SSCP Sample Questions Answers

A trojan horse is any code that appears to have some useful purpose but also contains code that has a malicious or harmful purpose imbedded in it. A Trojan often also includes a trapdoor as a means to gain access to a computer system bypassing security controls.

Wikipedia defines it as:

A Trojan horse, or Trojan, in computing is a non-self-replicating type of malware program containing malicious code that, when executed, carries out actions determined by the nature of the Trojan, typically causing loss or theft of data, and possible system harm. The term is derived from the story of the wooden horse used to trick defenders of Troy into taking concealed warriors into their city in ancient Greece, because computer Trojans often employ a form of social engineering, presenting themselves as routine, useful, or interesting in order to persuade victims to install them on their computers.

The following answers are incorrect:

virus. Is incorrect because a Virus is a malicious program and is does not appear to be harmless, it's sole purpose is malicious intent often doing damage to a system. A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive; when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected".

worm. Is incorrect because a Worm is similiar to a Virus but does not require user intervention to execute. Rather than doing damage to the system, worms tend to self-propagate and devour the resources of a system. A computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

trapdoor. Is incorrect because a trapdoor is a means to bypass security by hiding an entry point into a system. Trojan Horses often have a trapdoor imbedded in them.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_%28computing%29

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_worm

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backdoor_%28computing%29

As script kiddies are low to moderately skilled hackers using available scripts and tools to easily launch attacks against victims.

The other answers are incorrect because :

Black hats is incorrect as they are malicious , skilled hackers.

White hats is incorrect as they are security professionals.

Phreakers is incorrect as they are telephone/PBX (private branch exchange) hackers.

Reference : Shon Harris AIO v3 , Chapter 12: Operations security , Page : 830

A Polymorphic virus produces varied but operational copies of itself in hopes of evading anti-virus software.

The following answers are incorrect:

boot sector. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer. A boot sector virus attacks the boot sector of a drive. It describes the type of attack of the virus and not the characteristics of its composition.

parasitic. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer. A parasitic virus attaches itself to other files but does not change its characteristics.

stealth. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer. A stealth virus attempts to hide changes of the affected files but not itself.

JAVA was developed so that the same program could be executed on multiple hardware and operating system platforms, it is not Architecture Specific.

The following answers are incorrect:

Object-oriented. Is not correct because JAVA is object-oriented. It should use the object-oriented programming methodology.

Distributed. Is incorrect because JAVA was developed to be able to be distrubuted, run on multiple computer systems over a network.

Multithreaded. Is incorrect because JAVA is multi-threaded that is calls to subroutines as is the case with object-oriented programming.

A virus is a program that can replicate itself on a system but not necessarily spread itself by network connections.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2001, Page 644.

Content security measures presumes that the content is available in cleartext on the central mail server.

Encrypted emails have to be decrypted before it can be filtered (e.g. to detect viruses), so you need the decryption key on the central "crypto mail server".

There are several ways for such key management, e.g. by message or key recovery methods. However, that would certainly require further processing in order to achieve such goal.

A polymorphic virus has the capability of changing its own code, enabling it to have many different variants, making it harder to detect by anti-virus software. The particularity of a stealth virus is that it tries to hide its presence after infecting a system. A Trojan horse is a set of unauthorized instructions that are added to or replacing a legitimate program. A logic bomb is a set of instructions that is initiated when a specific event occurs.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 11: Application and System Development (page 786).

A few years ago the best choice for this question would have been seeing how far their skills can take them. Today this has changed greatly, most crimes committed are financially motivated.

Profit is the most widespread motive behind all cybercrimes and, indeed, most crimes- everyone wants to make money. Hacking for money or for free services includes a smorgasbord of crimes such as embezzlement, corporate espionage and being a “hacker for hire”. Scams are easier to undertake but the likelihood of success is much lower. Money-seekers come from any lifestyle but those with persuasive skills make better con artists in the same way as those who are exceptionally tech-savvy make better “hacks for hire”.

"White hats" are the security specialists (as opposed to Black Hats) interested in helping the community in securing their networks. They will test systems and network with the owner authorization.

A Black Hat is someone who uses his skills for offensive purpose. They do not seek authorization before they attempt to comprise the security mechanisms in place.

"Grey Hats" are people who sometimes work as a White hat and other times they will work as a "Black Hat", they have not made up their mind yet as to which side they prefer to be.

The following are incorrect answers:

All the other choices could be possible reasons but the best one today is really for financial gains.

References used for this question:

http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00460/crimeMotives.html

and

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1160835

and

http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/1/B/A/%7B1BA0F612-613A-494D-B6C5-06938FE8BB53%7Dhtcb006.pdf

XSS or Cross-Site Scripting is a threat to web applications where malicious code is placed on a website that attacks the use using their existing authenticated session status.

Cross-Site Scripting attacks are a type of injection problem, in which malicious scripts are injected into the otherwise benign and trusted web sites. Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks occur when an attacker uses a web application to send malicious code, generally in the form of a browser side script, to a different end user. Flaws that allow these attacks to succeed are quite widespread and occur anywhere a web application uses input from a user in the output it generates without validating or encoding it.

An attacker can use XSS to send a malicious script to an unsuspecting user. The end user’s browser has no way to know that the script should not be trusted, and will execute the script. Because it thinks the script came from a trusted source, the malicious script can access any cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive information retained by your browser and used with that site. These scripts can even rewrite the content of the HTML page.

Mitigation:

Configure your IPS - Intrusion Prevention System to detect and suppress this traffic.

Input Validation on the web application to normalize inputted data.

Set web apps to bind session cookies to the IP Address of the legitimate user and only permit that IP Address to use that cookie.

See the XSS (Cross Site Scripting) Prevention Cheat Sheet

See the Abridged XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet

See the DOM based XSS Prevention Cheat Sheet

See the OWASP Development Guide article on Phishing.

See the OWASP Development Guide article on Data Validation.

The following answers are incorrect:

Intrusion Detection Systems: Sorry. IDS Systems aren't usually the target of XSS attacks but a properly-configured IDS/IPS can "detect and report on malicious string and suppress the TCP connection in an attempt to mitigate the threat.

Firewalls: Sorry. Firewalls aren't usually the target of XSS attacks.

DNS Servers: Same as above, DNS Servers aren't usually targeted in XSS attacks but they play a key role in the domain name resolution in the XSS attack process.

The following reference(s) was used to create this question:

CCCure Holistic Security+ CBT and Curriculum

and

https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross-site_Scripting_%28XSS%29

It refers to the alteration of the existing data , most often seen before it is entered into an application.This type of crime is extremely common and can be prevented by using appropriate access controls and proper segregation of duties. It will more likely be perpetrated by insiders, who have access to data before it is processed.

The other answers are incorrect because :

IP Spoofing is not correct as the questions asks about the crime associated with the insiders. Spoofing is generally accomplished from the outside.

Password sniffing is also not the BEST answer as it requires a lot of technical knowledge in understanding the encryption and decryption process.

Denial of service (DOS) is also incorrect as most Denial of service attacks occur over the internet.

Reference : Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter-10 : Law , Investigation & Ethics , Page : 758-760.

While a masquerading attack can be considered a type of social engineering, the Melissa and ILOVEYOU viruses are examples of masquerading attacks, even if it may cause some kind of denial of service due to the web server being flooded with messages. In this case, the receiver confidently opens a message coming from a trusted individual, only to find that the message was sent using the trusted party's identity.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, Chapter 10: Law, Investigation, and Ethics (page 650).

The exposure factor is a measure of the magnitude of loss or impact on the value of an asset.

The probability is the chance or likelihood, in a finite sample, that an event will occur or that a specific loss value may be attained should the event occur.

A vulnerability is the absence or weakness of a risk-reducing safeguard.

A threat is event, the occurrence of which could have an undesired impact.

Source: ROTHKE, Ben, CISSP CBK Review presentation on domain 3, August 1999.

A data backup is the first step in contingency planning.

Without data, there is nothing to process. "No backup, no recovery".

Backup for hardware should be taken care of next.

Formal arrangements must be made for alternate processing capability in case the need should arise.

Operating systems and application software should be taken care of afterwards.

Source: VALLABHANENI, S. Rao, CISSP Examination Textbooks, Volume 2: Practice, SRV Professional Publications, 2002, Chapter 8, Business Continuity Planning & Disaster Recovery Planning (page 506).

Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) provides a continuous on-line backup by using optical or tape "jukeboxes," similar to WORMs.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 71.

It is a data integrity assurance software aimed at detecting and reporting accidental or malicious changes to data.

The following answers are incorrect :

Nessus is incorrect as it is a vulnerability scanner used by hackers in discovering vulnerabilities in a system.

Saint is also incorrect as it is also a network vulnerability scanner likely to be used by hackers.

Nmap is also incorrect as it is a port scanner for network exploration and likely to be used by hackers.

Reference :

Tripwire : http://www.tripwire.com

Nessus : http://www.nessus.org

Saint : http://www.saintcorporation.com/saint

Nmap : http://insecure.org/nmap

An access control matrix is a table of subjects and objects indicating what actions individual subjects can take upon individual objects. Matrices are data structures that programmers implement as table lookups that will be used and enforced by the operating system.

This type of access control is usually an attribute of DAC models. The access rights can be assigned directly to the subjects (capabilities) or to the objects (ACLs).

Capability Table

A capability table specifies the access rights a certain subject possesses pertaining to specific objects. A capability table is different from an ACL because the subject is bound to the capability table, whereas the object is bound to the ACL.

Access control lists (ACLs)

ACLs are used in several operating systems, applications, and router configurations. They are lists of subjects that are authorized to access a specific object, and they define what level of authorization is granted. Authorization can be specific to an individual, group, or role. ACLs map values from the access control matrix to the object.

Whereas a capability corresponds to a row in the access control matrix, the ACL corresponds to a column of the matrix.

NOTE: Ensure you are familiar with the terms Capability and ACLs for the purpose of the exam.

Resource(s) used for this question:

Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (Kindle Locations 5264-5267). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

or

Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition, Page 229

and

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 1923-1925). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Source: Veritas eLearning CD - Introducing Disaster Recovery Planning, Chapter 1.

All of the others can be replaced or repaired. Data that is lost and was not backed up, cannot be restored.

C1 involves discretionary protection, C2 involves controlled access protection, B1 involves labeled security protection and B2 involves structured protection.

Source: TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation.

There is no such component within kerberos environment. Kerberos uses only symmetric encryption and does not make use of any public key component.

The other answers are incorrect because :

Symmetric key cryptography is a part of Kerberos as the KDC holds all the users' and services' secret keys.

Authentication service (AS) : KDC (Key Distribution Center) provides an authentication service

Principals : Key Distribution Center provides services to principals , which can be users , applications or network services.

References: Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter - 4: Access Control , Pages : 152-155.

After a test has been performed the most useful test results for manangement would be knowing what worked and what didn't so that they could correct the mistakes where needed.

The following answers are incorrect:

elapsed time to perform various activities. This is incorrect because it is not the best answer, these results are not as useful as list of successful and unsuccessful activities would be to managment.

amount of work completed. This is incorrect because it is not the best answer, these results are not as useful as list of successful and unsuccessful activities would be to managment.

description of each activity. This is incorrect because it is not the best answer, these results are not as useful as list of successful and unsuccessful activities would be to managment.

Security is generally defined as the freedom from danger or as the condition of safety. Computer security, specifically, is the protection of data in a system against unauthorized disclosure, modification, or destruction and protection of the computer system itself against unauthorized use, modification, or denial of service. Because certain computer security controls inhibit productivity, security is typically a compromise toward which security practitioners, system users, and system operations and administrative personnel work to achieve a satisfactory balance between security and productivity.

Controls for providing information security can be physical, technical, or administrative.

These three categories of controls can be further classified as either preventive or detective. Preventive controls attempt to avoid the occurrence of unwanted events, whereas detective controls attempt to identify unwanted events after they have occurred. Preventive controls inhibit the free use of computing resources and therefore can be applied only to the degree that the users are willing to accept. Effective security awareness programs can help increase users’ level of tolerance for preventive controls by helping them understand how such controls enable them to trust their computing systems. Common detective controls include audit trails, intrusion detection methods, and checksums.

Three other types of controls supplement preventive and detective controls. They are usually described as deterrent, corrective, and recovery.

Deterrent controls are intended to discourage individuals from intentionally violating information security policies or procedures. These usually take the form of constraints that make it difficult or undesirable to perform unauthorized activities or threats of consequences that influence a potential intruder to not violate security (e.g., threats ranging from embarrassment to severe punishment).

Corrective controls either remedy the circumstances that allowed the unauthorized activity or return conditions to what they were before the violation. Execution of corrective controls could result in changes to existing physical, technical, and administrative controls.

Recovery controls restore lost computing resources or capabilities and help the organization recover monetary losses caused by a security violation.

Deterrent, corrective, and recovery controls are considered to be special cases within the major categories of physical, technical, and administrative controls; they do not clearly belong in either preventive or detective categories. For example, it could be argued that deterrence is a form of prevention because it can cause an intruder to turn away; however, deterrence also involves detecting violations, which may be what the intruder fears most. Corrective controls, on the other hand, are not preventive or detective, but they are clearly linked with technical controls when antiviral software eradicates a virus or with administrative controls when backup procedures enable restoring a damaged data base. Finally, recovery controls are neither preventive nor detective but are included in administrative controls as disaster recovery or contingency plans.

Reference(s) used for this question

Handbook of Information Security Management, Hal Tipton

Scanning is definitively a very active attack. The attacker will make use of a scanner to perform the attack, the scanner will send a very large quantity of packets to the target in order to illicit responses that allows the attacker to find information about the operating system, vulnerabilities, misconfiguration and more. The packets being sent are sometimes attempting to identify if a known vulnerability exist on the remote hosts.

A passive attack is usually done in the footprinting phase of an attack. While doing your passive reconnaissance you never send a single packet to the destination target. You gather information from public databases such as the DNS servers, public information through search engines, financial information from finance web sites, and technical infomation from mailing list archive or job posting for example.

An attack can be active or passive.

An "active attack" attempts to alter system resources or affect their operation.

A "passive attack" attempts to learn or make use of information from the system but does not affect system resources. (E.g., see: wiretapping.)

The following are all incorrect answers because they are all passive attacks:

Traffic Analysis - Is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication. It can be performed even when the messages are encrypted and cannot be decrypted. In general, the greater the number of messages observed, or even intercepted and stored, the more can be inferred from the traffic. Traffic analysis can be performed in the context of military intelligence or counter-intelligence, and is a concern in computer security.

Eavesdropping - Eavesdropping is another security risk posed to networks. Because of the way some networks are built, anything that gets sent out is broadcast to everyone. Under normal circumstances, only the computer that the data was meant for will process that information. However, hackers can set up programs on their computers called "sniffers" that capture all data being broadcast over the network. By carefully examining the data, hackers can often reconstruct real data that was never meant for them. Some of the most damaging things that get sniffed include passwords and credit card information.

In the cryptographic context, Eavesdropping and sniffing data as it passes over a network are considered passive attacks because the attacker is not affecting the protocol, algorithm, key, message, or any parts of the encryption system. Passive attacks are hard to detect, so in most cases methods are put in place to try to prevent them rather than to detect and stop them. Altering messages, modifying system files, and masquerading as another individual are acts that are considered active attacks because the attacker is actually doing something instead of sitting back and gathering data. Passive attacks are usually used to gain information prior to carrying out an active attack."

Wiretapping - Wiretapping refers to listening in on electronic communications on telephones, computers, and other devices. Many governments use it as a law enforcement tool, and it is also used in fields like corporate espionage to gain access to privileged information. Depending on where in the world one is, wiretapping may be tightly controlled with laws that are designed to protect privacy rights, or it may be a widely accepted practice with little or no protections for citizens. Several advocacy organizations have been established to help civilians understand these laws in their areas, and to fight illegal wiretapping.

