CCT 151: Practice CISSP Questions - Unraveling Multi-Layer Protocols and Data Encapsulation (Domains 4.1.4 & 4.1.5)
Jun 20, 2024Ready to conquer the CISSP exam? This episode promises to arm you with crucial insights into the OSI model and its real-world applications. We kick things off by unraveling the intricacies of VPN tunnels and the pivotal role the data link layer plays in encapsulating data packets for secure internet travel. Next, you'll grasp how a significant Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) security breach zeroes in on the network layer. We then dissect the limitations of firewalls at the transport layer, ensuring you understand which types of traffic remain beyond their reach.
Switching gears, we tackle the security hurdles of converged networks and VLAN segmentation. Discover why adaptive security measures are essential in environments where voice and data traffic coexist and how misconfigurations can open doors to unauthorized access. We also highlight the havoc DDoS attacks wreak across multiple OSI layers and the vulnerabilities of VoIP over wireless LAN. By the end, you'll appreciate the necessity of detecting IP spoofing at the network layer and how VLANs bolster security through tailored policies and isolated broadcast domains. Join us as we not only aim to boost your CISSP readiness but also ignite your passion for a thriving career in cybersecurity.
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TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1:
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. Alright, let's get started. Let's go cybersecurity knowledge.
Speaker 2:
All right, let's get started, hey y'all, sean Gerber, with CISSP Cyber Training and hope you all are having a blessed day today. Today is the most anticipated day of the week. I know it is of you all. It is CISSP Question Thursday. Yes, we're going to be going over questions that are tied directly to the CISSP questions that we are, the podcast that we had on Monday and as we're going to go over various aspects around domain four, and that's 4.1.4 and 4.1.5. And this is going to go over multi-layer protocols and the convergence of those protocols. Yes, riveting it is. It's going to be just incredible, incredibly riveting.
Speaker 2:
So if you want this information, obviously we're going to listen to the podcast. You'll have access to it, but you can also go to CISSP Cyber Training and you can get it directly from the site itself. The video is there and available for you. So between audio and video, it's all there. If you also sign up with CISSP Cyber Training, you will have access to my blueprint, which will then give you quick access to all the content that I have within my environment and will help you get you prepped to pass the CISSP the first time.
Speaker 2:
Again, that's, the ultimate goal is to get you to pass the CISSP, get that done, move on with your life and become a security professional with that certification so that you can save us all from the evil hacker horde. But, as we know, this is actually I just saw an article recently where the evil hacker hacker horde is being slowly dismantled in certain areas. There was a couple big arrests recently of uh, especially the one with around the last pass hack and a few others that are pretty substantial. So it may pay well in the short term to be someone that's an attacker, but the ultimate goal is you will pay for it at some point in time. And especially I've seen it where there's been individuals that are working in the hacking industry that are competing against organized crime and that does not go well for them in the future. So sometimes the organized crime folks bring them in for a little while, but then after a while they see themselves on the way out.
Speaker 2:
So you just it's yeah there's obviously lots of money in it obviously gobs of money, but the downsides, yeah, they've always been pretty substantial. So just got to decide is that something you really want to do? But if you're listening to this podcast then you probably are not. You're probably one of those that are on the defender side of the house that is trying to protect the companies from these malicious types of folks. So rather than the monologue continuing on and on and on, let's roll into question number one. Okay, so question one A company uses a VPN tunnel to securely connect its remote offices to the headquarters network.
Speaker 2:
Data packets travel across the public internet within a vpn tunnel. At which layer of the osi model does encapsulation occur? For the vpn tunnel itself? We talked about this a little bit as far as encapsulation goes, but we did not talk about the OSI layer as far as on this podcast, the specific one around the seven layer burrito. And which one is it? Let's see A is the physical layer, b is the data link layer, c is the network layer or D is the transport layer. And again, which data packets travel across the public internet on the VPN right? So which layer of the OSI model does the encapsulation occur? And the answer is B, data link layer. So, obviously, layer two, the data link layer, is encapsulating the original data packets, obviously in a new frame, with the VPN endpoint addresses, right, and the VPN we had talked about is basically an IPSec tunnel that is encapsulating the data. So, again, this allows the data to be traveled securely across the networks.
Speaker 2:
Question number two a company experiences a network security breach where the attackers exploit vulnerabilities in its internet routing protocol or IRP. Well, actually it's not IRP, it's BGP, so I used to call it something different than that, but it's basically your internet routing is the BGP routing that you would see from this is the overall what occurs on the internet. This allows them to redirect traffic intended for company's website to a malicious server. Which layer of the OSI model is most directly impacted by this vulnerability? Again, it's intended for the company's website on a malicious server. Which layer of the OSI model is impacted most by this vulnerability? And this is with BGP Border Gateway Protocol. That's the name of it. Sorry, I had to think for a second A physical layer, b data link layer, c network layer or D transport layer. And the answer is C, the network layer. Bgp is a routing protocol, right, it's a border gateway protocol that operates on layer three of the network layer and it's responsible for directing traffic across the internet. So, again, vulnerabilities in BGP can be exploited to manipulate the routing information and then, obviously, redirect traffic, such as what's defined in this scenario.
Speaker 2:
Question three a company implements a firewall to filter incoming and outgoing network traffic. The firewall operates at layer four okay, the transport layer of the OSI model. Which type of traffic can the firewall not directly inspect or filter, based on its layer? So a company implements a firewall to filter out the outgoing network traffic. The firewall operates at layer four of the OSI model. Which type of traffic can the firewall not directly inspect or filter, based on this specific layer? A source and destination IP addresses, basically Port numbers, and used by the application it's layer four physical media used to transmit the data layer one or the content of the application, basically layer seven. So again, what can it not directly inspect or filter based on its layer? And that would be the application level data, the layer seven, that's d they operate primarily on the layer four, which is your transport, and can inspect and filter traffic based on source and destination ports. They cannot directly inspect the content of an application layer unless additional services such as DPI, which is your deep packet inspection, is implemented and that typically you can get it on firewalls, but in most cases that would be filtered off to another type of appliance to do DPI. So that's an aspect you need to be aware of and, as you'll see in firewalls, many firewall companies may say they can do all kinds of things. Again, you need to really, as a security professional, think strongly about the right tool for the right job, and sometimes these tools can do more, but maybe you don't necessarily want them to do more. Maybe you want to buy a tool specifically for what you're trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2:
Question four a company migrates its network to a converged infrastructure where voice and data traffic share the same physical network. While this offers efficiency benefits, what is a potential security challenge associated with converged networks? Okay, so they're talking about converged infrastructure where voice and data traffic share the same physical network. What is a security challenge? A physical cables cannot handle both voice and data traffic simultaneously. B data link layer protocols need to be modified for convergence. C network security needs to be adaptive to handle different types of traffic. Or. D application layer protocols are not compatible with converged networks. And the answer is C network security needs to be adapted to handle different traffic types. Again, when you're setting up the network traffic, you want to have segmentation specifically designed around the different network types. Again, it's just a better security mechanism and it's also separating the different duties that they may have. So it's just a smarter way to ensure that you can protect your data. Question five a company implements VLAN to segment the network and improve security.
Speaker 2:
However, due to misconfigurations that's never good a sensitive server is accidentally placed in the same VLAN as a public guest network. What is the security risk associated with this misconfiguration? We talk about this all the time. Security risks in many cases come from people making foolish decisions or just making a mistake right and making a misconfiguration so unauthorized users on the guest network might gain access to the sensitive server. That's A. So unauthorized users on the guest network might gain access to the sensitive server, that'sa b. The physical cables connecting the server and the guest network might be compromised. C. The data link layer communication between the server and the guest network might be disrupted. Or d. The transport layer protocols used by the server will be incompatible with the guest network. So the data link layer communications in the guest network could be disrupted. That could be part of it. But in the main case, when you're dealing with and that's more of a availability issue, it's not necessarily a security issue. You're looking at A unauthorized users on the guest network might gain access to the sensitive server. They may not, but if they're on the same VLAN there's a high likelihood that they could potentially have access to it.
Speaker 2:
Question six A company experiences a DDoS attack and overwhelms the network with traffic. Which layer of the OSI model is most likely targeted in this attack? Again, it's a DDoS attack. It overwhelms the network traffic. What layer of the OSI model is most likely targeted during this attack? A the physical layer physical transmission of bits, right. B. The data link layer, framing and addressing. C. The network layer, routing and IP addressing. Or. D. The transport layer, reliable data transfers. Or oh, that's a new one. E well, what is that? All of the above, right? Yeah? So guess what? All of the above can be affected by a DDoS attack, right, they may not be directly, as it comes down to one specific target, but because you're doing a DDoS attack, it's affecting everything on the network.
