Question 1

Which of the following best describes the purpose of a SSID in a wireless network?

Accepted Answer

SSID broadcast beacons are released at periodic intervals out into the open. These beacons have wireless network information. A user can logon or use the network using this SSID beacon.
Key Takeaway: Although this is a feature of a wireless network, it can be a disadvantage. Any passerby can get hold of this beacon and access the wireless network. Two things to be taken care of are:
1. Protect the network with a password.
2. Set the beacon interval as high as possible to minimize the chances of unauthorized access.

Question 2

Which of the following should be done to secure a wireless network?a. Use a secure SSID.b. Use MAC ID filtering.c. Switch off the wireless router.d. Use only Windows XP operating systems.

Accepted Answer

Generic SSIDs can be easily hacked. Two ways of protecting wireless network access is by using secure SSIDs and by restricting the computers accessing the wireless network by filtering the MAC IDs.
Key Takeaway: Wireless network security is crucial. Although the above mentioned methods are not absolutely fool-proof, they provide a considerable level of security on your wireless network.

Question 3

David is experiencing problems with unauthorized access of his wireless network. He has already changed his SSID and enabled MAC ID filtering. Which of the following can significantly reduce the chances of his wireless network bring accessed?

Accepted Answer

Increasing the intervals between SSID beacons ensures that fewer beacons are sent out in a given time interval.
Key Takeaway: SSID beacons are sent out in the open by access point at periodic intervals. By increasing the time interval between the beacons, fewer beacons are sent out in a given time interval, providing better security. This setting can be enabled through the access point's control panel.

Question 4

Which of the following can significantly increase the risk of unauthorized access on a wireless network? a. Using WEP authentication.b. Using low time intervals between successive beacons.c. Using generic SSIDs.

Accepted Answer

Using WEP authentication, low time intervals between beacon frames, and generic SSIDs can significantly increase the risk of your wireless network being detected and hacked.
Key Takeaway: WEP is an older method of authentication; the latest is WPA2. Always change your access point password from the one provided by the manufacturer. Use a secure SSID access key.

Question 5

Which of the following authentication modes are most secure?

Accepted Answer

Biometrics is the most secure access method since it uses human characteristics to grant or deny access. Human attributes cannot be imitated easily.
Key Takeaway: Biometrics is the science and technology of measuring and analyzing biological data. In information technology, biometrics refers to technologies that measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns, and hand measurements for authentication purposes.

Question 6

Which of the following programs are not destructive, but leach bandwidth in networks and can turn a speedy machine into a slow one?

Accepted Answer

Grayware. Grayware refers to applications or files that are not classified as viruses or Trojan horse programs, but can still negatively affect the performance of the computers on your network and introduce significant security risks to your organization.
Key Takeaway: Grayware often performs a variety of undesired actions such as irritating users with pop-up windows, tracking user habits, and unnecessarily exposing computer vulnerabilities to attack. Although not considered as a serious threat, it should not be allowed to remain on the system.

Question 7

What is the generic term that defines a hacker going through your refuse to find critical information?

Accepted Answer

Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners, but which may be useful to the dumpster diver.
Key Takeaway: Always shred any crucial hard copy data before disposing it in the dust bins.

Question 8

Which of the following tools should be use to enable auditing on a local level?

Accepted Answer

At a local level, the security settings should be modified. These include password policy, account lockout policy, audit policy, and user rights management. To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.
Key Takeaway: It is very crucial to modify these settings to enable a high level of security.

Question 9

Choose the most effective method to prevent computer viruses from spreading throughout the network:

Accepted Answer

Always scan all e-mail attachments before opening to avoid any virus infection on the computer. Other methods are mostly an indirect way of avoiding virus infection on the computer.
Key Takeaway: Use an antivirus that can scan all e-mails coming into the network.

Question 10

Which of the following needs to be done in order to ensure that your computer is protected?

Accepted Answer

Keep updating your antivirus signatures periodically. This way the antivirus will track and filter all viruses coming into the computer.
Key Takeaway: Keeping the antivirus up to date with the latest virus signatures keeps the operating system secure.

Question 11

What is the best physical way to protect a user's system from malicious software attacks?

Accepted Answer

Never assign high privileges to non-administrators. Assign it to individuals who are concerned with the security of the setup and know about virus infections and risks.
Key Takeaway: Installing malicious software can infect the system seriously. It is mandatory to grant rights to install software to individuals with knowledge of virus infections. These individuals would typically install software after ensuring the legitimacy of the software. Hence the only way to prevent a malicious software installation is by restricting permissions for non-administrators to install software.

