Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0344

When two or more separate entities (usually persons) operating in concert to protect sensitive functions or information must combine their knowledge to gain access to an asset, this is known as?

A.
Dual Control
B. Need to know
C. Separation of duties
D. Segragation of duties

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

The question mentions clearly “operating together”. Which means the BEST answer is Dual Control.
Two mechanisms necessary to implement high integrity environments where separation of duties is paramount are dual control or split knowledge.
Dual control enforces the concept of keeping a duo responsible for an activity. It requires more than one employee available to perform a task. It utilizes two or more separate entities (usually persons), operating together, to protect sensitive functions or information.
Whenever the dual control feature is limited to something you know., it is often called split knowledge (such as part of the password, cryptographic keys etc.) Split knowledge is the unique “what each must bring” and joined together when implementing dual control.
To illustrate, let say you have a box containing petty cash is secured by one combination lock and one keyed lock. One employee is given the combination to the combo lock and another employee has possession of the correct key to the keyed lock. In order to get the cash out of the box both employees must be present at the cash box at the same time. One cannot open the box without the other. This is the aspect of dual control.
On the other hand, split knowledge is exemplified here by the different objects (the combination to the combo lock and the correct physical key), both of which are unique and necessary, that each brings to the meeting.
This is typically used in high value transactions / activities (as per the organizations risk appetite) such as:
Approving a high value transaction using a special user account, where the password of this user account is split into two and managed by two different staff. Both staff should be present to enter the password for a high value transaction. This is often combined with the separation of duties principle. In this case, the posting of the transaction would have been performed by another staff. This leads to a situation where collusion of at least 3 people are required to make a fraud transaction which is of high value.
Payment Card and PIN printing is separated by SOD principles. Now the organization can even enhance the control mechanism by implementing dual control / split knowledge. The card printing activity can be modified to require two staff to key in the passwords for initiating the printing process. Similarly, PIN printing authentication can also be made to be implemented with dual control. Many Host Security modules (HSM) comes with built in controls for dual controls where physical keys are required to initiate the PIN printing process.
Managing encryption keys is another key area where dual control / split knowledge to be implemented.
PCI DSS defines Dual Control as below. This is more from a cryptographic perspective, still useful:
Dual Control: Process of using two or more separate entities (usually persons) operating in concert to protect sensitive functions or information. Both entities are equally responsible for the physical protection of materials involved in vulnerable transactions. No single person is permitted to access or use the materials (for example, the cryptographic key). For manual key generation, conveyance, loading, storage, and retrieval, dual control requires dividing knowledge of the key among the entities. (See also Split Knowledge).
Split knowledge: Condition in which two or more entities separately have key components that individually convey no knowledge of the resultant cryptographic key.
It is key for information security professionals to understand the differences between Dual Control and Separation of Duties. Both complement each other, but are not the same.
The following were incorrect answers:
Segregation of Duties address the splitting of various functions within a process to different users so that it will not create an opportunity for a single user to perform conflicting tasks.
For example, the participation of two or more persons in a transaction creates a system of checks and balances and reduces the possibility of fraud considerably. So it is important for an organization to ensure that all tasks within a process has adequate separation.
Let us look at some use cases of segregation of duties
A person handling cash should not post to the accounting records
A loan officer should not disburse loan proceeds for loans they approved
Those who have authority to sign cheques should not reconcile the bank accounts
The credit card printing personal should not print the credit card PINs
Customer address changes must be verified by a second employee before the change can be activated.
In situations where the separation of duties are not possible, because of lack of staff, the senior management should set up additional measure to offset the lack of adequate controls.
To summarise, Segregation of Duties is about Separating the conflicting duties to reduce fraud in an end to end function.
Need To Know (NTK): The term “need to know”, when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if one has all the necessary official approvals (such as a security clearance) to access certain information, one would not be given access to such information, unless one has a specific need to know; that is, access to the information must be necessary for the conduct of one’s official duties. As with most security mechanisms, the aim is to make it difficult for unauthorized access to occur, without inconveniencing legitimate access. Need-to-know also aims to discourage “browsing” of sensitive material by limiting access to the smallest possible number of people.
EXAM TIP: HOW TO DECIPHER THIS QUESTION
First, you probably nototiced that both Separation of Duties and Segregation of Duties are synonymous with each others. This means they are not the BEST answers for sure. That was an easy first step.
For the exam remember:
Separation of Duties is synonymous with Segregation of Duties Dual Control is synonymous with Split Knowledge
Reference(s) used for this question:
Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 16048-16078). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition. and http://www.ciso.in/dual-control-or-segregation-of-duties/

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0343

Which of the following is not a component of a Operations Security "triples"?

A.
Asset
B. Threat
C. Vulnerability
D. Risk

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

The Operations Security domain is concerned with triples -threats, vulnerabilities and assets. Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 216.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0342

What is the main purpose of Corporate Security Policy?