Reference(s) used for this question:

HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 6th Edition, Cryptography, Page 865

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_%28computing%29

and

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-wiretapping.htm

and

https://pangea.stanford.edu/computing/resources/network/security/risks.php

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_analysis

The Internet Security Glossary (RFC2828) defines a bastion host as a strongly protected computer that is in a network protected by a firewall (or is part of a firewall) and is the only host (or one of only a few hosts) in the network that can be directly accessed from networks on the other side of the firewall.

Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000.

The question mentions clearly "operating together". Which means the BEST answer is Dual Control.

Two mechanisms necessary to implement high integrity environments where separation of duties is paramount are dual control or split knowledge.

Dual control enforces the concept of keeping a duo responsible for an activity. It requires more than one employee available to perform a task. It utilizes two or more separate entities (usually persons), operating together, to protect sensitive functions or information.

Whenever the dual control feature is limited to something you know., it is often called split knowledge (such as part of the password, cryptographic keys etc.) Split knowledge is the unique “what each must bring” and joined together when implementing dual control.

To illustrate, let say you have a box containing petty cash is secured by one combination lock and one keyed lock. One employee is given the combination to the combo lock and another employee has possession of the correct key to the keyed lock. In order to get the cash out of the box both employees must be present at the cash box at the same time. One cannot open the box without the other. This is the aspect of dual control.

On the other hand, split knowledge is exemplified here by the different objects (the combination to the combo lock and the correct physical key), both of which are unique and necessary, that each brings to the meeting.

This is typically used in high value transactions / activities (as per the organizations risk appetite) such as:

Approving a high value transaction using a special user account, where the password of this user account is split into two and managed by two different staff. Both staff should be present to enter the password for a high value transaction. This is often combined with the separation of duties principle. In this case, the posting of the transaction would have been performed by another staff. This leads to a situation where collusion of at least 3 people are required to make a fraud transaction which is of high value.

Payment Card and PIN printing is separated by SOD principles. Now the organization can even enhance the control mechanism by implementing dual control / split knowledge. The card printing activity can be modified to require two staff to key in the passwords for initiating the printing process. Similarly, PIN printing authentication can also be made to be implemented with dual control. Many Host Security modules (HSM) comes with built in controls for dual controls where physical keys are required to initiate the PIN printing process.

Managing encryption keys is another key area where dual control / split knowledge to be implemented.

PCI DSS defines Dual Control as below. This is more from a cryptographic perspective, still useful:

Dual Control: Process of using two or more separate entities (usually persons) operating in concert to protect sensitive functions or information. Both entities are equally responsible for the physical protection of materials involved in vulnerable transactions. No single person is permitted to access or use the materials (for example, the cryptographic key). For manual key generation, conveyance, loading, storage, and retrieval, dual control requires dividing knowledge of the key among the entities. (See also Split Knowledge).

Split knowledge: Condition in which two or more entities separately have key components that individually convey no knowledge of the resultant cryptographic key.

It is key for information security professionals to understand the differences between Dual Control and Separation of Duties. Both complement each other, but are not the same.

The following were incorrect answers:

Segregation of Duties address the splitting of various functions within a process to different users so that it will not create an opportunity for a single user to perform conflicting tasks.

For example, the participation of two or more persons in a transaction creates a system of checks and balances and reduces the possibility of fraud considerably. So it is important for an organization to ensure that all tasks within a process has adequate separation.

Let us look at some use cases of segregation of duties

A person handling cash should not post to the accounting records

A loan officer should not disburse loan proceeds for loans they approved

Those who have authority to sign cheques should not reconcile the bank accounts

The credit card printing personal should not print the credit card PINs

Customer address changes must be verified by a second employee before the change

can be activated.

In situations where the separation of duties are not possible, because of lack of staff, the senior management should set up additional measure to offset the lack of adequate controls.

To summarise, Segregation of Duties is about Separating the conflicting duties to reduce fraud in an end to end function.

Need To Know (NTK):

The term "need to know", when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if one has all the necessary official approvals (such as a security clearance) to access certain information, one would not be given access to such information, unless one has a specific need to know; that is, access to the information must be necessary for the conduct of one's official duties. As with most security mechanisms, the aim is to make it difficult for unauthorized access to occur, without inconveniencing legitimate access. Need-to-know also aims to discourage "browsing" of sensitive material by limiting access to the smallest possible number of people.

EXAM TIP: HOW TO DECIPHER THIS QUESTION

First, you probably nototiced that both Separation of Duties and Segregation of Duties are synonymous with each others. This means they are not the BEST answers for sure. That was an easy first step.

For the exam remember:

Separation of Duties is synonymous with Segregation of Duties

Dual Control is synonymous with Split Knowledge

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 16048-16078). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

and

http://www.ciso.in/dual-control-or-segregation-of-duties/

The Full Backup Method makes a complete backup of every file on the server every time it is run.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 69.

The Land attack involves the perpetrator sending spoofed packet(s) with the SYN flag set to the victim's machine on any open port that is listening. The packet(s) contain the same destination and source IP address as the host, causing the victim's machine to reply to itself repeatedly. In addition, most systems experience a total freeze up, where as CTRL-ALT-DELETE fails to work, the mouse and keyboard become non operational and the only method of correction is to reboot via a reset button on the system or by turning the machine off.

The Boink attack, a modified version of the original Teardrop and Bonk exploit programs, is very similar to the Bonk attack, in that it involves the perpetrator sending corrupt UDP packets to the host. It however allows the attacker to attack multiple ports where Bonk was mainly directed to port 53 (DNS).

The Teardrop attack involves the perpetrator sending overlapping packets to the victim, when their machine attempts to re-construct the packets the victim's machine hangs.

A Smurf attack is a network-level attack against hosts where a perpetrator sends a large amount of ICMP echo (ping) traffic at broadcast addresses, all of it having a spoofed source address of a victim. If the routing device delivering traffic to those broadcast addresses performs the IP broadcast to layer 2 broadcast function, most hosts on that IP network will take the ICMP echo request and reply to it with an echo reply each, multiplying the traffic by the number of hosts responding. On a multi-access broadcast network, there could potentially be hundreds of machines to reply to each packet.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAND

RFC 2828 (Internet Security Glossary) defines the Internet Message Access Protocol, version 4 (IMAP4) as an Internet protocol by which a client workstation can dynamically access a mailbox on a server host to manipulate and retrieve mail messages that the server has received and is holding for the client.

IMAP4 has mechanisms for optionally authenticating a client to a server and providing other security services.

MIME is the MultiPurpose Internet Mail Extension. MIME extends the format of Internet mail to allow non-US-ASCII textual messages, non-textual messages, multipart message bodies, and non-US-ASCII information in message headers.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a TCP-based, application-layer, Internet Standard protocol for moving electronic mail messages from one computer to another.

Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) is an Internet protocol to provide data confidentiality, data integrity, and data origin authentication for electronic mail.

Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000.

CHAP is an authentication mechanism for point-to-point protocol connections that encrypt the user's password. It is a protocol that uses a three-way handshake. The server sends the client a challenge, which includes a random value (a nonce) to thwart replay attacks. The client responds with a MD5 hash of the nonce and the password. The authentication is successful if the client’s response is the one that the server expected.

The VPN communication protocol standards listed above are PPTP, L2TP and IPSec.

PPTP and L2TP operate at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model and enable only a single point-to-point connection per session.

The following are incorrect answers:

PPTP uses native PPP authentication and encryption services. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is a VPN protocol that runs over other protocols. PPTP relies on generic routing encapsulation (GRE) to build the tunnel between the endpoints. After the user authenticates, typically with Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol version 2 (MSCHAPv2), a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session creates a tunnel using GRE.

L2TP is a combination of PPTP and the earlier Layer 2 Forwarding protocol (L2F). Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a hybrid of Cisco’s Layer 2 Forwarding (L2F) and Microsoft’s PPTP. It allows callers over a serial line using PPP to connect over the Internet to a remote network. A dial-up user connects to his ISP’s L2TP access concentrator (LAC) with a PPP connection. The LAC encapsulates the PPP packets into L2TP and forwards it to the remote network’s layer 2 network server (LNS). At this point, the LNS authenticates the dial-up user. If authentication is successful, the dial-up user will have access to the remote network.

IPSec operates at the network layer (layer 3) and enables multiple simultaneous tunnels. IP Security (IPSec) is a suite of protocols for communicating securely with IP by providing mechanisms for authenticating and encryption. Implementation of IPSec is mandatory in IPv6, and many organizations are using it over IPv4. Further, IPSec can be implemented in two modes, one that is appropriate for end-to-end protection and one that safeguards traffic between networks.

Reference used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 7067-7071). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

and

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 6987-6990). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, pages 76, 157.

RC4 is a proprietary, variable-key-length stream cipher invented by Ron Rivest for RSA Data Security, Inc. Skipjack, IDEA and Blowfish are examples of block ciphers.

Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000.

The security of the RSA system is based on the assumption that factoring the product into two original large prime numbers is difficult

Source:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 159).

Shon Harris, CISSP All-in-One Examine Guide, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill Companies, August 2005, Chapter 8: Cryptography, Page 636 - 639

X.509 is used in digital certificates. X.400 is used in e-mail as a message handling protocol. X.25 is a standard for the network and data link levels of a communication network and X.75 is a standard defining ways of connecting two X.25 networks.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 164).

Displaying the directory contents of a folder can alter the last access time on each listed file.

Using a write blocker is wrong because using a write blocker ensure that you cannot modify the data on the host and it prevent the host from writing to its hard drives.

Made a full-disk image is wrong because making a full-disk image can preserve all data on a hard disk, including deleted files and file fragments.

Created a message digest for log files is wrong because creating a message digest for log files. A message digest is a cryptographic checksum that can demonstrate that the integrity of a file has not been compromised (e.g. changes to the content of a log file)

Domain: LEGAL, REGULATIONS, COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATIONS

References:

AIO 3rd Edition, page 783-784

NIST 800-61 Computer Security Incident Handling guide page 3-18 to 3-20

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

It is the systems auditor that should lead the effort to ensure that the security controls are in place and effective. The audit would verify that the controls comply with polices, procedures, laws, and regulations where applicable. The findings would provide these to senior management.

The following answers are incorrect:

the local security specialist. Is incorrect because an independent review should take place by a third party. The security specialist might offer mitigation strategies but it is the auditor that would ensure the effectiveness of the controls

the business manager. Is incorrect because the business manager would be responsible that the controls are in place, but it is the auditor that would ensure the effectiveness of the controls.

the central security manager. Is incorrect because the central security manager would be responsible for implementing the controls, but it is the auditor that is responsibe for ensuring their effectiveness.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Pages 16, 32.

Virtual storage a service provided by the operating system where it uses a combination of RAM and disk storage to simulate a much larger address space than is actually present. Infrequently used portions of memory are paged out by being written to secondary storage and paged back in when required by a running program.

Most OS’s have the ability to simulate having more main memory than is physically available in the system. This is done by storing part of the data on secondary storage, such as a disk. This can be considered a virtual page. If the data requested by the system is not currently in main memory, a page fault is taken. This condition triggers the OS handler. If the virtual address is a valid one, the OS will locate the physical page, put the right information in that page, update the translation table, and then try the request again. Some other page might be swapped out to make room. Each process may have its own separate virtual address space along with its own mappings and protections.

The following are incorrect answers:

Primary storage is incorrect. Primary storage refers to the combination of RAM, cache and the processor registers. Primary Storage The data waits for processing by the processors, it sits in a staging area called primary storage. Whether implemented as memory, cache, or registers (part of the CPU), and regardless of its location, primary storage stores data that has a high probability of being requested by the CPU, so it is usually faster than long-term, secondary storage. The location where data is stored is denoted by its physical memory address. This memory register identifier remains constant and is independent of the value stored there. Some examples of primary storage devices include random-access memory (RAM), synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM), and read-only memory (ROM). RAM is volatile, that is, when the system shuts down, it flushes the data in RAM although recent research has shown that data may still be retrievable. Contrast this

Secondary storage is incorrect. Secondary storage holds data not currently being used by the CPU and is used when data must be stored for an extended period of time using high-capacity, nonvolatile storage. Secondary storage includes disk, floppies, CD's, tape, etc. While secondary storage includes basically anything different from primary storage, virtual memory's use of secondary storage is usually confined to high-speed disk storage.

Real storage is incorrect. Real storage is another word for primary storage and distinguishes physical memory from virtual memory.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 17164-17171). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 17196-17201). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 17186-17187). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

The earlier in the process that security is planned for and implement the cheaper it is. It is also much more efficient if security is addressed in each phase of the development cycle rather than an add-on because it gets more complicated to add at the end. If security plan is developed at the beginning it ensures that security won't be overlooked.

The following answers are incorrect:

The system is optimized prior to the addition of security. Is incorrect because if you wait to implement security after a system is completed the cost of adding security increases dramtically and can become much more complex.

The system is procured off-the-shelf. Is incorrect because it is often difficult to add security to off-the shelf systems.

The system is customized to meet the specific security threat. Is incorrect because this is a distractor. This implies only a single threat.

A protection domain consists of the execution and memory space assigned to each process. The purpose of establishing a protection domain is to protect programs from all unauthorized modification or executional interference. The security perimeter is the boundary that separates the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) from the remainder of the system. Security labels are assigned to resources to denote a type of classification. Abstraction is a way to protect resources in the fact that it involves viewing system components at a high level and ignoring its specific details, thus performing information hiding.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 5: Security Architecture and Models (page 193).

In an organization where there are frequent personnel changes, non-discretionary access control (also called Role Based Access Control) is useful because the access controls are based on the individual's role or title within the organization. You can easily configure a new employee acces by assigning the user to a role that has been predefine. The user will implicitly inherit the permissions of the role by being a member of that role.

These access permissions defined within the role do not need to be changed whenever a new person takes over the role.

Another type of non-discretionary access control model is the Rule Based Access Control (RBAC or RuBAC) where a global set of rule is uniformly applied to all subjects accessing the resources. A good example of RuBAC would be a firewall.

This question is a sneaky one, one of the choice has only one added word to it which is often. Reading questions and their choices very carefully is a must for the real exam. Reading it twice if needed is recommended.

Shon Harris in her book list the following ways of managing RBAC:

Role-based access control can be managed in the following ways:

Non-RBAC Users are mapped directly to applications and no roles are used. (No roles being used)

Limited RBAC Users are mapped to multiple roles and mapped directly to other types of applications that do not have role-based access functionality. (A mix of roles for applications that supports roles and explicit access control would be used for applications that do not support roles)

Hybrid RBAC Users are mapped to multiapplication roles with only selected rights assigned to those roles.

Full RBAC Users are mapped to enterprise roles. (Roles are used for all access being granted)

NIST defines RBAC as:

Security administration can be costly and prone to error because administrators usually specify access control lists for each user on the system individually. With RBAC, security is managed at a level that corresponds closely to the organization's structure. Each user is assigned one or more roles, and each role is assigned one or more privileges that are permitted to users in that role. Security administration with RBAC consists of determining the operations that must be executed by persons in particular jobs, and assigning employees to the proper roles. Complexities introduced by mutually exclusive roles or role hierarchies are handled by the RBAC software, making security administration easier.

Reference(s) used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 32.

and

Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition McGraw-Hill.

and

http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/rbac/

The (star) property of the Bell-LaPadula access control model states that writing of information by a subject at a higher level of sensitivity to an object at a lower level of sensitivity is not permitted (no write down).

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 5: Security Architectures and Models (page 202).

Also check out: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, Chapter 5: Security Models and Architecture (page 242, 243).

The throughput rate is the rate at which individuals, once enrolled, can be processed and identified or authenticated by a biometric system.

Acceptable throughput rates are in the range of 10 subjects per minute.

Things that may impact the throughput rate for some types of biometric systems may include:

A concern with retina scanning systems may be the exchange of body fluids on the eyepiece.

Another concern would be the retinal pattern that could reveal changes in a person's health, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 38.

