Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: A

Change control sub-phase includes Recreating and analyzing the problem, Determining the interface that is presented to the user, and Establishing the priorities of requests.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 7:
Applications and Systems Development (page 252).

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: C

Logical or technical controls involve the restriction of access to systems and the protection of information. Smart cards and encryption are examples of these types of control.
Controls are put into place to reduce the risk an organization faces, and they come in three main flavors: administrative, technical, and physical. Administrative controls are commonly referred to as “soft controls” because they are more management-oriented. Examples of administrative controls are security documentation, risk management, personnel security, and training. Technical controls (also called logical controls) are software or hardware components, as in firewalls, IDS, encryption, identification and authentication mechanisms. And physical controls are items put into place to protect facility, personnel, and resources.
Examples of physical controls are security guards, locks, fencing, and lighting.
Many types of technical controls enable a user to access a system and the resources within that system. A technical control may be a username and password combination, a Kerberos implementation, biometrics, public key infrastructure (PKI), RADIUS, TACACS +, or authentication using a smart card through a reader connected to a system. These technologies verify the user is who he says he is by using different types of authentication methods. Once a user is properly authenticated, he can be authorized and allowed access to network resources.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 245). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. and
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page 32).

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: C

Verification vs. Validation:
Verification determines if the product accurately represents and meets the specifications. A product can be developed that does not match the original specifications. This step ensures that the specifications are properly met.
Validation determines if the product provides the necessary solution intended real-world problem. In large projects, it is easy to lose sight of overall goal. This exercise ensures that the main goal of the project is met.
From DITSCAP:
6.3.2. Phase 2, Verification. The Verification phase shall include activities to verify compliance of the system with previously agreed security requirements. For each life-cycle development activity, DoD Directive 5000.1 (reference (i)), there is a corresponding set of security activities, enclosure 3, that shall verify compliance with the security requirements and evaluate vulnerabilities.
6.3.3. Phase 3, Validation. The Validation phase shall include activities to evaluate the fully integrated system to validate system operation in a specified computing environment with an acceptable level of residual risk. Validation shall culminate in an approval to operate.
You must also be familiar with Verification and Validation for the purpose of the exam. A simple definition for Verification would be whether or not the developers followed the design specifications along with the security requirements. A simple definition for Validation would be whether or not the final product meets the end user needs and can be use for a specific purpose.
Wikipedia has an informal description that is currently written as: Validation can be expressed by the query “Are you building the right thing?” and Verification by
“Are you building it right?
NOTE:
DITSCAP was replaced by DIACAP some time ago (2007). While DITSCAP had defined both a verification and a validation phase, the DIACAP only has a validation phase. It may not make a difference in the answer for the exam; however, DIACAP is the cornerstone policy of DOD C&A and IA efforts today. Be familiar with both terms just in case all of a sudden the exam becomes updated with the new term.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 1106). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. http://iase.disa.mil/ditscap/DITSCAP.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verification_and_validation
For the definition of “validation” in DIACAP, Click Here
Further sources for the phases in DIACAP, Click Here

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Passwords are one of the multiple ways to authenticate (prove who you claim to be) an identity which allows confidentiality controls to be enforced to assure the identity can only access the information for which it is authorized. It is the authentication that assists assurance of confidentiality not the passwords.
“Network security protocols” is incorrect. Network security protocols are quite useful in assuring confidentiality in network communications.
“Network authentication services” is incorrect. Confidentiality is concerned with allowing only authorized users to access information. An important part of determining authorization is authenticating an identity and this service is supplied by network authentication services.
“Data encryption services” is incorrect. Data encryption services are quite useful in protecting the confidentiality of information.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, pp. 407 – 520
AIO 3rd Edition, pp. 415 – 580

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: C

L2TP is affected by packet header modification and cannot cope with firewalls and network devices that perform NAT.
“PPTP can run only on top of IP networks.” is correct as PPTP encapsulates datagrams into an IP packet, allowing PPTP to route many network protocols across an IP network.
“PPTP is an encryption protocol and L2TP is not.” is correct. When using PPTP, the PPP payload is encrypted with Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE) using MSCHAP or EAP-TLS.
“L2TP supports AAA servers” is correct as L2TP supports TACACS+ and RADIUS.
NOTE:
L2TP does work over NAT. It is possible to use a tunneled mode that wraps every packet into a UDP packet. Port 4500 is used for this purpose. However this is not true of PPTP and it is not true as well that it works well with all firewalls and NAT devices.
References:
All in One Third Edition page 545
Official Guide to the CISSP Exam page 124-126

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: C

“It [ACL] specifies a list of users [subjects] who are allowed access to each object” CBK, p. 188
A capability table is incorrect. “Capability tables are used to track, manage and apply controls based on the object and rights, or capabilities of a subject. For example, a table identifies the object, specifies access rights allowed for a subject, and permits access based on the user’s posession of a capability (or ticket) for the object.” CBK, pp. 191-192. The distinction that makes this an incorrect choice is that access is based on posession of a capability by the subject.
To put it another way, as noted in AIO3 on p. 169, “A capabiltiy table is different from an ACL because the subject is bound to the capability table, whereas the object is bound to the ACL.”
An access control matrix is incorrect. The access control matrix is a way of describing the rules for an access control strategy. The matrix lists the users, groups and roles down the left side and the resources and functions across the top. The cells of the matrix can either indicate that access is allowed or indicate the type of access. CBK pp 317 – 318.
AIO3, p. 169 describes it as a table if subjects and objects specifying the access rights a certain subject possesses pertaining to specific objects.
In either case, the matrix is a way of analyzing the access control needed by a population of subjects to a population of objects. This access control can be applied using rules, ACL’s, capability tables, etc.
A role-based matrix is incorrect. Again, a matrix of roles vs objects could be used as a tool for thinking about the access control to be applied to a set of objects.
The results of the analysis could then be implemented using RBAC.
References:
CBK, Domain 2: Access Control.
AIO3, Chapter 4: Access Control

Suggested Answer: D

If a category does not exist then you cannot compare it. Incomparable is when you have two disjointed sensitivity labels, that is a category in one of the labels is not in the other label. “Because neither label contains all the categories of the other, the labels can’t be compared. They’re said to be incomparable”
COMPARABILITY:
The label:
TOP SECRET [VENUS ALPHA]
is “higher” than either of the labels:
SECRET [VENUS ALPHA] TOP SECRET [VENUS]
But you can’t really say that the label:
TOP SECRET [VENUS]
is higher than the label:
SECRET [ALPHA]
Because neither label contains all the categories of the other, the labels can’t be compared. They’re said to be incomparable. In a mandatory access control system, you won’t be allowed access to a file whose label is incomparable to your clearance.
The Multilevel Security policy uses an ordering relationship between labels known as the dominance relationship. Intuitively, we think of a label that dominates another as being “higher” than the other. Similarly, we think of a label that is dominated by another as being “lower” than the other. The dominance relationship is used to determine permitted operations and information flows.
DOMINANCE –
The dominance relationship is determined by the ordering of the Sensitivity/Clearance component of the label and the intersection of the set of Compartments.
Sample Sensitivity/Clearance ordering are:
Top Secret > Secret > Confidential > Unclassified
s3 > s2 > s1 > s0
Formally, for label one to dominate label 2 both of the following must be true:
The sensitivity/clearance of label one must be greater than or equal to the sensitivity/clearance of label two.
The intersection of the compartments of label one and label two must equal the compartments of label two.
Additionally:
Two labels are said to be equal if their sensitivity/clearance and set of compartments are exactly equal. Note that dominance includes equality.
One label is said to strictly dominate the other if it dominates the other but is not equal to the other.
Two labels are said to be incomparable if each label has at least one compartment that is not included in the other’s set of compartments.
The dominance relationship will produce a partial ordering over all possible MLS labels, resulting in what is known as the MLS Security Lattice.
The following answers are incorrect:
The number of classification in the two labels is different. Is incorrect because the categories are what is being compared, not the classifications.
Neither label contains all the classifications of the other. Is incorrect because the categories are what is being compared, not the classifications. the number of categories in the two labels is different. Is incorrect because it is possibe a category exists more than once in one sensitivity label and does exist in the other so they would be comparable.
Reference(s) used for this question:
OReilly – Computer Systems and Access Control (Chapter 3)
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/csb/chapter/ch03.html
and
http://rubix.com/cms/mls_dom

