Pass the CompTIA CompTIA CASP CAS-005 Questions and answers with CertsForce

Encrypting patient data at rest is a critical requirement for healthcare providers to ensure compliance with regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The primary business requirement fulfilled by this practice is the protection of patient privacy while supporting the portability of medical information. By encrypting data at rest, healthcare providers safeguard sensitive patient information from unauthorized access, ensuring that privacy is maintained even if the storage media are compromised. Additionally, encryption supports the portability of patient records, allowing for secure transfer and access across different systems and locations while ensuring that privacy controls are in place.

Homomorphic encryptionallows computations to be performed directly on encrypted data without decrypting it first. This technology is particularly useful for securely transmitting confidential data to a cloud service provider (CSP) and allowing the CSP to process the data without having any visibility into its content. This maintains data confidentiality even during processing. It is not about securing data at rest and in transit or simply storing data across nodes.

Step by Step Explanation:

Understanding the Scenario: The organization wants a strict application control policy: deny all software execution by default and only allow specifically authorized applications. This must be enforced across all operating systems. It is implied that they mean an Allow list, but Block List is the only reasonable answer.

Analyzing the Answer Choices:

A. SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux): SELinux is a security module for the Linux kernel that provides Mandatory Access Control (MAC). While it can enforce application control, it's specific to Linux and doesn't meet the "regardless of OS" requirement.

Anacceptable use policy (AUP)defines what is considered appropriate use of corporate email and prevents unnecessary emails to personal accounts. This helps in reducing false DLP alerts while maintaining compliance.

Quarantining emails (A)is unnecessary since the content was not flagged as sensitive.

Encryption (C)secures emails but does not address overuse.

Phishing awareness training (D)is unrelated to policy enforcement for outgoing emails.

To support email authenticity and enable analysis by a third-party platform, the protocols must verify the sender’s identity and provide metadata for inspection. According to the CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 study guide (Domain 3: Cybersecurity Technology, 3.2):

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance):DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM to enforce policies for email authenticity and provides reporting mechanisms to share authentication results with third parties for analysis.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail):DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to emails, allowing recipients to verify the sender’s domain and ensure the email’s integrity.

These two protocols are essential for authenticity and reporting.

Option C (TLS):TLS ensures encryption during transmission but does not address authenticity or reporting.

Option D (SPF):SPF verifies sender IP addresses but lacks reporting capabilities without DMARC.

Option E (DNSSEC):DNSSEC secures DNS queries but is not specific to email authenticity.

Option F (MX):MX records define mail servers, not authenticity or reporting.

Malware that does not execute in a sandbox environment often contains anti-analysis techniques, such as anti-virtualization code. This code detects when the malware is running in a virtualized environment and alters its behavior to avoid detection. Checking for anti-virtualization code is a logical next step because:

It helps determine if the malware is designed to evade analysis tools.

Identifying such code can provide insights into themalware's behavior and intent.

This step can also inform further analysis methods, such as running the malware on physical hardware.

The event timeline indicates a sequence where a file (hr-reporting.docx) was saved, scanned, executed, and eventually found to contain malware. The critical issue here is that the malware scan completed after the file was already executed. This suggests a Time-Of-Check to Time-Of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability, where the state of the file changed between the time it was checked and the time it was used.

To determine how the acquisition of Company B will impact the attack surface, the following steps are crucial:

A. Documenting third-party connections used by Company B: Understanding all external connections is essential for assessing potential entry points for attackers and ensuring that these connections are secure.

E. Performing an architectural review of Company B's network: This review will identify vulnerabilities and assess the security posture of the acquired company's network, providing a comprehensive understanding of the new attack surface.

These actions will provide a clear picture of the security implications of the acquisition and help in developing a plan to mitigate any identified risks.

To prevent emails from being marked as spam, several DNS records related to email authentication need to be properly configured and updated when there are changes to the email server'scertificates:

A. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): DMARC records help email servers determine how to handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM checks, improving email deliverability and reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.

B. SPF (Sender Policy Framework): SPF records specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. Updating the SPF record ensures that the new email server is recognized as an authorized sender.

C. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM adds a digital signature to email headers, allowing the receiving server to verify that the email has not been tampered with and is from an authorized sender. Updating DKIM records ensures that emails are properly signed and authenticated.

D. DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions): DNSSEC adds security to DNS by enabling DNS responses to be verified. While important for DNS security, it does not directly address the issue of emails being marked as spam.

E. SASC: This is not a relevant standard for this scenario.

F. SAN (Subject Alternative Name): SAN is used in SSL/TLS certificates for securing multiple domain names, not for email delivery issues.

G. SOA (Start of Authority): SOA records are used for DNS zone administration and do not directly impact email deliverability.

H. MX (Mail Exchange): MX records specify the mail servers responsible for receiving email on behalf of a domain. While important, the primary issue here is the authentication of outgoing emails, which is handled by SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Understanding the Security Event:

HOST002 is the only device authorized for internet traffic. However, theSIEM logs show that VM002 is making network connections to web.corp.local.

This indicatesunauthorized access, which could bea sign of lateral movement or network infection.

This is ared flagfor potential malware, unauthorized software, or a compromised host.

Why Option D is Correct:

Unusual network traffic patternsare often an indicator of acompromised system.

VM002 should not be communicating externally, but it is.

This suggests a possiblebreach or malware infectionattempting to communicate with a command-and-control (C2) server.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

A (Misconfiguration):While a misconfiguration could explain the unauthorized connections, the pattern of activity suggests something more malicious.

B (Security incident on HOST002):The issue is not with HOST002. The suspicious activity isfrom VM002.

C (False positives):The repeated pattern of unauthorized connections makes false positivesunlikely.