CompTIA Security+ Question I-63

Various network outages have occurred recently due to unapproved changes to network and security devices. All changes were made using various system credentials. The security analyst has been tasked to update the security policy. Which of the following risk mitigation strategies would also need to be implemented to reduce the number of network outages due to unauthorized changes?

A. User rights and permissions review
B. Configuration management
C. Incident management
D. Implement security controls on Layer 3 devices

Answer: A

Explanation:
Reviewing user rights and permissions can be used to determine that all groups, users, and other accounts have the appropriate privileges assigned according to the policies of the corporation and their job descriptions. Also reviewing user rights and permissions will afford the security analyst the opportunity to put the principle of least privilege in practice as well as update the security policy

CompTIA Security+ Question H-45

Which of the following provides the BEST explanation regarding why an organization needs to implement IT security policies?

A. To ensure that false positives are identified
B. To ensure that staff conform to the policy
C. To reduce the organizational risk
D. To require acceptable usage of IT systems

Answer: C

Explanation:
Once risks has been identified and assessed then there are five possible actions that should be taken. These are: Risk avoidance, Risk transference, Risk mitigation, Risk deterrence and Risk acceptance. Anytime you engage in steps to reduce risk, you are busy with risk mitigation and implementing IT security policy is a risk mitigation strategy.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-87

Peter, a security analyst, has been informed that the development team has plans to develop an application which does not meet the company’s password policy. Which of the following should Peter do NEXT?

A. Contact the Chief Information Officer and ask them to change the company password policy so that the application is made compliant.
B. Tell the application development manager to code the application to adhere to the company’s password policy.
C. Ask the application development manager to submit a risk acceptance memo so that the issue can be documented.
D. Inform the Chief Information Officer of non-adherence to the security policy so that the developers can be reprimanded.

Answer: B

Explanation:
Since the application is violating the security policy it should be coded differently to comply with the password policy.

CompTIA Security+ Question G-57

A security administrator is aware that a portion of the company’s Internet-facing network tends to be non-secure due to poorly configured and patched systems. The business owner has accepted the risk of those systems being compromised, but the administrator wants to determine the degree to which those systems can be used to gain access to the company intranet. Which of the following should the administrator perform?

A. Patch management assessment
B. Business impact assessment
C. Penetration test
D. Vulnerability assessment

Answer: C

Explanation:
Penetration testing is the most intrusive type of testing because you are actively trying to circumvent the system’s security controls to gain access to the system. It is also used to determine the degree to which the systems can be used to gain access to the company intranet (the degree of access to local network resources). Penetration testing (also called pen testing) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Pen tests can be automated with software applications or they can be performed manually. Either way, the process includes gathering information about the target before the test (reconnaissance), identifying possible entry points, attempting to break in (either virtually or for real) and reporting back the findings. The main objective of penetration testing is to determine security weaknesses. A pen test can also be used to test an organization’s security policy compliance, its employees’ security awareness and the organization’s ability to identify and respond to security incidents. Penetration tests are sometimes called white hat attacks because in a pen test, the good guys are attempting to break in.

Pen test strategies include:

Targeted testing Targeted testing is performed by the organization’s IT team and the penetration testing team working together. It’s sometimes referred to as a “lights-turned-on” approach because everyone can see the test being carried out.

External testing This type of pen test targets a company’s externally visible servers or devices including domain name servers (DNS), e-mail servers, Web servers or firewalls. The objective is to find out if an outside attacker can get in and how far they can get in once they’ve gained access.

Internal testing This test mimics an inside attack behind the firewall by an authorized user with standard access privileges. This kind of test is useful for estimating how much damage a disgruntled employee could cause.

Blind testing A blind test strategy simulates the actions and procedures of a real attacker by severely limiting the information given to the person or team that’s performing the test beforehand. Typically, they may only be given the name of the company. Because this type of test can require a considerable amount of time for reconnaissance, it can be expensive.

Double blind testing Double blind testing takes the blind test and carries it a step further. In this type of pen test, only one or two people within the organization might be aware a test is being conducted. Double-blind tests can be useful for testing an organization’s security monitoring and incident identification as well as its response procedures.

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 F-31

Peter, a newly hired employee, has a corporate workstation that has been compromised due to several visits to P2P sites. Peter insisted that he was not aware of any company policy that prohibits the use of such web sites. Which of the following is the BEST method to deter employees from the improper use of the company’s information systems?

