CompTIA Security+ Question H-94

Layer 7 devices used to prevent specific types of html tags are called:

A. Firewalls
B. Content filters
C. Routers
D. NIDS

Answer: B

Explanation:
A content filter is a is a type of software designed to restrict or control the content a reader is authorised to access, particularly when used to limit material delivered over the Internet via the Web, e-mail, or other means. Because the user and the OSI layer interact directly with the content filter, it operates at Layer 7 of the OSI model.

CompTIA Security+ Question H-82

Suspicious traffic without a specific signature was detected. Under further investigation, it was determined that these were false indicators. Which of the following security devices needs to be configured to disable future false alarms?

A. Signature based IPS
B. Signature based IDS
C. Application based IPS
D. Anomaly based IDS

Answer: D

Explanation:
Most intrusion detection systems (IDS) are what is known as signature-based. This means that they operate in much the same way as a virus scanner, by searching for a known identity – or signature – for each specific intrusion event. And, while signature-based IDS is very efficient at sniffing out known s of attack, it does, like anti-virus software, depend on receiving regular signature updates, to keep in touch with variations in hacker technique. In other words, signature-based IDS is only as good as its database of stored signatures. Any organization wanting to implement a more thorough – and hence safer – solution, should consider what we call anomaly-based IDS. By its nature, anomaly-based IDS is a rather more complex creature. In network traffic terms, it captures all the headers of the IP packets running towards the network. From this, it filters out all known and legal traffic, including web traffic to the organization’s web server, mail traffic to and from its mail server, outgoing web traffic from company employees and DNS traffic to and from its DNS server.

There are other equally obvious advantages to using anomaly-based IDS. For example, because it detects any traffic that is new or unusual, the anomaly method is particularly good at identifying sweeps and probes towards network hardware. It can, therefore, give early warnings of potential intrusions, because probes and scans are the predecessors of all attacks. And this applies equally to any new service installed on any item of hardware – for example, Telnet deployed on a network router for maintenance purposes and forgotten about when the maintenance was finished. This makes anomaly-based IDS perfect for detecting anything from port anomalies and web anomalies to mis-formed attacks, where the URL is deliberately mis-typed.

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-63

During a penetration test from the Internet, Jane, the system administrator, was able to establish a connection to an internal router, but not successfully log in to it. Which ports and protocols are MOST likely to be open on the firewall? (Select FOUR).

A. 21
B. 22
C. 23
D. 69
E. 3389
F. SSH
G. Terminal services
H. Rlogin
I. Rsync
J. Telnet

Answer: B,C,F,J

Explanation:
The question states that Jane was able to establish a connection to an internal router. Typical ports and protocols used to connect to a router include the following: B, F: Port 22 which is used by SSH (Secure Shell). C, J: Port 23 which is used by Telnet. SSH and Telnet both provide command line interfaces for administering network devices such as routers and switches.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-76

Matt, a security administrator, wants to configure all the switches and routers in the network in order to securely monitor their status. Which of the following protocols would he need to configure on each device?

A. SMTP
B. SNMPv3
C. IPSec
D. SNMP

Answer: B

Explanation:
Currently, SNMP is predominantly used for monitoring and performance management. SNMPv3 defines a secure version of SNMP and also facilitates remote configuration of the SNMP entities.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-68

An administrator needs to connect a router in one building to a router in another using Ethernet. Each router is connected to a managed switch and the switches are connected to each other via a fiber line. Which of the following should be configured to prevent unauthorized devices from connecting to the network?

A. Configure each port on the switches to use the same VLAN other than the default one
B. Enable VTP on both switches and set to the same domain
C. Configure only one of the routers to run DHCP services
D. Implement port security on the switches

Answer: D

Explanation:
Port security in IT can mean several things: The physical control of all connection points, such as RJ-45 wall jacks or device ports, so that no unauthorized users or unauthorized devices can attempt to connect into an open port. The management of TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports. If a service is active and assigned to a port, then that port is open. All the other 65,535 ports (of TCP or UDP) are closed if a service isn’t actively using them. Port knocking is a security system in which all ports on a system appear closed. However, if the client sends packets to a specific set of ports in a certain order, a bit like a secret knock, then the desired service port becomes open and allows the client software to connect to the service.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-44

Which of the following can be used to maintain a higher level of security in a SAN by allowing isolation of mis-configurations or faults?

A. VLAN
B. Protocol security
C. Port security
D. VSAN

Answer: D

Explanation:
A storage area network (SAN) is a secondary network that offers storage isolation by consolidating storage devices such as hard drives, drive arrays, optical jukeboxes, and tape libraries. Virtualization can be used to further enhance the security of a SAN by using switches to create a VSAN. These switches act as routers controlling and filtering traffic into and out of the VSAN while allowing unrestricted traffic within the VSAN.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-34

Which of the following devices is MOST likely being used when processing the following?
1 PERMIT IP ANY ANY EQ 80
2 DENY IP ANY ANY

A. Firewall
B. NIPS
C. Load balancer
D. URL filter

Answer: A

Explanation:
Firewalls, routers, and even switches can use ACLs as a method of security management. An access control list has a deny ip any any implicitly at the end of any access control list. ACLs deny by default and allow by exception.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-88

An administrator is instructed to disable IP-directed broadcasts on all routers in an organization. Which of the following attacks does this prevent?

A. Pharming
B. Smurf
C. Replay
D. Xmas

Answer: B

Explanation:
A smurf attack is a type of network security breach in which a network connected to the Internet is swamped with replies to ICMP echo (PING) requests. A smurf attacker sends PING requests to an Internet broadcast address. These are special addresses that broadcast all received messages to the hosts connected to the subnet. Each broadcast address can support up to 255 hosts, so a single PING request can be multiplied 255 times. The return address of the request itself is spoofed to be the address of the attacker’s victim. All the hosts receiving the PING request reply to this victim’s address instead of the real sender’s address. A single attacker sending hundreds or thousands of these PING messages per second can fill the victim’s Internet connection with ping replies, bringing their entire Internet service to its knees. Smurfing falls under the general category of Denial of Service attacks — security attacks that don’t try to steal information, but instead attempt to disable a computer or network.

By disabling IP-directed broadcasts on all routers, we can prevent the smurf attack by blocking the ping requests to broadcast addresses.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-35

A system administrator has noticed network performance issues and wants to gather performance data from the gateway router. Which of the following can be used to perform this action?

A. SMTP
B. iSCSI
C. SNMP
D. IPSec

Answer: C