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: C

The Bell-LaPadula model is a formal model dealing with confidentiality.
The BellLaPadula Model (abbreviated BLP) is a state machine model used for enforcing access control in government and military applications. It was developed by David Elliott Bell and Leonard J. LaPadula, subsequent to strong guidance from Roger R. Schell to formalize the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) multilevel security (MLS) policy. The model is a formal state transition model of computer security policy that describes a set of access control rules which use security labels on objects and clearances for subjects. Security labels range from the most sensitive (e.g.”Top Secret”), down to the least sensitive (e.g.,
“Unclassified” or “Public”).
The BellLaPadula model focuses on data confidentiality and controlled access to classified information, in contrast to the Biba Integrity Model which describes rules for the protection of data integrity. In this formal model, the entities in an information system are divided into subjects and objects.
The notion of a “secure state” is defined, and it is proven that each state transition preserves security by moving from secure state to secure state, thereby inductively proving that the system satisfies the security objectives of the model. The BellLaPadula model is built on the concept of a state machine with a set of allowable states in a computer network system. The transition from one state to another state is defined by transition functions.
A system state is defined to be “secure” if the only permitted access modes of subjects to objects are in accordance with a security policy. To determine whether a specific access mode is allowed, the clearance of a subject is compared to the classification of the object (more precisely, to the combination of classification and set of compartments, making up the security level) to determine if the subject is authorized for the specific access mode.
The clearance/classification scheme is expressed in terms of a lattice. The model defines two mandatory access control (MAC) rules and one discretionary access control (DAC) rule with three security properties:
The Simple Security Property – a subject at a given security level may not read an object at a higher security level (no read-up).
The -property (read “star”-property) – a subject at a given security level must not write to any object at a lower security level (no write-down). The -property is also known as the Confinement property.
The Discretionary Security Property – use of an access matrix to specify the discretionary access control.
The following are incorrect answers:
Accountability is incorrect. Accountability requires that actions be traceable to the user that performed them and is not addressed by the Bell-LaPadula model.
Integrity is incorrect. Integrity is addressed in the Biba model rather than Bell-Lapadula.
Availability is incorrect. Availability is concerned with assuring that data/services are available to authorized users as specified in service level objectives and is not addressed by the Bell-Lapadula model.
References:
CBK, pp. 325-326 –
AIO3, pp. 279 – 284 –
AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 333 – 336)
AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 336 – 338)
Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell-La_Padula_model

Suggested Answer: B

Is correct because that is exactly what Kerberos is.
The following answers are incorrect:
A three-headed dog from Egyptian mythology. Is incorrect because we are dealing with Information Security and not the Egyptian mythology but the Greek
Mythology.
A security model. Is incorrect because Kerberos is an authentication protocol and not just a security model.
A remote authentication dial in user server. Is incorrect because Kerberos is not a remote authentication dial in user server that would be called RADIUS.

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: B

These controls can be used to investigate what happen after the fact. Your IDS may collect information on where the attack came from, what port was use, and other details that could be used in the investigation steps.
“Preventative control” is incorrect. Preventative controls preclude events or actions that might compromise a system or cause a policy violation. An intrusion prevention system would be an example of a preventative control.
“Recovery control” is incorrect. Recover controls include processes used to return the system to a secure state after the occurrence of a security incident.
Backups and redundant components are examples of recovery controls.
“Directive controls” is incorrect. Directive controls are administrative instruments such as policies, procedures, guidelines, and aggreements. An acceptable use policy is an example of a directive control.
References:
CBK, pp. 646 – 647

Suggested Answer: A

Connection-oriented protocols such as TCP provides reliability.
It is the responsibility of such protocols in the transport layer to ensure every byte is accounted for. The network layer does not provide reliability. It only privides the best route to get the traffic to the final destination address.
For your exam you should know the information below about OSI model:
The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI) is a conceptual model that characterizes and standardizes the internal functions of a communication system by partitioning it into abstraction layers. The model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection project at the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), maintained by the identification ISO/IEC 7498-1.
The model groups communication functions into seven logical layers. A layer serves the layer above it and is served by the layer below it. For example, a layer that provides error-free communications across a network provides the path needed by applications above it, while it calls the next lower layer to send and receive packets that make up the contents of that path. Two instances at one layer are connected by a horizontal.
OSI Model –
<img src=”https://www.examtopics.com/assets/media/exam-media/02070/0070100001.jpg” alt=”Reference Image” />
Image source: http://www.petri.co.il/images/osi_model.JPG
PHYSICAL LAYER –
The physical layer, the lowest layer of the OSI model, is concerned with the transmission and reception of the unstructured raw bit stream over a physical medium.
It describes the electrical/optical, mechanical, and functional interfaces to the physical medium, and carries the signals for all of the higher layers. It provides:
Data encoding: modifies the simple digital signal pattern (1s and 0s) used by the PC to better accommodate the characteristics of the physical medium, and to aid in bit and frame synchronization. It determines:
What signal state represents a binary 1
How the receiving station knows when a “bit-time” starts
How the receiving station delimits a frame
DATA LINK LAYER –
The data link layer provides error-free transfer of data frames from one node to another over the physical layer, allowing layers above it to assume virtually error- free transmission over the link. To do this, the data link layer provides:
Link establishment and termination: establishes and terminates the logical link between two nodes.
Frame traffic control: tells the transmitting node to “back-off” when no frame buffers are available.
Frame sequencing: transmits/receives frames sequentially.
Frame acknowledgment: provides/expects frame acknowledgments. Detects and recovers from errors that occur in the physical layer by retransmitting non- acknowledged frames and handling duplicate frame receipt.
Frame delimiting: creates and recognizes frame boundaries.
Frame error checking: checks received frames for integrity.
Media access management: determines when the node “has the right” to use the physical medium.
NETWORK LAYER –
The network layer controls the operation of the subnet, deciding which physical path the data should take based on network conditions, priority of service, and other factors. It provides:
Routing: routes frames among networks.
Subnet traffic control: routers (network layer intermediate systems) can instruct a sending station to “throttle back” its frame transmission when the router’s buffer fills up.
Frame fragmentation: if it determines that a downstream router’s maximum transmission unit (MTU) size is less than the frame size, a router can fragment a frame for transmission and re-assembly at the destination station.
Logical-physical address mapping: translates logical addresses, or names, into physical addresses.
Subnet usage accounting: has accounting functions to keep track of frames forwarded by subnet intermediate systems, to produce billing information.
Communications Subnet –
The network layer software must build headers so that the network layer software residing in the subnet intermediate systems can recognize them and use them to route data to the destination address.
This layer relieves the upper layers of the need to know anything about the data transmission and intermediate switching technologies used to connect systems. It establishes, maintains and terminates connections across the intervening communications facility (one or several intermediate systems in the communication subnet).
In the network layer and the layers below, peer protocols exist between a node and its immediate neighbor, but the neighbor may be a node through which data is routed, not the destination station. The source and destination stations may be separated by many intermediate systems.
TRANSPORT LAYER –
The transport layer ensures that messages are delivered error-free, in sequence, and with no losses or duplications. It relieves the higher layer protocols from any concern with the transfer of data between them and their peers.
The size and complexity of a transport protocol depends on the type of service it can get from the network layer. For a reliable network layer with virtual circuit capability, a minimal transport layer is required. If the network layer is unreliable and/or only supports datagrams, the transport protocol should include extensive error detection and recovery.
The transport layer provides:
Message segmentation: accepts a message from the (session) layer above it, splits the message into smaller units (if not already small enough), and passes the smaller units down to the network layer. The transport layer at the destination station reassembles the message.
Message acknowledgment: provides reliable end-to-end message delivery with acknowledgments.
Message traffic control: tells the transmitting station to “back-off” when no message buffers are available.
Session multiplexing: multiplexes several message streams, or sessions onto one logical link and keeps track of which messages belong to which sessions
(see session layer).
Typically, the transport layer can accept relatively large messages, but there are strict message size limits imposed by the network (or lower) layer. Consequently, the transport layer must break up the messages into smaller units, or frames, prepending a header to each frame.
The transport layer header information must then include control information, such as message start and message end flags, to enable the transport layer on the other end to recognize message boundaries. In addition, if the lower layers do not maintain sequence, the transport header must contain sequence information to enable the transport layer on the receiving end to get the pieces back together in the right order before handing the received message up to the layer above.
End-to-end layers –
Unlike the lower “subnet” layers whose protocol is between immediately adjacent nodes, the transport layer and the layers above are true “source to destination” or end-to-end layers, and are not concerned with the details of the underlying communications facility. Transport layer software (and software above it) on the source station carries on a conversation with similar software on the destination station by using message headers and control messages.
SESSION LAYER –
The session layer allows session establishment between processes running on different stations. It provides:
Session establishment, maintenance and termination: allows two application processes on different machines to establish, use and terminate a connection, called a session.
Session support: performs the functions that allow these processes to communicate over the network, performing security, name recognition, logging, and so on.
PRESENTATION LAYER –
The presentation layer formats the data to be presented to the application layer. It can be viewed as the translator for the network. This layer may translate data from a format used by the application layer into a common format at the sending station, then translate the common format to a format known to the application layer at the receiving station.
The presentation layer provides:
Character code translation: for example, ASCII to EBCDIC.
Data conversion: bit order, CR-CR/LF, integer-floating point, and so on.
Data compression: reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on the network.
Data encryption: encrypt data for security purposes. For example, password encryption.
APPLICATION LAYER –
The application layer serves as the window for users and application processes to access network services. This layer contains a variety of commonly needed functions:
Resource sharing and device redirection
Remote file access –
Remote printer access –
Inter-process communication –
Network management –
Directory services –
Electronic messaging (such as mail)
Network virtual terminals –
The following were incorrect answers:
Application Layer – The application layer serves as the window for users and application processes to access network services.
Network layer – The network layer controls the operation of the subnet, deciding which physical path the data should take based on network conditions, priority of service, and other factors.
Physical Layer – The physical layer, the lowest layer of the OSI model, is concerned with the transmission and reception of the unstructured raw bit stream over a physical medium. It describes the electrical/optical, mechanical, and functional interfaces to the physical medium, and carries the signals for all of the higher layers.
The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:
CISA review manual 2014 Page number 260
and
Official ISC2 guide to CISSP CBK 3rd Edition Page number 287
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tcp_protocol

