ISC CSSLP Actual Questions

A penetration testing is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from a malicious source. The process involves an active analysis of the system for any potential vulnerabilities that may result from poor or improper system configuration, known or unknown hardware or software flaws, or operational weaknesses in process or technical countermeasures. This analysis is carried out from the position of a potential attacker, and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Any security issues that are found will be presented to the system owner together with an assessment of their impact and often with a proposal for mitigation or a technical solution. The intent of a penetration test is to determine feasibility of an attack and the amount of business impact of a successful exploit, if discovered. It is a component of a full security audit. Answer: C is incorrect. A paper test is the least complex test in the disaster recovery and business continuity testing approaches. In this test, the BCP/DRP plan documents are distributed to the appropriate managers and BCP/DRP team members for review, markup, and comment. This approach helps the auditor to ensure that the plan is complete and that all team members are familiar with their responsibilities within the plan. Answer: D is incorrect. A walk-through test is an extension of the paper testing in the business continuity and disaster recovery process. In this testing methodology, appropriate managers and BCP/DRP team members discuss and walk through procedures of the plan. They also discuss the training needs, and clarification of critical plan elements. Answer: A is incorrect. A full operational test includes all team members and participants in the disaster recovery and business continuity process. This full operation test involves the mobilization of personnel. It restores operations in the same manner as an outage or disaster would. The full operational test extends the preparedness test by including actual notification, mobilization of resources, processing of data, and utilization of backup media for restoration.

Microsoft software security expert Michael Howard defines the following heuristics for determining code review in "A Process for Performing Security Code Reviews": Old code: Newer code provides better understanding of software security and has lesser number of vulnerabilities. Older code must be checked deeply. Code that runs by default: It must have high quality, and must be checked deeply than code that does not execute by default. Code that runs by default increases the application's attack surface.

Code that runs in elevated context: It must have higher quality. Code that runs in elevated privileges must be checked deeply and increases the application's attack surface. Anonymously accessible code: It must be checked deeply than code that only authorized users and administrators can access, and it increases the application's attack surface. Code listening on a globally accessible network interface: It must be checked deeply for security vulnerabilities and increases the application's attack surface. Code written in C/C++/assembly language: It is prone to security vulnerabilities, for example, buffer overruns. Code with a history of security vulnerabilities: It includes additional vulnerabilities except concerted efforts that are required for removing them. Code that handles sensitive data: It must be checked deeply to ensure that data is protected from unintentional disclosure. Complex code: It includes undiscovered errors because it is more difficult to analyze complex code manually and programmatically. Code that changes frequently: It has more security vulnerabilities than code that does not change frequently.

The features of SIEM products are as follows: Graphical user interface (GUI): It is used in analysis for identifying potential problems and reviewing all available data that are associated with the problems. Security knowledge base: It includes information on known vulnerabilities, log messages, and other technical data. Incident tracking and hacking: It has robust workflow features to track and report incidents. Asset information storage and correlation: It gives higher priority to an attack that affects a vulnerable OS or a main host. Answer: B is incorrect. SIEM product does not have this feature.

Configuration identification is known as the decomposition process of a verification system into Configuration Items. Configuration identification is the process of identifying the attributes that define every aspect of a configuration item. A configuration item is a product (hardware and/or software) that has an end-user purpose. These attributes are recorded in configuration documentation and baselined. Baselining an attribute forces formal configuration change control processes to be effected in the event that these attributes are changed. Answer: D is incorrect. Configuration control is a procedure of the Configuration management. Configuration control is a set of processes and approval stages required to change a configuration item's attributes and to re-baseline them. It supports the change of the functional and physical attributes of software at various points in time, and performs systematic control of changes to the identified attributes. Configuration control is a means of ensuring that system changes are approved before being implemented. Only the proposed and approved changes are implemented, and the implementation is complete and accurate. Answer: A is incorrect. The configuration status accounting procedure is the ability to record and report on the configuration baselines associated with each configuration item at any moment of time. It supports the functional and physical attributes of software at various points in time, and performs systematic control of accounting to the identified attributes for the purpose of maintaining software integrity and traceability throughout the software development life cycle. Answer: C is incorrect. Configuration auditing is the quality assurance element of configuration management. It is occupied in the process of periodic checks to establish the consistency and completeness of accounting information and to validate that all configuration management policies are being followed. Configuration audits are broken into functional and physical configuration audits. They occur either at delivery or at the moment of effecting the change. A functional configuration audit ensures that functional and performance attributes of a configuration item are achieved, while a physical configuration audit ensures that a configuration item is installed in accordance with the requirements of its detailed design documentation.