A. Acceptable Use Policy
B. Privacy Policy
C. Security Policy
D. Human Resource Policy

Answer: A

Explanation:
Acceptable use policies (AUPs) describe how the employees in an organization can use company systems and resources, both software and hardware.

CompTIA Security+ Question F-18

A company is looking to reduce the likelihood of employees in the finance department being involved with money laundering. Which of the following controls would BEST mitigate this risk?

A. Implement privacy policies
B. Enforce mandatory vacations
C. Implement a security policy
D. Enforce time of day restrictions

Answer: B

Explanation:
A mandatory vacation policy requires all users to take time away from work to refresh. And in the same time it also gives the company a chance to make sure that others can fill in any gaps in skills and satisfy the need to have replication or duplication at all levels in addition to affording the company an opportunity to discover fraud for when others do the same job in the absence of the regular staff member then there is transparency.

CompTIA Security+ Question E-26

A company is starting to allow employees to use their own personal without centralized management. Employees must contract IT to have their devices configured to use corporate email; access is also available to the corporate cloud-based services. Which of the following is the BEST policy to implement under these circumstances?

A. Acceptable use policy
B. Security policy
C. Group policy
D. Business Agreement policy

Answer: A

CompTIA Security+ Question E-8

Results from a vulnerability analysis indicate that all enabled virtual terminals on a router can be accessed using the same password. The company’s network device security policy mandates that at least one virtual terminal have a different password than the other virtual terminals. Which of the following sets of commands would meet this requirement?

A. line vty 0 6 P@s5W0Rd password line vty 7 Qwer++!Y password
B. line console 0 password password line vty 0 4 password P@s5W0Rd
C. line vty 0 3 password Qwer++!Y line vty 4 password P@s5W0Rd
D. line vty 0 3 password Qwer++!Y line console 0 password P@s5W0Rd

Answer: C

Explanation:
The VTY lines are the Virtual Terminal lines of the router, used solely to control inbound Telnet connections. They are virtual, in the sense that they are a function of software – there is no hardware associated with them. Two numbers follow the keyword VTY because there is more than one VTY line for router access. The default number of lines is five on many Cisco routers. Here, I’m configuring one password for all terminal (VTY) lines. I can specify the actual terminal or VTY line numbers as a range. The syntax that you’ll see most often, vty 0 4, covers all five terminal access lines.

CompTIA Security+ Question D-90

Which of the following is BEST utilized to actively test security controls on a particular system?

A. Port scanning
B. Penetration test
C. Vulnerability scanning
D. Grey/Gray box

Answer: B

Explanation:
Penetration testing is the most intrusive type of testing because you are actively trying to circumvent the system’s security controls to gain access to the system. Penetration testing (also called pen testing) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit. Pen tests can be automated with software applications or they can be performed manually. Either way, the process includes gathering information about the target before the test (reconnaissance), identifying possible entry points, attempting to break in (either virtually or for real) and reporting back the findings. The main objective of penetration testing is to determine security weaknesses. A pen test can also be used to test an organization’s security policy compliance, its employees’ security awareness and the organization’s ability to identify and respond to security incidents. Penetration tests are sometimes called white hat attacks because in a pen test, the good guys are attempting to break in.

Pen test strategies include:

Targeted testing Targeted testing is performed by the organization’s IT team and the penetration testing team working together. It’s sometimes referred to as a “lights-turned-on” approach because everyone can see the test being carried out.

External testing This type of pen test targets a company’s externally visible servers or devices including domain name servers (DNS), e-mail servers, Web servers or firewalls. The objective is to find out if an outside attacker can get in and how far they can get in once they’ve gained access.

Internal testing This test mimics an inside attack behind the firewall by an authorized user with standard access privileges. This kind of test is useful for estimating how much damage a disgruntled employee could cause.

Blind testing A blind test strategy simulates the actions and procedures of a real attacker by severely limiting the information given to the person or team that’s performing the test beforehand. Typically, they may only be given the name of the company. Because this type of test can require a considerable amount of time for reconnaissance, it can be expensive.

Double blind testing Double blind testing takes the blind test and carries it a step further. In this type of pen test, only one or two people within the organization might be aware a test is being conducted. Double-blind tests can be useful for testing an organization’s security monitoring and incident identification as well as its response procedures.