CCT 147: Practice CISSP Questions - Defense in Depth and Secure Defaults (D3.1.2-3)
Jun 06, 2024What if your organization's data could be breached through an exposed API in your modem? Join me, Sean Gerber, in this week's CISSP Cyber Training Podcast as we unravel the hidden dangers of API connections and dive into the latest security flaws found in Cox modems. We'll also kick off our thrilling CISSP Question Thursday, tackling complex queries from domains 3.1.2 and 3.1.3. Plus, discover why AES-256 stands as the gold standard for cloud data encryption and how implementing custom APIs with complex database schemas can fortify abstraction and access controls within your systems.
In another gripping segment, we break down the pillars of network segmentation and data protection, showcasing their critical roles in crafting a robust cybersecurity framework. Understand the nuances of data hiding through network segmentation, the essentiality of encrypting data at every stage, and the profound impact of secure boot in maintaining system integrity. We also discuss the pitfalls of storing encryption keys on poorly secured servers and the vital function of hashing algorithms for software verification. Wrap up with a detailed exploration of the dual-edged sword of patching vulnerabilities, ensuring you leave equipped with actionable insights for your CISSP exam and your cybersecurity career.
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the CISSP Cyber Training Podcast, where we provide you the training and tools you need to pass the CISSP exam the first time. Hi, my name is Sean Gerber and I'm your host for this action-packed, informative podcast. Join me each week as I provide the information you need to pass the CISSP exam and grow your cybersecurity knowledge. All right, let's get started.
Speaker 2:
Good morning. It's Sean Gerber with CISSP Cyber Training. Hope you all are having a wonderfully blessed day today. Today's an amazing day. Why is it today amazing? Well, because it's CISSP Question Thursday.
Speaker 2:
Yes, and we are going to be getting into some questions as it relates to domain 3.1.2 and 3.1.3. But there's some various questions that we'll have that you can gain access to directly through cisspcybertrainingcom. Go ahead there and you can get them immediately. Yes, you can, all right, but before we get started, we want to talk about one little article I saw come out today and if you deal in the United States, you deal with a company called Cox C-O-X. Cox has a situation set up where they're potentially they're supposedly a authorized bypass that are issued that's dealing with the Cox modems.
Speaker 2:
Now, I don't know if you all have dealt with Cox as your service provider. So I have ISPs. Cox is one of them. There's many other ISPs out there, but Cox is a very large company within the United States and they are an internet service provider that provides, obviously, your bandwidth to many, many residential locations. Well, supposedly there is a potential challenge with the Cox modems that could be abused and it could provide unauthorized access to devices to run malicious commands. Now, this came out of the Hacker News, and you can actually be able to see this in the show notes. It's Researcher-Uncovers-Flaws in Cox Modems and the Hacker News. An interesting part about this, though, is I don't know if you all are aware, but many, many people in the country have COX available to them, and they're basically these issues were addressed by the broadband provider within about 24 hours, so they did say that they were able to get this issue resolved very quickly. However, they can't confirm if it's been abused over the past.
Speaker 2:
Now, one thing that it's interesting about this and I mentioned this in the podcast on Monday was around the fact of exposed APIs, and I say this exposed APIs, I feel, are probably one of the largest data exfiltration points within an organization, because, in many cases, organizations really truly do not understand how many API connections they have leaving their organization or connected into their organization, and so, if you're not familiar, an API is a connection that will allow for standard protocols between. It's basically an application programming interface is what they call it, but it's basically a standard protocol that allows you to communicate with traffic back and forth between applications, and it works really well because it allows for the streamline of data transfers versus having to have gateways in between or just having just communication challenges, so it makes a really good, easy way to communicate. Well, because of that, though, many people stand them up, and if they stand them up, they don't always know that they exist, and so there was a situation where, supposedly, some external APIs were set up with these Cox systems. Now, again, no one can guarantee or can say that this was actually manipulated by people, but the interesting part is that this is a lot of different organizations that have Cox, as well as a lot of homeowners that have it, so I will say that I've never been real impressed with the Cox modems as themselves. They seem a little janky and they don't really give you the ability to do a whole lot with them, which I'm not a big fan of. But, again, something to check out if, supposedly, they have fixed this issue as it relates to Cox, but you may want to ask them a little bit about that. All right, so let's get started, as it relates to our questions for today. So, again, a CISSP cyber training. You can go there. You can get access to all these questions and many, many more, as it relates to the CISSP exam. This is going to be again over domain 3.1.2 and 3.