"Ultimately, people are the last line of defense for your company’s assets" (Pastore & Dulaney, 2006, p. 529).

Pastore, M. and Dulaney, E. (2006). CompTIA Security+ study guide: Exam SY0-101. Indianapolis, IN: Sybex.

The Answer: TCSEC; The TCSEC, frequently referred to as the Orange Book, is the centerpiece of the DoD Rainbow Series publications.

Initially issued by the National Computer Security Center (NCSC) an arm of the National Security Agency in 1983 and then updated in 1985, TCSEC was replaced with the development of the Common Criteria international standard originally published in 2005.

References:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, pages 197-199.

Wikepedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCSEC

Although important, The monitoring of threat activity for adjustment of technical controls is not facilitated by a Business Continuity Planning

The following answers are incorrect:

All of the other choices are facilitated by a BCP:

the continuation of critical business functions

the rapid recovery of mission-critical business operations

the reduction of the impact of a disaster

Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) is commonly employed in very large data retrieval systems.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 71.

Residual risk is "The security risk that remains after controls have been implemented" ISO/IEC TR 13335-1 Guidelines for the Management of IT Security (GMITS), Part 1: Concepts and Models for IT Security, 1996. "Weakness of an assets which can be exploited by a threat" is vulnerability. "The result of unwanted incident" is impact. Risk that remains after risk analysis has been performed is a distracter.

Risk can never be eliminated nor avoided, but it can be mitigated, transferred or accpeted. Even after applying a countermeasure like for example putiing up an Antivirus. But still it is not 100% that systems will be protected by antivirus.

Source: TIPTON, Harold F. & KRAUSE, MICKI, Information Security Management Handbook, 4th Edition, Volume 1, Property Insurance overview, Page 589.

Secondary evidence is defined as a copy of evidence or oral description of its contents. It is considered not as reliable as best evidence. Evidence that proves or disproves a specific act through oral testimony based on information gathered through he witness's five senses is considered direct evidence. The fact that testimony is given by an expert only affects the witness's ability to offer an opinion instead of only testifying of the facts.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 9: Law, Investigation, and Ethics (page 310).

This type of supporting evidence is used to help prove an idea or a point, however It cannot stand on its own, it is used as a supplementary tool to help prove a primary piece of evidence. Corrobative evidence takes many forms.

In a rape case for example, this could consist of torn clothing, soiled bed sheets, 911 emergency calls tapes, and

prompt complaint witnesses.

There are many types of evidence that exist. Below you have explanations of some of the most common types:

Physical Evidence

Physical evidence is any evidence introduced in a trial in the form of a physical object, intended to prove a fact in issue based on its demonstrable physical characteristics. Physical evidence can conceivably include all or part of any object.

In a murder trial for example (or a civil trial for assault), the physical evidence might include DNA left by the attacker on the victim's body, the body itself, the weapon used, pieces of carpet spattered with blood, or casts of footprints or tire prints found at the scene of the crime.

Real Evidence

Real evidence is a type of physical evidence and consists of objects that were involved in a case or actually played a part in the incident or transaction in question.

Examples include the written contract, the defective part or defective product, the murder weapon, the gloves used by an alleged murderer. Trace evidence, such as fingerprints and firearm residue, is a species of real evidence. Real evidence is usually reported upon by an expert witness with appropriate qualifications to give an opinion. This normally means a forensic scientist or one qualified in forensic engineering.

Admission of real evidence requires authentication, a showing of relevance, and a showing that the object is in “the same or substantially the same condition” now as it was on the relevant date. An object of real evidence is authenticated through the senses of witnesses or by circumstantial evidence called chain of custody.

Documentary

Documentary evidence is any evidence introduced at a trial in the form of documents. Although this term is most widely understood to mean writings on paper (such as an invoice, a contract or a will), the term actually include any media by which information can be preserved. Photographs, tape recordings, films, and printed emails are all forms of documentary evidence.

Documentary versus physical evidence

A piece of evidence is not documentary evidence if it is presented for some purpose other than the examination of the contents of the document. For example, if a blood-spattered letter is introduced solely to show that the defendant stabbed the author of the letter from behind as it was being written, then the evidence is physical evidence, not documentary evidence. However, a film of the murder taking place would be documentary evidence (just as a written description of the event from an eyewitness). If the content of that same letter is then introduced to show the motive for the murder, then the evidence would be both physical and documentary.

Documentary Evidence Authentication

Documentary evidence is subject to specific forms of authentication, usually through the testimony of an eyewitness to the execution of the document, or to the testimony of a witness able to identify the handwriting of the purported author. Documentary evidence is also subject to the best evidence rule, which requires that the original document be produced unless there is a good reason not to do so.

The role of the expert witness

Where physical evidence is of a complexity that makes it difficult for the average person to understand its significance, an expert witness may be called to explain to the jury the proper interpretation of the evidence at hand.

Digital Evidence or Electronic Evidence

Digital evidence or electronic evidence is any probative information stored or transmitted in digital form that a party to a court case may use at trial.

The use of digital evidence has increased in the past few decades as courts have allowed the use of e-mails, digital photographs, ATM transaction logs, word processing documents, instant message histories, files saved from accounting programs, spreadsheets, internet browser histories, databases, the contents of computer memory, computer backups, computer printouts, Global Positioning System tracks, logs from a hotel’s electronic door locks, and digital video or audio files.

While many courts in the United States have applied the Federal Rules of Evidence to digital evidence in the same way as more traditional documents, courts have noted very important differences. As compared to the more traditional evidence, courts have noted that digital evidence tends to be more voluminous, more difficult to destroy, easily modified, easily duplicated, potentially more expressive, and more readily available. As such, some courts have sometimes treated digital evidence differently for purposes of authentication, hearsay, the best evidence rule, and privilege. In December 2006, strict new rules were enacted within the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requiring the preservation and disclosure of electronically stored evidence.

Demonstrative Evidence

Demonstrative evidence is evidence in the form of a representation of an object. This is, as opposed to, real evidence, testimony, or other forms of evidence used at trial.

Examples of demonstrative evidence include photos, x-rays, videotapes, movies, sound recordings, diagrams, forensic animation, maps, drawings, graphs, animation, simulations, and models. It is useful for assisting a finder of fact (fact-finder) in establishing context among the facts presented in a case. To be admissible, a demonstrative exhibit must “fairly and accurately” represent the real object at the relevant time.

Chain of custody

Chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation, and/or paper trail, showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of evidence, physical or electronic. Because evidence can be used in court to convict persons of crimes, it must be handled in a scrupulously careful manner to avoid later allegations of tampering or misconduct which can compromise the case of the prosecution toward acquittal or to overturning a guilty verdict upon appeal.

The idea behind recoding the chain of custody is to establish that the alleged evidence is fact related to the alleged crime - rather than, for example, having been planted fraudulently to make someone appear guilty.

Establishing the chain of custody is especially important when the evidence consists of fungible goods. In practice, this most often applies to illegal drugs which have been seized by law enforcement personnel. In such cases, the defendant at times disclaims any knowledge of possession of the controlled substance in question.

Accordingly, the chain of custody documentation and testimony is presented by the prosecution to establish that the substance in evidence was in fact in the possession of the defendant.

An identifiable person must always have the physical custody of a piece of evidence. In practice, this means that a police officer or detective will take charge of a piece of evidence, document its collection, and hand it over to an evidence clerk for storage in a secure place. These transactions, and every succeeding transaction between the collection of the evidence and its appearance in court, should be completely documented chronologically in order to withstand legal challenges to the authenticity of the evidence. Documentation should include the conditions under which the evidence is gathered, the identity of all evidence handlers, duration of evidence custody, security conditions while handling or storing the evidence, and the manner in which evidence is transferred to subsequent custodians each time such a transfer occurs (along with the signatures of persons involved at each step).

Example

An example of "Chain of Custody" would be the recovery of a bloody knife at a murder scene:

Officer Andrew collects the knife and places it into a container, then gives it to forensics technician Bill. Forensics technician Bill takes the knife to the lab and collects fingerprints and other evidence from the knife. Bill then gives the knife and all evidence gathered from the knife to evidence clerk Charlene. Charlene then stores the evidence until it is needed, documenting everyone who has accessed the original evidence (the knife, and original copies of the lifted fingerprints).

The Chain of Custody requires that from the moment the evidence is collected, every transfer of evidence from person to person be documented and that it be provable that nobody else could have accessed that evidence. It is best to keep the number of transfers as low as possible.

In the courtroom, if the defendant questions the Chain of Custody of the evidence it can be proven that the knife in the evidence room is the same knife found at the crime scene. However, if there are discrepancies and it cannot be proven who had the knife at a particular point in time, then the Chain of Custody is broken and the defendant can ask to have the resulting evidence declared inadmissible.

"Chain of custody" is also used in most chemical sampling situations to maintain the integrity of the sample by providing documentation of the control, transfer, and analysis of samples. Chain of custody is especially important in environmental work where sampling can identify the existence of contamination and can be used to identify the responsible party.

REFERENCES:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 23173-23185). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_evidence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_evidence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_evidence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstrative_evidence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_evidence

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_of_custody

In this step, your main objective is to examine and analyze what has occurred and focus on determining the root cause of the incident.

Recovery is incorrect as recovery is about resuming operations or bringing affected systems back into production

Containment is incorrect as containment is about reducing the potential impact of an incident.

Triage is incorrect as triage is about determining the seriousness of the incident and filtering out false positives

Is the least expensive because it is basically a structure with power and would be the most difficult to test because you would have to install all of the hardware infrastructure in order for it to be operational for the test.

The following answers are incorrect:

non-mobile hot site. Is incorrect because it is more expensive then a cold site and easier to test because all of the infrastructure is in place.

mobile hot site. Is incorrect because it is more expensive then a cold site and easier to test because all of the infrastructure is in place.

warm site. Is incorrect because it is more expensive then a cold site and easier to test because more of the infrastructure is in place.

This is the basic process of risk management.

Risk is the possibility of damage happening and the ramifications of such damage should it occur. Information risk management (IRM) is the process of identifying and assessing risk, reducing it to an acceptable level, and implementing the right mechanisms to maintain that level. There is no such thing as a 100 percent secure environment. Every environment has vulnerabilities and threats to a certain degree.

The skill is in identifying these threats, assessing the probability of them actually occurring and the damage they could cause, and then taking the right steps to reduce the overall level of risk in the environment to what the organization identifies as acceptable.

Proper risk management requires a strong commitment from senior management, a documented process that supports the organization's mission, an information risk management (IRM) policy and a delegated IRM team. Once you've identified your company's acceptable level of risk, you need to develop an information risk management policy.

The IRM policy should be a subset of the organization's overall risk management policy (risks to a company include more than just information security issues) and should be mapped to the organizational security policies, which lay out the acceptable risk and the role of security as a whole in the organization. The IRM policy is focused on risk management while the security policy is very high-level and addresses all aspects of security. The IRM policy should address the following items:

Objectives of IRM team

Level of risk the company will accept and what is considered an acceptable risk (as defined in the previous article)

Formal processes of risk identification

Connection between the IRM policy and the organization's strategic planning processes

Responsibilities that fall under IRM and the roles that are to fulfill them

Mapping of risk to internal controls

Approach for changing staff behaviors and resource allocation in response to risk analysis

Mapping of risks to performance targets and budgets

Key indicators to monitor the effectiveness of controls

Shon Harris provides a 10,000-foot view of the risk management process below:

A big question that companies have to deal with is, "What is enough security?" This can be restated as, "What is our acceptable risk level?" These two questions have an inverse relationship. You can't know what constitutes enough security unless you know your necessary baseline risk level.

To set an enterprise-wide acceptable risk level for a company, a few things need to be investigated and understood. A company must understand its federal and state legal requirements, its regulatory requirements, its business drivers and objectives, and it must carry out a risk and threat analysis. (I will dig deeper into formalized risk analysis processes in a later article, but for now we will take a broad approach.) The result of these findings is then used to define the company's acceptable risk level, which is then outlined in security policies, standards, guidelines and procedures.

Although there are different methodologies for enterprise risk management, the core components of any risk analysis is made up of the following:

Identify company assets

Assign a value to each asset

Identify each asset's vulnerabilities and associated threats

Calculate the risk for the identified assets

Once these steps are finished, then the risk analysis team can identify the necessary countermeasures to mitigate the calculated risks, carry out cost/benefit analysis for these countermeasures and report to senior management their findings.

When we look at information security, there are several types of risk a corporation needs to be aware of and address properly. The following items touch on the major categories:

Physical damage Fire, water, vandalism, power loss, and natural disasters

Human interaction Accidental or intentional action or inaction that can disrupt productivity

Equipment malfunction Failure of systems and peripheral devices

Inside and outside attacks Hacking, cracking, and attacking

Misuse of data Sharing trade secrets, fraud, espionage, and theft

Loss of data Intentional or unintentional loss of information through destructive means

Application error Computation errors, input errors, and buffer overflows

The following answers are incorrect:

The process of eliminating the risk is not the best answer as risk cannot be totally eliminated.

The process of assessing the risks is also not the best answer.

The process of transferring risk is also not the best answer and is one of the ways of handling a risk after a risk analysis has been performed.

References:

Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter 3: Security Management Practices , Page: 66-68

and

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/Understanding-risk

The Information Technology (IT) department plays a very important role in identifying and protecting the company's internal and external information dependencies. Also, the information technology elements of the BCP should address several vital issue, including:

Ensuring that the company employs sufficient physical security mechanisms to preserve vital network and hardware components. including file and print servers.

Ensuring that the organization uses sufficient logical security methodologies (authentication, authorization, etc.) for sensitive data.

Two concepts that are at the heart of dealing effectively with digital/electronic evidence, or any evidence for that matter, are the chain of custody and authenticity/integrity.

The chain of custody refers to the who, what, when, where, and how the evidence was handled—from its identification through its entire life cycle, which ends with destruction or permanent archiving.

Any break in this chain can cast doubt on the integrity of the evidence and on the professionalism of those directly involved in either the investigation or the collection and handling of the evidence. The chain of custody requires following a formal process that is well documented and forms part of a standard operating procedure that is used in all cases, no exceptions.

The following are incorrect answers:

Evidence has to be collected in accordance with all laws and legal regulations. Evidence would have to be collected in accordance with applicable laws and regulations but not necessarily with ALL laws and regulations. Only laws and regulations that applies would be followed.

Law enforcement officials should be contacted for advice on how and when to collect critical information. It seems you failed to do your homework, once you have an incident it is a bit late to do this. Proper crime investigation as well as incident response is all about being prepared ahead of time. Obviously, you are improvising if you need to call law enforcement to find out what to do. It is a great way of contaminating your evidence by mistake if you don't have a well documented processs with clear procedures that needs to be followed.

Log files containing information regarding an intrusion are retained for at least as long as normal business records, and longer in the case of an ongoing investigation. Specific legal requirements exists for log retention and they are not the same as normal business records. Laws such as Basel, HIPPAA, SOX, and others has specific requirements.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 23465-23470). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

and

ALLEN, Julia H., The CERT Guide to System and Network Security Practices, Addison-Wesley, 2001, Chapter 7: Responding to Intrusions (pages 282-285).

Risk is the likelihood of a threat agent taking advantage of a vulnerability and the corresponding business impact. If a firewall has several ports open , there is a higher likelihood that an intruder will use one to access the network in an unauthorized method.

The following answers are incorrect :

Residual Risk is very different from the notion of total risk. Residual Risk would be the risks that still exists after countermeasures have been implemented. Total risk is the amount of risk a company faces if it chooses not to implement any type of safeguard.

Exposure: An exposure is an instance of being exposed to losses from a threat agent.

Countermeasure: A countermeasure or a safeguard is put in place to mitigate the potential risk. Examples of countermeasures include strong password management , a security guard.

REFERENCES : SHON HARRIS ALL IN ONE 3rd EDITION

Chapter - 3: Security Management Practices , Pages : 57-59

Key clustering happens when a plaintext message generates identical ciphertext messages using the same transformation algorithm, but with different keys.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 130).

The cryptography domain addresses the principles, means, and methods of disguising information to ensure its integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity. Unlike the other domains, cryptography does not completely support the standard of availability.

Availability

Cryptography supports all three of the core principles of information security. Many access control systems use cryptography to limit access to systems through the use of passwords. Many token-based authentication systems use cryptographic-based hash algorithms to compute one-time passwords. Denying unauthorized access prevents an attacker from entering and damaging the system or network, thereby denying access to authorized users if they damage or currupt the data.

Confidentiality

Cryptography provides confidentiality through altering or hiding a message so that ideally it cannot be understood by anyone except the intended recipient.

Integrity

Cryptographic tools provide integrity checks that allow a recipient to verify that a message has not been altered. Cryptographic tools cannot prevent a message from being altered, but they are effective to detect either intentional or accidental modification of the message.

Additional Features of Cryptographic Systems In addition to the three core principles of information security listed above, cryptographic tools provide several more benefits.

Nonrepudiation

In a trusted environment, the authentication of the origin can be provided through the simple control of the keys. The receiver has a level of assurance that the message was encrypted by the sender, and the sender has trust that the message was not altered once it was received. However, in a more stringent, less trustworthy environment, it may be necessary to provide assurance via a third party of who sent a message and that the message was indeed delivered to the right recipient. This is accomplished through the use of digital signatures and public key encryption. The use of these tools provides a level of nonrepudiation of origin that can be verified by a third party.

Once a message has been received, what is to prevent the recipient from changing the message and contesting that the altered message was the one sent by the sender? The nonrepudiation of delivery prevents a recipient from changing the message and falsely claiming that the message is in its original state. This is also accomplished through the use of public key cryptography and digital signatures and is verifiable by a trusted third party.

Authentication

Authentication is the ability to determine if someone or something is what it declares to be. This is primarily done through the control of the keys, because only those with access to the key are able to encrypt a message. This is not as strong as the nonrepudiation of origin, which will be reviewed shortly Cryptographic functions use several methods to ensure that a message has not been changed or altered. These include hash functions, digital signatures, and message authentication codes (MACs). The main concept is that the recipient is able to detect any change that has been made to a message, whether accidentally or intentionally.

Access Control

Through the use of cryptographic tools, many forms of access control are supported—from log-ins via passwords and passphrases to the prevention of access to confidential files or messages. In all cases, access would only be possible for those individuals that had access to the correct cryptographic keys.

NOTE FROM CLEMENT:

As you have seen this question was very recently updated with the latest content of the Official ISC2 Guide (OIG) to the CISSP CBK, Version 3.

Myself, I agree with most of you that cryptography does not help on the availability side and it is even the contrary sometimes if you loose the key for example. In such case you would loose access to the data and negatively impact availability. But the ISC2 is not about what I think or what you think, they have their own view of the world where they claim and state clearly that cryptography does address availability even thou it does not fully address it.

They look at crypto as the ever emcompassing tool it has become today. Where it can be use for authentication purpose for example where it would help to avoid corruption of the data through illegal access by an unauthorized user.

The question is worded this way in purpose, it is VERY specific to the CISSP exam context where ISC2 preaches that cryptography address availability even thou they state it does not fully address it. This is something new in the last edition of their book and something you must be aware of.

Best regards

Clement

The following terms are from the Software Development Security domain:

Validation: The assurance that a product, service, or system meets the needs of the customer and other identified stakeholders. It often involves acceptance and suitability with external customers. Contrast with verification below."

Verification: The evaluation of whether or not a product, service, or system complies with a regulation, requirement, specification, or imposed condition. It is often an internal process. Contrast with validation."

The terms above are from the Software Development Security Domain.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Cryptography (Kindle Locations 227-244). . Kindle Edition.

and

Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Cryptography (Kindle Locations 206-227). . Kindle Edition.

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verification_and_validation

The whole idea behind a one-way hash is that it should be just that - one-way. In other words, an attacker should not be able to figure out your password from the hashed version of that password in any mathematically feasible way (or within any reasonable length of time).

Password Hashing and Encryption

In most situations , if an attacker sniffs your password from the network wire, she still has some work to do before she actually knows your password value because most systems hash the password with a hashing algorithm, commonly MD4 or MD5, to ensure passwords are not sent in cleartext.

Although some people think the world is run by Microsoft, other types of operating systems are out there, such as Unix and Linux. These systems do not use registries and SAM databases, but contain their user passwords in a file cleverly called “shadow.” Now, this shadow file does not contain passwords in cleartext; instead, your password is run through a hashing algorithm, and the resulting value is stored in this file.

Unixtype systems zest things up by using salts in this process. Salts are random values added to the encryption process to add more complexity and randomness. The more randomness entered into the encryption process, the harder it is for the bad guy to decrypt and uncover your password. The use of a salt means that the same password can be encrypted into several thousand different formats. This makes it much more difficult for an attacker to uncover the right format for your system.

Password Cracking tools

Note that the use of one-way hashes for passwords does not prevent password crackers from guessing passwords. A password cracker runs a plain-text string through the same one-way hash algorithm used by the system to generate a hash, then compares that generated has with the one stored on the system. If they match, the password cracker has guessed your password.

This is very much the same process used to authenticate you to a system via a password. When you type your username and password, the system hashes the password you typed and compares that generated hash against the one stored on the system - if they match, you are authenticated.

Pre-Computed password tables exists today and they allow you to crack passwords on Lan Manager (LM) within a VERY short period of time through the use of Rainbow Tables. A Rainbow Table is a precomputed table for reversing cryptographic hash functions, usually for cracking password hashes. Tables are usually used in recovering a plaintext password up to a certain length consisting of a limited set of characters. It is a practical example of a space/time trade-off also called a Time-Memory trade off, using more computer processing time at the cost of less storage when calculating a hash on every attempt, or less processing time and more storage when compared to a simple lookup table with one entry per hash. Use of a key derivation function that employs a salt makes this attack unfeasible.

You may want to review "Rainbow Tables" at the links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_table

http://www.antsight.com/zsl/rainbowcrack/

Today's password crackers:

Meet oclHashcat. They are GPGPU-based multi-hash cracker using a brute-force attack (implemented as mask attack), combinator attack, dictionary attack, hybrid attack, mask attack, and rule-based attack.

This GPU cracker is a fusioned version of oclHashcat-plus and oclHashcat-lite, both very well-known suites at that time, but now deprecated. There also existed a now very old oclHashcat GPU cracker that was replaced w/ plus and lite, which - as said - were then merged into oclHashcat 1.00 again.

This cracker can crack Hashes of NTLM Version 2 up to 8 characters in less than a few hours. It is definitively a game changer. It can try hundreds of billions of tries per seconds on a very large cluster of GPU's. It supports up to 128 Video Cards at once.

I am stuck using Password what can I do to better protect myself?

You could look at safer alternative such as Bcrypt, PBKDF2, and Scrypt.

bcrypt is a key derivation function for passwords designed by Niels Provos and David Mazières, based on the Blowfish cipher, and presented at USENIX in 1999. Besides incorporating a salt to protect against rainbow table attacks, bcrypt is an adaptive function: over time, the iteration count can be increased to make it slower, so it remains resistant to brute-force search attacks even with increasing computation power.

In cryptography, scrypt is a password-based key derivation function created by Colin Percival, originally for the Tarsnap online backup service. The algorithm was specifically designed to make it costly to perform large-scale custom hardware attacks by requiring large amounts of memory. In 2012, the scrypt algorithm was published by the IETF as an Internet Draft, intended to become an informational RFC, which has since expired. A simplified version of scrypt is used as a proof-of-work scheme by a number of cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin and Dogecoin.

PBKDF2 (Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2) is a key derivation function that is part of RSA Laboratories' Public-Key Cryptography Standards (PKCS) series, specifically PKCS #5 v2.0, also published as Internet Engineering Task Force's RFC 2898. It replaces an earlier standard, PBKDF1, which could only produce derived keys up to 160 bits long.

PBKDF2 applies a pseudorandom function, such as a cryptographic hash, cipher, or HMAC to the input password or passphrase along with a salt value and repeats the process many times to produce a derived key, which can then be used as a cryptographic key in subsequent operations. The added computational work makes password cracking much more difficult, and is known as key stretching. When the standard was written in 2000, the recommended minimum number of iterations was 1000, but the parameter is intended to be increased over time as CPU speeds increase. Having a salt added to the password reduces the ability to use precomputed hashes (rainbow tables) for attacks, and means that multiple passwords have to be tested individually, not all at once. The standard recommends a salt length of at least 64 bits.

The other answers are incorrect:

"It prevents an unauthorized person from trying multiple passwords in one logon attempt." is incorrect because the fact that a password has been hashed does not prevent this type of brute force password guessing attempt.

"It minimizes the amount of storage required for user passwords" is incorrect because hash algorithms always generate the same number of bits, regardless of the length of the input. Therefore, even short passwords will still result in a longer hash and not minimize storage requirements.

"It minimizes the amount of processing time used for encrypting passwords" is incorrect because the processing time to encrypt a password would be basically the same required to produce a one-way has of the same password.

Reference(s) used for this question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBKDF2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrypt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bcrypt

Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 195) . McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 160).

DSS provides Integrity, digital signature and Authentication, but does not provide Encryption.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 160).

RFC 2828 (Internet Security Glossary) defines digital watermarking as computing techniques for inseparably embedding unobtrusive marks or labels as bits in digital data-text, graphics, images, video, or audio#and for detecting or extracting the marks later. The set of embedded bits (the digital watermark) is sometimes hidden, usually imperceptible, and always intended to be unobtrusive. It is used as a measure to protect intellectual property rights. Steganography involves hiding the very existence of a message. A digital signature is a value computed with a cryptographic algorithm and appended to a data object in such a way that any recipient of the data can use the signature to verify the data's origin and integrity. A digital envelope is a combination of encrypted data and its encryption key in an encrypted form that has been prepared for use of the recipient.

Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000.

Diffie and Hellman describe a means for two parties to agree upon a shared secret in such a way that the secret will be unavailable to eavesdroppers. This secret may then be converted into cryptographic keying material for other (symmetric) algorithms. A large number of minor variants of this process exist. See RFC 2631 Diffie-Hellman Key Agreement Method for more details.

In 1976, Diffie and Hellman were the first to introduce the notion of public key cryptography, requiring a system allowing the exchange of secret keys over non-secure channels. The Diffie-Hellman algorithm is used for key exchange between two parties communicating with each other, it cannot be used for encrypting and decrypting messages, or digital signature.

Diffie and Hellman sought to address the issue of having to exchange keys via courier and other unsecure means. Their efforts were the FIRST asymmetric key agreement algorithm. Since the Diffie-Hellman algorithm cannot be used for encrypting and decrypting it cannot provide confidentiality nor integrity. This algorithm also does not provide for digital signature functionality and thus non-repudiation is not a choice.

NOTE: The DH algorithm is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks.

KEY AGREEMENT VERSUS KEY EXCHANGE

A key exchange can be done multiple way. It can be done in person, I can generate a key and then encrypt the key to get it securely to you by encrypting it with your public key. A Key Agreement protocol is done over a public medium such as the internet using a mathematical formula to come out with a common value on both sides of the communication link, without the ennemy being able to know what the common agreement is.

The following answers were incorrect:

All of the other choices were not correct choices

Reference(s) used for this question:

Shon Harris, CISSP All In One (AIO), 6th edition . Chapter 7, Cryptography, Page 812.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffie%E2%80%93Hellman_key_exchange

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=4200770

A one-way hash is a function that takes a variable-length string a message, and compresses and transforms it into a fixed length value referred to as a hash value. It provides integrity, but no confidentiality, availability or authentication.

Source: WALLHOFF, John, CBK#5 Cryptography (CISSP Study Guide), April 2002 (page 5).

A cryptographic hash function is a transformation that takes an input (or 'message') and returns a fixed-size string, which is called the hash value (sometimes termed a message digest, a digital fingerprint, a digest or a checksum).

The ideal hash function has three main properties - it is extremely easy to calculate a hash for any given data, it is extremely difficult or almost impossible in a practical sense to calculate a text that has a given hash, and it is extremely unlikely that two different messages, however close, will have the same hash.

Functions with these properties are used as hash functions for a variety of purposes, both within and outside cryptography. Practical applications include message integrity checks, digital signatures, authentication, and various information security applications. A hash can also act as a concise representation of the message or document from which it was computed, and allows easy indexing of duplicate or unique data files.

In various standards and applications, the two most commonly used hash functions are MD5 and SHA-1. In 2005, security flaws were identified in both of these, namely that a possible mathematical weakness might exist, indicating that a stronger hash function would be desirable. In 2007 the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced a contest to design a hash function which will be given the name SHA-3 and be the subject of a FIPS standard.

A hash function takes a string of any length as input and produces a fixed length string which acts as a kind of "signature" for the data provided. In this way, a person knowing the hash is unable to work out the original message, but someone knowing the original message can prove the hash is created from that message, and none other. A cryptographic hash function should behave as much as possible like a random function while still being deterministic and efficiently computable.

A cryptographic hash function is considered "insecure" from a cryptographic point of view, if either of the following is computationally feasible:

finding a (previously unseen) message that matches a given digest

finding "collisions", wherein two different messages have the same message digest.

An attacker who can do either of these things might, for example, use them to substitute an authorized message with an unauthorized one.

Ideally, it should not even be feasible to find two messages whose digests are substantially similar; nor would one want an attacker to be able to learn anything useful about a message given only its digest. Of course the attacker learns at least one piece of information, the digest itself, which for instance gives the attacker the ability to recognise the same message should it occur again.

REFERENCES:

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Pages 40-41.

also see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function

As when a hash algorithm is applied on a message , it produces a message digest.

The other answers are incorrect because :

A digital signature is a hash value that has been encrypted with a sender's private key.

A ciphertext is a message that appears to be unreadable.

A plaintext is a readable data.

Reference : Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter-8 : Cryptography , Page : 593-594 , 640 , 648

Digital Signature Standard (DSS) specifies a Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) appropriate for applications requiring a digital signature, providing the capability to generate signatures (with the use of a private key) and verify them (with the use of the corresponding public key).

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 8: Cryptography (page 550).

As per the RFC in reference, the Authentication Header (AH) protocol is a mechanism for providing strong integrity and authentication for IP datagrams. It might also provide non-repudiation, depending on which cryptographic algorithm is used and how keying is performed. For example, use of an asymmetric digital signature algorithm, such as RSA, could provide non-repudiation.

from a cryptography point of view, so we will cover it from a VPN point of view here. IPSec is a suite of protocols that was developed to specifically protect IP traffic. IPv4 does not have any integrated security, so IPSec was developed to bolt onto IP and secure the data the protocol transmits. Where PPTP and L2TP work at the data link layer, IPSec works at the network layer of the OSI model. The main protocols that make up the IPSec suite and their basic functionality are as follows: A. Authentication Header (AH) provides data integrity, data origin authentication, and protection from replay attacks. B. Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) provides confidentiality, data-origin authentication, and data integrity. C. Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol (ISAKMP) provides a framework for security association creation and key exchange. D. Internet Key Exchange (IKE) provides authenticated keying material for use with ISAKMP.

The following are incorrect answers:

ESP is a mechanism for providing integrity and confidentiality to IP datagrams. It may also provide authentication, depending on which lgorithm and algorithm mode are used. Non-repudiation and protection from traffic analysis are not provided by ESP (RFC 1827).

SSL is a secure protocol used for transmitting private information over the Internet. It works by using a public key to encrypt data that is transferred of the SSL connection. OIG 2007, page 976

SSH-2 is a secure, efficient, and portable version of SSH (Secure Shell) which is a secure replacement for telnet.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Shon Harris, CISSP All In One, 6th Edition , Page 705

and

RFC 1826, http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1826, paragraph 1.

There is no DES mode call DES-EEE1. It does not exist.

The following are the correct modes for triple-DES (3DES):

DES-EEE3 uses three keys for encryption and the data is encrypted, encrypted, encrypted;

DES-EDE3 uses three keys and encrypts, decrypts and encrypts data.

DES-EEE2 and DES-EDE2 are the same as the previous modes, but the first and third operations use the same key.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Shon Harris, CISSP All In One (AIO) book, 6th edition , page 808

and

Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, 2nd Edition (2010) , page 344-345

The main task here is the authentic distribution of the new root CA certificate as new trust anchor to all the PKI participants (e.g. the users).

In some of the rollover-scenarios there is no automatic way, often explicit assignment of trust from each user is needed, which could be very costly.

Other methods make use of the old root CA certificate for automatic trust establishment (see PKIX-reference), but these solutions works only well for scenarios with currently valid root CA certificates (and not for emergency cases e.g. compromise of the current root CA certificate).

The rollover of the root CA certificate is a specific and delicate problem and therefore are often ignored during PKI deployment.

Output feedback (OFB) is a DES mode of operation, not input feedback.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 149).

As it provides much of the same functionality that RSA provides: digital signatures, secure key distribution,and encryption. One differing factor is ECC’s efficiency. ECC is more efficient that RSA and any other asymmetric algorithm.

The following answers are incorrect because :

RSA is incorrect as it is less efficient than ECC to be used in handheld devices.

SHA is also incorrect as it is a hashing algorithm.

RC4 is also incorrect as it is a symmetric algorithm.

Reference : Shon Harris AIO v3 , Chapter-8 : Cryptography , Page : 631 , 638.

S/MIME (for Secure MIME, or Secure Multipurpose Mail Extension) is a security process used for e-mail exchanges that makes it possible to guarantee the confidentiality and non-repudiation of electronic messages.

S/MIME is based on the MIME standard, the goal of which is to let users attach files other than ASCII text files to electronic messages. The MIME standard therefore makes it possible to attach all types of files to e-mails.

S/MIME was originally developed by the company RSA Data Security. Ratified in July 1999 by the IETF, S/MIME has become a standard, whose specifications are contained in RFCs 2630 to 2633.

How S/MIME works

The S/MIME standard is based on the principle of public-key encryption. S/MIME therefore makes it possible to encrypt the content of messages but does not encrypt the communication.

The various sections of an electronic message, encoded according to the MIME standard, are each encrypted using a session key.

The session key is inserted in each section's header, and is encrypted using the recipient's public key. Only the recipient can open the message's body, using his private key, which guarantees the confidentiality and integrity of the received message.

In addition, the message's signature is encrypted with the sender's private key. Anyone intercepting the communication can read the content of the message's signature, but this ensures the recipient of the sender's identity, since only the sender is capable of encrypting a message (with his private key) that can be decrypted with his public key.

Reference(s) used for this question:

http://en.kioskea.net/contents/139-cryptography-s-mime

RFC 2630: Cryptographic Message Syntax;

OPPLIGER, Rolf, Secure Messaging with PGP and S/MIME, 2000, Artech House;

HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 2001, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, page 570;

SMITH, Richard E., Internet Cryptography, 1997, Addison-Wesley Pub Co.

A stream cipher treats the message as a stream of bits or bytes and performs mathematical functions on them individually. The key is a random value input into the stream cipher, which it uses to ensure the randomness of the keystream data. They are more suitable for hardware implementations, because they encrypt and decrypt one bit at a time. They are intensive because each bit must be manipulated, which works better at the silicon level. Block ciphers operate a the block level, dividing the message into blocks of bits. Cipher Block chaining (CBC) and Electronic Code Book (ECB) are operation modes of DES, a block encryption algorithm.

Source: WALLHOFF, John, CBK#5 Cryptography (CISSP Study Guide), April 2002 (page 2).

Regression testing is the process of rerunning a portion of the test scenario or test plan to ensure that changes or corrections have not introduced new errors. The data used in regression testing should be the same as the data used in the original test. Unit testing refers to the testing of an individual program or module. Pilot testing is a preliminary test that focuses only on specific and predetermined aspects of a system. Parallel testing is the process of feeding test data into two systems and comparing the results.

Source: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, Chapter 6: Business Application System Development, Acquisition, Implementation and Maintenance (page 300).

Confidentiality is the prevention of the intentional or unintentional unauthorized disclosure of contents.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 60.

A Pseudo flaw is something that looks like it is vulnerable to attack, but really acts as an alarm or triggers automatic actions when an intruder attempts to exploit the flaw.

The following answers are incorrect:

An omission when generating Psuedo-code. Is incorrect because it is a distractor.

Used for testing for bounds violations in application programming. Is incorrect, this is a testing methodology.

A normally generated page fault causing the system to halt. This is incorrect because it is distractor.

The CPU, storage devices and peripherals each have specialized roles in the security archecture. The CPU, or microprocessor, is the brains behind a computer system and performs calculations as it solves problemes and performs system tasks. Storage devices provide both long- and short-term stoarge of information that the CPU has either processed or may process. Peripherals (scanners, printers, modems, etc) are devices that either input datra or receive the data output by the CPU.

The motherboard is the main circuit board of a microcomputer and contains the connectors for attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices.

Reference(s) used for this question:

TIPTON, Harold F., The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK (2007), page 308.

The Product design phase deals with incorporating security specifications, adjusting test plans and data, determining access controls, design documentation, evaluating encryption options, and verification.

Implementation is incorrect because it deals with Installing security software, running the system, acceptance testing, security software testing, and complete documentation certification and accreditation (where necessary).

Detailed design is incorrect because it deals with information security policy, standards, legal issues, and the early validation of concepts.

software plans and requirements is incorrect because it deals with addressesing threats, vulnerabilities, security requirements, reasonable care, due diligence, legal liabilities, cost/benefit analysis, level of protection desired, test plans.

Sources:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 7: Applications and Systems Development (page 252).

KRUTZ, Ronald & VINES, Russel, The CISSP Prep Guide: Gold Edition, Wiley Publishing Inc., 2003, Chapter 7: Security Life Cycle Components, Figure 7.5 (page 346).

145

At which of the basic phases of the System Development Life Cycle are security requirements formalized?

A. Disposal

B. System Design Specifications

C. Development and Implementation

D. Functional Requirements Definition

Answer: D

During the Functional Requirements Definition the project management and systems development teams will conduct a comprehensive analysis of current and possible future functional requirements to ensure that the new system will meet end-user needs. The teams also review the documents from the project initiation phase and make any revisions or updates as needed. For smaller projects, this phase is often subsumed in the project initiation phase. At this point security requirements should be formalized.

The Development Life Cycle is a project management tool that can be used to plan, execute, and control a software development project usually called the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

The SDLC is a process that includes systems analysts, software engineers, programmers, and end users in the project design and development. Because there is no industry-wide SDLC, an organization can use any one, or a combination of SDLC methods.

The SDLC simply provides a framework for the phases of a software development project from defining the functional requirements to implementation. Regardless of the method used, the SDLC outlines the essential phases, which can be shown together or as separate elements. The model chosen should be based on the project.

For example, some models work better with long-term, complex projects, while others are more suited for short-term projects. The key element is that a formalized SDLC is utilized.

The number of phases can range from three basic phases (concept, design, and implement) on up.

The basic phases of SDLC are:

Project initiation and planning

Functional requirements definition

System design specifications

Development and implementation

Documentation and common program controls

Testing and evaluation control, (certification and accreditation)

Transition to production (implementation)

The system life cycle (SLC) extends beyond the SDLC to include two additional phases:

Operations and maintenance support (post-installation)

Revisions and system replacement

System Design Specifications

This phase includes all activities related to designing the system and software. In this phase, the system architecture, system outputs, and system interfaces are designed. Data input, data flow, and output requirements are established and security features are designed, generally based on the overall security architecture for the company.

Development and Implementation

During this phase, the source code is generated, test scenarios and test cases are developed, unit and integration testing is conducted, and the program and system are documented for maintenance and for turnover to acceptance testing and production. As well as general care for software quality, reliability, and consistency of operation, particular care should be taken to ensure that the code is analyzed to eliminate common vulnerabilities that might lead to security exploits and other risks.

Documentation and Common Program Controls

These are controls used when editing the data within the program, the types of logging the program should be doing, and how the program versions should be stored. A large number of such controls may be needed, see the reference below for a full list of controls.

Acceptance

In the acceptance phase, preferably an independent group develops test data and tests the code to ensure that it will function within the organization’s environment and that it meets all the functional and security requirements. It is essential that an independent group test the code during all applicable stages of development to prevent a separation of duties issue. The goal of security testing is to ensure that the application meets its security requirements and specifications. The security testing should uncover all design and implementation flaws that would allow a user to violate the software security policy and requirements. To ensure test validity, the application should be tested in an environment that simulates the production environment. This should include a security certification package and any user documentation.

Certification and Accreditation (Security Authorization)

Certification is the process of evaluating the security stance of the software or system against a predetermined set of security standards or policies. Certification also examines how well the system performs its intended functional requirements. The certification or evaluation document should contain an analysis of the technical and nontechnical security features and countermeasures and the extent to which the software or system meets the security requirements for its mission and operational environment.

Transition to Production (Implementation)

During this phase, the new system is transitioned from the acceptance phase into the live production environment. Activities during this phase include obtaining security accreditation; training the new users according to the implementation and training schedules; implementing the system, including installation and data conversions; and, if necessary, conducting any parallel operations.

Revisions and System Replacement

As systems are in production mode, the hardware and software baselines should be subject to periodic evaluations and audits. In some instances, problems with the application may not be defects or flaws, but rather additional functions not currently developed in the application. Any changes to the application must follow the same SDLC and be recorded in a change management system. Revision reviews should include security planning and procedures to avoid future problems. Periodic application audits should be conducted and include documenting security incidents when problems occur. Documenting system failures is a valuable resource for justifying future system enhancements.

Below you have the phases used by NIST in it's 800-63 Revision 2 document

As noted above, the phases will vary from one document to another one. For the purpose of the exam use the list provided in the official ISC2 Study book which is presented in short form above. Refer to the book for a more detailed description of activities at each of the phases of the SDLC.

However, all references have very similar steps being used. As mentioned in the official book, it could be as simple as three phases in it's most basic version (concept, design, and implement) or a lot more in more detailed versions of the SDLC.

The key thing is to make use of an SDLC.

SDLC phases

Reference(s) used for this question:

NIST SP 800-64 Revision 2 at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-64-Rev2/SP800-64-Revision2.pdf

and

Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition: Software Development Security ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 134-157). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

The Trusted Computing Base (TCB) is defined as the total combination of protection mechanisms within a computer system. The TCB includes hardware, software, and firmware. These are part of the TCB because the system is sure that these components will enforce the security policy and not violate it.

The security kernel is made up of hardware, software, and firmware components at fall within the TCB and implements and enforces the reference monitor concept.

Many important issues in computer security involve human users, designers, implementers, and managers.

A broad range of security issues relates to how these individuals interact with computers and the access and authorities they need to do their jobs. Since operational controls address security methods focusing on mechanisms primarily implemented and executed by people (as opposed to systems), personnel security is considered a form of operational control.

Operational controls are put in place to improve security of a particular system (or group of systems). They often require specialized expertise and often rely upon management activities as well as technical controls. Implementing dual control and making sure that you have more than one person that can perform a task would fall into this category as well.

Management controls focus on the management of the IT security system and the management of risk for a system. They are techniques and concerns that are normally addressed by management.

Technical controls focus on security controls that the computer system executes. The controls can provide automated protection for unauthorized access of misuse, facilitate detection of security violations, and support security requirements for applications and data.

Reference use for this question:

NIST SP 800-53 Revision 4 http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-53r4

You can get it as a word document by clicking HERE

NIST SP 800-53 Revision 4 has superseded the document below:

SWANSON, Marianne, NIST Special Publication 800-26, Security Self-Assessment Guide for Information Technology Systems, November 2001 (Page A-18).

Management is responsible for protecting all assets that are directly or indirectly under their control.

They must ensure that employees understand their obligations to protect the company's assets, and implement security in accordance with the company policy. Finally, management is responsible for initiating corrective actions when there are security violations.

Source: HARE, Chris, Security management Practices CISSP Open Study Guide, version 1.0, april 1999.

If you are "retrofitting" that means you are adding to an existing database management system (DBMS). You could go back and redesign the entire DBMS but the cost of that could be expensive and there is no telling what the effect will be on existing applications, but that is redesigning and the question states retrofitting. The most cost effective way with the least effect on existing applications while adding a layer of security on top is through a trusted front-end.

Clark-Wilson is a synonym of that model as well. It was used to add more granular control or control to database that did not provide appropriate controls or no controls at all. It is one of the most popular model today. Any dynamic website with a back-end database is an example of this today.

Such a model would also introduce separation of duties by allowing the subject only specific rights on the objects they need to access.

The following answers are incorrect:

trusted back-end. Is incorrect because a trusted back-end would be the database management system (DBMS). Since the question stated "retrofitting" that eliminates this answer.

controller. Is incorrect because this is a distractor and has nothing to do with "retrofitting".

kernel. Is incorrect because this is a distractor and has nothing to do with "retrofitting". A security kernel would provide protection to devices and processes but would be inefficient in protecting rows or columns in a table.

System Integrity means that all components of the system cannot be tampered with by unauthorized personnel and can be verified that they work properly.

The following answers are incorrect:

The software of the system has been implemented as designed. Is incorrect because this would fall under Trusted system distribution.

Users can't tamper with processes they do not own. Is incorrect because this would fall under Configuration Management.

Design specifications have been verified against the formal top-level specification. Is incorrect because this would fall under Specification and verification.

References:

AIOv3 Security Models and Architecture (pages 302 - 306)

DOD TCSEC - http://www.cerberussystems.com/INFOSEC/stds/d520028.htm

A fault-tolerant system is capable of detecting that a fault has occurred and has the ability to correct the fault or operate around it. In a fail-safe system, program execution is terminated, and the system is protected from being compromised when a hardware or software failure occurs and is detected. In a fail-soft system, when a hardware or software failure occurs and is detected, selected, non-critical processing is terminated. The term failover refers to switching to a duplicate "hot" backup component in real-time when a hardware or software failure occurs, enabling processing to continue.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 5: Security Architecture and Models (page 196).

In computer science, hierarchical protection domains, often called protection rings, are mechanisms to protect data and functionality from faults (fault tolerance) and malicious behaviour (computer security). This approach is diametrically opposite to that of capability-based security.

Computer operating systems provide different levels of access to resources. A protection ring is one of two or more hierarchical levels or layers of privilege within the architecture of a computer system. This is generally hardware-enforced by some CPU architectures that provide different CPU modes at the hardware or microcode level.

Rings are arranged in a hierarchy from most privileged (most trusted, usually numbered zero) to least privileged (least trusted, usually with the highest ring number). On most operating systems, Ring 0 is the level with the most privileges and interacts most directly with the physical hardware such as the CPU and memory.

Special gates between rings are provided to allow an outer ring to access an inner ring's resources in a predefined manner, as opposed to allowing arbitrary usage. Correctly gating access between rings can improve security by preventing programs from one ring or privilege level from misusing resources intended for programs in another. For example, spyware running as a user program in Ring 3 should be prevented from turning on a web camera without informing the user, since hardware access should be a Ring 1 function reserved for device drivers. Programs such as web browsers running in higher numbered rings must request access to the network, a resource restricted to a lower numbered ring.

"They provide strict boundaries and definitions on what the processes that work within each ring can access" is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.

"Programs operating in inner rings are usually referred to as existing in a privileged mode" is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.

"They support the CIA triad requirements of multitasking operating systems" is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.

Reference(s) used for this question:

CBK, pp. 310-311

AIO3, pp. 253-256

AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 308 - 310)

AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 309 - 312)

An overt channel is a path within a computer system or network that is designed for the authorized transfer of data. The opposite would be a covert channel which is an unauthorized path.

