Richards, a security specialist at an organization, was monitoring an IDS system. While monitoring,
he suddenly received an alert of an ongoing intrusion attempt on the organization's network. He
immediately averted the malicious actions by implementing the necessary measures.
Identify the type of alert generated by the IDS system in the above scenario.
A
Explanation:
A true positive alert is generated by an IDS system when it correctly identifies an ongoing intrusion
attempt on the network and sends an alert to the security professional.
This is the desired outcome
of an IDS system, as it indicates that the system is working effectively and accurately
Karter, a security professional, deployed a honeypot on the organization's network for luring
attackers who attempt to breach the network. For this purpose, he configured a type of honeypot
that simulates a real OS as well as the applications and services of a target network. Furthermore,
the honeypot deployed by Karter only responds to pre-configured commands.
Identify the type of Honeypot deployed by Karter in the above scenario.
A
Explanation:
A low-interaction honeypot is a type of honeypot that simulates a real OS as well as the applications
and services of a target network, but only responds to pre-configured commands. It is designed to
capture basic information about the attacker, such as their IP address, tools, and techniques. A low-
interaction honeypot is easier to deploy and maintain than a high-interaction honeypot, which fully
emulates a real system and allows the attacker to interact with it. A pure honeypot is a real system
that is intentionally vulnerable and exposed to attackers. A medium-interaction honeypot is a type of
honeypot that offers more functionality and interactivity than a low-interaction honeypot, but less
than a high-interaction honeypot.
An MNC hired Brandon, a network defender, to establish secured VPN communication between the
company's remote offices. For this purpose, Brandon employed a VPN topology where all the remote
offices communicate with the corporate office but communication between the remote offices is
denied.
Identify the VPN topology employed by Brandon in the above scenario.
C
Explanation:
A hub-and-spoke VPN topology is a type of VPN topology where all the remote offices communicate
with the corporate office, but communication between the remote offices is denied. The corporate
office acts as the hub, and the remote offices act as the spokes. This topology reduces the number of
VPN tunnels required and simplifies the management of VPN policies. A point-to-point VPN topology
is a type of VPN topology where two endpoints establish a direct VPN connection. A star topology is a
type of VPN topology where one endpoint acts as the central node and connects to multiple other
endpoints. A full-mesh VPN topology is a type of VPN topology where every endpoint connects to
every other endpoint.
Mark, a security analyst, was tasked with performing threat hunting to detect imminent threats in an
organization's network. He generated a hypothesis based on the observations in the initial step and
started the threat-hunting process using existing data collected from DNS and proxy logs.
Identify the type of threat-hunting method employed by Mark in the above scenario.
C
Explanation:
A data-driven hunting method is a type of threat hunting method that employs existing data
collected from various sources, such as DNS and proxy logs, to generate and test hypotheses about
potential threats. This method relies on data analysis and machine learning techniques to identify
patterns and anomalies that indicate malicious activity. A data-driven hunting method can help
discover unknown or emerging threats that may evade traditional detection methods. An entity-
driven hunting method is a type of threat hunting method that focuses on specific entities, such as
users, devices, or domains, that are suspected or known to be involved in malicious activity. A TTP-
driven hunting method is a type of threat hunting method that leverages threat intelligence and
knowledge of adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to formulate and test hypotheses
about potential threats. A hybrid hunting method is a type of threat hunting method that combines
different approaches, such as data-driven, entity-driven, and TTP-driven methods, to achieve more
comprehensive and effective results.
An organization hired a network operations center (NOC) team to protect its IT infrastructure from
external attacks. The organization utilized a type of threat intelligence to protect its resources from
evolving threats. The threat intelligence helped the NOC team understand how attackers are
expected to perform an attack on the organization, identify the information leakage, and determine
the attack goals as well as attack vectors.
Identify the type of threat intelligence consumed by the organization in the above scenario.
C
Explanation:
Technical threat intelligence is a type of threat intelligence that provides information about the
technical details of specific attacks, such as indicators of compromise (IOCs), malware signatures,
attack vectors, and vulnerabilities. Technical threat intelligence helps the NOC team understand how
attackers are expected to perform an attack on the organization, identify the information leakage,
and determine the attack goals as well as attack vectors. Technical threat intelligence is often
consumed by security analysts, incident responders, and penetration testers who need to analyze
and respond to active or potential threats.