Question 12

Jill is trying to install an antivirus on her laptop while logged in on her guest account. In spite of repeated attempts she is not able to install the antivirus software. What could be the most likely problem?

Accepted Answer

Since she is logged in as a guest, she will not have privileges to install any application on the computer. She would either need to log in as an administrator or assign administrator privileges to her account.
Key Takeaway: There are many reasons why an antivirus fails to get installed. They include:
1. Incompatibility with the OS.
2. Another antivirus on the system.
3. User who is trying to install is logged in as a guest.

Question 13

Which of the following should Mary set up on her Wi-Fi router to make it the most secure?

Accepted Answer

WPA2 is the most secure standard available.
Key Takeaway: Of the four wireless encryption standards mentioned here, WPA2 is the most secure encryption standard. WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm and 802.1x - based authentication.

Question 14

David is the system administrator for a company. A user calls him and tells that he has forgotten his password and requests a new password. What should David do?

Accepted Answer

The password should be changed only after verifying that the person is who he/she claims to be.
Key Takeaway: Changing any authentication details without proper verification procedure may lead to data theft. Most social engineering scenarios are carried out this way, therefore, the credentials need to be changed only after a positive verification.

Question 15

An administrator in your organization has set the Account Lockout Counter to 10. What does this imply?

Accepted Answer

it implies that the account will lock out after 10 unsuccessful login attempts.
Key Takeaway: Account Lockout Counter is the number of invalid attempts it takes before lockout occurs. The default is 0 and invalid attempt numbers range from 1 to 999. Setting a value of 'n' will lock the account after 'n' unsuccessful attempts. In this case, the account locks out after 10 unsuccessful login attempts.

Question 16

Generally, one should not open any attachments sent from unknown senders through e-mail. Which of the following attachments pose a maximum security risk if opened?

Accepted Answer

SCR is an executable file type. It holds a screensaver application.
Key Takeaway: One should not open any unknown attachments in an e-mail. Hackers can send any file by renaming or changing its actual extension. For example, any executable file can be sent by a different extension. SCR is an extension for a screen saver, which is an executable file. Opening unknown executable files can pose a very high security risk. Take extra caution before you open a SCR extension file.

Question 17

David has replaced a number of faulty batteries at one of his client locations. How should he dispose of the faulty batteries?

Accepted Answer

Always refer to the manufacturer's instructions to dispose of the battery using the correct procedure.
Key Takeaway: A battery contains strong corrosive acids and harmful chemicals like lead, cadmium, mercury and nickel. Disposing of a battery in the open may cause environmental hazards like:
-Polluting the lakes and streams as the metals vaporize into the air.
-Contributing to heavy metals that potentially leach from solid waste landfills.
-Exposing the environment and water to lead and acid.
-Causing burns or danger to eyes and skin.
It is extremely important to refer to environment organization websites and manufacturer's documentation to know the proper disposal procedures.

Question 18

Which of the following is a primary difference between a laptop processor and a desktop processor?

Accepted Answer

Laptop processors have extended capabilities of reducing power consumption and heating to reduce battery consumption, where as desktop processors are not capable of doing that.
Key Takeaway: Laptop processors have extended capabilities of reducing power consumption and heating. This reduces battery consumption, and hence justifies the purpose of a laptop being portable and using DC power instead of AC power. Although size (Laptop processors are small), Capacity (Desktop processors have better capabilities) and Weight (Laptop processors are lighter) are differentiating factors, functionally it's the power consumption and heat production that distinguishes both.

Question 19

Which of the following is an IP range reserved for private networks?

Accepted Answer

The private IP address ranges are defined in three sets: 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255. Hence, the only private network range in the set above is the 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255 range.
Key Takeaway: Private IP addresses are private if they are not allocated to a specific organization. Private IP address spaces were originally defined in efforts to delay IPv4 address exhaustion. These addresses are common in home and office LANs, as globally-routable addresses are scarce and expensive to obtain.

Question 20

What is the first octet range for a Class A IP address?

Accepted Answer

Class A addresses start with the first octet ranging from 0 to 126 and have a default subnet mask of 255.0.0.0.
Key Takeaway: In Class A networks the first bit 0 and the next 7 bits are used for network identification. The remaining 24 bits are used for host identification, which means 16,777,214 hosts can be located on a single network. Class B addresses have a first octet ranging from 128 to 191 and have a default subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. Class C addresses have a first octet ranging from 192 to 223 and have a default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

Quiz 19: Essentials