A covert channel is a way for an entity to receive information in an unauthorized manner. It is an information flow that is not controlled by a security mechanism. This type of information path was not developed for communication; thus, the system does not properly protect this path, because the developers never envisioned information being passed in this way. Receiving information in this manner clearly violates the system’s security policy.

All of the other choices are bogus detractors.

Reference(s) used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 219.

and

Shon Harris, CISSP All In One (AIO), 6th Edition , page 380

and

Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 378). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The reference monitor concept is an abstract machine that ensures that all subjects have the necessary access rights before accessing objects. Therefore, the kernel will mediates all accesses to objects by subjects and will do so by validating through the reference monitor concept.

The kernel does not decide whether or not the access will be granted, it will be the Reference Monitor which is a subset of the kernel that will say YES or NO.

All access requests will be intercepted by the Kernel, validated through the reference monitor, and then access will either be denied or granted according to the request and the subject privileges within the system.

1. The reference monitor must be small enough to be full tested and valided

2. The Kernel must MEDIATE all access request from subjects to objects

3. The processes implementing the reference monitor must be protected

4. The reference monitor must be tamperproof

The following answers are incorrect:

The security kernel is the mechanism that actually enforces the rules of the reference monitor concept.

The other answers are distractors.

Shon Harris, All In One, 5th Edition, Security Architecture and Design, Page 330

also see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_monitor

The Answer: A communication channel that allows transfer of information in a manner that violates the system's security policy.

A covert channel is a way for an entity to receive information in an unauthorized manner. It is an information flow that is not controlled by a security mechanism. This type of information path was not developed for communication; thus, the system does not properly protect this path, because the developers never envisioned information being passed in this way.

Receiving information in this manner clearly violates the system’s security policy. The channel to transfer this unauthorized data is the result of one of the following conditions:• Oversight in the development of the product

• Improper implementation of access controls

• Existence of a shared resource between the two entities

• Installation of a Trojan horse

The following answers are incorrect:

An undocumented backdoor that has been left by a programmer in an operating system is incorrect because it is not a means by which unauthorized transfer of information takes place. Such backdoor is usually referred to as a Maintenance Hook.

An open system port that should be closed is incorrect as it does not define a covert channel.

A trojan horse is incorrect because it is a program that looks like a useful program but when you install it it would include a bonus such as a Worm, Backdoor, or some other malware without the installer knowing about it.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Shon Harris AIO v3 , Chapter-5 : Security Models & Architecture

AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 343 - 344)

AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 345 - 346)

The spiral model is actually a meta-model that incorporates a number of the software development models. This model depicts a spiral that incorporates the various phases of software development. The model states that each cycle of the spiral involves the same series of steps for each part of the project. CPM refers to the Critical Path Methodology.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 7: Applications and Systems Development (page 246).

From the published (ISC)2 goals for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional candidate, domain definition. Confidentiality is making sure that only those who are supposed to access the data can access it.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 59.

Running the source comparison program between control and current source periodically allows detection, not prevention, of unauthorized changes in the production environment. Other options are preventive controls.

Source: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, chapter 6: Business Application System Development, Acquisition, Implementation and Maintenance (page 309).

A major objective with Configuration Management is stability. The changes to the system are controlled so that they don't lead to weaknesses or faults in th system.

The following answers are incorrect:

system maintenance. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer. Configuration Management does control the changes to the system but it is not as important as the overall stability of the system.

system operations. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer, the overall stability of the system is much more important.

system tracking. Is incorrect because while tracking changes is important, it is not the best answer. The overall stability of the system is much more important.

The two current conceptual approaches to Intrusion Detection methodology are knowledge-based ID systems and behavior-based ID systems, sometimes referred to as signature-based ID and statistical anomaly-based ID, respectively.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 63.

The two most common implementations of Intrusion Detection are Network-based and Host-based.

IDS can be implemented as a network device, such as a router, switch, firewall, or dedicated device monitoring traffic, typically referred to as network IDS (NIDS).

The" (IDS) "technology can also be incorporated into a host system (HIDS) to monitor a single system for undesirable activities. "

A network intrusion detection system (NIDS) is a network device .... that monitors traffic traversing the network segment for which it is integrated." Remember that NIDS are usually passive in nature.

HIDS is the implementation of IDS capabilities at the host level. Its most significant difference from NIDS is that related processes are limited to the boundaries of a single-host system. However, this presents advantages in effectively detecting objectionable activities because the IDS process is running directly on the host system, not just observing it from the network.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 3649-3652). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

To maintain operational assurance, organizations use two basic methods: system audits and monitoring. Monitoring refers to an ongoing activity whereas audits are one-time or periodic events and can be either internal or external. The essential difference between a self-audit and an independent audit is objectivity, thus indirectly affecting the results of the audit. Internal and external auditors should have the same level of competence and can use the same tools.

Source: SWANSON, Marianne & GUTTMAN, Barbara, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NIST Special Publication 800-14, Generally Accepted Principles and Practices for Securing Information Technology Systems, September 1996 (page 25).

There are two basic IDS analysis methods: pattern matching (also called signature analysis) and anomaly detection.

Anomaly detection uses behavioral characteristics of a system’s operation or network traffic to draw conclusions on whether the traffic represents a risk to the network or host. Anomalies may include but are not limited to:

Multiple failed log-on attempts

Users logging in at strange hours

Unexplained changes to system clocks

Unusual error messages

The following are incorrect answers:

Network-based ID Systems (NIDS) are usually incorporated into the network in a passive architecture, taking advantage of promiscuous mode access to the network. This means that it has visibility into every packet traversing the network segment. This allows the system to inspect packets and monitor sessions without impacting the network or the systems and applications utilizing the network.

Host-based ID Systems (HIDS) is the implementation of IDS capabilities at the host level. Its most significant difference from NIDS is that related processes are limited to the boundaries of a single-host system. However, this presents advantages in effectively detecting objectionable activities because the IDS process is running directly on the host system, not just observing it from the network. This offers unfettered access to system logs, processes, system information, and device information, and virtually eliminates limits associated with encryption. The level of integration represented by HIDS increases the level of visibility and control at the disposal of the HIDS application.

Signature Analysis Some of the first IDS products used signature analysis as their detection method and simply looked for known characteristics of an attack (such as specific packet sequences or text in the data stream) to produce an alert if that pattern was detected. For example, an attacker manipulating an FTP server may use a tool that sends a specially constructed packet. If that particular packet pattern is known, it can be represented in the form of a signature that IDS can then compare to incoming packets. Pattern-based IDS will have a database of hundreds, if not thousands, of signatures that are compared to traffic streams. As new attack signatures are produced, the system is updated, much like antivirus solutions. There are drawbacks to pattern-based IDS. Most importantly, signatures can only exist for known attacks. If a new or different attack vector is used, it will not match a known signature and, thus, slip past the IDS. Additionally, if an attacker knows that the IDS is present, he or she can alter his or her methods to avoid detection. Changing packets and data streams, even slightly, from known signatures can cause an IDS to miss the attack. As with some antivirus systems, the IDS is only as good as the latest signature database on the system.

For additional information on Intrusion Detection Systems - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_detection_system

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 3623-3625, 3649-3654, 3666-3686). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

The security controls and mechanisms that are in place must have a degree of transparency.

This enables the user to perform tasks and duties without having to go through extra steps because of the presence of the security controls. Transparency also does not let the user know too much about the controls, which helps prevent him from figuring out how to circumvent them. If the controls are too obvious, an attacker can figure out how to compromise them more easily.

Security (more specifically, the implementation of most security controls) has long been a sore point with users who are subject to security controls. Historically, security controls have been very intrusive to users, forcing them to interrupt their work flow and remember arcane codes or processes (like long passwords or access codes), and have generally been seen as an obstacle to getting work done. In recent years, much work has been done to remove that stigma of security controls as a detractor from the work process adding nothing but time and money. When developing access control, the system must be as transparent as possible to the end user. The users should be required to interact with the system as little as possible, and the process around using the control should be engineered so as to involve little effort on the part of the user.

For example, requiring a user to swipe an access card through a reader is an effective way to ensure a person is authorized to enter a room. However, implementing a technology (such as RFID) that will automatically scan the badge as the user approaches the door is more transparent to the user and will do less to impede the movement of personnel in a busy area.

In another example, asking a user to understand what applications and data sets will be required when requesting a system ID and then specifically requesting access to those resources may allow for a great deal of granularity when provisioning access, but it can hardly be seen as transparent. A more transparent process would be for the access provisioning system to have a role-based structure, where the user would simply specify the role he or she has in the organization and the system would know the specific resources that user needs to access based on that role. This requires less work and interaction on the part of the user and will lead to more accurate and secure access control decisions because access will be based on predefined need, not user preference.

When developing and implementing an access control system special care should be taken to ensure that the control is as transparent to the end user as possible and interrupts his work flow as little as possible.

The following answers were incorrect:

All of the other detractors were incorrect.

Reference(s) used for this question:

HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 6th edition. Operations Security, Page 1239-1240

Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (Kindle Locations 25278-25281). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Access Control ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 713-729). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Layer 5 of the OSI model is the Session Layer. This layer provides a logical persistent connection between peer hosts. A session is analogous to a conversation that is necessary for applications to exchange information.

The session layer is responsible for establishing, managing, and closing end-to-end connections, called sessions, between applications located at different network endpoints. Dialogue control management provided by the session layer includes full-duplex, half-duplex, and simplex communications. Session layer management also helps to ensure that multiple streams of data stay synchronized with each other, as in the case of multimedia applications like video conferencing, and assists with the prevention of application related data errors.

The session layer is responsible for creating, maintaining, and tearing down the session.

Three modes are offered:

(Full) Duplex: Both hosts can exchange information simultaneously, independent of each other.

Half Duplex: Hosts can exchange information, but only one host at a time.

Simplex: Only one host can send information to its peer. Information travels in one direction only.

Another aspect of performance that is worthy of some attention is the mode of operation of the network or connection. Obviously, whenever we connect together device A and device B, there must be some way for A to send to B and B to send to A. Many people don’t realize, however, that networking technologies can differ in terms of how these two directions of communication are handled. Depending on how the network is set up, and the characteristics of the technologies used, performance may be improved through the selection of performance-enhancing modes.

Basic Communication Modes of Operation

Let's begin with a look at the three basic modes of operation that can exist for any network connection, communications channel, or interface.

Simplex Operation

In simplex operation, a network cable or communications channel can only send information in one direction; it's a “one-way street”. This may seem counter-intuitive: what's the point of communications that only travel in one direction? In fact, there are at least two different places where simplex operation is encountered in modern networking.

The first is when two distinct channels are used for communication: one transmits from A to B and the other from B to A. This is surprisingly common, even though not always obvious. For example, most if not all fiber optic communication is simplex, using one strand to send data in each direction. But this may not be obvious if the pair of fiber strands are combined into one cable.

Simplex operation is also used in special types of technologies, especially ones that are asymmetric. For example, one type of satellite Internet access sends data over the satellite only for downloads, while a regular dial-up modem is used for upload to the service provider. In this case, both the satellite link and the dial-up connection are operating in a simplex mode.

Half-Duplex Operation

Technologies that employ half-duplex operation are capable of sending information in both directions between two nodes, but only one direction or the other can be utilized at a time. This is a fairly common mode of operation when there is only a single network medium (cable, radio frequency and so forth) between devices.

While this term is often used to describe the behavior of a pair of devices, it can more generally refer to any number of connected devices that take turns transmitting. For example, in conventional Ethernet networks, any device can transmit, but only one may do so at a time. For this reason, regular (unswitched) Ethernet networks are often said to be “half-duplex”, even though it may seem strange to describe a LAN that way.

Full-Duplex Operation

In full-duplex operation, a connection between two devices is capable of sending data in both directions simultaneously. Full-duplex channels can be constructed either as a pair of simplex links (as described above) or using one channel designed to permit bidirectional simultaneous transmissions. A full-duplex link can only connect two devices, so many such links are required if multiple devices are to be connected together.

Note that the term “full-duplex” is somewhat redundant; “duplex” would suffice, but everyone still says “full-duplex” (likely, to differentiate this mode from half-duplex).

For a listing of protocols associated with Layer 5 of the OSI model, see below:

ADSP - AppleTalk Data Stream Protocol

ASP - AppleTalk Session Protocol

H.245 - Call Control Protocol for Multimedia Communication

ISO-SP

OSI session-layer protocol (X.225, ISO 8327)

iSNS - Internet Storage Name Service

The following are incorrect answers:

Synchronous and Asynchronous are not session layer modes.

Half simplex does not exist. By definition, simplex means that information travels one way only, so half-simplex is a oxymoron.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 5603-5636). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

and

http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_SimplexFullDuplexandHalfDuplexOperation.htm

and

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-session-layer.htm

A HIDS does not consume large amounts of system resources is the correct choice. HIDS can consume inordinate amounts of CPU and system resources in order to function effectively, especially during an event.

All the other answers are characteristics of HIDSes

A HIDS can:

scrutinize event logs, critical system files, and other auditable system resources;

look for unauthorized change or suspicious patterns of behavior or activity

can send alerts when unusual events are discovered

Poor password selection is frequently a major security problem for any system's security. Administrators should obtain and use password-guessing programs frequently to identify those users having easily guessed passwords.

Because password-cracking programs are very CPU intensive and can slow the system on which it is running, it is a good idea to transfer the encrypted passwords to a standalone (not networked) workstation. Also, by doing the work on a non-networked machine, any results found will not be accessible by anyone unless they have physical access to that system.

Out of the four choice presented above this is the best choice.

However, in real life you would have strong password policies that enforce complexity requirements and does not let the user choose a simple or short password that can be easily cracked or guessed. That would be the best choice if it was one of the choice presented.

Another issue with password cracking is one of privacy. Many password cracking tools can avoid this by only showing the password was cracked and not showing what the password actually is. It is masking the password being used from the person doing the cracking.

Source: National Security Agency, Systems and Network Attack Center (SNAC), The 60 Minute Network Security Guide, February 2002, page 8.

An issue with signature-based ID is that only attack signatures that are stored in their database are detected.

New attacks without a signature would not be reported. They do require constant updates in order to maintain their effectiveness.

Reference used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

Two points are important to consider when it comes to ethical hacking: integrity and independence.

By not using an ethical hacking firm that hires or subcontracts to ex-hackers of others who have criminal records, an entire subset of risks can be avoided by an organization. Also, it is not cost-effective for a single firm to fund the effort of the ongoing research and development, systems development, and maintenance that is needed to operate state-of-the-art proprietary and open source testing tools and techniques.

External penetration firms are more effective than internal penetration testers because they are not influenced by any previous system security decisions, knowledge of the current system environment, or future system security plans. Moreover, an employee performing penetration testing might be reluctant to fully report security gaps.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Appendix F: The Case for Ethical Hacking (page 517).

The reporting process should be centralized else employees won't bother.

The other answers are incorrect because :

They are afraid of being pulled into something they don't want to be involved with is incorrect as most of the employees fear of this and this would prevent them to report an incident.

They are afraid of being accused of something they didn't do is also incorrect as this also prevents them to report an incident.

They are unaware of the company's security policies and procedures is also incorrect as mentioned above.

Reference : Shon Harris AIO v3 , Ch-10 : Laws , Investigatio & Ethics , Page : 675.

A host-based IDS is resident on a host and reviews the system and event logs in order to detect an attack on the host and to determine if the attack was successful. All critical serves should have a Host Based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) installed. As you are well aware, network based IDS cannot make sense or detect pattern of attacks within encrypted traffic. A HIDS might be able to detect such attack after the traffic has been decrypted on the host. This is why critical servers should have both NIDS and HIDS.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

A HIDS will monitor all or part of the dynamic behavior and of the state of a computer system. Much as a NIDS will dynamically inspect network packets, a HIDS might detect which program accesses what resources and assure that (say) a word-processor hasn\'t suddenly and inexplicably started modifying the system password-database. Similarly a HIDS might look at the state of a system, its stored information, whether in RAM, in the file-system, or elsewhere; and check that the contents of these appear as expected.

One can think of a HIDS as an agent that monitors whether anything/anyone - internal or external - has circumvented the security policy that the operating system tries to enforce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host-based_intrusion_detection_system

Because a network-based IDS reviews packets and headers, denial of service attacks can also be detected.

This question is an easy question if you go through the process of elimination. When you see an answer containing the keyword: ALL It is something a give away that it is not the proper answer. On the real exam you may encounter a few question where the use of the work ALL renders the choice invalid. Pay close attention to such keyword.

The following are incorrect answers:

Even though most IDSs can detect some viruses and some password guessing attacks, they cannot detect ALL viruses or ALL password guessing attacks. Therefore these two answers are only detractors.

Unless the IDS knows the valid values for a certain dataset, it can NOT detect data corruption.

Reference used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 48.

Organizations should have a process for (1) requesting, establishing, issuing, and closing user accounts; (2) tracking users and their respective access authorizations; and (3) managing these functions.

Reviews should examine the levels of access each individual has, conformity with the concept of least privilege, whether all accounts are still active, whether management authorizations are up-to-date, whether required training has been completed, and so forth. These reviews can be conducted on at least two levels: (1) on an application-by-application basis, or (2) on a system wide basis.

The strength of user passwords is beyond the scope of a simple user account management review, since it requires specific tools to try and crack the password file/database through either a dictionary or brute-force attack in order to check the strength of passwords.

Reference(s) used for this question:

SWANSON, Marianne & GUTTMAN, Barbara, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), NIST Special Publication 800-14, Generally Accepted Principles and Practices for Securing Information Technology Systems, September 1996 (page 28).

Accountability can actually be seen in two different ways:

1) Although audit trails are also needed for accountability, no user can be accountable for their actions unless properly authenticated.

2) Accountability is another facet of access control. Individuals on a system are responsible for their actions. This accountability property enables system activities to be traced to the proper individuals. Accountability is supported by audit trails that record events on the system and network. Audit trails can be used for intrusion detection and for the reconstruction of past events. Monitoring individual activities, such as keystroke monitoring, should be accomplished in accordance with the company policy and appropriate laws. Banners at the log-on time should notify the user of any monitoring that is being conducted.

The point is that unless you employ an appropriate auditing mechanism, you don't have accountability. Authorization only gives a user certain permissions on the network. Accountability is far more complex because it also includes intrusion detection, unauthorized actions by both unauthorized users and authorized users, and system faults. The audit trail provides the proof that unauthorized modifications by both authorized and unauthorized users took place. No proof, No accountability.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Page 50.

The Shon Harris AIO book, 4th Edition, on Page 243 also states:

Auditing Capabilities ensures users are accountable for their actions, verify that the secutiy policies are enforced,

and can be used as investigation tools. Accountability is tracked by recording user, system, and application activities.

This recording is done through auditing functions and mechanisms within an operating sytem or application.

Audit trail contain information about operating System activities, application events, and user actions.

Network-based ID systems:

- Commonly reside on a discrete network segment and monitor the traffic on that network segment

- Usually consist of a network appliance with a Network Interface Card (NIC) that is operating in promiscuous mode and is intercepting and analyzing the network packets in real time

"A passive NIDS takes advantage of promiscuous mode access to the network, allowing it to gain visibility into every packet traversing the network segment. This allows the system to inspect packets and monitor sessions without impacting the network, performance, or the systems and applications utilizing the network."

NOTE FROM CLEMENT:

A discrete network is a synonym for a SINGLE network. Usually the sensor will monitor a single network segment, however there are IDS today that allow you to monitor multiple LAN's at the same time.

References used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 62.

and

Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Hal Tipton and Kevin Henry, Page 196

and

Additional information on IDS systems can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusion_detection_system

Some disadvantages of a statistical anomaly-based ID are that it will not detect an attack that does not significantly change the system operating characteristics, or it may falsely detect a non-attack event that had caused a momentary anomaly in the system.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

A weakness of the signature-based (or knowledge-based) intrusion detection approach is that only attack signatures that are stored in a database are detected. Network-based intrusion detection can either be signature-based or statistical anomaly-based (also called behavior-based).

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page 49).

To be effective a patch management program must be in place (due diligence) and detailed procedures would specify how and when the patches are applied properly (Due Care). Remember, the question asked for NOT a violation of Due Diligence, in this case, applying patches demonstrates due care and the patch management process in place demonstrates due diligence.

Due diligence is the act of investigating and understanding the risks the company faces. A company practices by developing and implementing security policies, procedures, and standards. Detecting risks would be based on standards such as ISO 2700, Best Practices, and other published standards such as NIST standards for example.

Due Diligence is understanding the current threats and risks. Due diligence is practiced by activities that make sure that the protection mechanisms are continually maintained and operational where risks are constantly being evaluated and reviewed. The security policy being outdated would be an example of violating the due diligence concept.

Due Care is implementing countermeasures to provide protection from those threats. Due care is when the necessary steps to help protect the company and its resources from possible risks that have been identifed. If the information owner does not lay out the foundation of data protection (doing something about it) and ensure that the directives are being enforced (actually being done and kept at an acceptable level), this would violate the due care concept.

If a company does not practice due care and due diligence pertaining to the security of its assets, it can be legally charged with negligence and held accountable for any ramifications of that negligence. Liability is usually established based on Due Diligence and Due Care or the lack of either.

A good way to remember this is using the first letter of both words within Due Diligence (DD) and Due Care (DC).

Due Diligence = Due Detect

Steps you take to identify risks based on best practices and standards.

Due Care = Due Correct.

Action you take to bring the risk level down to an acceptable level and maintaining that level over time.

The Following answer were wrong:

Security policy being outdated:

While having and enforcing a security policy is the right thing to do (due care), if it is outdated, you are not doing it the right way (due diligence). This questions violates due diligence and not due care.

Data owners not laying out the foundation for data protection:

Data owners are not recognizing the "right thing" to do. They don't have a security policy.

Network administrator not taking mandatory two week vacation:

The two week vacation is the "right thing" to do, but not taking the vacation violates due diligence (not doing the right thing the right way)

Reference(s) used for this question

Shon Harris, CISSP All In One, Version 5, Chapter 3, pg 110

The principle of least privilege refers to allowing users to have only the access they need and not anything more. Thus, certain users may have no need to access any of the files on specific systems.

The following answers are incorrect:

Users can access all systems. Although the principle of least privilege limits what access and systems users have authorization to, not all users would have a need to know to access all of the systems. The best answer is still Users would get access to only the info for which they have a need to know as some of the users may not have a need to access a system.

Users get new privileges when they change positions. Although true that a user may indeed require new privileges, this is not a given fact and in actuality a user may require less privileges for a new position. The principle of least privilege would require that the rights required for the position be closely evaluated and where possible rights revoked.

Authorization creep. Authorization creep occurs when users are given additional rights with new positions and responsibilities. The principle of least privilege should actually prevent authorization creep.

The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:

ISC2 OIG 2007 p.101,123

Shon Harris AIO v3 p148, 902-903

Data owners decide who has access to resources based only on the identity of the person accessing the resource.

The following answers are incorrect :

Mandatory Access Control : users and data owners do not have as much freedom to determine who can access files. The operating system makes the final decision and can override the users' wishes and access decisions are based on security labels.

Sensitive Access Control : There is no such access control in the context of the above question.

Role-based Access Control : uses a centrally administered set of controls to determine how subjects and objects interact , also called as non discretionary access control.

In a mandatory access control (MAC) model, users and data owners do not have as much freedom to determine who can access files. The operating system makes the final decision and can override the users’ wishes. This model is much more structured and strict and is based on a security label system. Users are given a security clearance (secret, top secret, confidential, and so on), and data is classified in the same way. The clearance and classification data is stored in the security labels, which are bound to the specific subjects and objects. When the system makes a decision about fulfilling a request to access an object, it is based on the clearance of the subject, the classification of the object, and the security policy of the system. The rules for how subjects access objects are made by the security officer, configured by the administrator, enforced by the operating system, and supported by security technologies

Reference : Shon Harris , AIO v3 , Chapter-4 : Access Control , Page : 163-165

Buffer Overflow attack takes advantage of improper parameter checking within the application. This is the classic form of buffer overflow and occurs because the programmer accepts whatever input the user supplies without checking to make sure that the length of the input is less than the size of the buffer in the program.

The buffer overflow problem is one of the oldest and most common problems in software development and programming, dating back to the introduction of interactive computing. It can result when a program fills up the assigned buffer of memory with more data than its buffer can hold. When the program begins to write beyond the end of the buffer, the program’s execution path can be changed, or data can be written into areas used by the operating system itself. This can lead to the insertion of malicious code that can be used to gain administrative privileges on the program or system.

As explained by Gaurab, it can become very complex. At the time of input even if you are checking the length of the input, it has to be check against the buffer size. Consider a case where entry point of data is stored in Buffer1 of Application1 and then you copy it to Buffer2 within Application2 later on, if you are just checking the length of data against Buffer1, it will not ensure that it will not cause a buffer overflow in Buffer2 of Application2.

A bit of reassurance from the ISC2 book about level of Coding Knowledge needed for the exam:

It should be noted that the CISSP is not required to be an expert programmer or know the inner workings of developing application software code, like the FORTRAN programming language, or how to develop Web applet code using Java. It is not even necessary that the CISSP know detailed security-specific coding practices such as the major divisions of buffer overflow exploits or the reason for preferring str(n)cpy to strcpy in the C language (although all such knowledge is, of course, helpful). Because the CISSP may be the person responsible for ensuring that security is included in such developments, the CISSP should know the basic procedures and concepts involved during the design and development of software programming. That is, in order for the CISSP to monitor the software development process and verify that security is included, the CISSP must understand the fundamental concepts of programming developments and the security strengths and weaknesses of various application development processes.

The following are incorrect answers:

"Because buffers can only hold so much data" is incorrect. This is certainly true but is not the best answer because the finite size of the buffer is not the problem -- the problem is that the programmer did not check the size of the input before moving it into the buffer.

"Because they are an easy weakness to exploit" is incorrect. This answer is sometimes true but is not the best answer because the root cause of the buffer overflow is that the programmer did not check the size of the user input.

"Because of insufficient system memory" is incorrect. This is irrelevant to the occurrence of a buffer overflow.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 13319-13323). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, page 342.

This is an example of Separation of Duties because operators are prevented from modifying the system time which could lead to fraud. Tasks of this nature should be performed by they system administrators.

AIO defines Separation of Duties as a security principle that splits up a critical task among two or more individuals to ensure that one person cannot complete a risky task by himself.

The following answers are incorrect:

Programmers are permitted to use the system console. Is incorrect because programmers should not be permitted to use the system console, this task should be performed by operators. Allowing programmers access to the system console could allow fraud to occur so this is not an example of Separation of Duties..

Console operators are permitted to mount tapes and disks. Is incorrect because operators should be able to mount tapes and disks so this is not an example of Separation of Duties.

Tape operators are permitted to use the system console. Is incorrect because operators should be able to use the system console so this is not an example of Separation of Duties.

References:

OIG CBK Access Control (page 98 - 101)

AIOv3 Access Control (page 182)

An identity-based access control is a type of Discretionary Access Control (DAC) that is based on an individual's identity.

DAC is good for low level security environment. The owner of the file decides who has access to the file.

If a user creates a file, he is the owner of that file. An identifier for this user is placed in the file header and/or in an access control matrix within the operating system.

Ownership might also be granted to a specific individual. For example, a manager for a certain department might be made the owner of the files and resources within her department. A system that uses discretionary access control (DAC) enables the owner of the resource to specify which subjects can access specific resources.

This model is called discretionary because the control of access is based on the discretion of the owner. Many times department managers, or business unit managers , are the owners of the data within their specific department. Being the owner, they can specify who should have access and who should not.

Reference(s) used for this question:

Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 220). McGraw-Hill . Kindle Edition.

Synchronous dynamic password tokens generate a new unique password value at fixed time intervals, so the server and token need to be synchronized for the password to be accepted.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page 37).

Also check out: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 4: Access Control (page 136).

Vibration sensors are similar and are also implemented to detect forced entry. Financial institutions may choose to implement these types of sensors on exterior walls, where bank robbers may attempt to drive a vehicle through. They are also commonly used around the ceiling and flooring of vaults to detect someone trying to make an unauthorized bank withdrawal.

Such sensors are proned to false positive. If there is a large truck with heavy equipment driving by it may trigger the sensor. The same with a storm with thunder and lighting, it may trigger the alarm even thou there are no adversarial threat or disturbance.

The following are incorrect answers:

All of the other choices are incorrect.

Reference used for this question:

Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (pp. 495-496). McGraw-Hill . Kindle Edition.

Integrity Controls Mechanisms are not part of physical security. All of the other detractors were correct this one was the wrong one that does not belong to Physical Security. Below you have more details extracted from the SearchSecurity web site:

Information security depends on the security and management of the physical space in which computer systems operate. Domain 9 of the CISSP exam's Common Body of Knowledge addresses the challenges of securing the physical space, its systems and the people who work within it by use of administrative, technical and physical controls. The following QUESTION NO: s are covered:

Facilities management: The administrative processes that govern the maintenance and protection of the physical operations space, from site selection through emergency response.

Risks, issues and protection strategies: Risk identification and the selection of security protection components.

Perimeter security: Typical physical protection controls.

Facilities management

Facilities management is a complex component of corporate security that ranges from the planning of a secure physical site to the management of the physical information system environment. Facilities management responsibilities include site selection and physical security planning (i.e. facility construction, design and layout, fire and water damage protection, antitheft mechanisms, intrusion detection and security procedures.) Protections must extend to both people and assets. The necessary level of protection depends on the value of the assets and data. CISSP® candidates must learn the concept of critical-path analysis as a means of determining a component's business function criticality relative to the cost of operation and replacement. Furthermore, students need to gain an understanding of the optimal location and physical attributes of a secure facility. Among the QUESTION NO: s covered in this domain are site inspection, location, accessibility and obscurity, considering the area crime rate, and the likelihood of natural hazards such as floods or earthquakes.

This domain also covers the quality of construction material, such as its protective qualities and load capabilities, as well as how to lay out the structure to minimize risk of forcible entry and accidental damage. Regulatory compliance is also touched on, as is preferred proximity to civil protection services, such as fire and police stations. Attention is given to computer and equipment rooms, including their location, configuration (entrance/egress requirements) and their proximity to wiring distribution centers at the site.

Physical risks, issues and protection strategies

An overview of physical security risks includes risk of theft, service interruption, physical damage, compromised system integrity and unauthorized disclosure of information. Interruptions to business can manifest due to loss of power, services, telecommunications connectivity and water supply. These can also seriously compromise electronic security monitoring alarm/response devices. Backup options are also covered in this domain, as is a strategy for quantifying the risk exposure by simple formula.

Investment in preventive security can be costly. Appropriate redundancy of people skills, systems and infrastructure must be based on the criticality of the data and assets to be preserved. Therefore a strategy is presented that helps determine the selection of cost appropriate controls. Among the QUESTION NO: s covered in this domain are regulatory and legal requirements, common standard security protections such as locks and fences, and the importance of establishing service level agreements for maintenance and disaster support. Rounding out the optimization approach are simple calculations for determining mean time between failure and mean time to repair (used to estimate average equipment life expectancy) — essential for estimating the cost/benefit of purchasing and maintaining redundant equipment.

As the lifeblood of computer systems, special attention is placed on adequacy, quality and protection of power supplies. CISSP candidates need to understand power supply concepts and terminology, including those for quality (i.e. transient noise vs. clean power); types of interference (EMI and RFI); and types of interruptions such as power excess by spikes and surges, power loss by fault or blackout, and power degradation from sags and brownouts. A simple formula is presented for determining the total cost per hour for backup power. Proving power reliability through testing is recommended and the advantages of three power protection approaches are discussed (standby UPS, power line conditioners and backup sources) including minimum requirements for primary and alternate power provided.