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: C

There are two conceptual approaches to intrusion detection. Knowledge-based intrusion detection uses a database of known vulnerabilities to look for current attempts to exploit them on a system and trigger an alarm if an attempt is found. The other approach, not as common, is called behaviour-based or statistical analysis-based. A host-based intrusion detection system is a common implementation of intrusion detection, not a conceptual approach.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 3:
Telecommunications and Network Security (page 63).
Also: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 4: Access Control (pages 193-194).

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: C

As a security administrator you might configure user profiles so that users cannot change the systems time, alter system configuration files, access a command prompt, or install unapproved applications. This type of access control is referred to as nondiscretionary, meaning that access decisions are not made at the discretion of the user. Nondiscretionary access controls are put into place by an authoritative entity (usually a security administrator) with the goal of protecting the organizations most critical assets.
Non-discretionary access control is when a central authority determines what subjects can have access to what objects based on the organizational security policy. Centralized access control is not an existing security model.
Both, Rule Based Access Control (RuBAC or RBAC) and Role Based Access Controls (RBAC) falls into this category.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 221). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. and
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page 33).

Suggested Answer: The Answer: Vulnerability; Vulnerability is a weakness or lack of a safeguard, which may be exploited by a threat, causing harm to the information systems or

Community Answer: A

networks.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Pages 16,
32.

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: D

With mandatory access control (MAC), the authorization of a subject’s access to an object is dependant upon labels, which indicate the subject’s clearance, and classification of objects.
The Following answers were incorrect:
Identity-based Access Control is a type of Discretionary Access Control (DAC), they are synonymous.
Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and Rule Based Access Control (RuBAC or RBAC) are types of Non Discretionary Access Control (NDAC).
Tip:
When you have two answers that are synonymous they are not the right choice for sure.
There is only one access control model that makes use of Label, Clearances, and Categories, it is Mandatory Access Control, none of the other one makes use of those items.
Reference(s) used for this question:
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page 33).

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: A

Remember the term Public-Key Certificate is synonymous with Digital Certificate or Identity certificate.
The certificate itself provides the binding but it is the certificate authority who will go through the Certificate Practice Statements (CPS) actually validating the bindings and vouch for the identity of the owner of the key within the certificate.
As explained in Wikipedia:
In cryptography, a public key certificate (also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate) is an electronic document which uses 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 such as PGP or GPG, the signature is of either the user (a self-signed certificate) or other users (“endorsements”) by getting people to sign each other keys. In either case, the signatures on a certificate are attestations by the certificate signer that the identity information and the public key belong together.
RFC 2828 defines the certification authority (CA) as:
An entity that issues digital certificates (especially X.509 certificates) and vouches for the binding between the data items in a certificate.
An authority trusted by one or more users to create and assign certificates. Optionally, the certification authority may create the user’s keys.
X509 Certificate users depend on the validity of information provided by a certificate. Thus, a CA should be someone that certificate users trust, and usually holds an official position created and granted power by a government, a corporation, or some other organization. A CA is responsible for managing the life cycle of certificates and, depending on the type of certificate and the CPS that applies, may be responsible for the life cycle of key pairs associated with the certificates
Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000. and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_certificate

Suggested Answer: C

When using packet switching, messages are broken down into packets. Source and destination address are added to each packet so that when passing through a network node, they can be examined and eventually rerouted through different paths as conditions change. All message packets may travel different paths and not arrive in the same order as sent. Packets need to be collected and reassembled into the original message at destination.
Source: TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: B

RBAC is sometimes also called non-discretionary access control (NDAC) (as Ferraiolo says “to distinguish it from the policy-based specifics of MAC”). Another model that fits within the NDAC category is Rule-Based Access Control (RuBAC or RBAC). Most of the CISSP books use the same acronym for both models but
NIST tend to use a lowercase “u” in between R and B to differentiate the two models.
You can certainly mimic MAC using RBAC but true MAC makes use of Labels which contains the sensitivity of the objects and the categories they belong to. No labels means MAC is not being used.
One of the most fundamental data access control decisions an organization must make is the amount of control it will give system and data owners to specify the level of access users of that data will have. In every organization there is a balancing point between the access controls enforced by organization and system policy and the ability for information owners to determine who can have access based on specific business requirements. The process of translating that balance into a workable access control model can be defined by three general access frameworks:
Discretionary access control –
Mandatory access control –
Nondiscretionary access control –
A role-based access control (RBAC) model bases the access control authorizations on the roles (or functions) that the user is assigned within an organization.
The determination of what roles have access to a resource can be governed by the owner of the data, as with DACs, or applied based on policy, as with MACs.
Access control decisions are based on job function, previously defined and governed by policy, and each role (job function) will have its own access capabilities.
Objects associated with a role will inherit privileges assigned to that role. This is also true for groups of users, allowing administrators to simplify access control strategies by assigning users to groups and groups to roles.
There are several approaches to RBAC. As with many system controls, there are variations on how they can be applied within a computer system.
There are four basic RBAC architectures:
1. Non-RBAC: Non-RBAC is simply a user-granted access to data or an application by traditional mapping, such as with ACLs. There are no formal “roles” associated with the mappings, other than any identified by the particular user.
2. Limited RBAC: Limited RBAC is achieved when users are mapped to roles within a single application rather than through an organization-wide role structure.
Users in a limited RBAC system are also able to access non-RBAC-based applications or data. For example, a user may be assigned to multiple roles within several applications and, in addition, have direct access to another application or system independent of his or her assigned role. The key attribute of limited
RBAC is that the role for that user is defined within an application and not necessarily based on the users organizational job function.
3. Hybrid RBAC: Hybrid RBAC introduces the use of a role that is applied to multiple applications or systems based on a users specific role within the organization. That role is then applied to applications or systems that subscribe to the organization’s role-based model. However, as the term “hybrid” suggests, there are instances where the subject may also be assigned to roles defined solely within specific applications, complimenting (or, perhaps, contradicting) the larger, more encompassing organizational role used by other systems.
4. Full RBAC: Full RBAC systems are controlled by roles defined by the organizations policy and access control infrastructure and then applied to applications and systems across the enterprise. The applications, systems, and associated data apply permissions based on that enterprise definition, and not one defined by a specific application or system.
Be careful not to try to make MAC and DAC opposites of each other — they are two different access control strategies with RBAC being a third strategy that was defined later to address some of the limitations of MAC and DAC.
The other answers are not correct because:
Mandatory access control is incorrect because though it is by definition not discretionary, it is not called “non-discretionary access control.” MAC makes use of label to indicate the sensitivity of the object and it also makes use of categories to implement the need to know.
Label-based access control is incorrect because this is not a name for a type of access control but simply a bogus detractor.
Lattice based access control is not adequate either. A lattice is a series of levels and a subject will be granted an upper and lower bound within the series of levels. These levels could be sensitivity levels or they could be confidentiality levels or they could be integrity levels.
Reference(s) used for this question:
All in One, third edition, page 165.
Ferraiolo, D., Kuhn, D. & Chandramouli, R. (2003). Role-Based Access Control, p. 18.
Ferraiolo, D., Kuhn, D. (1992). Role-Based Access Controls. http://csrc.nist.gov/rbac/Role_Based_Access_Control-1992.html
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Access Control ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 1557-1584). Auerbach
Publications. Kindle Edition.
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Access Control ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 1474-1477). Auerbach
Publications. Kindle Edition.

Suggested Answer: A

Community Answer: A

TACACS+ is a proprietary Cisco enhancement to TACACS and is more robust than RADIUS. PAP is not a remote access authentication system but a remote node security protocol.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 3:
Telecommunications and Network Security (page 122).

Suggested Answer: C

Kerberos depends on secret keys (symmetric ciphers). Kerberos is a third party authentication protocol. It was designed and developed in the mid 1980’s by MIT.
It is considered open source but is copyrighted and owned by MIT. It relies on the user’s secret keys. The password is used to encrypt and decrypt the keys.
The following answers are incorrect:
It utilizes public key cryptography. Is incorrect because Kerberos depends on secret keys (symmetric ciphers).
It encrypts data after a ticket is granted, but passwords are exchanged in plain text. Is incorrect because the passwords are not exchanged but used for encryption and decryption of the keys.
It is a second party authentication system. Is incorrect because Kerberos is a third party authentication system, you authenticate to the third party (Kerberos) and not the system you are accessing.
References:
MIT http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/

Wikipedi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerberos_%28protocol%29

OIG CBK Access Control (pages 181 – 184)
AIOv3 Access Control (pages 151 – 155)

Suggested Answer: B

In multilevel mode, two or more classification levels of data exist, some people are not cleared for all the data on the system.
Risk is higher because sensitive data could be made available to someone not validated as being capable of maintaining secrecy of that data (i.e., not cleared for it).
In other security modes, all users have the necessary clearance for all data on the system.
Source: LaROSA, Jeanette (domain leader), Application and System Development Security CISSP Open Study Guide, version 3.0, January 2002.

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: D

DSS emphasizes flexibility in the decision-making approach of users. It is aimed at solving less structured problems, combines the use of models and analytic techniques with traditional data access and retrieval functions and supports semi-structured decision-making tasks.
DSS is sometimes referred to as the Delphi Method or Delphi Technique:
The Delphi technique is a group decision method used to ensure that each member gives an honest opinion of what he or she thinks the result of a particular threat will be. This avoids a group of individuals feeling pressured to go along with others thought processes and enables them to participate in an independent and anonymous way. Each member of the group provides his or her opinion of a certain threat and turns it in to the team that is performing the analysis. The results are compiled and distributed to the group members, who then write down their comments anonymously and return them to the analysis group. The comments are compiled and redistributed for more comments until a consensus is formed. This method is used to obtain an agreement on cost, loss values, and probabilities of occurrence without individuals having to agree verbally.
Here is the ISC2 book coverage of the subject:
One of the methods that uses consensus relative to valuation of information is the consensus/modified Delphi method. Participants in the valuation exercise are asked to comment anonymously on the task being discussed. This information is collected and disseminated to a participant other than the original author. This participant comments upon the observations of the original author. The information gathered is discussed in a public forum and the best course is agreed upon by the group (consensus).
EXAM TIP:
The DSS is what some of the books are referring to as the Delphi Method or Delphi Technique. Be familiar with both terms for the purpose of the exam.
The other answers are incorrect:
‘DSS is aimed at solving highly structured problems’ is incorrect because it is aimed at solving less structured problems.
‘DSS supports only structured decision-making tasks’ is also incorrect as it supports semi-structured decision-making tasks.
‘DSS combines the use of models with non-traditional data access and retrieval functions’ is also incorrect as it combines the use of models and analytic techniques with traditional data access and retrieval functions.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 91). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. and
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Information Security Governance and Risk Management ((ISC)2 Press)
(Kindle Locations 1424-1426). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: D

In computer science, hierarchical protection domains, often called protection rings, are mechanisms to protect data and functionality from faults (fault tolerance) and malicious behaviour (computer security). This approach is diametrically opposite to that of capability-based security.
Computer operating systems provide different levels of access to resources. A protection ring is one of two or more hierarchical levels or layers of privilege within the architecture of a computer system. This is generally hardware-enforced by some CPU architectures that provide different CPU modes at the hardware or microcode level.
Rings are arranged in a hierarchy from most privileged (most trusted, usually numbered zero) to least privileged (least trusted, usually with the highest ring number). On most operating systems, Ring 0 is the level with the most privileges and interacts most directly with the physical hardware such as the CPU and memory.
Special gates between rings are provided to allow an outer ring to access an inner ring’s resources in a predefined manner, as opposed to allowing arbitrary usage. Correctly gating access between rings can improve security by preventing programs from one ring or privilege level from misusing resources intended for programs in another. For example, spyware running as a user program in Ring 3 should be prevented from turning on a web camera without informing the user, since hardware access should be a Ring 1 function reserved for device drivers. Programs such as web browsers running in higher numbered rings must request access to the network, a resource restricted to a lower numbered ring.
“They provide strict boundaries and definitions on what the processes that work within each ring can access” is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.
“Programs operating in inner rings are usually referred to as existing in a privileged mode” is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.
“They support the CIA triad requirements of multitasking operating systems” is incorrect. This is in fact one of the characteristics of a ring protection system.
Reference(s) used for this question:
CBK, pp. 310-311 –
AIO3, pp. 253-256 –
AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 308 – 310)
AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 309 – 312)

Suggested Answer: The Answer: The use of discriminating judgment, a guard can make the determinations that hardware or other automated security devices cannot make due to its

Community Answer: A

ability to adjust to rapidly changing conditions, to learn and alter recognizable patterns, and to respond to various conditions in the environment. Guards are better at making value decisions at times of incidents. They are appropriate whenever immediate, discriminating judgment is required by the security entity.
The following answers are incorrect:
The use of physical force This is not the best answer. A guard provides discriminating judgment, and the ability to discern the need for physical force.
The operation of access control devices A guard is often uninvolved in the operations of an automated access control device such as a biometric reader, a smart lock, mantrap, etc.
The need to detect unauthorized access The primary function of a guard is not to detect unauthorized access, but to prevent unauthorized physical access attempts and may deter social engineering attempts.
The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter
10: Physical security (page 339).
Source: ISC2 Offical Guide to the CBK page 288-289.

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: B

Identification is the act of a user professing an identity to a system, usually in the form of a log-on ID to the system.
Identification is nothing more than claiming you are somebody. You identify yourself when you speak to someone on the phone that you dont know, and they ask you who they’re speaking to. When you say, “I’m Jason.”, you’ve just identified yourself.
In the information security world, this is analogous to entering a username. Its not analogous to entering a password. Entering a password is a method for verifying that you are who you identified yourself as.
NOTE: The word “professing” used above means: “to say that you are, do, or feel something when other people doubt what you say”. This is exactly what happen when you provide your identifier (identification), you claim to be someone but the system cannot take your word for it, you must further Authenticate to the system to prove who you claim to be.
The following are incorrect answers:
Authentication: is how one proves that they are who they say they are. When you claim to be Jane Smith by logging into a computer system as “jsmith”, it’s most likely going to ask you for a password. Youve claimed to be that person by entering the name into the username field (thats the identification part), but now you have to prove that you are really that person.
Many systems use a password for this, which is based on “something you know”, i.e. a secret between you and the system.
Another form of authentication is presenting something you have, such as a drivers license, an RSA token, or a smart card.
You can also authenticate via something you are. This is the foundation for biometrics. When you do this, you first identify yourself and then submit a thumb print, a retina scan, or another form of bio-based authentication.
Once youve successfully authenticated, you have now done two things: youve claimed to be someone, and youve proven that you are that person. The only thing thats left is for the system to determine what youre allowed to do.
Authorization: is what takes place after a person has been both identified and authenticated; its the step determines what a person can then do on the system.
An example in people terms would be someone knocking on your door at night. You say, “Who is it?”, and wait for a response. They say, “It’s John.” in order to identify themselves. You ask them to back up into the light so you can see them through the peephole. They do so, and you authenticate them based on what they look like (biometric). At that point you decide they can come inside the house.
If they had said they were someone you didnt want in your house (identification), and you then verified that it was that person (authentication), the authorization phase would not include access to the inside of the house.
Confidentiality: Is one part of the CIA triad. It prevents sensitive information from reaching the wrong people, while making sure that the right people can in fact get it. A good example is a credit card number while shopping online, the merchant needs it to clear the transaction but you do not want your informaiton exposed over the network, you would use a secure link such as SSL, TLS, or some tunneling tool to protect the information from prying eyes between point A and point B.
Data encryption is a common method of ensuring confidentiality.
The other parts of the CIA triad are listed below:
Integrity involves maintaining the consistency, accuracy, and trustworthiness of data over its entire life cycle. Data must not be changed in transit, and steps must be taken to ensure that data cannot be altered by unauthorized people (for example, in a breach of confidentiality). In addition, some means must be in place to detect any changes in data that might occur as a result of non-human-caused events such as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or server crash. If an unexpected change occurs, a backup copy must be available to restore the affected data to its correct state.
Availability is best ensured by rigorously maintaining all hardware, performing hardware repairs immediately when needed, providing a certain measure of redundancy and failover, providing adequate communications bandwidth and preventing the occurrence of bottlenecks, implementing emergency backup power systems, keeping current with all necessary system upgrades, and guarding against malicious actions such as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Reference used for this question:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Confidentiality-integrity-and-availability-CIA http://www.danielmiessler.com/blog/security-identification-authentication-and-authorization http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/profess
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 36.

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: B

Only data to and from critical systems and applications should be allowed through the firewall is a detractor. Critical systems or applications do not necessarily need to have traffic go through a firewall. Even if they did, only the minimum required services should be allowed. Systems that are not deemed critical may also need to have traffic go through the firewall.
Least privilege is a basic tenet of computer security that means users should be given only those rights required to do their jobs or tasks. Least privilege is ensuring that you have the minimum privileges necessary to do a task. An admin NOT using his admin account to check email is a clear example of this.
Reference(s) used for this question:
National Security Agency, Systems and Network Attack Center (SNAC), The 60 Minute Network Security Guide, February 2002, page 9.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: A

A central authority determines what subjects can have access to certain objects based on the organizational security policy.
The key focal point of this question is the ‘central authority’ that determines access rights.
Cecilia one of the quiz user has sent me feedback informing me that NIST defines MAC as: “MAC Policy means that Access Control Policy Decisions are made by a CENTRAL AUTHORITY. Which seems to indicate there could be two good answers to this question.
However if you read the NISTR document mentioned in the references below, it is also mentioned that: MAC is the most mentioned NDAC policy. So MAC is a form of NDAC policy.
Within the same document it is also mentioned: “In general, all access control policies other than DAC are grouped in the category of non- discretionary access control (NDAC). As the name implies, policies in this category have rules that are not established at the discretion of the user. Non-discretionary policies establish controls that cannot be changed by users, but only through administrative action.”
Under NDAC you have two choices:
Rule Based Access control and Role Base Access Control
MAC is implemented using RULES which makes it fall under RBAC which is a form of NDAC. It is a subset of NDAC.
This question is representative of what you can expect on the real exam where you have more than once choice that seems to be right. However, you have to look closely if one of the choices would be higher level or if one of the choice falls under one of the other choice. In this case NDAC is a better choice because
MAC is falling under NDAC through the use of Rule Based Access Control.
The following are incorrect answers:
MANDATORY ACCESS CONTROL –
In Mandatory Access Control the labels of the object and the clearance of the subject determines access rights, not a central authority. Although a central authority (Better known as the Data Owner) assigns the label to the object, the system does the determination of access rights automatically by comparing the
Object label with the Subject clearance. The subject clearance MUST dominate (be equal or higher) than the object being accessed.
The need for a MAC mechanism arises when the security policy of a system dictates that:
1. Protection decisions must not be decided by the object owner.
2. The system must enforce the protection decisions (i.e., the system enforces the security policy over the wishes or intentions of the object owner).
Usually a labeling mechanism and a set of interfaces are used to determine access based on the MAC policy; for example, a user who is running a process at the
Secret classification should not be allowed to read a file with a label of Top Secret. This is known as the “simple security rule,” or “no read up.”
Conversely, a user who is running a process with a label of Secret should not be allowed to write to a file with a label of Confidential. This rule is called the “*- property” (pronounced “star property”) or “no write down.” The *-property is required to maintain system security in an automated environment.
DISCRETIONARY ACCESS CONTROL –
In Discretionary Access Control the rights are determined by many different entities, each of the persons who have created files and they are the owner of that file, not one central authority.
DAC leaves a certain amount of access control to the discretion of the object’s owner or anyone else who is authorized to control the object’s access. For example, it is generally used to limit a user’s access to a file; it is the owner of the file who controls other users’ accesses to the file. Only those users specified by the owner may have some combination of read, write, execute, and other permissions to the file.
DAC policy tends to be very flexible and is widely used in the commercial and government sectors. However, DAC is known to be inherently weak for two reasons:
First, granting read access is transitive; for example, when Ann grants Bob read access to a file, nothing stops Bob from copying the contents of Anns file to an object that Bob controls. Bob may now grant any other user access to the copy of Anns file without Anns knowledge.
Second, DAC policy is vulnerable to Trojan horse attacks. Because programs inherit the identity of the invoking user, Bob may, for example, write a program for
Ann that, on the surface, performs some useful function, while at the same time destroys the contents of Anns files. When investigating the problem, the audit files would indicate that Ann destroyed her own files. Thus, formally, the drawbacks of DAC are as follows:
Discretionary Access Control (DAC) Information can be copied from one object to another; therefore, there is no real assurance on the flow of information in a system.
No restrictions apply to the usage of information when the user has received it.
The privileges for accessing objects are decided by the owner of the object, rather than through a system-wide policy that reflects the organizations security requirements.
ACLs and owner/group/other access control mechanisms are by far the most common mechanism for implementing DAC policies. Other mechanisms, even though not designed with DAC in mind, may have the capabilities to implement a DAC policy.
RULE BASED ACCESS CONTROL –
In Rule-based Access Control a central authority could in fact determine what subjects can have access when assigning the rules for access. However, the rules actually determine the access and so this is not the most correct answer.
RuBAC (as opposed to RBAC, role-based access control) allow users to access systems and information based on pre determined and configured rules. It is important to note that there is no commonly understood definition or formally defined standard for rule-based access control as there is for DAC, MAC, and RBAC.
“Rule-based access” is a generic term applied to systems that allow some form of organization-defined rules, and therefore rule-based access control encompasses a broad range of systems. RuBAC may in fact be combined with other models, particularly RBAC or DAC. A RuBAC system intercepts every access request and compares the rules with the rights of the user to make an access decision. Most of the rule-based access control relies on a security label system, which dynamically composes a set of rules defined by a security policy. Security labels are attached to all objects, including files, directories, and devices.
Sometime roles to subjects (based on their attributes) are assigned as well. RuBAC meets the business needs as well as the technical needs of controlling service access. It allows business rules to be applied to access controlfor example, customers who have overdue balances may be denied service access. As a mechanism for MAC, rules of RuBAC cannot be changed by users. The rules can be established by any attributes of a system related to the users such as domain, host, protocol, network, or IP addresses. For example, suppose that a user wants to access an object in another network on the other side of a router.
The router employs RuBAC with the rule composed by the network addresses, domain, and protocol to decide whether or not the user can be granted access. If employees change their roles within the organization, their existing authentication credentials remain in effect and do not need to be re configured. Using rules in conjunction with roles adds greater flexibility because rules can be applied to people as well as to devices. Rule-based access control can be combined with role- based access control, such that the role of a user is one of the attributes in rule setting. Some provisions of access control systems have rule- based policy engines in addition to a role-based policy engine and certain implemented dynamic policies [Des03]. For example, suppose that two of the primary types of software users are product engineers and quality engineers. Both groups usually have access to the same data, but they have different roles to perform in relation to the data and the application’s function. In addition, individuals within each group have different job responsibilities that may be identified using several types of attributes such as developing programs and testing areas. Thus, the access decisions can be made in real time by a scripted policy that regulates the access between the groups of product engineers and quality engineers, and each individual within these groups. Rules can either replace or complement role-based access control. However, the creation of rules and security policies is also a complex process, so each organization will need to strike the appropriate balance.
References used for this question:
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/7316/NISTIR-7316.pdf and
AIO v3 p162-167 and OIG (2007) p.186-191
also
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 33.

