CND Practice Test 5 — 10 Questions

Question 1

An incident handler receives an alert from Snort regarding a potential SQL injection attack against a web application. The alert shows a signature matching 'SELECT * FROM users WHERE'. Which type of detection methodology is Snort primarily utilizing in this scenario?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Signature-based detection. Snort is matching a specific string pattern ('SELECT * FROM users WHERE') against network traffic, which is the hallmark of signature-based detection — it compares packets against a database of known attack patterns. The rule in question is a content-match signature, not a statistical or behavioral model, so signature-based detection is the correct classification.

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Heuristic detection

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Behavioral analytics detection

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Anomaly-based detection

Question 2

A security practitioner is deploying an intrusion prevention system (IPS) rule to detect XML External Entity (XXE) injection attacks in HTTP POST requests. Which core feature of an XML parser is being abused in an XXE attack and must be disabled?

Accepted Answer

Support for Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and external entity references. XXE injection abuses the XML parser's support for Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and external entity references, allowing an attacker to define an entity that reads local files or makes outbound requests. Disabling DTD processing (e.g., setFeature('http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl', true)) prevents the attack. The core feature to disable is DTD/external entity support.

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Support for HTTP chunked transfer encoding

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Support for UTF-8 character encoding

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Support for JSON serialization and deserialization

Question 3

An enterprise is deploying a zero-trust architecture for its AWS cloud workloads. Services must communicate across VPCs without exposing traffic to the public internet or traversing VPC peerings that open full subnet access. Which feature should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

AWS PrivateLink with Interface VPC Endpoints. AWS PrivateLink with Interface VPC Endpoints enables private connectivity between VPCs and AWS services without exposing traffic to the public internet or requiring VPC peering. It provides unidirectional, service-specific access, avoiding the full subnet exposure that peering entails. This aligns with zero-trust principles by limiting access to only the required service.

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AWS Client VPN with split tunneling disabled

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AWS Direct Connect Gateway with transit VIF

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Inter-Region VPC Peering with restrictive Network Security Groups

Question 4

An organization is implementing database transparent data encryption (TDE) and needs to understand its architectural security boundaries. Which THREE security characteristics or limitations are true regarding TDE?

Accepted Answer

TDE does not protect data in memory (RAM) or prevent authorized database users/administrators with SELECT privileges from viewing decrypted data. Option D is correct because TDE's core function is at-rest encryption: it encrypts the database data files, transaction log files, and backups on storage media, protecting them if physical media or backup files are stolen. Option A is correct because TDE decrypts data as it is read into memory, so it offers no protection against in-memory attacks (RAM scraping, cold-boot) and does not stop authorized users or DBAs with SELECT privileges from viewing plaintext data through normal queries. Option C is correct because TDE only covers data at rest; data moving over the network between clients and the database server is not encrypted by TDE and requires transport encryption such as TLS/SSL. Option B is wrong because TDE is an encryption-at-rest feature and does nothing to sanitize query parameters or prevent SQL injection, which requires parameterized queries and input validation. Option E is wrong because TDE is not an access-control mechanism; authentication, authorization, and role-based permissions remain essential and are unaffected by enabling TDE.

Answer

TDE prevents SQL injection attacks by automatically sanitizing all incoming query parameters

Answer

TDE eliminates the need for database user access controls and role-based permissions

Question 5

An enterprise network uses an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) deployed in passive monitoring mode via a switch span port. The security operations center (SOC) notices that the IDS generates high volumes of alerts for internal vulnerability scanning activities, obscuring real attacks. Which network design modification should be implemented to reduce false positive alert fatigue without disabling the detection signatures?

Accepted Answer

Tune the IDS sensor signature policies to exclude the internal vulnerability scanner's source IP addresses. Tuning the IDS signature policies to exclude the internal vulnerability scanner's source IP addresses suppresses alerts generated by authorized scanning activity while keeping all detection signatures active for real threats. This directly reduces false positive fatigue without weakening the IDS's ability to detect actual attacks.

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Upgrade the IDS hardware to process higher bandwidth capacity

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Convert the IDS into an inline IPS

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Move the IDS from a switch SPAN port to an inline routing position

Question 6

An enterprise network administrator needs to enforce data loss prevention rules across corporate endpoints. They deploy McAfee Data Loss Prevention Endpoint. Which client component inspects and blocks data movement to USB mass storage devices locally on the workstation?

