A security analyst needs to ensure email domains that send phishing attempts without previous communications are not delivered to mailboxes The following email headers are being reviewed
Which of the following is the best action for the security analyst to take?
Correct Answer:
D
In reviewing email headers and determining actions to mitigate phishing attempts, the security analyst should focus on patterns of suspicious behavior and the reputation of the sending domains. Here??s the analysis of the options provided:
* A. Block messages from hr-saas.com because it is not a recognized domain: Blocking a domain solely because it is not recognized can lead to legitimate emails being missed. Recognition alone should not be the criterion for blocking.
* B. Reroute all messages with unusual security warning notices to the IT administrator: While rerouting suspicious messages can be a good practice, it is not specific to the domain sending repeated suspicious messages.
* C. Quarantine all messages with sales-mail.com in the email header: Quarantining messages based on the presence of a specific domain in the email header can be too broad and may capture legitimate emails.
* D. Block vendor com for repeated attempts to send suspicious messages: This option is the most appropriate because it targets a domain that has shown a pattern of sending suspicious messages. Blocking a domain that repeatedly sends phishing attempts without previous communications helps in preventing future attempts from the same source and aligns with the goal of mitigating phishing risks.
References:
✑ CompTIA SecurityX Study Guide: Details best practices for handling phishing attempts, including blocking domains with repeated suspicious activity.
✑ NIST Special Publication 800-45 Version 2, "Guidelines on Electronic Mail Security": Provides guidelines on email security, including the management of suspicious email domains.
✑ "Phishing and Countermeasures: Understanding the Increasing Problem of Electronic Identity Theft" by Markus Jakobsson and Steven Myers: Discusses
effective measures to counter phishing attempts, including blocking persistent offenders.
By blocking the domain that has consistently attempted to send suspicious messages, the security analyst can effectively reduce the risk of phishing attacks.
A software development team requires valid data for internal tests. Company regulations, however do not allow the use of this data in cleartext. Which of the following solutions best meet these requirements?
Correct Answer:
B
Tokenization replaces sensitive data elements with non-sensitive equivalents, called tokens, that can be used within the internal tests. The original data is stored securely and can be retrieved if necessary. This approach allows the software development team to work with data that appears realistic and valid without exposing the actual sensitive information.
Configuring data hashing (Option A) is not suitable for test data as it transforms the data into a fixed-length value that is not usable in the same way as the original data. Replacing
data with null records (Option C) is not useful as it does not provide valid data for testing. Data obfuscation (Option D) could be an alternative but might not meet the regulatory requirements as effectively as tokenization.
References:
✑ CompTIA Security+ Study Guide
✑ NIST SP 800-57 Part 1 Rev. 5, "Recommendation for Key Management"
✑ PCI DSS Tokenization Guidelines
All organization is concerned about insider threats from employees who have individual access to encrypted material. Which of the following techniques best addresses this issue?
Correct Answer:
E
The technique that best addresses the issue of insider threats from employees who have individual access to encrypted material is key splitting. Here??s why:
✑ Key Splitting: Key splitting involves dividing a cryptographic key into multiple parts and distributing these parts among different individuals or systems. This ensures that no single individual has complete access to the key, thereby mitigating the risk of insider threats.
✑ Increased Security: By requiring multiple parties to combine their key parts to access encrypted material, key splitting provides an additional layer of security. This approach is particularly useful in environments where sensitive data needs to be protected from unauthorized access by insiders.
✑ Compliance and Best Practices: Key splitting aligns with best practices and regulatory requirements for handling sensitive information, ensuring that access is tightly controlled and monitored.
✑ References:
By employing key splitting, organizations can effectively reduce the risk of insider threats and enhance the overall security of encrypted material.
SIMULATION
A product development team has submitted code snippets for review prior to release. INSTRUCTIONS
Analyze the code snippets, and then select one vulnerability, and one fix for each code snippet.
Code Snippet 1
Code Snippet 2
Vulnerability 1:
✑ SQL injection
✑ Cross-site request forgery
✑ Server-side request forgery
✑ Indirect object reference
✑ Cross-site scripting
Fix 1:
✑ Perform input sanitization of the userid field.
✑ Perform output encoding of queryResponse,
✑ Ensure usex:ia belongs to logged-in user.
✑ Inspect URLS and disallow arbitrary requests.
✑ Implement anti-forgery tokens.
Vulnerability 2
1) Denial of service
2) Command injection
3) SQL injection
4) Authorization bypass
5) Credentials passed via GET
Fix 2
A) Implement prepared statements and bind variables.
B) Remove the serve_forever instruction.
C) Prevent the "authenticated" value from being overridden by a GET parameter.
D) HTTP POST should be used for sensitive parameters.
E) Perform input sanitization of the userid field.
Solution:
Code Snippet 1
Vulnerability 1: SQL injection
SQL injection is a type of attack that exploits a vulnerability in the code that interacts with a database. An attacker can inject malicious SQL commands into the input fields, such as username or password, and execute them on the database server. This can result in data theft, data corruption, or unauthorized access.
Fix 1: Perform input sanitization of the userid field.
Input sanitization is a technique that prevents SQL injection by validating and filtering the user input values before passing them to the database. The input sanitization should remove any special characters, such as quotes, semicolons, or dashes, that can alter the intended SQL query. Alternatively, the input sanitization can use a whitelist of allowed values and reject any other values.
Code Snippet 2
Vulnerability 2: Cross-site request forgery
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) is a type of attack that exploits a vulnerability in the code that handles web requests. An attacker can trick a user into sending a malicious web request to a server that performs an action on behalf of the user, such as changing their password, transferring funds, or deleting data. This can result in unauthorized actions, data loss, or account compromise.
Fix 2: Implement anti-forgery tokens.
Anti-forgery tokens are techniques that prevent CSRF by adding a unique and secret value to each web request that is generated by the server and verified by the server before performing the action. The anti-forgery token should be different for each user and each session, and should not be predictable or reusable by an attacker. This way, only legitimate web requests from the user??s browser can be accepted by the server.
Does this meet the goal?
Correct Answer:
A
A systems engineer is configuring a system baseline for servers that will provide email services. As part of the architecture design, the engineer needs to improve performance of the systems by using an access vector cache, facilitating mandatory access control and protecting against:
• Unauthorized reading and modification of data and programs
• Bypassing application security mechanisms
• Privilege escalation
• interference with other processes
Which of the following is the most appropriate for the engineer to deploy?
Correct Answer:
A
The most appropriate solution for the systems engineer to deploy is SELinux (Security- Enhanced Linux). Here's why:
✑ Mandatory Access Control (MAC): SELinux enforces MAC policies, ensuring that
only authorized users and processes can access specific resources. This helps in preventing unauthorized reading and modification of data and programs.
✑ Access Vector Cache: SELinux utilizes an access vector cache (AVC) to improve
performance. The AVC caches access decisions, reducing the need for repetitive policy lookups and thus improving system efficiency.
✑ Security Mechanisms: SELinux provides a robust framework to enforce security
policies and prevent bypassing of application security mechanisms. It controls access based on defined policies, ensuring that security measures are consistently applied.
✑ Privilege Escalation and Process Interference: SELinux limits the ability of
processes to escalate privileges and interfere with each other by enforcing strict access controls. This containment helps in isolating processes and minimizing the risk of privilege escalation attacks.
✑ References:
