Pass the ISC ISC 2 Credentials CISSP Questions and answers with CertsForce

 The most effective method to mitigate Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks is to use whitelist input validation. XSS attacks occur when an attacker injects malicious code, usually in the form of a script, into a web application that is then executed by the browser of an unsuspecting user. XSS attacks can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the web application and the user’s data. Whitelist input validation is a technique that checks the user input against a predefined set of acceptable values or characters, and rejects any input that does not match the whitelist. Whitelist input validation can prevent XSS attacks by filtering out any malicious or unexpected input that may contain harmful scripts. Whitelist input validation should be applied at the point of entry of the user input, and should be combined with output encoding or sanitization to ensure that any input that is displayed back to the user is safe and harmless. Use Software as a Service (SaaS), require client certificates, and validate data output are not the most effective methods to mitigate XSS attacks, although they may be related or useful techniques. Use Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model that delivers software applications over the Internet, usually on a subscription or pay-per-use basis. SaaS can provide some benefits for web security, such as reducing the attack surface, outsourcing the maintenance and patching of the software, and leveraging the expertise and resources of the service provider. However, SaaS does not directly address the issue of XSS attacks, as the service provider may still have vulnerabilities or flaws in their web applications that can be exploited by XSS attackers. Require client certificates is a technique that uses digital certificates to authenticate the identity of the clients who access a web application. Client certificates are issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA), and contain the public key and other information of the client. Client certificates can provide some benefits for web security, such as enhancing the confidentiality and integrity of the communication, preventing unauthorized access, and enabling mutual authentication. However, client certificates do not directly address the issue of XSS attacks, as the client may still be vulnerable to XSS attacks if the web application does not properly validate and encode the user input. Validate data output is a technique that checks the data that is sent from the web application to the client browser, and ensures that it is correct, consistent, and safe. Validate data output can provide some benefits for web security, such as detecting and correcting any errors or anomalies in the data, preventing data leakage or corruption, and enhancing the quality and reliability of the web application. However, validate data output is not sufficient to prevent XSS attacks, as the data output may still contain malicious scripts that can be executed by the client browser. Validate data output should be complemented with output encoding or sanitization to ensure that any data output that is displayed to the user is safe and harmless. 

The technical limitations related to devices should be specified in the initiation phase of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) when developing solutions for mobile devices. The initiation phase is the first phase of the SDLC, where the project scope, objectives, requirements, and constraints are defined and documented. The technical limitations related to devices are part of the constraints that affect the design and development of the software solutions for mobile devices, such as the screen size, memory capacity, battery life, network connectivity, or security features. The technical limitations should be identified and addressed early in the SDLC, to avoid rework, delays, or failures in the later phases. The implementation, review, and development phases are not the phases where the technical limitations should be specified, but where they should be considered and tested. References: CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Eighth Edition, Chapter 8: Software Development Security, page 922; Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Fifth Edition, Chapter 7: Software Development Security, page 844.

The security mode that is most commonly used in a commercial environment because it protects the integrity of financial and accounting data is Clark-Wilson. A security mode is a formal model or framework that defines the rules and principles for implementing and enforcing security policies and controls on a system or a network. A security mode can be based on various criteria or objectives, such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, or accountability. Clark-Wilson is a security mode that focuses on the integrity of data and transactions, and is designed to prevent unauthorized or improper modifications or tampering of data. Clark-Wilson is based on the concept of separation of duties, which requires that different roles or functions are assigned to different parties, and that no single party can perform all the steps of a transaction or a process. Clark-Wilson also involves the concept of well-formed transactions, which requires that all the transactions or operations on data are consistent, complete, and verifiable, and that they preserve the state and the validity of the data. Clark-Wilson can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the data and the transactions, preventing fraud or errors, and supporting the audit and compliance activities. Clark-Wilson is most commonly used in a commercial environment because it protects the integrity of financial and accounting data, which are critical and sensitive for the business operations and performance of the organization. Clark-Wilson can help to ensure that the financial and accounting data are accurate, consistent, and valid, and that they reflect the true and fair view of the financial position and results of the organization. Clark-Wilson can also help to prevent or detect any unauthorized or improper modifications or tampering of the financial and accounting data, such as embezzlement, falsification, or manipulation, which may cause financial losses or legal liabilities for the organization. Biba, Graham-Denning, and Beil-LaPadula are not the security modes that are most commonly used in a commercial environment because they protect the integrity of financial and accounting data, although they may be related or useful security modes. Biba is a security mode that focuses on the integrity of data and transactions, and is designed to prevent unauthorized or improper modifications or tampering of data. Biba is based on the concept of no read down and no write up, which requires that a subject can only read data of lower or equal integrity level, and can only write data of higher or equal integrity level. Biba can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the data and the transactions, preventing corruption or contamination, and supporting the audit and compliance activities. However, Biba is not the security mode that is most commonly used in a commercial environment

