Free Practice Questions for CompTIA CAS-004 Exam

Comprehensive and Detailed in-Depth Explanation:

Problem Statement:

The development team identifiesmajor issues in codeduring the development phase, indicatingflawed or vulnerable code.

To prevent similar problems in the future, anautomated and integrated solutionis needed tocatch issues early.

Why the Correct Answer is A (Implementing a static analysis tool within the CI/CD system):

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)is used toanalyze source codefor vulnerabilitiesbefore the code is compiled.

Integrating SAST into theCI/CD pipelineensures that:

Issues are detectedearly in the development process.

Developers getimmediate feedbackon vulnerabilities or code flaws.

Security checks areautomated, reducing human error and oversight.

This proactive approach helps inearly detection of syntax errors, insecure coding practices, and vulnerabilities.

Example of CI/CD Integration:

A typicalGitLab CI/CD pipelinecould include aSAST stage:

yaml

CopyEdit

sast:

stage: test

script:

- ./sast_tool analyze src/

allow_failure: false

This setup ensures that the code is scanned for vulnerabilitiesbefore deployment.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

B. Configuring a dynamic application security testing tool:

DASTanalyzes applications duringruntime.

It identifiesvulnerabilities in running applications, butcannot catch issues during development.

SAST is better forearly detectionsince it examines thesource codeitself.

C. Performing software composition analysis on all third-party components:

WhileSCAidentifies vulnerabilities inthird-party libraries, it does not addresscoding issues in the organization’s own codebase.

It is useful fordependency management, not for catchingsource code flaws.

D. Utilizing a risk-based threat modeling approach on new projects:

Threat modeling helps inidentifying risks and potential attack vectors.

While useful in planning, it does not providecontinuous detectionof coding flaws.

It is morestrategicand less focused on thedevelopment pipeline.

E. Setting up an interactive application security testing tool:

IASTworks byanalyzing application behavior during testing.

It requires the application to bedeployed and running, making it less suitable forearly detection during development.

SAST remains superior forcatching flaws before deployment.

Key Benefits of SAST in CI/CD:

Early Detection:Finds issues during thecoding phase, preventing costly fixes later.

Automated Security:Scans eachcode commit, ensuring consistent checks.

Developer Friendly:Providesactionable insightsright within the development environment.

Integration Capabilities:Compatible with popular CI/CD tools likeJenkins, GitLab CI, and Azure Pipelines.

Real-World Example:

A software company integratedSAST into their CI/CD pipelineusingSonarQube.

As a result, they reduced the number ofcritical vulnerabilitiesdiscovered after deployment by60%.

Developers couldfix issues on the spot, minimizing the time and effort required to address security flaws later.

Extract from CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Study Guide:

TheCompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Official Study Guideemphasizes thatintegrating security testing into the CI/CD pipelineis crucial forDevSecOps. It states thatSAST toolsare essential foridentifying vulnerabilities earlyin the development process, helping organizations adopt ashift-left security approach.

Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) is a security feature that randomizes the memory addresses used by system and application processes, making return-oriented programming (ROP) attacks more difficult to exploit. ROP relies on predictable memory locations, and ASLR disrupts this predictability by randomizing memory locations at runtime. Implementing ASLR on public-facing servers helps mitigate this attack vector. CASP+ recommends leveraging memory protection mechanisms like ASLR to defend against advanced exploitation techniques like ROP.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is the most appropriate governance framework when collecting and processing credit card data, including international user data. PCI DSS establishes security standards for organizations that handle payment card transactions and ensures theprotection of cardholder data globally. The other options, such as ISO 27001 and NIST 800-53, provide general security frameworks, but PCI DSS is specifically designed for payment card security, which is critical when handling credit card information. CASP+ emphasizes the role of PCI DSS in ensuring the secure handling of payment data.

Shutting down and migrating to another platform is the most cost-effective and practical option. This avoids risks associated with the deprecated library. This aligns with CASP+ objective 1.3, which emphasizes practical risk mitigation strategies.

Software composition analysis (SCA) is the most effective method to mitigate third-party risks in a software supply chain. SCA tools analyze the open-source and third-party components used in software development to identify known vulnerabilities, outdated dependencies, or licensing issues. By integrating SCA into the development environment, the company can proactively address risks related to external libraries or codebases that may introduce vulnerabilities into the software supply chain. CASP+ emphasizes the importance of securing the supply chain, particularly by identifying and addressing risks introduced by third-party software components.

To meet the objective of ensuring minimal data loss (no more than 30 minutes of data) in case of a failover, real-time replication is the best solution. This technique involves continuously replicating data from the primary site to the disaster recovery (DR) site, minimizing data loss to the smallest possible timeframe (i.e., near real-time). Other options, such as content caching or nightly backups, do not address the requirement for minimal data loss effectively. Increasing bandwidth to the DR site may help with the recovery process but will not necessarily reduce the amount of lost data. CASP+ emphasizes the need for solutions like real-time replication to meet strict recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) in disaster recovery planning.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. SIEMs are beneficial in environments where there is a mix of various solutions, as they can collect and aggregate logs from multiple sources, providing the internal security team with a centralized view and visibility into all platforms. This would best meet the objective of ensuring visibility into all platforms, regardless of the differing solutions across the company's locations.

To reduce the risk of unauthorized devices accessing company resources, requiring device certificates is an effective control. Device certificates can be used to authenticate devices before they are allowed to connect to the network and access resources, ensuring that only devices with a valid certificate, which are typically managed and issued by the organization, can connect.

The primary advantage of creating and maintaining a vendor risk registry is to ensure that an inventory of potential risks is maintained. A vendor risk registry helps organizations keep track of the risks associated with third-party vendors, especially as they may introduce vulnerabilities or non-compliance issues. By maintaining this registry, the organization can continuously monitor and manage vendor-related risks in a structured way, improving its overall security posture. CASP+ emphasizes the importance of vendor risk management in an organization’s broader risk management strategy.

The Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) is a method for using specific standards to enable automated vulnerability management, measurement, and policy compliance evaluation. Using SCAP can help to identify vulnerabilities, including those without standard definitions, and ensure they are tracked and managed effectively.

Option C (Continuously monitor key risk indicators):Continuously monitoring key risk indicators (KRIs) ensures real-time visibility of changes in the attack surface, allowing for prompt identification of unexpected systems and minimizing risk.

Option A (Update the risk profile):Updating the risk profile reflects current risks but does not actively prevent the reoccurrence of unexpected systems.

Option B (Minimize errors in metrics):Reducing errors in metrics is useful for accuracy but does not directly address attack surface management.

Option D (Reduce assessment costs):Reducing costs does not mitigate or prevent the reoccurrence of external-facing systems.

A network traffic analyzer (also known as a packet sniffer) is the best tool to identify credentials being transmitted in plaintext, such as those used in Telnet sessions. Since Telnet transmits data without encryption, a network traffic analyzer can capture the traffic between the client and the network switches, revealing sensitive information, including login credentials, in clear text. This tool helps identify insecure protocols and enables remediation by switching to encrypted alternatives like SSH. CASP+ highlights the importance of using secure protocols and tools like traffic analyzers to identify vulnerabilities in network communications.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a process used to evaluate and manage privacy risks associated with the collection, use, and storage of personally identifiable information (PII). One of the key functions of a PIA is to document residual risks, which are the privacy risks that remain after controls have been applied. By identifying and documenting these risks, organizations can make informed decisions about whether additional measures are needed or whether certain risks are acceptable.

Step by Step Explanation:

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): Provides comprehensive password guidelines (e.g., SP 800-63B) widely used for securing systems, including handling PII.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Focuses on data privacy laws rather than technical password policies.

CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration): Addresses process improvement, not password complexity.

COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act): Focuses on child data privacy, not password rules.