Tristan, a professional penetration tester, was recruited by an organization to test its network
infrastructure. The organization wanted to understand its current security posture and its strength in
defending against external threats. For this purpose, the organization did not provide any
information about their IT infrastructure to Tristan. Thus, Tristan initiated zero-knowledge attacks,
with no information or assistance from the organization.
Which of the following types of penetration testing has Tristan initiated in the above scenario?
A
Explanation:
Black-box testing is a type of penetration testing where the tester has no prior knowledge of the
target system or network and initiates zero-knowledge attacks, with no information or assistance
from the organization. Black-box testing simulates the perspective of an external attacker who tries
to find and exploit vulnerabilities without any insider information. Black-box testing can help identify
unknown or hidden vulnerabilities that may not be detected by other types of testing. However,
black-box testing can also be time-consuming, costly, and incomplete, as it depends on the tester’s
skills and tools.
Miguel, a professional hacker, targeted an organization to gain illegitimate access to its critical
information. He identified a flaw in the end-point communication that can disclose the target
application's data.
Which of the following secure application design principles was not met by the application in the
above scenario?
C
Explanation:
Exception handling is a secure application design principle that states that the application should
handle errors and exceptions gracefully and securely, without exposing sensitive information or
compromising the system’s functionality. Exception handling can help prevent attackers from
exploiting errors or exceptions to gain access to data or resources or cause denial-of-service attacks.
In the scenario, Miguel identified a flaw in the end-point communication that can disclose the target
application’s data, which means that the application did not meet the exception handling principle.
A software company is developing a new software product by following the best practices for secure
application development. Dawson, a software analyst, is checking the performance of the application
on the client's network to determine whether end users are facing any issues in accessing the
application.
Which of the following tiers of a secure application development lifecycle involves checking the
performance of the application?
B
Explanation:
The testing tier of a secure application development lifecycle involves checking the performance of
the application on the client’s network to determine whether end users are facing any issues in
accessing the application. Testing is a crucial phase of software development that ensures the quality,
functionality, reliability, and security of the application.
Testing can be done manually or
automatically using various tools and techniques, such as unit testing, integration testing, system
testing, regression testing, performance testing, usability testing, security testing, and acceptance
testing
Nicolas, a computer science student, decided to create a guest OS on his laptop for different lab
operations. He adopted a virtualization approach in which the guest OS will not be aware that it is
running in a virtualized environment. The virtual machine manager (VMM) will directly interact with
the computer hardware, translate commands to binary instructions, and forward them to the host
OS.
Which of the following virtualization approaches has Nicolas adopted in the above scenario?
A
Explanation:
Hardware-assisted virtualization is a virtualization approach in which the guest OS will not be aware
that it is running in a virtualized environment. The virtual machine manager (VMM) will directly
interact with the computer hardware, translate commands to binary instructions, and forward them
to the host OS.
Hardware-assisted virtualization relies on special hardware features in the CPU and
chipset to create and manage virtual machines efficiently and securely34
.
Full virtualization is a
virtualization approach in which the guest OS will not be aware that it is running in a virtualized
environment, but the VMM will run in software and emulate all the hardware resources for each
virtual machine5
.
Hybrid virtualization is a virtualization approach that combines hardware-assisted
and full virtualization techniques to optimize performance and compatibility6
.
OS-assisted
virtualization is a virtualization approach in which the guest OS will be modified to run in a virtualized
environment and cooperate with the VMM to access the hardware resources
Walker, a security team member at an organization, was instructed to check if a deployed cloud
service is working as expected. He performed an independent examination of cloud service controls
to verify adherence to standards through a review of objective evidence. Further, Walker evaluated
the services provided by the CSP regarding security controls, privacy impact, and performance.
Identify the role played by Walker in the above scenario.
A
Explanation:
A cloud auditor is a role played by Walker in the above scenario. A cloud auditor is a third party who
examines controls of cloud computing service providers.
Cloud auditor performs an audit to verify
compliance with the standards and expressed his opinion through a report89
.
A cloud provider is an
entity that provides cloud services, such as infrastructure, platform, or software, to cloud
consumers10
.
A cloud carrier is an entity that provides connectivity and transport of cloud services
between cloud providers and cloud consumers10
.
A cloud consumer is an entity that uses cloud
services for its own purposes or on behalf of another entity