A.
To transfer the responsibility for the information security to all users of the organization
B. To communicate management's intentions in regards to information security
C. To provide detailed steps for performing specific actions
D. To provide a common framework for all development activities

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

A Corporate Security Policy is a high level document that indicates what are management`s intentions in regard to Information Security within the organization. It is high level in purpose, it does not give you details about specific products that would be use, specific steps, etc..
The organization’s requirements for access control should be defined and documented in its security policies. Access rules and rights for each user or group of users should be clearly stated in an access policy statement. The access control policy should minimally consider:
Statements of general security principles and their applicability to the organization Security requirements of individual enterprise applications, systems, and services Consistency between the access control and information classification policies of different systems and networks Contractual obligations or regulatory compliance regarding protection of assets Standards defining user access profiles for organizational roles Details regarding the management of the access control system
As a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) you would be involved directly in the drafting and coordination of security policies, standards and supporting guidelines, procedures, and baselines.
Guidance provided by the CISSP for technical security issues, and emerging threats are considered for the adoption of new policies. Activities such as interpretation of government regulations and industry trends and analysis of vendor solutions to include in the security architecture that advances the security of the organization are performed by the CISSP as well.
The following are incorrect answers:
To transfer the responsibility for the information security to all users of the organization is bogus. You CANNOT transfer responsibility, you can only tranfer authority. Responsibility will also sit with upper management. The keyworks ALL and USERS is also an indication that it is the wrong choice.
To provide detailed steps for performing specific actions is also a bogus detractor. A step by step document is referred to as a procedure. It details how to accomplish a specific task.
To provide a common framework for all development activities is also an invalid choice. Security Policies are not restricted only to development activities.
Reference Used for this question:
Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 1551-1565). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition. and Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 9109-9112). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0341

What is the difference between Advisory and Regulatory security policies?

A.
there is no difference between them
B. regulatory policies are high level policy, while advisory policies are very detailed
C. Advisory policies are not mandated. Regulatory policies must be implemented.
D. Advisory policies are mandated while Regulatory policies are not

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

Advisory policies are security polices that are not mandated to be followed but are strongly suggested, perhaps with serious consequences defined for failure to follow them (such as termination, a job action warning, and so forth). A company with such policies wants most employees to consider these policies mandatory.
Most policies fall under this broad category. Advisory policies can have many exclusions or application levels. Thus, these policies can control some employees more than others, according to their roles and responsibilities within that organization. For example, a policy that requires a certain procedure for transaction processing might allow for an alternative procedure under certain, specified conditions.
Regulatory Regulatory policies are security policies that an organization must implement due to compliance, regulation, or other legal requirements. These companies might be financial institutions, public utilities, or some other type of organization that operates in the public interest. These policies are usually very detailed and are specific to the industry in which the organization operates. Regulatory polices commonly have two main purposes:
1. To ensure that an organization is following the standard procedures or base practices of operation in its specific industry
2. To give an organization the confidence that it is following the standard and accepted industry policy
Informative Informative policies are policies that exist simply to inform the reader. There are no implied or specified requirements, and the audience for this information could be certain internal (within the organization) or external parties. This does not mean that the policies are authorized for public consumption but that they are general enough to be distributed to external parties (vendors accessing an extranet, for example) without a loss of confidentiality.
References: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Page 12, Chapter 1: Security Management Practices.
also see: The CISSP Prep Guide:Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security by Ronald L. Krutz, Russell Dean Vines, Edward M. Stroz
also see: http://i-data-recovery.com/information-security/information-securit…

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0340

What is the goal of the Maintenance phase in a common development process of a security policy?

A.
to review the document on the specified review date
B. publication within the organization
C. to write a proposal to management that states the objectives of the policy
D. to present the document to an approving body

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

“publication within the organization” is the goal of the Publication Phase “write a proposal to management that states the objectives of the policy” is part of Initial and Evaluation Phase “Present the document to an approving body” is part of Approval Phase.
Reference: TIPTON, Harold F. & KRAUSE, MICKI, Information Security Management Handbook, 4th Edition, Volume 3, 2002, Auerbach Publications. Also: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 8: Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery Planning (page 286).

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0339

Which of the following are the steps usually followed in the development of documents such as security policy, standards and procedures?

A.
design, development, publication, coding, and testing.
B. design, evaluation, approval, publication, and implementation.
C. initiation, evaluation, development, approval, publication, implementation, and maintenance.
D. feasibility, development, approval, implementation, and integration.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

The common steps used the the development of security policy are initiation of the project, evaluation, development, approval, publication, implementation, and maintenance. The other choices listed are the phases of the software development life cycle and not the step used to develop ducuments such as Policies, Standards, etc…
Reference: TIPTON, Harold F. & KRAUSE, MICKI, Information Security Management Handbook, 4th Edition, Volume 3, 2002, Auerbach Publications.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0338

Making sure that the data has not been changed unintentionally, due to an accident or malice is:

A.
Integrity.
B. Confidentiality.
C. Availability.
D. Auditability.

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Integrity refers to the protection of information from unauthorized modification or deletion.
Confidentiality is incorrect. Confidentiality refers to the protection of information from unauthorized disclosure.
Availability is incorrect. Availability refers to the assurance that information and services will be available to authorized users in accordance with the service level objective.
Auditability is incorrect. Auditability refers to the ability to trace an action to the identity that performed it and identify the date and time at which it occurred.
References:
CBK, pp. 5 -6 AIO3, pp. 56 -57

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0337

Which property ensures that only the intended recipient can access the data and nobody else?

