Which of the following is the MOST important security objective when applying cryptography to control messages that tell an ICS how much electrical power to output?
Correct Answer:
D
Assuring the integrity of messages is the most important security objective when applying cryptography to control messages that tell an ICS (industrial control system) how much electrical power to output. Integrity is the security objective that ensures the accuracy and completeness of data or information, preventing unauthorized modifications or tampering. Assuring the integrity of messages can prevent malicious or accidental changes to the control messages that could affect the operation or safety of the ICS or the electrical power output. Importing the availability of messages is not a security objective when applying cryptography, but a security objective that ensures the accessibility and usability of data or information, preventing unauthorized denial or disruption of service.
Ensuring non-repudiation of messages is not a security objective when applying cryptography, but a security objective that ensures the authenticity and accountability of data or information, preventing unauthorized denial or dispute of actions or transactions. Enforcing protocol conformance for messages is not a security objective when applying cryptography, but a security objective that ensures the compliance and consistency of data or information, preventing unauthorized deviations or violations of rules or standards. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-integrity https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide
An organization is moving its intellectual property data from on premises to a CSP and wants to secure the data from theft. Which of the following can be used to mitigate this risk?
Correct Answer:
A
The company should use an additional layer of encryption to secure the data from theft when moving to a CSP. Encryption is a process of transforming data into an unreadable format using a secret key. Encryption can protect the data from unauthorized access or modification during transit and at rest. Encryption can be applied at different levels, such as disk, file, or application. An additional layer of encryption can provide an extra security measure on top of the encryption provided by the CSP. Verified References:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/transition-seat-based-services
https://cloud.google.com/architecture/patterns-for-connecting-other-csps-with-gcp
A company’s claims processed department has a mobile workforce that receives a large number of email submissions from personal email addresses. An employees recently received an email that approved to be claim form, but it installed malicious software on the employee’s laptop when was opened.
Correct Answer:
C
Implementing cloud-based content filtering with sandboxing capabilities is the best solution for preventing malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form. Cloud-based content filtering is a technique that uses a cloud service to filter or block web traffic based on predefined rules or policies, preventing unauthorized or malicious access to web resources or services. Cloud-based content filtering can prevent malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form, as it can scan or analyze email attachments before they reach the mailbox and block or quarantine them if they are malicious. Sandboxing is a technique that uses an isolated or virtualized environment to execute or test suspicious or untrusted code or applications, preventing them from affecting the host system or network. Sandboxing can prevent malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form, as it can run or detonate email attachments in a safe environment and observe their behavior or impact before allowing them to reach the mailbox. Implementing application whitelisting and adding only the email client to the whitelist for laptops in the claims processing department is not a good solution for preventing malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form, as it could affect the usability or functionality of other applications on the laptops that may be needed for work purposes, as well as not prevent malicious software from running within the email client. Requiring all laptops to connect to the VPN (virtual private network) before accessing email is not a good solution for preventing malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form, as it could introduce latency or performance issues for accessing email, as well as not prevent malicious software from reaching or executing on the laptops. Installing a mail gateway to scan incoming messages and strip attachments before they reach the mailbox is not a good solution for preventing malicious software installation on the employee’s laptop due to opening an email attachment that appeared to be a claim form, as it could affect the normal operations or functionality of email communication, as well as not prevent legitimate attachments from reaching the mailbox. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-cloud- based-content-filtering https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp- content-guide
A vulnerability analyst identified a zero-day vulnerability in a company’s internally developed software. Since the current vulnerability management system does not have any checks for this vulnerability, an engineer has been asked to create one.
Which of the following would be BEST suited to meet these requirements?
