Free Practice Questions for ISC SSCP Exam

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

Encrypted authentication is a firewall feature that allows users on an external network to authenticate themselves to prove that they are authorized to access resources on the internal network. Encrypted authentication is convenient because it happens at the transport layer between a client software and a firewall, allowing all normal application software to run without hindrance.

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

RFC 1661 - The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) specifies that the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) provides a standard method for transporting multi-protocol datagrams over point-to-point links. PPP is comprised of three main components:

1 A method for encapsulating multi-protocol datagrams.

2 A Link Control Protocol (LCP) for establishing, configuring, and testing the data-link connection.

3 A family of Network Control Protocols (NCPs) for establishing and configuring different network-layer protocols.

Synchronous Communication is characterized by very high speed transmission rates that are governed by electronic clock timing signals.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 100

Containing the dial-up problem is conceptually easy: by installing the Remote Access Server outside the firewall and forcing legitimate users to authenticate to the firewall, any access to internal resources through the RAS can be filtered as would any other connection coming from the Internet.

The use of a TACACS+ Server by itself cannot eliminate hacking.

Setting a modem ring count to 5 may help in defeating war-dialing hackers who look for modem by dialing long series of numbers.

Attaching modems only to non-networked hosts is not practical and would not prevent these hosts from being hacked.

Source: STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 2: Hackers.

Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) is a communication protocol that allows wireless devices to send and receive encrypted information over the Internet. S-WAP is not defined. WSP (Wireless Session Protocol) and WDP (Wireless Datagram Protocol) are part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP).

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 173).

With a packet switched network, packets are difficult to monitor because they can be transmitted using different paths.

A packet-switched network is a digital communications network that groups all transmitted data, irrespective of content, type, or structure into suitably sized blocks, called packets. The network over which packets are transmitted is a shared network which routes each packet independently from all others and allocates transmission resources as needed.

The principal goals of packet switching are to optimize utilization of available link capacity, minimize response times and increase the robustness of communication. When traversing network adapters, switches and other network nodes, packets are buffered and queued, resulting in variable delay and throughput, depending on the traffic load in the network.

Most modern Wide Area Network (WAN) protocols, including TCP/IP, X.25, and Frame Relay, are based on packet-switching technologies. In contrast, normal telephone service is based on a circuit-switching technology, in which a dedicated line is allocated for transmission between two parties. Circuit-switching is ideal when data must be transmitted quickly and must arrive in the same order in which it's sent. This is the case with most real-time data, such as live audio and video. Packet switching is more efficient and robust for data that can withstand some delays in transmission, such as e-mail messages and Web pages.

All of the other answer are wrong

Reference(s) used for this question:

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

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet-switched_network

and

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/packet_switching.html

Secure shell (SSH) was designed as an alternative to some of the insecure protocols and allows users to securely access resources on remote computers over an encrypted tunnel. The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a protocol for secure remote login and other secure network services over an insecure network. The SSH authentication protocol runs on top of the SSH transport layer protocol and provides a single authenticated tunnel for the SSH connection protocol.

SSH’s services include remote log-on, file transfer, and command execution. It also supports port forwarding, which redirects other protocols through an encrypted SSH tunnel. Many users protect less secure traffic of protocols, such as X Windows and VNC (virtual network computing), by forwarding them through a SSH tunnel.

The SSH tunnel protects the integrity of communication, preventing session hijacking and other man-in-the-middle attacks. Another advantage of SSH over its predecessors is that it supports strong authentication. There are several alternatives for SSH clients to authenticate to a SSH server, including passwords and digital certificates.

Keep in mind that authenticating with a password is still a significant improvement over the other protocols because the password is transmitted encrypted.

There are two incompatible versions of the protocol, SSH-1 and SSH-2, though many servers support both. SSH-2 has improved integrity checks (SSH-1 is vulnerable to an insertion attack due to weak CRC-32 integrity checking) and supports local extensions and additional types of digital certificates such as Open PGP. SSH was originally designed for UNIX, but there are now implementations for other operating systems, including Windows, Macintosh, and OpenVMS.

Is SSH 3.0 the same as SSH3?

The short answer is: NO SSH 3.0 refers to version 3 of SSH Communications SSH2 protocol implementation and it could also refer to OpenSSH Version 3.0 of its SSH2 software. The "3" refers to the software release version not the protocol version. As of this writing (July 2013), there is no SSH3 protocol.

"Server authentication" is incorrect. Though many SSH clients allow pre-caching of server/host keys, this is a minimal form of server/host authentication.

"Host authentication" is incorrect. Though many SSH clients allow pre-caching of server/host keys, this is a minimal form of server/host authentication.