A.
Confidentiality
B. Capability
C. Integrity
D. Availability

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Confidentiality is defined as the property that ensures that only the intended recipient can access the data and nobody else. It is usually achieve using cryptogrphic methods, tools, and protocols.
Confidentiality supports the principle of “least privilege” by providing that only authorized individuals, processes, or systems should have access to information on a need-to-know basis. The level of access that an authorized individual should have is at the level necessary for them to do their job. In recent years, much press has been dedicated to the privacy of information and the need to protect it from individuals, who may be able to commit crimes by viewing the information. Identity theft is the act of assuming one’s identity through knowledge of confidential information obtained from various sources.
The following are incorrect answers: Capability is incorrect. Capability is relevant to access control. Capability-based security is a concept in the design of secure computing systems, one of the existing security models. A capability (known in some systems as a key) is a communicable, unforgeable token of authority. It refers to a value that references an object along with an associated set of access rights. A user program on a capability-based operating system must use a capability to access an object. Capability-based security refers to the principle of designing user programs such that they directly share capabilities with each other according to the principle of least privilege, and to the operating system infrastructure necessary to make such transactions efficient and secure.
Integrity is incorrect. Integrity protects information from unauthorized modification or loss. Availability is incorrect. Availability assures that information and services are available for use by authorized entities according to the service level objective.
Reference(s) used for this question: Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 9345-9349). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0336

What is called the formal acceptance of the adequacy of a system's overall security by the management?

A.
Certification
B. Acceptance
C. Accreditation
D. Evaluation

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

Accreditation is the authorization by management to implement software or systems in a production environment. This authorization may be either provisional or full.
The following are incorrect answers:
Certification is incorrect. Certification is the process of evaluating the security stance of the software or system against a selected set of standards or policies. Certification is the technical evaluation of a product. This may precede accreditation but is not a required precursor.
Acceptance is incorrect. This term is sometimes used as the recognition that a piece of software or system has met a set of functional or service level criteria (the new payroll system has passed its acceptance test). Certification is the better tem in this context.
Evaluation is incorrect. Evaluation is certainly a part of the certification process but it is not the best answer to the question.
Reference(s) used for this question: The Official Study Guide to the CBK from ISC2, pages 559-560
AIO3, pp. 314 -317 AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 369 -372) AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 370 -372)

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0335

Which of the following is not a method to protect objects and the data within the objects?

A.
Layering
B. Data mining
C. Abstraction
D. Data hiding

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Data mining is used to reveal hidden relationships, patterns and trends by running queries on large data stores.
Data mining is the act of collecting and analyzing large quantities of information to determine patterns of use or behavior and use those patterns to form conclusions about past, current, or future behavior. Data mining is typically used by large organizations with large databases of customer or consumer behavior. Retail and credit companies will use data mining to identify buying patterns or trends in geographies, age groups, products, or services. Data mining is essentially the statistical analysis of general information in the absence of specific data.
The following are incorrect answers:
They are incorrect as they all apply to Protecting Objects and the data within them. Layering, abstraction and data hiding are related concepts that can work together to produce modular software that implements an organizations security policies and is more reliable in operation.
Layering is incorrect. Layering assigns specific functions to each layer and communication between layers is only possible through well-defined interfaces. This helps preclude tampering in violation of security policy. In computer programming, layering is the organization of programming into separate functional components that interact in some sequential and hierarchical way, with each layer usually having an interface only to the layer above it and the layer below it.
Abstraction is incorrect. Abstraction “hides” the particulars of how an object functions or stores information and requires the object to be manipulated through well-defined interfaces that can be designed to enforce security policy. Abstraction involves the removal of characteristics from an entity in order to easily represent its essential properties.
Data hiding is incorrect. Data hiding conceals the details of information storage and manipulation within an object by only exposing well defined interfaces to the information rather than the information itslef. For example, the details of how passwords are stored could be hidden inside a password object with exposed interfaces such as check_password, set_password, etc. When a password needs to be verified, the test password is passed to the check_password method and a boolean (true/false) result is returned to indicate if the password is correct without revealing any details of how/where the real passwords are stored. Data hiding maintains activities at different security levels to separate these levels from each other.
The following reference(s) were used for this question:
Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 27535-27540). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition. and Hernandez CISSP, Steven (2012-12-21). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 4269-4273). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.