Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0054

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a discipline that:

A.
Outlines how the proper design of a physical environment can reduce crime by directly affecting human behavior.
B. Outlines how the proper design of the logical environment can reduce crime by directly affecting human behavior.
C. Outlines how the proper design of the detective control environment can reduce crime by directly affecting human behavior.
D. Outlines how the proper design of the administrative control environment can reduce crime by directly affecting human behavior.

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a discipline that outlines how the proper design of a physical environment can reduce crime by directly affecting human behavior. It provides guidance about lost and crime prevention through proper facility contruction and environmental components and procedures.
CPTED concepts were developed in the 1960s. They have been expanded upon and have matured as our environments and crime types have evolved. CPTED has been used not just to develop corporate physical security programs, but also for large-scale activities such as development of neighborhoods, towns, and cities. It addresses landscaping, entrances, facility and neighborhood layouts, lighting, road placement, and traffic circulation patterns. It looks at microenvironments, such as offices and rest-rooms, and macroenvironments, like campuses and cities.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 435). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. and CPTED Guide Book

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0053

Which of the following is not a physical control for physical security?

A.
lighting
B. fences
C. training
D. facility construction materials

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

Some physical controls include fences, lights, locks, and facility construction materials. Some administrative controls include facility selection and construction, facility management, personnel controls, training, and emergency response and procedures.
From: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 3rd. Ed., Chapter 6, page 403.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0052

What kind of certificate is used to validate a user identity?

A.
Public key certificate
B. Attribute certificate
C. Root certificate
D. Code signing certificate

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

In cryptography, a public key certificate (or identity certificate) is an electronic document which incorporates a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity — information such as the name of a person or an organization, their address, and so forth. The certificate can be used to verify that a public key belongs to an individual.
In a typical public key infrastructure (PKI) scheme, the signature will be of a certificate authority (CA). In a web of trust scheme, the signature is of either the user (a self-signed certificate) or other users (“endorsements”). In either case, the signatures on a certificate are attestations by the certificate signer that the identity information and the public key belong together.
In computer security, an authorization certificate (also known as an attribute certificate) is a digital document that describes a written permission from the issuer to use a service or a resource that the issuer controls or has access to use. The permission can be delegated.
Some people constantly confuse PKCs and ACs. An analogy may make the distinction clear. A PKC can be considered to be like a passport: it identifies the holder, tends to last for a long time, and should not be trivial to obtain. An AC is more like an entry visa: it is typically issued by a different authority and does not last for as long a time. As acquiring an entry visa typically requires presenting a passport, getting a visa can be a simpler process.
A real life example of this can be found in the mobile software deployments by large service providers and are typically applied to platforms such as Microsoft Smartphone (and related), Symbian OS, J2ME, and others.
In each of these systems a mobile communications service provider may customize the mobile terminal client distribution (ie. the mobile phone operating system or application environment) to include one or more root certificates each associated with a set of capabilities or permissions such as “update firmware”, “access address book”, “use radio interface”, and the most basic one, “install and execute”. When a developer wishes to enable distribution and execution in one of these controlled environments they must acquire a certificate from an appropriate CA, typically a large commercial CA, and in the process they usually have their identity verified using out-of-band mechanisms such as a combination of phone call, validation of their legal entity through government and commercial databases, etc., similar to the high assurance SSL certificate vetting process, though often there are additional specific requirements imposed on would-be developers/publishers.
Once the identity has been validated they are issued an identity certificate they can use to sign their software; generally the software signed by the developer or publisher’s identity certificate is not distributed but rather it is submitted to processor to possibly test or profile the content before generating an authorization certificate which is unique to the particular software release. That certificate is then used with an ephemeral asymmetric key-pair to sign the software as the last step of preparation for distribution. There are many advantages to separating the identity and authorization certificates especially relating to risk mitigation of new content being accepted into the system and key management as well as recovery from errant software which can be used as attack vectors.
References:
HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 2001, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, page 540. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_certificate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_certificate

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0051

What is the primary role of smartcards in a PKI?

A.
Transparent renewal of user keys
B. Easy distribution of the certificates between the users
C. Fast hardware encryption of the raw data
D. Tamper resistant, mobile storage and application of private keys of the users