"Guest authentication" is incorrect. The general idea of "guest" is that it is unauthenticated access.

Reference(s) used for this question:

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4252.txt

Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 7080-7088). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Network address hijacking allows an attacker to reroute data traffic from a network device to a personal computer.

Also referred to as session hijacking, network address hijacking enables an attacker to capture and analyze the data addressed to a target system. This allows an attacker to gain access to critical resources and user credentials, such as passwords, and to gain unauthorized access to critical systems of an organization.

Session hijacking involves assuming control of an existing connection after the user has successfully created an authenticated session. Session hijacking is the act of unauthorized insertion of packets into a data stream. It is normally based on sequence number attacks, where sequence numbers are either guessed or intercepted.

The following are incorrect answers:

Network address translation (NAT) is a methodology of modifying network address information in Internet Protocol (IP) datagram packet headers while they are in transit across a traffic routing device for the purpose of remapping one IP address space into another. See RFC 1918 for more details.

Network Address Supernetting There is no such thing as Network Address Supernetting. However, a supernetwork, or supernet, is an Internet Protocol (IP) network that is formed from the combination of two or more networks (or subnets) with a common Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) prefix. The new routing prefix for the combined network aggregates the prefixes of the constituent networks.

Network Address Sniffing This is another bogus choice that sound good but does not even exist. However, sniffing is a common attack to capture cleartext password and information unencrypted over the network. Sniffier is accomplished using a sniffer also called a Protocol Analyzer. A network sniffers monitors data flowing over computer network links. It can be a self-contained software program or a hardware device with the appropriate software or firmware programming. Also sometimes called "network probes" or "snoops," sniffers examine network traffic, making a copy of the data but without redirecting or altering it.

The following reference(s) were 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 8641-8642). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/networksecurityprivacy/g/bldef_sniffer.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_network_address_hijacking

KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 239.

Bootstrap Protocol (BootP) is an Internet Layer protocol that enables a workstation to boot without requiring a hard or floppy disk drive. Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) is a TCP/IP protocol that permits a physical address, such as an Ethernet address, to be translated into an IP address. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a TCP/IP protocol that permits an IP address to be translated into a physical address. Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is a new IP addressing scheme.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 88.

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).

IT auditors determine whether systems are in compliance with the security policies, procedures, standards, baselines, designs, architectures, management direction and other requirements" and "provide top company management with an independent view of the controls that have been designed and their effectiveness."

"Information systems security professionals" is incorrect. Security professionals develop the security policies and supporting baselines, etc.

"Data owners" is incorrect. Data owners have overall responsibility for information assets and assign the appropriate classification for the asset as well as ensure that the asset is protected with the proper controls.

"Data custodians" is incorrect. Data custodians care for an information asset on behalf of the data owner.

References:

CBK, pp. 38 - 42.

AIO3. pp. 99 - 104

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.

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

Misuse detectors compare system activity, looking for events or sets of events that match a predefined pattern of events that describe a known attack. As the patterns corresponding to known attacks are called signatures, misuse detection is sometimes called "signature-based detection."

The most common form of misuse detection used in commercial products specifies each pattern of events corresponding to an attack as a separate signature. However, there are more sophisticated approaches to doing misuse detection (called "state-based" analysis techniques) that can leverage a single signature to detect groups of attacks.

There are two conceptual approaches to intrusion detection. Knowledge-based intrusion detection uses a database of known vulnerabilities to look for current attempts to exploit them on a system and trigger an alarm if an attempt is found. The other approach, not as common, is called behaviour-based or statistical analysis-based. A host-based intrusion detection system is a common implementation of intrusion detection, not a conceptual approach.

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 63).

Also: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 4: Access Control (pages 193-194).

A host-based IDS can review the system and event logs in order to detect an attack on the host and to determine if the attack was successful.

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

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.

Audit trails maintain a record of system activity by system or application processes and by user activity. In conjunction with appropriate tools and procedures, audit trails can provide individual accountability, a means to reconstruct events, detect intrusions, and identify problems. Audit trail controls are considered technical controls. Monitoring and tracking of incidents is more an operational control related to incident response capability.

Reference(s) used for this question:

SWANSON, Marianne, NIST Special Publication 800-26, Security Self-Assessment Guide for Information Technology Systems, November 2001 (Pages A-50 to A-51).

NOTE: NIST SP 800-26 has been superceded By: FIPS 200, SP 800-53, SP 800-53A

You can find the new replacement at: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html

However, if you really wish to see the old standard, it is listed as an archived document at:

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPArch.html

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.