Section: Security Operations

 The most appropriate method for protecting the confidentiality of data stored on a hard drive is to use the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is a symmetric encryption algorithm that uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. AES can provide strong and efficient encryption for data at rest, as it uses a block cipher that operates on fixed-size blocks of data, and it supports various key sizes, such as 128, 192, or 256 bits. AES can protect the confidentiality of data stored on a hard drive by transforming the data into an unreadable form that can only be accessed by authorized parties who possess the correct key. AES can also provide some degree of integrity and authentication, as it can detect any modification or tampering of the encrypted data. Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES), Message Digest 5 (MD5), and Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2) are not the most appropriate methods for protecting the confidentiality of data stored on a hard drive, although they may be related or useful cryptographic techniques. 3DES is a symmetric encryption algorithm that uses three iterations of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm with two or three different keys to encrypt and decrypt data. 3DES can provide encryption for data at rest, but it is not as strong or efficient as AES, as it uses a smaller key size (56 bits per iteration), and it is slower and more complex than AES. MD5 is a hash function that produces a fixed-length output (128 bits) from a variable-length input. MD5 does not provide encryption for data at rest, as it does not use any key to transform the data, and it cannot be reversed to recover the original data. MD5 can provide some integrity for data at rest, as it can verify if the data has been changed or corrupted, but it is not secure or reliable, as it is vulnerable to collisions and pre-image attacks. SHA-2 is a hash function that produces a fixed-length output (224, 256, 384, or 512 bits) from a variable-length input. SHA-2 does not provide encryption for data at rest, as it does not use any key to transform the data, and it cannot be reversed to recover the original data. SHA-2 can provide integrity for data at rest, as it can verify if the data has been changed or corrupted, and it is more secure and reliable than MD5, as it is resistant to collisions and pre-image attacks.

Attending a cybersecurity seminar to learn about current incident response methodologies aligns with the ethical canon of advancing and protecting the profession. It involves enhancing one’s knowledge and skills, contributing to the growth and integrity of the field, and staying abreast of the latest developments and best practices in information security. References: ISC² Code of Ethics

A DoS attack on a syslog server exploits weakness in TCP and UDP protocols. A syslog server is a server that collects and stores log messages from various devices on a network, such as routers, switches, firewalls, or servers. A syslog server uses either TCP or UDP protocols to receive log messages from the devices. A DoS attack on a syslog server can exploit the weakness of these protocols by sending a large volume of fake or malformed log messages to the syslog server, causing it to crash or become unresponsive. The other protocols are not relevant to a syslog server or a DoS attack. References: Denial-of-Service Attacks: History, Techniques & Prevention; What is a syslog server? | SolarWinds MSP.

A negative testing strategy is a type of software testing that aims to verify how the system handles invalid or unexpected inputs, errors, or conditions. A negative testing strategy can help identify potential bugs, vulnerabilities, or failures that could compromise the functionality, security, or usability of the system. One example of a negative testing strategy is to enter only numbers in a web form that expects a text input, such as a name or an email address, and verify that the website prompts the user to enter a valid input. This can help ensure that the website has proper input validation and error handling mechanisms, and that it does not accept or process any malicious or malformed data. A web scanner, a code review, and a secure connection are not examples of a negative testing strategy, as they do not involve providing invalid or unexpected inputs to the system.

