What is the primary difference between a vulnerability assessment and penetration testing?
- Goals and Scope
- Reporting and Remediation
- Timing and Frequency
- Tools and Techniques
The primary difference is in their goals and scope. Vulnerability assessments aim to identify vulnerabilities broadly, while penetration testing is focused on exploiting vulnerabilities to test system security. It's a difference in approach and objectives.
A company has remote employees who often access the company's internal network from public Wi-Fi hotspots. Which technology can ensure that the data transmitted between the remote employees and the company remains confidential and secure?
- Encryption
- Firewall
- Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
- VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the most suitable solution to ensure data confidentiality and security when accessing internal resources over public networks. It encrypts the data, making it secure from eavesdroppers.
A company recently suffered a data breach. Upon investigation, it was found that they failed to encrypt customer data, which is a requirement under the regulation they adhere to. This situation could result in what kind of repercussions for the company?
- Enhanced public image
- Improved customer trust
- Legal penalties
- Reduced operational costs
The failure to encrypt customer data, especially when it's a requirement under regulation, can lead to legal penalties and fines due to non-compliance with data protection laws.
David is setting up a new computer for his company's CEO. He wants to ensure that even if the laptop is lost or stolen, the data on it cannot be accessed without proper authentication. Which of the following would be the most effective solution?
- Antivirus Software
- Biometric Authentication
- Firewall
- Full Disk Encryption
The most effective solution for ensuring that data on a lost or stolen laptop cannot be accessed without proper authentication is Full Disk Encryption. Full Disk Encryption encrypts the entire contents of the hard drive, making the data inaccessible without the correct decryption key or password.
In the context of insider threats, what term describes the unintentional actions of employees that lead to security breaches?
- Espionage
- Fraud
- Negligence
- Sabotage
Negligence in the context of insider threats refers to the unintentional actions or mistakes made by employees that can compromise security. This could include actions like clicking on a malicious link in an email, inadvertently sharing sensitive information, or misconfiguring security settings, all of which can lead to security breaches.
What is the primary difference between a security standard and a security regulation?
- Standards are legally binding, while regulations are recommendations
- Standards are long-term, while regulations are short-term
- Standards are technical, while regulations are organizational
- Standards are voluntary, while regulations are mandatory
The primary difference lies in the legal status. Security standards are usually voluntary and serve as best practices, while security regulations are legally binding and mandatory, often enforced by governments or industry bodies.
Which secure coding practice helps prevent SQL injection attacks by ensuring that user input does not run as code?
- Code Encryption
- Database Backups
- Input Validation
- Password Hashing
Input Validation is a practice that checks and sanitizes user input to prevent it from being executed as SQL code, thereby thwarting SQL injection.
One of the primary ways to mitigate insider threats is to implement strict _______ controls.
- Access
- Administrative
- Network
- Security
One of the primary ways to mitigate insider threats is to implement strict security controls. Security controls can include measures like access restrictions, monitoring, and policies designed to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
Why might an organization choose to implement a split-tunneling VPN configuration?
- To achieve better compatibility with legacy systems
- To ensure end-to-end encryption
- To improve security
- To reduce network bandwidth usage
An organization may choose split-tunneling to conserve bandwidth by not routing all traffic through the VPN. It's a trade-off between security and efficiency.
In the context of web application security, what is the primary difference between "encoding" and "escaping"?
- Encoding ensures data integrity, while escaping prevents SQL injection.
- Encoding is a method for securing APIs, while escaping is used to secure session cookies.
- Encoding protects against HTML injection, while escaping is used to secure JavaScript.
- Encoding transforms data into a different format, while escaping makes data safe for use in specific contexts.
Encoding involves changing data into a different format so that it's safe for a particular context, such as converting special characters to HTML entities. Escaping, on the other hand, ensures data is safe for use in specific situations, like preventing SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS). The main difference is in their purpose and target use cases.