Speaker 2:
Question seven a company implements a converged network that includes voice over IP, over wireless LAN. What is the security concern associated with this convergence? So a company implements converged networks, that includes VoIP over a wireless LAN. What is the security concern associated with this potential convergence? A data link layer protocols need to be modified for wireless communication. B that physical medium, ie air, is more susceptible to eavesdropping compared to wired networks. C network security solutions designed for wired networks might not be sufficient for a wireless network. Or D all of the above are security concerns with VoIP over wireless, and the answer is D, right, so all of these can be affecting your VoIP. That doesn't mean that you know we talk about VoIP and being being encapsulated. It doesn't mean they're going to gain access to it, but it does mean it is a little bit of a security concern and you need to do an assessment of that, just to make sure that you've covered your bases and your security concerns with each of these different areas. That's why security assessments are so important, especially when you're're dealing with areas that are maybe outside of what you would normally utilize, such as VoIP over air.
Speaker 2:
Question eight the network security analyst detects a packet with a spoofed source IP address attempting to access a server. Which layer of the OSI model is most relevant to this type of spoofing attack. So a network security analyst detects a packet with a spoofed source ip address attempting to access a server. Which layer of the osi model is most relevant to this type of spoofing attack? A network layer, b physical layer, c data link layer or d transport layer? And the answer is a network layer, right. So spoofing attacks typically target layer three of your network by forging source IP addresses in packets to deceive the routing mechanisms to gain unauthorized access.
Speaker 2:
Basically, they're spoofing the IP addresses Question nine a company segments this network to separate VLANs for its development, production and guest network environments. Good idea. Network to separate VLANs for its development, production and guest network environments? Good idea. How does a network segmentation contribute to security using a concept of multi-layer protocols? Okay, so, again, the company segments its network into separate VLANs for development, production and guest networks. Good idea, very good idea. What does the network segmentation contribute to security using the concept of multi-layer protocols? A it simplifies the network management by using the same protocol against all LANs. B the segmentation allows for applying different security policies based on traffic type, layer 3 and layer 4. B the VLANs operate at layer 2, so isolating broadcast domains and improving security. Ok, so or D, b and C are correct. Which one is the correct answer? And the answer is D, both B and C will be correct. Segmentation allows for applying different security policies and then VLANs will operate in layer 2, isolating the broadcast domains. One is not correct because of the fact that it does not simplify network management. It just doesn't. But it does make it much more secure. So the VLANs will leverage layer two for isolation to restrict broadcast traffic and this allows for applying different security policies based on the traffic types, which would be layer three and layer four within each specific VLAN?
Speaker 2:
Question 10. A company encrypts data at rest on its servers and transmits it across the network. At which layers of the OSI model does encryption play a role in this scenario? Again, a company encrypts data at rest on its servers and in transit across the network. At which layers of the OSI model does encryption play a role in this scenario? A physical data link layers only. B, network and transport layers only. C data link and transport layers only. Or D. Encryption may be applied to any layer of the OSI model and the answer is B network and transport layers only. So encryption typically operates at higher layers network and transport to protect the data confidentiality during the routing and transmission, while lower layers encryption is technically possible, it is common, it is less common and may not be as efficient and widely supported.
Speaker 2:
Question 11 a network intrusion detection system, ids, analyzes network traffic to identify suspicious activity. Which layer of the osi model does an ids typically focus on for traffic inspection? So, network intrusion detection IDS analyzes network traffic to identify suspicious activity which is expected. Which layer of the OSI model does the IDS, the intrusion detection system, typically focus on for traffic inspection. A the physical layer, analyzing raw data transmissions. B the data link layer. Or C layers three and four, which is basically analyzing IP addresses, ports and protocols, or layer four and seven, which is focusing on the application data and its behavior. And the answer is C, layer three and four. Basically, three is the network, four is transport and it examines the IPs and the ports used, used right, which what you're looking for? Anything that would be out of the ordinary from a standpoint of malicious activity.
Speaker 2:
Question 12 a company implements encryption for its web traffic, basically https, to protect the user data during transmission.
Speaker 2:
Good idea. How does this encryption mitigate the risk of a man-in-the-middle attack? So, by implementing encryption, https, on your web traffic during user data transmissions, how does it help? B by encrypting the data at layer 7, attackers cannot intercept the user's credentials. B encryption prevents unauthorized access to physical network cables. C it scrambles data at layer 2, making it unreadable for attackers in the same network. Or D Encryption ensures data integrity but doesn't prevent interception of a man in the middle. And the answer is A by encrypting the data at layer 7, attackers cannot intercept the user's credentials. So that's where it's at. Https communications are at the application layer and it makes it unreadable. So it's a good thing, it's a positive thing. Question 13. A company uses a VPN tunnel to securely connect its remote offices to the headquarters network. The VPN tunnel encapsulates the data packets within another protocol. Now this is going to talk about in the question. It'll say GRE tunnels, so I can't remember the name GRE, what it stands for, something general routing encapsulation.