The data owner is the person who has the authority and responsibility for the data stored, processed, or transmitted by an Information System (IS). The data owner is responsible for the monetary losses if there was a data breach, as the data owner is accountable for the security, quality, and integrity of the data, as well as for defining the classification, sensitivity, retention, and disposal of the data. The Data Protection Authority (DPA) is not responsible for the monetary losses, but for the enforcement of the data protection laws and regulations. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) is not responsible for the monetary losses, but for the provision of the cloud services and the protection of the cloud infrastructure. The application developers are not responsible for the monetary losses, but for the development and maintenance of the software applications. References: CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Eighth Edition, Chapter 1: Security and Risk Management, page 48; Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Fifth Edition, Chapter 1: Security and Risk Management, page 40.

A digital watermark is a hidden signal embedded in a data file that can be used to identify the owner, source, or authenticity of the data. A watermark is difficult to detect and remove without degrading the quality of the data. However, one way that a watermark might still be inadvertently removed is by truncating parts of the data, such as cropping an image or cutting a video. This might affect the location or size of the watermark and make it unreadable or invalid. References: Official (ISC)2 CISSP CBK Reference, Fifth Edition, page 507; CISSP For Dummies, 7th Edition, page 344.

Fuzzing is a technique that is known to be effective in spotting resource exhaustion problems, especially with resources such as processes, memory, and connections. Fuzzing is a type of testing that involves sending random, malformed, or unexpected input to the system or application, and observing its behavior and response. Fuzzing can help to identify resource exhaustion problems, such as memory leaks, buffer overflows, or connection timeouts, which can affect the availability, functionality, or security of the system or application. Fuzzing can also help to discover other types of vulnerabilities, such as logic errors, input validation errors, or exception handling errors. Automated dynamic analysis, automated static analysis, and manual code review are not techniques that are known to be effective in spotting resource exhaustion problems, although they may be used for other types of testing or analysis. References: CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Eighth Edition, Chapter 8: Software Development Security, page 1001; Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Fifth Edition, Chapter 7: Software Development Security, page 923.

The most significant security challenge when adopting DevOps practices compared to a more traditional control framework is maintaining segregation of duties. DevOps is a set of practices and methodologies that aim to integrate and automate the development and the operations of a system or a network, such as software, applications, or services, to enhance the quality and the speed of the delivery and the deployment of the system or the network. DevOps can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the performance and the functionality of the system or the network, preventing or mitigating some types of attacks or vulnerabilities, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. DevOps can involve various tools and techniques, such as continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous testing, continuous monitoring, or continuous feedback. A traditional control framework is a set of policies and procedures that aim to establish and enforce the security and the governance of a system or a network, such as software, applications, or services, to protect the confidentiality, the integrity, and the availability of the system or the network. A traditional control framework can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the visibility and the accountability of the system or the network, preventing or detecting any unauthorized or improper activities or changes, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. A traditional control framework can involve various controls and mechanisms, such as risk assessment, change management, configuration management, access control, or audit trail. Maintaining segregation of duties is the most significant security challenge when adopting DevOps practices compared to a more traditional control framework, as it can be difficult and costly to implement and manage, due to the differences and the conflicts between the DevOps and the traditional control framework principles and objectives. Segregation of duties is a security principle or a technique that requires that different roles or functions are assigned to different parties, and that no single party can perform all the steps of a process or a task, such as development, testing, deployment, or maintenance. Segregation of duties can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the accuracy and the reliability of the process or the task, preventing or detecting fraud or errors, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. 

Single Sign-On (SSO) is a feature that allows a user to authenticate once and access multiple applications or services without having to re-enter their credentials. SSO improves the user experience and reduces the password management burden for both users and administrators. SSO is a common feature of Identity as a Service (IDaaS) solutions, which are cloud-based services that provide identity and access management capabilities to organizations. IDaaS solutions typically support various SSO protocols and standards, such as Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), OpenID Connect (OIDC), OAuth, and Kerberos, to enable seamless and secure integration with different applications and services, both on-premises and in the cloud. 