Speaker 2:
So question one a company is migrating its data storage to a cloud platform. The cloud provider offers multiple encryption options, including AES-128, 256, and proprietary encryption algorithm. Which encryption standards should the company prioritize for maximum security? Okay, so, basically they're moving to a cloud platform and they have different versions 128, 256, 256 and a proprietary encryption algorithm. When you hear proprietary, get very squeamish. A aes128 is faster and more efficient. B AES-256. It offers stronger encryption key length. C the proprietary encryption algorithm for vendor-specific benefits. And then D it doesn't matter. All options provide sufficient security. Well, the answer is B 256, right? So while both 256 and 128 are considered secure, it does offer a longer key length that's 256, making it much more resistant to brute force type attacks. So you would go with that one.
Speaker 2:
Question two a company utilizes database with a complex data schema. Developers interact with the database through custom APIs that expose only specific data elements relevant to their tasks. That's a good thing. What security principle is demonstrated here? A data hiding, as sensitive data elements are concealed from developers. B abstraction, as the API simplifies the database interaction for developers. Or C access control, as the API restricts developer access to certain data. Okay, so again, let's think about that for just a second. The company's database with a complex data schema. Developers interact with the database through custom APIs that expose only specific data elements relevant to their tasks. Which security principle is demonstrated? And the answer is D, both B and C abstraction and access controls. Again, that's the big factor around, that is, we use the abstraction layer, hiding the database complexity and exposing only necessary functionality, whereas it also enforces access controls by limiting their abilities of the developers.
Speaker 2:
Question three a company embeds secret message within an image to conceal its existence. This technique is most closely related to A stenography, as it hides data within another file. B encryption, as it scrambles data and message confidentiality. C data hiding, as it prevents unauthorized access to the message. Or D hashing, as it creates a unique fingerprint to verify data integrity. And the answer is A stenography. We talked about that in the podcast. It's basically hiding files inside of another file and you want to watch the size of that, but then you have to understand what size is the file supposed to actually be?
Speaker 2:
Question four a company implements access control list on a file server, allowing for specific users read-only access to certain files. Additionally, some highly sensitive files are renamed with generic names, making them less conspicuous. Which security principle are is at play here? Principles are at play. So a company implements a access control list on a file server, allowing specific users read only access to certain files. Additionally, some highly sensitive files were renamed with generic names. Which security principle is working here? A defense in depth and data hiding are both employed. Abstraction simplifies it for users and access controls enforce control. C encryption protects the data and ACLs restrict access permissions. Or D stenography hides the data within other files and ACL controls access. And the answer is A defense in depth for data hiding are both employed. So basically, you've got it through access controls are in place, as well as your data hiding piece with your tokenization. It through access controls are in place as well as your data hiding piece with your tokenization.
Speaker 2:
Question five a company needs to encrypt the data at rest on its servers. Which of the following is most relevant factor when deciding between symmetric and asymmetric encryption? So a company needs to encrypt data at rest on its servers. Which the most. Which of the following is the most relevant factor when deciding between the symmetric and asymmetric encryption? A Processing power required for encryption and decryption. B the need for secure key distribution and management. C. Scalability of encryption solutions for large datasets. And. D. All of the above are important and the most relevant factor is D. All of the above are important and the most relevant factor is D. All of the above are important, both processing power, key distribution and scalability of the encryption solution.
Speaker 2:
Question six A company implements a new operating system with pre-configured settings that disable unnecessary services and enforce strong password policies. How does this demonstrate a security principle? Which one is it? A Data hiding, as sensitive information is concealed from users. B encryption, as data is scrambled for confidentiality. C data are secure defaults, as the system is pre-configured with a more secure state. Or D abstraction, as a complexity of the security settings is hidden from users. So again, we're talking disable unnecessary services and strong password policies. It would be C secure defaults, as they're pre-configured to be a more secure state.
Speaker 2:
Question seven a company segments its network, placing the development environment in a separate zone from the production environment. How does this contribute to data hiding? Okay, they segment their network from separate zones in the production environment. How does this contribute to data hiding? A it hides the data context, making it invisible. B it restricts access to development data, hindering unauthorized viewing. C it conceals the existence of development environment altogether. Or D it doesn't directly contribute to data hiding, but improves security. So what does this contribute? It B it restricts access to development data, hindering unauthorized viewing.
Speaker 2:
Question eight a company encrypts its data at rest, in transit and in use. How does this exemplify DEMP defense in depth? A Encryption places the need for other security controls or replaces the need for other security controls? B it protects the data in multiple states, adding layers of security. C Strong encryption algorithms ensure data remains unreadable. Or D Encryption simplifies access controls for authorized users. Simplifies access controls for authorized users. And the answer is b it protects the data in multiple states. States adding layers of security, like we talk about again defense in depth. You want to have multiple layers to one stop them and two to also trip them up.