Speaker 2:
I can't remember the name GRE, what it stands for, something, general routing encapsulation I can't remember, but I've dealt with those before but it basically encapsulates the data packets within this other protocol For secure transmissions over the public internet. What security consideration is important when using protocol tunneling? Okay, so they're using a VPN, they're using GRE tunnels, and what is a thing for dealing with protocol tunneling? A the chosen tunneling protocol, ie GRE, should, when you say complete, always throw those out because it's never, ever, complete. I shouldn't say always, but it's a highly suspect answer. And the answer is B encryption should be applied within the tunnel to protect the encapsulated data, right? So while the protocol tunneling creates a secure channel, the data encapsulation within the tunnel might still be vulnerable if it's not encrypted. So therefore, additional encryption within the tunnel will help ensure confidentiality of the data. Two more to go, two more, okay. Question 14.
Speaker 2:
A company implements network segmentation using VLANs to isolate its critical infrastructure from the public guest network. Good idea. How does a segmentation contribute to mitigating the impact of a DDoS attack? So, by isolating it, how does it help impact or reduce the impact of a DDoS attack? A VLANs can filter malicious traffic at layer 7, preventing the DDoS attack altogether. B DDoS attacks primarily target layer 2 protocols and segmentation has minimal impact. C VLANs require complex configurations and might worsen the network performance during a DDoS attack. Or D segmentation limits the attack surface and potential damage.
Speaker 2:
If a DDoS attack occurs against the guest network and the answer is D, right, so by segmenting this out, it does reduce the attack surface. Now, depending upon how your guest network comes into your network, it could end up just still causing you problems, right? So if your guest network is a separate network from your overall business network, good idea, and you would want that to be off on its own. And then if the DDoS attack happened against your guest network, okay, the guests can't get on right now, but if it's part of your overall network, then yeah, that's a bit of a problem. So you just got to kind of think about that Last question, the last melon, question 15,.
Speaker 2:
A company utilizes next generation firewalls, ngfw, with deep packet inspection DPI capabilities to enhance the network security. How does DPI leverage the concept of multi-layer protocols? Okay, so how does DPI help leverage concept of multi-layer protocols? A DPI analyzes physical layer characteristics of network traffic for anomalies. B it inspects data packets at layer 7, looking for malicious content within the application protocols C deep packet malicious content within the application protocols C deep packet inspection focuses on layer 2 protocols and frame content for security threats. Or D next generation firewalls work independently of the OSI model and don't rely on protocol layers. Okay, so what is it? Where is the DPI at? Well, we talked about DPI inspects the application layer, which is layer 7, looking for malicious content within the application protocols. And the answer is B. So, like again, like traditional firewalls that primarily focus on layer three and four, next generation firewalls with DPI can go deeper and inspect it at the application layer, which is level seven or layer seven. However, like I said before, going with having a next generation firewall that does application level monitoring is great, but you've got to have a pretty beefy system to be able to do that and depending on the amount of applications you have and the bandwidth that you have that's going through your network, it could be very challenging. So having a separate device that does application monitoring may be the better choice, but maybe not, depending upon your network. All right, that is all I have for you today.
Speaker 2:
I'm super excited for what's going on with CISSP Cyber Training A lot of great things. I've been doing some great mentoring with folks. We have a lot of people that are passing the CISSP, taking the courseware. I highly recommend it. I mean, again, I keep talking about some changes there's gonna I just gotta have the time, but there's going to be some things that'll be coming that will make it even easier for you to get your CISSP.
Speaker 2:
So I'm excited excited for the future, and I'm excited for you all that you're coming into the security space, because the fact is, we need you terribly bad. The world needs you all very much. So I appreciate you guys listening to the podcast. I appreciate any support you have for the podcast. Please go out there and give us a thumbs up, give us a rating, whatever you may need. We are fast approaching 10 000 downloads a month, so it's really growing and we are extremely excited about the future for this, to help you all pass the cissp the first time. All right, have a great day and we will catch you on the flip side, see ya.
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