Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0104

Which of the following is most appropriate to notify an external user that session monitoring is being conducted?

A.
Logon Banners
B. Wall poster
C. Employee Handbook
D. Written agreement

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Banners at the log-on time should be used to notify external users of any monitoring that is being conducted. A good banner will give you a better legal stand and also makes it obvious the user was warned about who should access the system and if it is an unauthorized user then he is fully aware of trespassing.
This is a tricky question, the keyword in the question is External user.
There are two possible answers based on how the question is presented, this question could either apply to internal users or ANY anonymous user. Internal users should always have a written agreement first, then logon banners serve as a constant reminder. Anonymous users, such as those logging into a web site, ftp server or even a mail server; their only notification system is the use of a logon banner.
References used for this question:
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 50. and Shon Harris, CISSP All-in-one, 5th edition, pg 873

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0103

Which of the following is NOT a factor related to Access Control?

A.
integrity
B. authenticity
C. confidentiality
D. availability

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

These factors cover the integrity, confidentiality, and availability components of information system security.
Integrity is important in access control as it relates to ensuring only authorized subjects can make changes to objects.
Authenticity is different from authentication. Authenticity pertains to something being authentic, not necessarily having a direct correlation to access control.
Confidentiality is pertinent to access control in that the access to sensitive information is controlled to protect confidentiality.
vailability is protected by access controls in that if an attacket attempts to disrupt availability they would first need access.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0102

Which of the following is most relevant to determining the maximum effective cost of access control?

A.
the value of information that is protected
B. management's perceptions regarding data importance
C. budget planning related to base versus incremental spending.
D. the cost to replace lost data

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

The cost of access control must be commensurate with the value of the information that is being protected. Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0101

The Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) employs which of the following?

A.
a user ID and static password for network access
B. a user ID and dynamic password for network access
C. a user ID and symmetric password for network access
D. a user ID and asymmetric password for network access

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

For networked applications, the Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS) employs a user ID and a static password for network access. Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 44.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0100

Which of the following protects a password from eavesdroppers and supports the encryption of communication?

A.
Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)
B. Challenge Handshake Identification Protocol (CHIP)
C. Challenge Handshake Encryption Protocol (CHEP)
D. Challenge Handshake Substitution Protocol (CHSP)

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

CHAP: A protocol that uses a three way hanbdshake The server sends the client a challenge which includes a random value(a nonce) to thwart replay attacks. The client responds with the MD5 hash of the nonce and the password.
The authentication is successful if the client’s response is the one that the server expected.
Reference: Page 450, OIG 2007.
CHAP protects the password from eavesdroppers and supports the encryption of communication. Reference: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 44.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0099

RADIUS incorporates which of the following services?

A.
Authentication server and PIN codes.
B. Authentication of clients and static passwords generation.
C. Authentication of clients and dynamic passwords generation.
D. Authentication server as well as support for Static and Dynamic passwords.

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

A Network Access Server (NAS) operates as a client of RADIUS. The client is responsible for passing user information to designated RADIUS servers, and then acting on the response which is returned.
RADIUS servers are responsible for receiving user connection requests, authenticating the user, and then returning all configuration information necessary for the client to deliver service to the user.
RADIUS authentication is based on provisions of simple username/password credentials. These credentials are encrypted by the client using a shared secret between the client and the RADIUS server. OIG 2007, Page 513
RADIUS incorporates an authentication server and can make uses of both dynamic and static passwords.
Since it uses the PAP and CHAP protocols, it also incluses static passwords. RADIUS is an Internet protocol. RADIUS carries authentication, authorization, and configuration information between a
Network Access Server and a shared Authentication Server. RADIUS features and functions are described primarily in the IETF (International Engineering Task Force) document RFC2138. The term ” RADIUS” is an acronym which stands for Remote Authentication Dial In User Service. The main advantage to using a RADIUS approach to authentication is that it can provide a stronger form of authentication.
RADIUS is capable of using a strong, two-factor form of authentication, in which users need to possess both a user ID and a hardware or software token to gain access. Token-based schemes use dynamic passwords. Every minute or so, the token generates a unique 4-, 6-or 8-digit access number that is synchronized with the security server. To gain entry into the system, the user must generate both this one-time number and provide his or her user ID and password.
Although protocols such as RADIUS cannot protect against theft of an authenticated session via some realtime attacks, such as wiretapping, using unique, unpredictable authentication requests can protect against a wide range of active attacks. RADIUS: Key Features and Benefits Features Benefits
RADIUS supports dynamic passwords and challenge/response passwords. Improved system security due to the fact that passwords are not static. It is much more difficult for a bogus host to spoof users into giving up their passwords or password-generation algorithms. RADIUS allows the user to have a single user ID and password for all computers in a network. Improved usability due to the fact that the user has to remember only one login combination. RADIUS is able to:
Prevent RADIUS users from logging in via login (or ftp). Require them to log in via login (or ftp) Require them to login to a specific network access server (NAS); Control access by time of day.
Provides very granular control over the types of logins allowed, on a per-user basis.
The time-out interval for failing over from an unresponsive primary RADIUS server to a backup RADIUS server is site-configurable. RADIUS gives System Administrator more flexibility in managing which users can login from which hosts or devices. Stratus Technology Product Brief
http://www.stratus.com/products/vos/openvos/radius.htm
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Pages 43, 44. Also check: MILLER, Lawrence & GREGORY, Peter, CISSP for Dummies, 2002, Wiley Publishing, Inc., pages 45-46.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0098

