CAS-004 Exam Dumps - CompTIA CASP Questions and Answers

Comprehensive and Detailed in-Depth Explanation:

Why the Correct Answer is C (WPA3 SAE):

WPA3 SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals)is the most advanced method for wireless security in small office environments without centralized authentication (like Active Directory).

It addressesbrute-force attacksthroughforward secrecyand theDragonfly key exchangemethod, making it resistant to dictionary attacks and offline cracking.

WPA3 SAEenhances security by protecting against password-guessing attacks even when a weak password is chosen.

Additionally,WPA3 SAEeliminates the vulnerabilities found in WPA2-PSK by using amore secure key exchange mechanism.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

A. Faraday cage:

A Faraday cage can block wireless signals entirely, but it does not provide asecurity protocolfor wireless authentication.

It’s primarily used forsignal isolationrather than securing wireless communication.

B. WPA2 PSK:

AlthoughWPA2 PSK (Pre-Shared Key)is widely used, it is vulnerable tobrute-force and offline dictionary attacks, especially when weak passwords are used.

WPA2 does not includeprotection against offline password cracking, which is a significant concern.

D. WEP 128 bit:

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)is extremely outdated and insecure.

It uses theRC4 stream cipher, which is prone toIV (Initialization Vector) collisionsandkey recovery attacks.

Modern tools can crack WEP keys within minutes, making it highly unsuitable.

Additional Information:

WPA3 SAEis particularly designed for environments where there is no centralized authentication server (likeActive Directory), which fits the small office scenario perfectly.

TheDragonfly handshakeused by WPA3 SAE prevents offline brute-force attacks by usingpassword-based authenticated key exchange.

Even if an attacker captures the handshake, they cannot easily performoffline dictionary attacksdue toindividualized encryptionfor each session.

Extract from CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Study Guide:

According to theCompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Official Study Guide, WPA3 offers improved security over WPA2 by providingrobust protection against password guessing attacks, especially in environments without enterprise-grade authentication mechanisms. TheSAE protocolis highlighted as essential forpersonal and small office wireless networkswhere enhanced security is required without the complexity of a RADIUS server.

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) is the best method for validating code as it is written. SAST analyzes the source code or binaries of an application for vulnerabilities before the code is executed, allowing developers to identify and fix security flaws early in the development process. This method integrates into the development environment and provides real-time feedback, which is critical for ensuring secure coding practices from the start. CASP+ highlights the importance of SAST in secure software development lifecycles (SDLCs) as a proactive measure to prevent security issues before the code is deployed.

A business impact analysis (BIA) is the most useful resource for calculating the exposure factor in a risk assessment. The BIA helps identify the criticality of systems and processes and quantifies the potential financial and operational impact of vulnerabilities being exploited. By understanding the business impact, the security team can more accurately determine the exposure factor, which is the proportion of an asset's value that is at risk in the event of a security incident. CASP+ highlights the role of BIAs in understanding risk exposure and supporting effective risk management decisions.

To prioritize server replacements based on the likelihood of failure, the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) metric is most appropriate. MTBF provides a measure of the average time a server or system is expected to operate before experiencing failure. This allows the management team to assess which servers are more likely to fail soon, irrespective of the application criticality, and thus should be replaced first. CASP+ highlights the use of MTBF in hardware lifecycle management and risk assessments.

Comprehensive and Detailed Step by Step Explanation:

Vendor viabilityrefers to the risk of a startup company’s financial instability or inability to provide long-term support.

A startup may have limited resources, which could impact the security, reliability, and availability of its products.

Privacy concernsandregulatory complianceare possible risks but less relevant unless the tool deals directly with sensitive data or operates in a regulated industry.

Geographic locationis unlikely to directly affect the risk unless there are jurisdictional data transfer laws involved.

A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a set of policies and procedures that outline how an organization should respond to and recover from disruptions [1]. It is designed to ensure that critical operations and services can be quickly restored and maintained, and should include steps to identify risks, developplans to mitigate those risks, and detail the procedures to be followed in the event of a disruption. Resources:

CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) Study Guide, Chapter 4: “Business Continuity Planning,” Wiley, 2018. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/CompTIA+Advanced+Security+Practitioner+CASP%2B+Study+Guide%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781119396582

OWASP is a resource used to identify attack vectors and their mitigations, OVAL is a vulnerability assessment standard

OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) is a source that the security architect could consult to address the security concern of XSS (cross-site scripting) attacks on a web application that uses a database back end. OWASP is a non-profit organization that provides resources and guidance for improving the security of web applications and services. OWASP publishes the OWASP Top 10 list of common web application vulnerabilities and risks, which includes XSS attacks, as well as recommendations and best practices for preventing or mitigating them. SDLC (software development life cycle) is not a source for addressing XSS attacks, but a framework for developing software in an organized and efficient manner. OVAL (Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language) is not a source for addressing XSS attacks, but a standard for expressing system configuration information and vulnerabilities. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is not a source for addressing XSS attacks, but an organization that develops standards for various fields of engineering and technology. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-owasp https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

A multicloud provider solution is the best option for proceeding with the digital transformation while ensuring SLA (service level agreement) requirements in the event of a CSP (cloud service provider) incident. A multicloud provider solution is a strategy that involves using multiple CSPs for different cloud services or applications, such as infrastructure, platform, or software as a service. A multicloud provider solution can provide resiliency, redundancy, and availability for cloud services or applications, as it can distribute the workload and risk across different CSPs and avoid single points of failure or vendor lock-in. An on-premises solution as a backup is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could involve high costs, complexity, or maintenance for maintaining both cloud and on-premises resources, as well as affect the scalability or flexibility of cloud services or applications. A load balancer with a round-robin configuration is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could introduce latency or performance issues for cloud services or applications, as well as not provide sufficient resiliency or redundancy in case of a CSP incident. An active-active solution within the same tenant is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could still be affected by a CSP incident that impacts the entire tenant or region, as well as increase the costs or complexity of managing multiple instances of cloud services or applications. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-multicloud https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

Comprehensive and Detailed in-Depth Explanation:

Why the Correct Answer is C (Geocoded firewall rules):

Geocoded firewall rulesare security configurations thatfilter traffic based on geographic location(commonly by IP address).

These rules can be configured to:

Allow or denyinbound and outbound trafficbased on the country of origin.

Restrictthird-party vendor connectionsfromhigh-risk or banned countries.

For example:

Blocking allincoming connections from countries with high cyber threat levels.

Allowing only vendors frompre-approved regions.

Geocoded rules are especially useful inregulatory compliance scenarioswheredata sovereigntyis a concern.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

A. Microsegmentation:

Microsegmentation involvesisolating network segmentsto enhance internal security.

Itdoes not addressthe geographic origin of traffic.

Primarily used forreducing lateral movementwithin a network rather than filtering external sources.

B. Supply chain visibility:

This involvesmonitoring and understandingthe components and processes involved in thesupply chain.

It does notactively block or restrict trafficfrom specific geographic locations.

D. Source code reviews:

These are conducted toidentify vulnerabilities in application code.

They do notrestrict inbound trafficbased on geographic criteria.

Real-World Scenario:

A financial services company needs toblock access from countries under sanctionsor known forcybercrime activities.

Thefirewall is configuredto drop all inbound traffic from IP ranges associated withhigh-risk countries, maintaining compliance with regulations likeOFAC.

Example of Geocoded Firewall Configuration:

Example Rule in an IPTables Configuration:

bash

CopyEdit

iptables -A INPUT -m geoip --src-cc CN,RU,IR -j DROP

This ruleblocks trafficfromChina (CN),Russia (RU), andIran (IR).

Benefits of Geocoded Firewall Rules:

Risk Reduction:Minimizes exposure tothreat actors from known high-risk regions.

Compliance:Helps organizations comply withregulatory requirementsthat restrict data from certain countries.

Operational Efficiency:Automatically blocks traffic without requiring manual intervention.

Extract from CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Study Guide:

TheCompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 Official Study Guideemphasizes the importance ofgeolocation-based access controlin environments wherethird-party access is common. Geocoded firewall rules enable organizations toeffectively control and reduce the attack surfaceby blocking traffic fromhigh-risk regions.

Restricting HTTP methods can mitigate the risk of network-based attacks against an online store by limiting the types of HTTP requests that the server will accept, thus reducing the attack surface. This is a common method to prevent web-based attacks such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and SQL Injection.

The inability to select AES-256 encryption will most likely be a limiting factor when selecting mobile device managers for the company. AES-256 is a symmetric encryption algorithm that uses a 256-bit key to encrypt and decrypt data. It is considered one of the strongest encryption methods available and is widely used for securing sensitive data. Mobile device managers are software applications that allow administrators to remotely manage and secure mobile devices used by employees. However, not all mobile device managers may support AES-256 encryption or allow the company to enforce it as a policy on all mobile devices. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/training/books/casp-cas-004-study-guide , https://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/mobile-device-management

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.