Environmental controls are explored in this domain, including the value of positive pressure water drains and climate monitoring devices used to control temperature, humidity and reduce static electricity. Optimal temperatures and humidity settings are provided. Recommendations include strict procedures during emergencies, preventing typical risks (such as blocked fans), and the use of antistatic armbands and hygrometers. Positive pressurization for proper ventilation and monitoring for air born contaminants is stressed.

The pros and cons of several detection response systems are deeply explored in this domain. The concept of combustion, the classes of fire and fire extinguisher ratings are detailed. Mechanisms behind smoke-activated, heat-activated and flame-activated devices and Automatic Dial-up alarms are covered, along with their advantages, costs and shortcomings. Types of fire sources are distinguished and the effectiveness of fire suppression methods for each is included. For instance, Halon and its approved replacements are covered, as are the advantages and the inherent risks to equipment of the use of water sprinklers.

Administrative controls

The physical security domain also deals with administrative controls applied to physical sites and assets. The need for skilled personnel, knowledge sharing between them, separation of duties, and appropriate oversight in the care and maintenance of equipment and environments is stressed. A list of management duties including hiring checks, employee maintenance activities and recommended termination procedures is offered. Emergency measures include accountability for evacuation and system shutdown procedures, integration with disaster and business continuity plans, assuring documented procedures are easily available during different types of emergencies, the scheduling of periodic equipment testing, administrative reviews of documentation, procedures and recovery plans, responsibilities delegation, and personnel training and drills.

Perimeter security

Domain nine also covers the devices and techniques used to control access to a space. These include access control devices, surveillance monitoring, intrusion detection and corrective actions. Specifications are provided for optimal external boundary protection, including fence heights and placement, and lighting placement and types. Selection of door types and lock characteristics are covered. Surveillance methods and intrusion-detection methods are explained, including the use of video monitoring, guards, dogs, proximity detection systems, photoelectric/photometric systems, wave pattern devices, passive infrared systems, and sound and motion detectors, and current flow sensitivity devices that specifically address computer theft. Room lock types — both preset and cipher locks (and their variations) -- device locks, such as portable laptop locks, lockable server bays, switch control locks and slot locks, port controls, peripheral switch controls and cable trap locks are also covered. Personal access control methods used to identify authorized users for site entry are covered at length, noting social engineering risks such as piggybacking. Wireless proximity devices, both user access and system sensing readers are covered (i.e. transponder based, passive devices and field powered devices) in this domain.

Now that you've been introduced to the key concepts of Domain 9, watch the Domain 9, Physical Security video

Return to the CISSP Essentials Security School main page

See all SearchSecurity.com's resources on CISSP certification training

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2001, Page 280.

Controls provide accountability for individuals who are accessing sensitive information. This accountability is accomplished through access control mechanisms that require identification and authentication and through the audit function. These controls must be in accordance with and accurately represent the organization's security policy. Assurance procedures ensure that the control mechanisms correctly implement the security policy for the entire life cycle of an information system.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 33.

The Clark-Wilson model addresses integrity. It incorporates mechanisms to enforce internal and external consistency, a separation of duty, and a mandatory integrity policy.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 5: Security Architectures and Models (page 205).

You data center should be located in the middle of the facility or the core of a building to provide protection from natural disasters or bombs and provide easier access to emergency crewmembers if necessary. By being at the core of the facility the external wall would act as a secondary layer of protection as well.

Information processing facilities should not be located on the top floors of buildings in case of a fire or flooding coming from the roof. Many crimes and theft have also been conducted by simply cutting a large hole on the roof.

They should not be in the basement because of flooding where water has a natural tendancy to flow down :-) Even a little amount of water would affect your operation considering the quantity of electrical cabling sitting directly on the cement floor under under your raise floor.

The data center should not be located on the first floor due to the presence of the main entrance where people are coming in and out. You have a lot of high traffic areas such as the elevators, the loading docks, cafeteria, coffee shopt, etc.. Really a bad location for a data center.

So it was easy to come up with the answer by using the process of elimination where the top, the bottom, and the basement are all bad choices. That left you with only one possible answer which is the third floor.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 5th Edition, Page 425.

Access Control Techniques

Discretionary Access Control

Mandatory Access Control

Lattice Based Access Control

Rule-Based Access Control

Role-Based Access Control

Source: DUPUIS, Clement, Access Control Systems and Methodology, Version 1, May 2002, CISSP Open Study Group Study Guide for Domain 1, Page 13.

The correct answer is "clipping level". This is the point at which a system decides to take some sort of action when an action repeats a preset number of times. That action may be to log the activity, lock a user account, temporarily close a port, etc.

Example: The most classic example of a clipping level is failed login attempts. If you have a system configured to lock a user's account after three failed login attemts, that is the "clipping level".

The other answers are not correct because:

Acceptance level, forgiveness level, and logging level are nonsensical terms that do not exist (to my knowledge) within network security.

ICMP is the only of the mentioned protocols to operate at the network layer (layer 3). Other protocols operate at layer 2.

Source: WALLHOFF, John, CBK#2 Telecommunications and Network Security (CISSP Study Guide), April 2002 (page 1).

Before the advent of classless addressing, one could tell the size of a network by the first few bits of an IP address. If the first bit was set to zero (the first byte being from 0 to 127), the address was a class A network. Values from 128 to 191 were used for class B networks whereas values between 192 and 223 were used for class C networks. Class D, with values from 224 to 239 (the first three bits set to one and the fourth to zero), was reserved for IP multicast.

Source: STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 3: TCP/IP from a Security Viewpoint.

The data link layer (layer 2) establishes the communications link between individual devices over a physical link or channel. It also ensures that messages are delivered to the proper device and translates the messages from layers above into bits for the physical layer (layer 1) to transmit.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 3: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 83).

Very-high data-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) can deliver up to 52 Mbps downstream over a single copper twisted pair over a relatively short distance (1000 to 4500 feet).

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a modem technology for broadband data access over ordinary copper telephone lines (POTS) from homes and businesses. xDSL refers collectively to all types of DSL, such as ADSL (and G.Lite), HDSL, SDSL, IDSL and VDSL etc. They are sometimes referred to as last-mile (or first mile) technologies because they are used only for connections from a telephone switching station to a home or office, not between switching stations.

xDSL is similar to ISDN in as much as both operate over existing copper telephone lines (POTS) using sophisticated modulation schemes and both require the short runs to a central telephone office

Graphic below from: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vdsl3.htm

DSL speed chart

The following are incorrect answers:

Single-line Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) deliver 2.3 Mbps of bandwidth each way.

High-rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) deliver 1.544 Mbps of bandwidth each way.

ADSL delivers a maximum of 8 Mbps downstream for a total combined speed of almost 9 Mbps up and down.

Reference used for this question:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/vdsl3.htm

and

http://www.javvin.com/protocolxDSL.html

and

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 3: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 115).

The first types of firewalls were packet filtering firewalls. It is the most basic firewall making access decisions based on ACL's. It will filter traffic based on source IP and port as well as destination IP and port. It does not understand the context of the communication and inspects every single packet one by one without understanding the context of the connection.

"Second generation firewall" is incorrect. The second generation of firewall were Proxy based firewalls. Under proxy based firewall you have Application Level Proxy and also the Circuit-level proxy firewall. The application level proxy is very smart and understand the inner structure of the protocol itself. The Circui-Level Proxy is a generic proxy that allow you to proxy protocols for which you do not have an Application Level Proxy. This is better than allowing a direct connection to the net. Today a great example of this would be the SOCKS protocol.

"Third generation firewall" is incorrect. The third generation firewall is the Stateful Inspection firewall. This type of firewall makes use of a state table to maintain the context of connections being established.

"Fourth generation firewall" is incorrect. The fourth generation firewall is the dynamic packet filtering firewall.

References:

CBK, p. 464

AIO3, pp. 482 - 484

Neither CBK or AIO3 use the generation terminology for firewall types but you will encounter it frequently as a practicing security professional. See http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/iaabu/centri4/user/scf4ch3.htm for a general discussion of the different generations.

The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) was designed to support multiple network types over the same serial link, just as Ethernet supports multiple network types over the same LAN. PPP replaces the earlier Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) that only supports IP over a serial link. PPTP is a tunneling protocol.

Source: STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 3: TCP/IP from a Security Viewpoint.

The Answer: Session layer, which establishes, maintains and manages sessions and synchronization of data flow. Session layer protocols control application-to-application communications, which is what an RPC call is.

The following answers are incorrect:

Transport layer: The Transport layer handles computer-to computer communications, rather than application-to-application communications like RPC.

Data link Layer: The Data Link layer protocols can be divided into either Logical Link Control (LLC) or Media Access Control (MAC) sublayers. Protocols like SLIP, PPP, RARP and L2TP are at this layer. An application-to-application protocol like RPC would not be addressed at this layer.

Network layer: The Network Layer is mostly concerned with routing and addressing of information, not application-to-application communication calls such as an RPC call.

The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:

The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol is implemented at the Session layer, which establishes, maintains and manages sessions as well as synchronization of the data flow.

Source: Jason Robinett's CISSP Cram Sheet: domain2.

Source: Shon Harris AIO v3 pg. 423

SSL provides for Peer Authentication. Though peer authentication is possible, authentication of the client is seldom used in practice when connecting to public e-commerce web sites. Once authentication is complete, confidentiality is assured over the session by the use of symmetric encryption in the interests of better performance.

The following answers were all incorrect:

"Peer identification" is incorrect. The desired attribute is assurance of the identity of the communicating parties provided by authentication and NOT identification. Identification is only who you claim to be. Authentication is proving who you claim to be.

"Server authentication" is incorrect. While server authentication only is common practice, the protocol provides for peer authentication (i.e., authentication of both client and server). This answer was not complete.

"Name resolution" is incorrect. Name resolution is commonly provided by the Domain Name System (DNS) not SSL.

Reference(s) used for this question:

CBK, pp. 496 - 497.

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a useful tool for remotely managing network devices.

Since it can be used to reconfigure devices, SNMP traffic should be blocked at the organization's firewall.

Using a VPN with encryption or some type of Tunneling software would be highly recommended in this case.

Source: STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 4: Sockets and Services from a Security Viewpoint.

Firewalls tend to give a false sense of security. They can be very hard to bypass but they need to be properly configured. The complexity of configuration rules can introduce a vulnerability when the person responsible for its configuration does not fully understand all possible options and switches. Denial of service attacks mainly concerns availability.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, Chapter 3: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 412).

A series of the same control, hexidecimal, characters imbedded in the string is usually an indicator of a buffer overflow attack. A NOP is a instruction which does nothing (No Operation - the hexadecimal equivalent is 0x90)

The following answers are incorrect:

A syn scan. This is incorrect because a SYN scan is when a SYN packet is sent to a specific port and the results are then analyzed.

A half-port scan. This is incorrect because the port scanner generates a SYN packet. If the target port is open, it will respond with a SYN-ACK packet. The scanner host responds with a RST packet, closing the connection before the handshake is completed. Also known as a Half Open Port scan.

A packet destined for the network's broadcast address. This is incorrect because this type of packet would not contain a long string of NOP characters.

It would be correct to select the first answer if the world "security" was not in the question.

Source: TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation.

Bridges are simple, protocol-dependent networking devices that are used to connect two or more homogeneous LANs to form an extended LAN.

A bridge does not change the contents of the frame being transmitted but acts as a relay.

A gateway is designed to reduce the problems of interfacing any combination of local networks that employ different level protocols or local and long-haul networks.

A router connects two networks or network segments and may use IP to route messages.

Firewalls are methods of protecting a network against security threats from other systems or networks by centralizing and controlling access to the protected network segment.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 7: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 397).

To the untrusted host, all traffic seems to originate from the proxy server and addresses on the trusted network are not revealed.

"User base" is incorrect. The proxy hides the origin of the request from the untrusted host.

"Operating system design" is incorrect. The proxy hides the origin of the request from the untrusted host.

"Net BIOS' design" is incorrect. The proxy hides the origin of the request from the untrusted host.

References:

CBK, p. 467

AIO3, pp. 486 - 490

Instead of using a Certificate Authority, PGP uses a "Web of Trust", where users can certify each other in a mesh model, which is best applied to smaller groups.

In cryptography, a web of trust is a concept used in PGP, GnuPG, and other OpenPGP compatible systems to establish the authenticity of the binding between a public key and its owner. Its decentralized trust model is an alternative to the centralized trust model of a public key infrastructure (PKI), which relies exclusively on a certificate authority (or a hierarchy of such). The web of trust concept was first put forth by PGP creator Phil Zimmermann in 1992 in the manual for PGP version 2.0.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security of e-mail communications. It was created by Phil Zimmermann in 1991.

As per Shon Harris's book:

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) was designed by Phil Zimmerman as a freeware e-mail security program and was released in 1991. It was the first widespread public key encryption program. PGP is a complete cryptosystem that uses cryptographic protection to protect e-mail and files. It can use RSA public key encryption for key management and use IDEA symmetric cipher for bulk encryption of data, although the user has the option of picking different types of algorithms for these functions. PGP can provide confidentiality by using the IDEA encryption algorithm, integrity by using the MD5 hashing algorithm, authentication by using the public key certificates, and nonrepudiation by using cryptographically signed messages. PGP initially used its own type of digital certificates rather than what is used in PKI, but they both have similar purposes. Today PGP support X.509 V3 digital certificates.

Reference(s) used for this question:

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 4: Cryptography (page 169).

Shon Harris, CISSP All in One book

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy

TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation.

All the choices above represent examples of circumventing the organization's security policy, which is the primary reason why a user would be using a dial-up Internet connection when a secure connection is available through the organization's network.

Source: STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 1: Understanding Firewalls.

Once the merchant server has been authenticated by the browser client, the browser generates a master secret that is to be shared only between the server and client. This secret serves as a seed to generate the session (private) keys. The master secret is then encrypted with the merchant's public key and sent to the server. The fact that the master secret is generated by the client's browser provides the client assurance that the server is not reusing keys that would have been used in a previous session with another client.

Source: ANDRESS, Mandy, Exam Cram CISSP, Coriolis, 2001, Chapter 6: Cryptography (page 112).

Also: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2001, page 569.

Categories 1 through 6 are based on the EIA/TIA-568-B standards.

On the newer wiring for LANs is CAT5e, an improved version of CAT5 which used to be outside of the standard, for more information on twisted pair, please see: twisted pair.

Category Cable Type Mhz Usage Speed

=============================================

CAT1 UTP Analog voice, Plain Old Telephone System (POTS)

CAT2 UTP 4 Mbps on Token Ring, also used on Arcnet networks

CAT3 UTP, ScTP, STP 16 MHz 10 Mbps

CAT4 UTP, ScTP, STP 20 MHz 16 Mbps on Token Ring Networks

CAT5 UTP, ScTP, STP 100 MHz 100 Mbps on ethernet, 155 Mbps on ATM

CAT5e UTP, ScTP, STP 100 MHz 1 Gbps (out of standard version, improved version of CAT5)

CAT6 UTP, ScTP, STP 250 MHz 10 Gbps

CAT7 ScTP, STP 600 M 100 Gbps

Category 6 has a minumum of 250 MHz of bandwidth. Allowing 10/100/1000 use with up to 100 meter cable length, along with 10GbE over shorter distances.

Category 6a or Augmented Category 6 has a minimum of 500 MHz of bandwidth. It is the newest standard and allows up to 10GbE with a length up to 100m.

Category 7 is a future cabling standard that should allow for up to 100GbE over 100 meters of cable. Expected availability is in 2013. It has not been approved as a cable standard, and anyone now selling you Cat. 7 cable is fooling you.

REFERENCES:

http://donutey.com/ethernet.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIA/EIA-568-B

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_1_cable