The primary goal of fault tolerance is to eliminate single point of failure, which is any component or resource that is essential for the operation or the functionality of a system or a network, and that can cause the entire system or network to fail or malfunction if it fails or malfunctions itself. Fault tolerance is the ability of a system or a network to suffer a fault but continue to operate, by adding redundant or backup components or resources that can take over or replace the failed or malfunctioning component or resource, without affecting the performance or the quality of the system or network. Fault tolerance can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the availability and the reliability of the system or network, preventing or mitigating some types of attacks or vulnerabilities, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. Fault tolerance can be implemented using various methods or techniques, such as:

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), which is a method or a technique of storing data on multiple disks or drives, using different levels or schemes of data distribution or replication, such as mirroring, striping, or parity, to improve the performance or the fault tolerance of the disk storage system, and to protect the data from disk failure or corruption.

Failover clustering, which is a method or a technique of grouping two or more servers or nodes, using a shared storage device and a network connection, to provide high availability or fault tolerance for a service or an application, by allowing one server or node to take over or replace another server or node that fails or malfunctions, without affecting the service or the application.

Load balancing, which is a method or a technique of distributing the workload or the traffic among multiple servers or nodes, using a device or a software that acts as a mediator or a coordinator, to improve the performance or the fault tolerance of the system or network, by preventing or mitigating the overload or the congestion of any server or node, and by allowing the replacement or the addition of any server or node, without affecting the system or network.

Isolation using a sandbox, single point of repair, and containment to prevent propagation are not the primary goals of fault tolerance, although they may be related or possible outcomes or benefits of fault tolerance. Isolation using a sandbox is a security concept or technique that involves executing or testing a program or a code in a separate or a restricted environment, such as a virtual machine or a container, to protect the system or the network from any potential harm or damage that the program or the code may cause, such as malware, viruses, worms, or trojans. Isolation using a sandbox can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the confidentiality and the integrity of the system or the network, preventing or mitigating some types of attacks or vulnerabilities, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. However, isolation using a sandbox is not the primary goal of fault tolerance, as it is not a method or a technique of adding redundant or backup components or resources to the system or the network, and it does not address the availability or the reliability of the system or the network. Single point of repair is a security concept or technique that involves identifying or locating the component or the resource that is responsible for the failure or the malfunction of the system or the network, and that can restore or recover the system or the network if it is repaired or replaced, such as a disk, a server, or a router. Single point of repair can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the availability and the reliability of the system or the network, preventing or mitigating some types of attacks or vulnerabilities, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. However, single point of repair is not the primary goal of fault tolerance, as it is not a method or a technique of adding redundant or backup components or resources to the system or the network, and it does not prevent or eliminate the failure or the malfunction of the system or the network. Containment to prevent propagation is a security concept or technique that involves isolating or restricting the component or the resource that is affected or infected by a fault or an attack, such as a malware, a virus, a worm, or a trojan, to prevent or mitigate the spread or the transmission of the fault or the attack to other components or resources of the system or the network, such as by disconnecting, disabling, or quarantining the component or the resource. Containment to prevent propagation can provide some benefits for security, such as enhancing the confidentiality and the integrity of the system or the network, preventing or mitigating some types of attacks or vulnerabilities, and supporting the audit and the compliance activities. However, containment to prevent propagation is not the primary goal of fault tolerance, as it is not a method or a technique of adding redundant or backup components or resources to the system or the network, and it does not ensure or improve the performance or the quality of the system or the network.

The residual risk is 25% in this scenario. Residual risk is the portion of risk that remains after security measures have been applied to mitigate the risk. Residual risk can be calculated by subtracting the risk reduction from the total risk. In this scenario, the total risk is 100%, and the risk reduction is 75%. The risk reduction is 75% because the control stops 50% of attacks, and reduces the impact of an attack by 50%. Therefore, the residual risk is 100% - 75% = 25%. Alternatively, the residual risk can be calculated by multiplying the probability and the impact of the remaining risk. In this scenario, the probability of an attack is 50%, and the impact of an attack is 50%. Therefore, the residual risk is 50% x 50% = 25%. 50%, 75%, and 100% are not the correct answers to the question, as they do not reflect the correct calculation of the residual risk.