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

Reference: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 2001, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, page 139;
SNYDER, J., What is a SMART CARD?.
Wikipedia has a nice definition at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamper_resistance Security
Tamper-resistant microprocessors are used to store and process private or sensitive information, such as private keys or electronic money credit. To prevent an attacker from retrieving or modifying the information, the chips are designed so that the information is not accessible through external means and can be accessed only by the embedded software, which should contain the appropriate security measures.
Examples of tamper-resistant chips include all secure cryptoprocessors, such as the IBM 4758 and chips used in smartcards, as well as the Clipper chip. It has been argued that it is very difficult to make simple electronic devices secure against tampering, because numerous attacks are possible, including:
physical attack of various forms (microprobing, drills, files, solvents, etc.)
freezing the device
applying out-of-spec voltages or power surges
applying unusual clock signals
inducing software errors using radiation
measuring the precise time and power requirements of certain operations (see power analysis)
Tamper-resistant chips may be designed to zeroise their sensitive data (especially cryptographic keys) if they detect penetration of their security encapsulation or out-of-specification environmental parameters. A chip may even be rated for “cold zeroisation”, the ability to zeroise itself even after its power supply has been crippled.
Nevertheless, the fact that an attacker may have the device in his possession for as long as he likes, and perhaps obtain numerous other samples for testing and practice, means that it is practically impossible to totally eliminate tampering by a sufficiently motivated opponent. Because of this, one of the most important elements in protecting a system is overall system design. In particular, tamper-resistant systems should “fail gracefully” by ensuring that compromise of one device does not compromise the entire system. In this manner, the attacker can be practically restricted to attacks that cost less than the expected return from compromising a single device (plus, perhaps, a little more for kudos). Since the most sophisticated attacks have been estimated to cost several hundred thousand dollars to carry out, carefully designed systems may be invulnerable in practice.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0049

Single Sign-on (SSO) is characterized by which of the following advantages?

A.
Convenience
B. Convenience and centralized administration
C. Convenience and centralized data administration
D. Convenience and centralized network administration

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Convenience -Using single sign-on users have to type their passwords only once when they first log in to access all the network resources; and Centralized Administration as some single sign-on systems are built around a unified server administration system. This allows a single administrator to add and delete accounts across the entire network from one user interface.
The following answers are incorrect:
Convenience -alone this is not the correct answer.
Centralized Data or Network Administration -these are thrown in to mislead the student. Neither are a benefit to SSO, as these specifically should not be allowed with just an SSO.
References: TIPTON, Harold F. & KRAUSE, MICKI, Information Security Management Handbook, 4th Edition, Volume 1, page 35. TIPTON, Harold F. & HENRY, Kevin, Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, 2007, page 180.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0048

Which of the following was developed to address some of the weaknesses in Kerberos and uses public key cryptography for the distribution of secret keys and provides additional access control support?

A.
SESAME
B. RADIUS
C. KryptoKnight
D. TACACS+

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Secure European System for Applications in a Multi-vendor Environment (SESAME) was developed to address some of the weaknesses in Kerberos and uses public key cryptography for the distribution of secret keys and provides additional access control support. Reference:
TIPTON, Harold, Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK (2007), page 184. ISC OIG Second Edition, Access Controls, Page 111

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0047

Which of the following was developed by the National Computer Security Center (NCSC) for the US Department of Defense ?

A.
TCSEC
B. ITSEC
C. DIACAP
D. NIACAP

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

The Answer: TCSEC; The TCSEC, frequently referred to as the Orange Book, is the centerpiece of the DoD Rainbow Series publications.
Initially issued by the National Computer Security Center (NCSC) an arm of the National Security Agency in 1983 and then updated in 1985, TCSEC was replaced with the development of the Common Criteria international standard originally published in 2005.
References: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, pages 197-199.
Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TCSEC

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0046

Which of the following division is defined in the TCSEC (Orange Book) as minimal protection?

A.
Division D
B. Division C
C. Division B
D. Division A

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

The criteria are divided into four divisions: D, C, B, and A ordered in a hierarchical manner with the highest division (A) being reserved for systems providing the most comprehensive security.
Each division represents a major improvement in the overall confidence one can place in the system for the protection of sensitive information.
Within divisions C and B there are a number of subdivisions known as classes. The classes are also ordered in a hierarchical manner with systems representative of division C and lower classes of division B being characterized by the set of computer security mechanisms that they possess.
Assurance of correct and complete design and implementation for these systems is gained mostly through testing of the security-relevant portions of the system. The security-relevant portions of a system are referred to throughout this document as the Trusted Computing Base (TCB).
Systems representative of higher classes in division B and division A derive their security attributes more from their design and implementation structure. Increased assurance that the required features are operative, correct, and tamperproof under all circumstances is gained through progressively more rigorous analysis during the design process.
TCSEC provides a classification system that is divided into hierarchical divisions of assurance levels:
Division D -minimal security Division C -discretionary protection Division B -mandatory protection Division A -verified protection
Reference: page 358 AIO V.5 Shon Harris also Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, page 197. Also: THE source for all TCSEC “level” questions: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/secpubs/rainbow/std001.txt

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0045

Which of the following classes is defined in the TCSEC (Orange Book) as discretionary protection?

A.
C
B. B
C. A
D. D

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, page 197. Also: THE source for all TCSEC “level” questions: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/secpubs/rainbow/std001.txt