Accepted Answer

McAfee DLP Endpoint Client. The McAfee DLP Endpoint Client is the agent installed on each workstation that performs local inspection and enforcement, including blocking writes to USB mass storage devices. It enforces policy at the endpoint without requiring a round trip to a network appliance. This is the component that actually intercepts the file-copy operation on the host.

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McAfee DLP Prevent

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McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) Relay Server

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McAfee DLP Discover

Question 7

An Incident Response team analyzing an enterprise endpoint discovers evidence of a fileless malware attack leveraging Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Which THREE of the following WMI artifacts or logging mechanisms should the investigator examine? (Choose THREE)

Accepted Answer

Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity/Operational event log (Event ID 5858 and related operational events). Option A is correct because the Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity/Operational log records WMI operational activity, including Event ID 5858, which captures failed or suspicious WMI operations and is a primary source for detecting fileless WMI abuse. Option B is correct because PowerShell script block logging (Event ID 4104) records the actual script content, including WMI class instantiations such as [wmiclass], allowing investigators to see malicious WMI calls executed through PowerShell. Option E is correct because WMI persistence in fileless attacks is commonly implemented via permanent event subscriptions in the \root\subscription namespace, where EventFilters, EventConsumers, and FilterToConsumerBindings reveal the trigger, action, and binding used for persistence. Option C is not relevant because the MBR partition table sectors relate to disk boot structures and are not WMI artifacts or WMI logging mechanisms. Option D is not relevant because the HOSTS file is used for local name resolution and is unrelated to WMI activity or WMI-based fileless malware.

Answer

The Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table sectors

Answer

The system HOSTS file in \Windows\System32\drivers\etc\

Question 8

An enterprise database administrator is configuring Microsoft SQL Server Always On Availability Groups and needs to ensure that database traffic transmitted between replicas across the network is encrypted. Which configuration setting must be enabled?

Accepted Answer

Configure the Availability Group Endpoint with ALTER ENDPOINT hadr_endpoint FOR DATABASE_MIRRORING (ENCRYPTION = REQUIRED). Availability group endpoints must be configured with ENCRYPTION = REQUIRED or SUPPORTED using ALTER ENDPOINT to secure replication traffic across nodes.

Answer

Run sp_configure 'enforce network encryption', 1; on the master instance

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Set the database compatibility level to 150 and enable Always Encrypted with secure enclaves

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Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) on the primary replica database

Question 9

An auditor is evaluating an organization's compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 Annex A physical and environmental security controls. Which THREE security measures should the auditor expect to find implemented in the primary data center? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

Environmental monitoring sensors tracking temperature and humidity thresholds. Option B is correct because ISO/IEC 27001 Annex A (A.11.2.1/A.7.5 in the 2022 revision) requires protection against environmental threats, and temperature/humidity sensors with defined thresholds detect conditions that could damage servers and storage. Option C is correct because Annex A physical entry controls (A.11.1.2/A.7.2) require visitor records, identity verification, and escorting of unauthorized persons to prevent unauthorized physical access. Option D is correct because Annex A requires secure areas to be protected by appropriate entry controls such as biometric or card-key systems, and logging all entry/exit events provides the audit trail needed for accountability and incident investigation. Option A is not acceptable because storing unencrypted backup tapes with sensitive PII in unlocked hallways violates both physical protection of media (A.11.2.3/A.7.10) and confidentiality requirements. Option E is not acceptable because propping open emergency exits defeats physical perimeter security and violates secure-area access control requirements, even if done for cooling convenience.

Answer

Storing unencrypted paper backup tapes containing sensitive customer PII in unlocked office hallways

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Leaving data center exterior emergency exit doors propped open for convenient cooling

Question 10

A security analyst is deploying Snort IDS to inspect incoming web traffic and needs to write a rule that triggers when the HTTP URI contains the exact string 'admin_login.php' regardless of case. Which Snort rule option modifier accomplishes this?

Accepted Answer

nocase. The nocase modifier in Snort tells the detection engine to perform a case-insensitive match on the preceding content or uricontent pattern. Since the requirement is to match 'admin_login.php' regardless of case (e.g., 'Admin_Login.PHP'), appending nocase to the content/uricontent rule option is the correct approach. Without it, Snort performs a byte-exact case-sensitive comparison and would miss mixed-case variants attackers commonly use to evade signature matching.

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uricontent

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depth

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offset