Suggested Answer: A

Community Answer: D

There is no need to prevent modification from authorized users. They are authorized and allowed to make the changes. On top of this, it is also NOT one of the goal of Integrity within Clark-Wilson.
As it turns out, the Biba model addresses only the first of the three integrity goals which is Prevention of the modification of information by unauthorized users.
Clark-Wilson addresses all three goals of integrity.
The ClarkWilson model improves on Biba by focusing on integrity at the transaction level and addressing three major goals of integrity in a commercial environment. In addition to preventing changes by unauthorized subjects, Clark and Wilson realized that high-integrity systems would also have to prevent undesirable changes by authorized subjects and to ensure that the system continued to behave consistently. It also recognized that it would need to ensure that there is constant mediation between every subject and every object if such integrity was going to be maintained.
Integrity is addressed through the following three goals:
1. Prevention of the modification of information by unauthorized users.
2. Prevention of the unauthorized or unintentional modification of information by authorized users.
3. Preservation of the internal and external consistency.
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 17689-17694). Auerbach
Publications. Kindle Edition.
and
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 31.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: B

A bottom-up approach to testing begins testing of atomic units, such as programs or modules, and works upwards until a complete system testing has taken place.
It allows errors in critical modules to be found early. A top-down approach allows for early detection of interface errors and raises confidence in the system, as programmers and users actually see a working system. White box testing is predicated on a close examination of procedural detail. Black box testing examines some aspect of the system with little regard for the internal logical structure of the software.
Source: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, Chapter 6: Business Application System
Development, Acquisition, Implementation and Maintenance (page 300).
Top Down Testing: An approach to integration testing where the component at the top of the component hierarchy is tested first, with lower level components being simulated by stubs. Tested components are then used to test lower level components. The process is repeated until the lowest level components have been tested.
Bottom Up Testing: An approach to integration testing where the lowest level components are tested first, then used to facilitate the testing of higher level components. The process is repeated until the component at the top of the hierarchy is tested.
Black Box Testing: Testing based on an analysis of the specification of a piece of software without reference to its internal workings. The goal is to test how well the component conforms to the published requirements for the component.

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: B

Detective security controls are like a burglar alarm. They detect and report an unauthorized or undesired event (or an attempted undesired event). Detective security controls are invoked after the undesirable event has occurred. Example detective security controls are log monitoring and review, system audit, file integrity checkers, and motion detection.
Visual surveillance or recording devices such as closed circuit television are used in conjunction with guards in order to enhance their surveillance ability and to record events for future analysis or prosecution.
When events are monitored, it is considered preventative whereas recording of events is considered detective in nature.
Below you have explanations of other types of security controls from a nice guide produce by James Purcell (see reference below):
Preventive security controls are put into place to prevent intentional or unintentional disclosure, alteration, or destruction (D.A.D.) of sensitive information. Some example preventive controls follow:
Policy Unauthorized network connections are prohibited.
Firewall Blocks unauthorized network connections.
Locked wiring closet Prevents unauthorized equipment from being physically plugged into a network switch.
Notice in the preceding examples that preventive controls crossed administrative, technical, and physical categories discussed previously. The same is true for any of the controls discussed in this section.
Corrective security controls are used to respond to and fix a security incident. Corrective security controls also limit or reduce further damage from an attack.
Examples follow:
Procedure to clean a virus from an infected system
A guard checking and locking a door left unlocked by a careless employee
Updating firewall rules to block an attacking IP address
Note that in many cases the corrective security control is triggered by a detective security control.
Recovery security controls are those controls that put a system back into production after an incident. Most Disaster Recovery activities fall into this category. For example, after a disk failure, data is restored from a backup tape.
Directive security controls are the equivalent of administrative controls. Directive controls direct that some action be taken to protect sensitive organizational information. The directive can be in the form of a policy, procedure, or guideline.
Deterrent security controls are controls that discourage security violations. For instance, “Unauthorized Access Prohibited” signage may deter a trespasser from entering an area. The presence of security cameras might deter an employee from stealing equipment. A policy that states access to servers is monitored could deter unauthorized access.
Compensating security controls are controls that provide an alternative to normal controls that cannot be used for some reason. For instance, a certain server cannot have antivirus software installed because it interferes with a critical application. A compensating control would be to increase monitoring of that server or isolate that server on its own network segment.
Note that there is a third popular taxonomy developed by NIST and described in NIST Special Publication 800-53, “Recommended Security Controls for Federal
Information Systems.” NIST categorizes security controls into 3 classes and then further categorizes the controls within the classes into 17 families. Within each security control family are dozens of specific controls. The NIST taxonomy is not covered on the CISSP exam but is one the CISSP should be aware of if you are employed within the US federal workforce.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter
10: Physical security (page 340).
and
CISSP Study Guide By Eric Conrad, Seth Misenar, Joshua Feldman, page 50-52 and
Security Control Types and Operational Security, James E. Purcell, http://www.giac.org/cissp-papers/207.pdf

Suggested Answer: A

Community Answer: A

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 49.