Like the Kerberos protocol, SESAME is also subject to which of the following?

A.
timeslot replay
B. password guessing
C. symmetric key guessing
D. asymmetric key guessing

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Sesame is an authentication and access control protocol, that also supports communication confidentiality and integrity. It provides public key based authentication along with the Kerberos style authentication, that uses symmetric key cryptography. Sesame supports the Kerberos protocol and adds some security extensions like public key based authentication and an ECMA-style Privilege Attribute Service.
The users under SESAME can authenticate using either symmetric encryption as in Kerberos or Public Key authentication. When using Symmetric Key authentication as in Kerberos, SESAME is also vulnerable to password guessing just like Kerberos would be. The Symmetric key being used is based on the password used by the user when he logged on the system. If the user has a simple password it could be guessed or compromise. Even thou Kerberos or SESAME may be use, there is still a need to have strong password discipline.
The Basic Mechanism in Sesame for strong authentication is as follow:
The user sends a request for authentication to the Authentication Server as in Kerberos, except that SESAME is making use of public key cryptography for authentication where the client will present his digital certificate and the request will be signed using a digital signature. The signature is communicated to the authentication server through the preauthentication fields. Upon receipt of this request, the authentication server will verifies the certificate, then validate the signature, and if all is fine the AS will issue a ticket granting ticket (TGT) as in Kerberos. This TGT will be use to communicate with the privilage attribute server (PAS) when access to a resource is needed.
Users may authenticate using either a public key pair or a conventional (symmetric) key. If public key cryptography is used, public key data is transported in preauthentication data fields to help establish identity. Kerberos uses tickets for authenticating subjects to objects and SESAME uses Privileged Attribute Certificates (PAC), which contain the subject’s identity, access capabilities for the object, access time period, and lifetime of the PAC. The PAC is digitally signed so that the object can validate that it came from the trusted authentication server, which is referred to as the privilege attribute server (PAS). The PAS holds a similar role as the KDC within Kerberos. After a user successfully authenticates to the authentication service (AS), he is presented with a token to give to the PAS. The PAS then creates a PAC for the user to present to the resource he is trying to access.
Reference(s) used for this question:
http://srg.cs.uiuc.edu/Security/nephilim/Internal/SESAME.txt and KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 43.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0097

Kerberos is vulnerable to replay in which of the following circumstances?

A.
When a private key is compromised within an allotted time window.
B. When a public key is compromised within an allotted time window.
C. When a ticket is compromised within an allotted time window.
D. When the KSD is compromised within an allotted time window.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

Replay can be accomplished on Kerberos if the compromised tickets are used within an allotted time window.
The security depends on careful implementation:enforcing limited lifetimes for authentication credentials minimizes the threat of of replayed credentials, the KDC must be physically secured, and it should be hardened, not permitting any non-kerberos activities.
Reference:
Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP, 2007 Edition, page 184 also see: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 42.

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0096

Which of the following is addressed by Kerberos?