Correct Answer:
D
OVAL (Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language) is a standard that would be best suited for creating checks for a zero-day vulnerability in an organization’s internally developed software. OVAL is a standard for expressing system configuration information and vulnerabilities in an XML format, allowing interoperability and automation among different security tools and platforms. An engineer can use OVAL to create definitions or tests for specific vulnerabilities or states in the software, and then use OVAL- compatible tools to scan or evaluate the software against those definitions or tests. ARF (Asset Reporting Format) is not a standard for creating checks for vulnerabilities, but a standard for expressing information about assets and their characteristics in an XML format, allowing interoperability and automation among different security tools and platforms. ISACs (Information Sharing and Analysis Centers) are not standards for creating checks for vulnerabilities, but organizations that collect, analyze, and disseminate information about threats, vulnerabilities, incidents, or best practices among different sectors or communities. Node.js is not a standard for creating checks for vulnerabilities, but a runtime environment that allows executing JavaScript code outside of a web browser, enabling the development of scalable web applications or services. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-oval https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default- source/resources/casp-content-guide
A web service provider has just taken on a very large contract that comes with requirements that are currently not being implemented in order to meet contractual requirements, the company must achieve the following thresholds
• 99 99% uptime
• Load time in 3 seconds
• Response time = <1>Starting with the computing environment, which of the following should a security engineer recommend to BEST meet the requirements? (Select THREE)
Correct Answer:
BCE
To meet the contractual requirements of the web service provider, a security engineer should recommend the following actions:
✑ Deploying a content delivery network (CDN): A CDN is a distributed system of
servers that delivers web content to users based on their geographic location, the origin of the content, and the performance of the network. A CDN can help improve the uptime, load time, and response time of web services by caching content closer to the users, reducing latency and bandwidth consumption. A CDN can also help mitigate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks by absorbing or filtering malicious traffic before it reaches the origin servers, reducing the impact on the web service availability12.
✑ Implementing server clusters: A server cluster is a group of servers that work
together to provide high availability, scalability, and load balancing for web services. A server cluster can help improve the uptime, load time, and response time of web services by distributing the workload across multiple servers, reducing the risk of single points of failure and performance bottlenecks. A server cluster can also help recover from failures by automatically switching to another server in case of a malfunction34.
✑ Lowering storage input/output (I/O): Storage I/O is the amount of data that can be
read from or written to a storage device in a given time. Storage I/O can affect the performance of web services by limiting the speed of data transfer between the servers and the storage devices. Lowering storage I/O can help improve the load time and response time of web services by reducing the latency and congestion of data access. Lowering storage I/O can be achieved by using faster storage devices, such as solid-state drives (SSDs), optimizing the storage layout and configuration, such as using RAID or striping, and caching frequently accessed data in memory5 .
Installing a firewall at corporate headquarters is not a recommended action to meet the contractual requirements, as it does not directly affect the uptime, load time, or response time of web services. A firewall is a device or software that filters and blocks unwanted network traffic based on predefined rules. A firewall can help improve the security of web services by preventing unauthorized access and attacks, but it may also introduce additional latency and complexity to the network.
Employing bare-metal loading of applications is not a recommended action to meet the contractual requirements, as it does not directly affect the uptime, load time, or response time of web services. Bare-metal loading is a technique that allows applications to run directly on hardware without an operating system or a hypervisor. Bare-metal loading can help improve the performance and efficiency of applications by eliminating the overhead and interference of other software layers, but it may also increase the difficulty and cost of deployment and maintenance.
Implementing RAID on the backup servers is not a recommended action to meet the contractual requirements, as it does not directly affect the uptime, load time, or response time of web services. RAID (redundant array of independent disks) is a technique that combines multiple disks into a logical unit that provides improved performance, reliability, or both. RAID can help improve the availability and security of backup data by protecting it from disk failures or corruption, but it may also introduce additional complexity and overhead to the backup process.
Utilizing redundant power for all developer workstations is not a recommended action to meet the contractual requirements, as it does not directly affect the uptime, load time, or response time of web services. Redundant power is a technique that provides multiple sources of power for an IT system in case one fails. Redundant power can help improve the availability and reliability of developer workstations by preventing them from losing power due to outages or surges, but it may also increase the cost and energy consumption of the system.
Ensuring technological diversity on critical servers is not a recommended action to meet the contractual requirements, as it does not directly affect the uptime, load time, or response time of web services. Technological diversity is a technique that uses different types of hardware, software, or platforms in an IT environment. Technological diversity can help improve resilience by reducing single points of failure and increasing compatibility, but it may also introduce additional complexity and inconsistency to the
environment. References: What Is CDN? How Does CDN Work? | Imperva, What Is Server Clustering? | IBM, What Is Server Clustering? | IBM, Server Clustering: What It Is & How It Works | Liquid Web, Storage I/O Performance - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics, [How
to Improve Storage I/O Performance | StarWind Blog], [What Is Firewall Security? | Cisco], [What is Bare Metal? | IBM], [What is RAID? | Dell Technologies US], [What Is Redundant Power Supply? | Dell Technologies US], [Technological Diversity - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics]