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: B

The Internet Security Glossary (RFC2828) defines an attribute certificate as a digital certificate that binds a set of descriptive data items, other than a public key, either directly to a subject name or to the identifier of another certificate that is a public-key certificate. A public-key certificate binds a subject name to a public key value, along with information needed to perform certain cryptographic functions. Other attributes of a subject, such as a security clearance, may be certified in a separate kind of digital certificate, called an attribute certificate. A subject may have multiple attribute certificates associated with its name or with each of its public-key certificates.
Source: SHIREY, Robert W., RFC2828: Internet Security Glossary, may 2000.

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: D

An early standard for encrypting HTTP documents, Secure HTTP (S-HTTP) is designed to send individual messages securely. SSL is designed to establish a secure connection between two computers. SET was originated by VISA and MasterCard as an Internet credit card protocol using digital signatures. Kerberos is an authentication system.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 89.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: C

The Data/Information Owner is ultimately responsible for the protection of the data. It is the Data/Information Owner that decides upon the classifications of that data they are responsible for.
The data owner decides upon the classification of the data he is responsible for and alters that classification if the business need arises.
The following answers are incorrect:
Security Administrator. Is incorrect because this individual is responsible for ensuring that the access right granted are correct and support the polices and directives that the Data/Information Owner defines.
User. Is Incorrect because the user uses/access the data according to how the Data/Information Owner defined their access.
Auditor. Is incorrect because the Auditor is responsible for ensuring that the access levels are appropriate. The Auditor would verify that the Owner classified the data properly.
References:
CISSP All In One Third Edition, Shon Harris, Page 121

Suggested Answer: A

Community Answer: D

Echo replies outbound should be dropped, not allowed. There is no reason for any internet users to send ICMP ECHO Request to your interal hosts from the internet. If they wish to find out if a service is available, they can use a browser to connect to your web server or simply send an email if they wish to test your mail service.
Echo replies outbound could be used as part of the SMURF amplification attack where someone will send ICMP echo requests to gateways broadcast addresses in order to amplify the request by X number of users sitting behind the gateway.
By allowing inbound echo requests and outbound echo replies, it makes it easier for attackers to learn about the internal network as well by performing a simply ping sweep. ICMP can also be used to find out which host has been up and running the longest which would indicates which patches are missing on the host if a critical patch required a reboot.
ICMP can also be use for DDoS attacks, so you should strictly limit what type of ICMP traffic would be allowed to flow through your firewall.
On top of all this, tools such as LOKI could be use as a client-server application to transfer files back and forward between the internat and some of your internal hosts. LOKI is a client/server program published in the online publication Phrack . This program is a working proof-of-concept to demonstrate that data can be transmitted somewhat secretly across a network by hiding it in traffic that normally does not contain payloads. The example code can tunnel the equivalent of a
Unix RCMD/RSH session in either ICMP echo request (ping) packets or UDP traffic to the DNS port. This is used as a back door into a Unix system after root access has been compromised. Presence of LOKI on a system is evidence that the system has been compromised in the past.
The outbound echo request and inbound echo reply allow internal users to verify connectivity with external hosts.
The following answers are incorrect:
Allow echo request outbound The outbound echo request and inbound echo reply allow internal users to verify connectivity with external hosts.
Drop echo request inbound There is no need for anyone on the internet to attempt pinging your internal hosts.
Allow echo reply inbound The outbound echo request and inbound echo reply allow internal users to verify connectivity with external hosts.
Reference(s) used for this question:
http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=49&id=6
STREBE, Matthew and PERKINS, Charles, Firewalls 24seven, Sybex 2000, Chapter 10: The Perfect Firewall.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: C

Detective administrative controls warn of administrative control violations. Rotation of duties, required vacations and security reviews and audits are forms of detective administrative controls. Separation of duties is the practice of dividing the steps in a system function among different individuals, so as to keep a single individual from subverting the process, thus a preventive control rather than a detective control.
Source: DUPUIS, Cl?ment, Access Control Systems and Methodology CISSP Open Study Guide, version 1.0 (march 2002).

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: C

Kerberos is a trusted, credential-based, third-party authentication protocol that uses symmetric (secret) key cryptography to provide robust authentication to clients accessing services on a network.
One weakness of Kerberos is its Key Distribution Center (KDC), which represents a single point of failure.
The KDC contains a database that holds a copy of all of the symmetric/secret keys for the principals.
Reference(s) used for this question:
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2: Access control systems (page40).

Suggested Answer: A

Community Answer: A

The ss (simple security) property of the Bell-LaPadula access control model states that reading of information by a subject at a lower sensitivity level from an object at a higher sensitivity level is not permitted (no read up).
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 5:
Security Architectures and Models (page 202).

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: D

The other answers are not correct because:
You are always looking for the “best” answer. While each of the answers listed here could be considered correct in that each of them require input from the security staff, the best answer is for that input to happen at all phases of the project.
Reference:
Official ISC2 Guide page: 556 –
All in One Third Edition page: 832 – 833

Suggested Answer: D

Community Answer: C

Secondary evidence is a copy of evidence or oral description of its contents; not as reliable as best evidence
Here are other types of evidence:
Best evidence original or primary evidence rather than a copy of duplicate of the evidence
Direct evidence proves or disproves a specific act through oral testimony based on information gathered through the witnesss five senses
Conclusive evidence incontrovertible; overrides all other evidence
Opinions two types: Expert may offer an opinion based on personal expertise and facts, Non-expert may testify only as to facts
Circumstantial evidence inference of information from other, immediate, relevant facts
Corroborative evidence supporting evidence used to help prove an idea or point; used as a supplementary tool to help prove a primary piece of evidence
Hearsay evidence (3rdparty) oral or written evidence that is presented in court that is second hand and has no firsthand proof of accuracy or reliability
(i) Usually not admissible in court
(ii) Computer generated records and other business records are in hearsay category
(iii) Certain exceptions to hearsay rule:
(1) Made during the regular conduct of business and authenticated by witnesses familiar with their use
(2) Relied upon in the regular course of business
(3) Made by a person with knowledge of records
(4) Made by a person with information transmitted by a person with knowledge
(5) Made at or near the time of occurrence of the act being investigated
(6) In the custody of the witness on a regular basis
Reference:
KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 310. and
CISSP for Dummies, Peter Gregory, page 270-271

Suggested Answer: A

PIN Stands for Personal Identification Number, as the name states it is a combination of numbers.
The following answers are incorrect:
User ID This is incorrect because a Userid is not required to be a number and a Userid is only used to establish identity not verify it.
Password. This is incorrect because a password is not required to be a number, it could be any combination of characters.
Challenge. This is incorrect because a challenge is not defined as a number, it could be anything.

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: B

Access control mechanisms should default to no access to provide the necessary level of security and ensure that no security holes go unnoticed. If access is not explicitly allowed, it should be implicitly denied.
Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, Chapter 4: Access Control (page 143).

Suggested Answer: The Answer: security awareness training is to modify employees behaviour and attitude towards towards enterprise’s security posture.

Community Answer: A

Security-awareness training is performed to modify employees behavior and attitude toward security. This can best be achieved through a formalized process of security-awareness training.
It is used to increase the overall awareness of security throughout the company. It is targeted to every single employee and not only to one group of users.
Unfortunately you cannot apply a patch to a human being, the only thing you can do is to educate employees and make them more aware of security issues and threats. Never underestimate human stupidity.
Reference(s) used for this question:
TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation. also see:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-18). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (p. 130). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: A

The percentage of valid subjects that are falsely rejected is called the False Rejection Rate (FRR) or Type I Error.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 38.

Suggested Answer: The Answer: A communication channel that allows transfer of information in a manner that violates the system’s security policy.