A.
Confidentiality and Integrity
B. Authentication and Availability
C. Validation and Integrity
D. Auditability and Integrity

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Kerberos addresses the confidentiality and integrity of information. It also addresses primarily authentication but does not directly address availability.
Reference(s) used for this question:
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 42. and https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4120.txt and http://learn-networking.com/network-security/how-kerberos-authentic…

Systems Security Certified Practitioner – SSCP – Question0095

Which of the following is NOT true of the Kerberos protocol?

A.
Only a single login is required per session.
B. The initial authentication steps are done using public key algorithm.
C. The KDC is aware of all systems in the network and is trusted by all of them
D. It performs mutual authentication

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Kerberos is a network authentication protocol. It is designed to provide strong authentication for client/server applications by using secret-key cryptography. It has the following characteristics:
It is secure: it never sends a password unless it is encrypted.
Only a single login is required per session. Credentials defined at login are then passed between resources without the need for additional logins.
The concept depends on a trusted third party – a Key Distribution Center (KDC). The KDC is aware of all systems in the network and is trusted by all of them. It performs mutual authentication, where a client proves its identity to a server and a server proves its identity to the client.
Kerberos introduces the concept of a Ticket-Granting Server/Service (TGS). A client that wishes to use a service has to receive a ticket from the TGS – a ticket is a time-limited cryptographic message – giving it access to the server. Kerberos also requires an Authentication Server (AS) to verify clients. The two servers combined make up a KDC.
Within the Windows environment, Active Directory performs the functions of the KDC. The following figure shows the sequence of events required for a client to gain access to a service using Kerberos authentication. Each step is shown with the Kerberos message associated with it, as defined in RFC 4120 “The Kerberos Network Authorization Service (V5)”.

Kerberos Authentication Step by Step
Step 1: The user logs on to the workstation and requests service on the host. The workstation sends a message to the Authorization Server requesting a ticket granting ticket (TGT).
Step 2: The Authorization Server verifies the user’s access rights in the user database and creates a TGT and session key. The Authorization Sever encrypts the results using a key derived from the user’s password and sends a message back to the user workstation.
The workstation prompts the user for a password and uses the password to decrypt the incoming message. When decryption succeeds, the user will be able to use the TGT to request a service ticket.
Step 3: When the user wants access to a service, the workstation client application sends a request to the Ticket Granting Service containing the client name, realm name and a timestamp. The user proves his identity by sending an authenticator encrypted with the session key received in Step 2.
Step 4: The TGS decrypts the ticket and authenticator, verifies the request, and creates a ticket for the requested server. The ticket contains the client name and optionally the client IP address. It also contains the realm name and ticket lifespan. The TGS returns the ticket to the user workstation. The returned message contains two copies of a server session key – one encrypted with the client password, and one encrypted by the service password.
Step 5: The client application now sends a service request to the server containing the ticket received in Step 4 and an authenticator. The service authenticates the request by decrypting the session key. The server verifies that the ticket and authenticator match, and then grants access to the service. This step as described does not include the authorization performed by the Intel AMT device, as described later.
Step 6: If mutual authentication is required, then the server will reply with a server authentication message.
The Kerberos server knows “secrets” (encrypted passwords) for all clients and servers under its control, or it is in contact with other secure servers that have this information. These “secrets” are used to encrypt all of the messages shown in the figure above.
To prevent “replay attacks,” Kerberos uses timestamps as part of its protocol definition. For timestamps to work properly, the clocks of the client and the server need to be in synch as much as possible. In other words, both computers need to be set to the same time and date. Since the clocks of two computers are often out of synch, administrators can establish a policy to establish the maximum acceptable difference to Kerberos between a client’s clock and server’s clock. If the difference between a client’s clock and the server’s clock is less than the maximum time difference specified in this policy, any timestamp used in a session between the two computers will be considered authentic. The maximum difference is usually set to five minutes.
Note that if a client application wishes to use a service that is “Kerberized” (the service is configured to perform Kerberos authentication), the client must also be Kerberized so that it expects to support the necessary message responses. For more information about Kerberos, see http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/.
References: Introduction to Kerberos Authentication from Intel and http://www.zeroshell.net/eng/kerberos/Kerberos-definitions/#1.3.5.3 and http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4120.txt