycle back to his original password.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-72

A network administrator, Peter, arrives at his new job to find that none of the users have changed their network passwords since they were initially hired. Peter wants to have everyone change their passwords immediately. Which of the following policies should be enforced to initiate a password change?

A. Password expiration
B. Password reuse
C. Password recovery
D. Password disablement

Answer: A

Explanation:
The Maximum password age policy setting determines the number of days that a password can be used before the system requires the user to change it. The password expiration setting determines that a user will not be able to log into a system without changing their password after the maximum password age has been reached.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-14

A recent review of accounts on various systems has found that after employees’ passwords are required to change they are recycling the same password as before. Which of the following policies should be enforced to prevent this from happening? (Select TWO).

A. Reverse encryption
B. Minimum password age
C. Password complexity
D. Account lockouts
E. Password history
F. Password expiration

Answer: B,E

Explanation:
E: Password history determines the number of previous passwords that cannot be used when a user changes his password. For example, a password history value of 5 would disallow a user from changing his password to any of his previous 5 passwords.

B: When a user is forced to change his password due to a maximum password age period expiring, he could change his password to a previously used password. Or if a password history value of 5 is configured, the user could change his password six times to cycle back round to his original password. This is where the minimum password age comes in. This is the period that a password must be used for. For example, a minimum password age of 30 would determine that when a user changes his password, he must continue to use the same password for at least 30 days.

CompTIA Security+ Question C-4

An auditing team has found that passwords do not meet best business practices. Which of the following will MOST increase the security of the passwords? (Select TWO).

A. Password Complexity
B. Password Expiration
C. Password Age
D. Password Length
E. Password History

Answer: A,D

Explanation:
Passwords should have the strength to avoid discovery through attack, but it should also be easy enough for the user to remember. The length and complexity of a password combined are vital factors in defining a password’s strength.

CompTIA Security+ Question B-27

A system administrator has noticed that users change their password many times to cycle back to the original password when their passwords expire. Which of the following would BEST prevent this behavior?

A. Assign users passwords based upon job role.
B. Enforce a minimum password age policy.
C. Prevent users from choosing their own passwords.
D. Increase the password expiration time frame.

Answer: B

Explanation:
A minimum password age policy defines the period that a password must be used for before it can be changed.