Community Answer: C

A covert channel is a way for an entity to receive information in an unauthorized manner. It is an information flow that is not controlled by a security mechanism.
This type of information path was not developed for communication; thus, the system does not properly protect this path, because the developers never envisioned information being passed in this way.
Receiving information in this manner clearly violates the systems security policy. The channel to transfer this unauthorized data is the result of one of the following conditions: Oversight in the development of the product
Improper implementation of access controls
Existence of a shared resource between the two entities
Installation of a Trojan horse
The following answers are incorrect:
An undocumented backdoor that has been left by a programmer in an operating system is incorrect because it is not a means by which unauthorized transfer of information takes place. Such backdoor is usually referred to as a Maintenance Hook.
An open system port that should be closed is incorrect as it does not define a covert channel.
A trojan horse is incorrect because it is a program that looks like a useful program but when you install it it would include a bonus such as a Worm, Backdoor, or some other malware without the installer knowing about it.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Shon Harris AIO v3 , Chapter-5 : Security Models & Architecture
AIOv4 Security Architecture and Design (pages 343 – 344)
AIOv5 Security Architecture and Design (pages 345 – 346)

Suggested Answer: B

Community Answer: A

Call-back allows for a distant user connecting into a system to be called back at a number already listed in a database of trusted users. The disadvantage of this system is that the user must be at a fixed location whose phone number is known to the authentication server. Being mobile workers, users are accessing the system from multiple locations, making call-back inappropriate for them.
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 2:
Access control systems (page 44).

Suggested Answer: Explanation

Community Answer: C

Rule-based access control is a type of non-discretionary access control because this access is determined by rules and the subject does not decide what those rules will be, the rules are uniformly applied to ALL of the users or subjects.
In general, all access control policies other than DAC are grouped in the category of non-discretionary access control (NDAC). As the name implies, policies in this category have rules that are not established at the discretion of the user. Non-discretionary policies establish controls that cannot be changed by users, but only through administrative action.
Both Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and Rule Based Access Control (RuBAC) fall within Non Discretionary Access Control (NDAC). If it is not DAC or MAC then it is most likely NDAC.
IT IS NOT ALWAYS BLACK OR WHITE –
The different access control models are not totally exclusive of each others. MAC is making use of Rules to be implemented. However with MAC you have requirements above and beyond having simple access rules. The subject would get formal approval from management, the subject must have the proper security clearance, objects must have labels/sensitivity levels attached to them, subjects must have the proper security clearance. If all of this is in place then you have
MAC.
BELOW YOU HAVE A DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES:
MAC = Mandatory Access Control –
Under a mandatory access control environment, the system or security administrator will define what permissions subjects have on objects. The administrator does not dictate users access but simply configure the proper level of access as dictated by the Data Owner.
The MAC system will look at the Security Clearance of the subject and compare it with the object sensitivity level or classification level. This is what is called the dominance relationship.
The subject must DOMINATE the object sensitivity level. Which means that the subject must have a security clearance equal or higher than the object he is attempting to access.
MAC also introduce the concept of labels. Every objects will have a label attached to them indicating the classification of the object as well as categories that are used to impose the need to know (NTK) principle. Even thou a user has a security clearance of Secret it does not mean he would be able to access any Secret documents within the system. He would be allowed to access only Secret document for which he has a Need To Know, formal approval, and object where the user belong to one of the categories attached to the object.
If there is no clearance and no labels then IT IS NOT Mandatory Access Control.
Many of the other models can mimic MAC but none of them have labels and a dominance relationship so they are NOT in the MAC category.
NISTR-7316 Says:
Usually a labeling mechanism and a set of interfaces are used to determine access based on the MAC policy; for example, a user who is running a process at the
Secret classification should not be allowed to read a file with a label of Top Secret. This is known as the “simple security rule,” or “no read up.” Conversely, a user who is running a process with a label of Secret should not be allowed to write to a file with a label of Confidential. This rule is called the “*-property” (pronounced
“star property”) or “no write down.” The *-property is required to maintain system security in an automated environment. A variation on this rule called the “strict *- property” requires that information can be written at, but not above, the subject’s clearance level. Multilevel security models such as the Bell-La Padula
Confidentiality and Biba Integrity models are used to formally specify this kind of MAC policy.
DAC = Discretionary Access Control
DAC is also known as: Identity Based access control system.
The owner of an object is define as the person who created the object. As such the owner has the discretion to grant access to other users on the network.
Access will be granted based solely on the identity of those users.
Such system is good for low level of security. One of the major problem is the fact that a user who has access to someone’s else file can further share the file with other users without the knowledge or permission of the owner of the file. Very quickly this could become the wild wild west as there is no control on the dissimination of the information.
RBAC = Role Based Access Control
RBAC is a form of Non-Discretionary access control.
Role Based access control usually maps directly with the different types of jobs performed by employees within a company.
For example there might be 5 security administrator within your company. Instead of creating each of their profile one by one, you would simply create a role and assign the administrators to the role. Once an administrator has been assigned to a role, he will IMPLICITLY inherit the permissions of that role.
RBAC is great tool for environment where there is a a large rotation of employees on a daily basis such as a very large help desk for example.
RBAC or RuBAC = Rule Based Access Control
RuBAC is a form of Non-Discretionary access control.
A good example of a Rule Based access control device would be a Firewall. A single set of rules is imposed to all users attempting to connect through the firewall.
NOTE FROM CLEMENT:
Lot of people tend to confuse MAC and Rule Based Access Control.
Mandatory Access Control must make use of LABELS. If there is only rules and no label, it cannot be Mandatory Access Control. This is why they call it Non
Discretionary Access control (NDAC).
There are even books out there that are WRONG on this subject. Books are sometimes opiniated and not strictly based on facts.
In MAC subjects must have clearance to access sensitive objects. Objects have labels that contain the classification to indicate the sensitivity of the object and the label also has categories to enforce the need to know.
Today the best example of rule based access control would be a firewall. All rules are imposed globally to any user attempting to connect through the device.
This is NOT the case with MAC.
I strongly recommend you read carefully the following document:
NISTIR-7316 at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/7316/NISTIR-7316.pdf
It is one of the best Access Control Study document to prepare for the exam. Usually I tell people not to worry about the hundreds of NIST documents and other reference. This document is an exception. Take some time to read it.
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 33. and
NISTIR-7316 at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/7316/NISTIR-7316.pdf and
Conrad, Eric; Misenar, Seth; Feldman, Joshua (2012-09-01). CISSP Study Guide (Kindle Locations 651-652). Elsevier Science (reference). Kindle Edition.

Suggested Answer: C

Community Answer: D

Source: TIPTON, Hal, (ISC)2, Introduction to the CISSP Exam presentation.

Suggested Answer: A

The correct answer is “clipping level”. This is the point at which a system decides to take some sort of action when an action repeats a preset number of times.
That action may be to log the activity, lock a user account, temporarily close a port, etc.
Example: The most classic example of a clipping level is failed login attempts. If you have a system configured to lock a user’s account after three failed login attemts, that is the “clipping level”.
The other answers are not correct because:
Acceptance level, forgiveness level, and logging level are nonsensical terms that do not exist (to my knowledge) within network security.
Reference:
Official ISC2 Guide – The term “clipping level” is not in the glossary or index of that book. I cannot find it in the text either. However, I’m quite certain that it would be considered part of the CBK, despite its exclusion from the Official Guide.
All in One Third Edition page: 136 – 137

Suggested Answer: D

Packet filtering firewalls use routers with packet filtering rules to grant or deny access based on source address, destination address, and port.
They offer minimum security but at a very low cost, and can be an appropriate choice for a low-risk environment.
Source: TIPTON, Harold F. & KRAUSE, Micki, Information Security Management Handbook, 4th edition (volume 1), 2000, CRC Press, Chapter 3, Secured
Connections to External Networks (page 60).