Speaker 2:
Question nine a security analyst configures a secure boot on a laptop. How does this relate to the concept of abstraction, abstraction and secure boot? A Secure boot hides the underlying boot process complexity from the users. B it prevents unauthorized modification of the boot settings and simplifies the management. C Encryption is applied to the boot process, making it more secure. Or D Secure boot doesn't directly relate to any sort of concept of abstraction, and the answer is A Secure boot hides the underlying boot processes. Complexity from the users, again forcing them to have unauthorized modifications at a deeper level, while the users interact with the operating system as they typically would.
Speaker 2:
Question 10. A company encrypts sensitive data with strong encryption algorithm. However, all encryption keys are stored on a single server with minimal security control Not good. What is the biggest security risk in this scenario? Okay, well, let's see what you all think. A the encryption algorithm itself might be weak and easily broken. B the encryption might be slow in data processes, which affects access times. C the lack of access controls in the server storing the encryption keys. Yeah, ding, ding, ding, ding ding. Or D the users might not be trained on how to properly use the encryption software. Yeah, that's. C you put all this stuff in one basket and you don't take care of it. You're going to have problems with that. Encryption keys are compromised. Then it's a jackpot for the bad guys and girls.
Speaker 2:
Question 11, a company uses a hashing algorithm to verify the integrity of downloaded software files. An attacker modifies the software before uploading it. How will this impact the verification process? Okay, they're using a hashing algorithm to verify the integrity of the downloaded software, so integrity of software. Attacker modifies the software before uploading it. How will this impact the verification process? A the hash value remain unchanged, along for compromised software to pass verification. B the hash value will be different, raising red flags about the file's integrity. C the encryption would be more effective solution for verifying the software integrity. Or D hashing only ensures confidentiality, not data integrity. So again, the hashing provides a unique fingerprint. That's the key right. And the answer is B Any modification of the data will result ina different hash value. This alerts would be in the case. So you'd want to make sure that if you're going to be doing hashing algorithm is the integrity of the downloaded files. You'd want to make sure that if they're making changes to the file, okay, you want to make sure that that has been double-checked and modified. So it would make sure that the hashing algorithm matches with what the file should be.
Speaker 2:
Question 12. A company utilizes sandbox environment to test untrusted code. How does this approach demonstrate the concept of abstraction? A Sandboxing simplifies the testing process by isolating the code. B it hides the complexity of the underlying system from the tester. C Sandboxing restricts code access and resources and prevents harm? Are both B and C are correct? Which hiding and sandboxing restricts? And the answer is D Both B and C are correct. It hides the complexity of the underlying system and it restricts the code's access to resources and prevents harm.
Speaker 2:
Question 13. A company implements DLP to prevent unauthorized data exfiltration. How does this relate to the concept of access controls? A DLP complements the access controls by monitoring the data movement and identifying suspicious activity. Dlp focuses on data in transit, while accessing controls restricts access to data at rest. B dlp replaces the need for access controls altogether. C dop forces the data out encryption, making it invisible for exfiltration attempts. And the answer is DLP complements the access controls by monitoring data movements and identifying suspicious activity.
Speaker 2:
Question 14, the security team monitors various security metrics, such as firewall logs and intrusion detection alerts. How does this contribute to the defense in depth? Again, they monitor various things and how does this contribute to defense in depth? A security metrics provide a clear picture of the overall security posture. B monitoring allows for early detection and potential security incidents. C analyzing metrics helps identify weaknesses in existing security controls. D all of the above contribute to defense in depth. And the answer is all of the above right Security metrics. Monitoring and analyzing them all help around defense in depth.
Speaker 2:
Question 15. A company implements a strict patch management process to ensure all systems are updated with the latest security patches. How does this relate to the concept of secure defaults? Defaults Again, they have a strict patch management process. How does this relate to secure defaults? A patching vulnerability strengths existing security configurations. C secure defaults eliminate the need for regular patching altogether.
Speaker 2:
C patching might introduce new vulnerabilities or compatibility issues. Or D both A and C are correct. And the answer is D both A and C are correct. Patching vulnerability strengthens existing security controls and patching might introduce new vulnerabilities for compatibility issues. So, again, those are all situations that they have to work through. Okay, that's all I've got for you today on CISSP Cyber Training. Hope you guys have a wonderful day. Head on over to cisspcybertrainingcom for this video, for access to my content. You will love it, guaranteed. I guarantee you Get on my email list and we will be getting updates on a regular basis on all great things that are happening at CISSP Cyber Training. Have a wonderful day, everyone, and we will catch you on the flip side, see ya.
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