CISSP Practice Test 2 — 30 Questions

Question 1

A company wants to securely transfer files between systems over SSH. Which protocol should they use to leverage the existing SSH infrastructure and provide both authentication and encryption?

Accepted Answer

SFTP. SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) is the correct choice because it operates over the SSH protocol (typically port 22), leveraging its existing authentication and encryption mechanisms. Unlike FTPS, which adds SSL/TLS to FTP, SFTP is designed as a secure file transfer subsystem of SSH, providing both confidentiality and integrity without requiring additional infrastructure.

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FTPS

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TFTP

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SCP

Question 2

A data custodian is responsible for implementing controls to protect data. Which TWO of the following are typical responsibilities of a data custodian? (Select 2)

Accepted Answer

Performing regular backups of data. Data custodians handle day-to-day management, implement security controls, and perform backups and restoration.

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Classifying data according to sensitivity

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Defining data usage policies

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Determining data retention periods

Question 3

A multinational corporation is expanding its operations into a new country with strict data protection laws. The company needs to ensure compliance while maintaining operational efficiency. Which of the following is the BEST approach to manage this risk?

Accepted Answer

Adopt a privacy-by-design framework and conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before launching operations.. A privacy-by-design framework ensures data protection is embedded into systems and processes from the outset, while a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) systematically identifies and mitigates privacy risks specific to the new jurisdiction. This proactive, risk-based approach aligns with regulatory requirements like the GDPR and demonstrates due diligence, reducing the likelihood of non-compliance and operational disruption.

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Accept the risk of non-compliance as a cost of doing business and set aside a contingency fund for fines.

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Assign legal counsel to review local laws and implement a one-time compliance checklist.

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Create a uniform global privacy policy that satisfies all jurisdictions with minimal adjustments.

Question 4

A security engineer is troubleshooting a network where internal users can access internet websites but cannot reach the company's external VPN server (IP 203.0.113.50, UDP port 500). The firewall rule for VPN traffic is correctly configured. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The VPN server is not listening on UDP port 500.. The symptom—internal users can reach internet websites but cannot reach the external VPN server—indicates a host-level issue rather than a network or firewall problem. Since the firewall rule for VPN traffic is correctly configured and other traffic flows normally, the most likely cause is that the VPN server itself is not listening on UDP port 500, which is the standard port for IPsec IKE (Internet Key Exchange) traffic. This could be due to a misconfiguration, service failure, or the server being configured to use a different port or protocol.

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The VPN server is using TCP port 443 instead of UDP 500.

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The firewall rule is applied to the wrong interface.

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The firewall is stateful and blocking the return traffic.

Question 5

A security analyst is reviewing logs from a web application firewall (WAF) and notices multiple requests containing the payload "1=1--" in the query string. The analyst suspects a SQL injection attack. Which of the following is the BEST immediate action to validate the suspicion?

Accepted Answer

Check the application logs for database error messages.. Checking the application logs for database error messages is the best immediate action because SQL injection attempts often trigger verbose database errors (e.g., MySQL syntax errors, ODBC error codes) that confirm the injection point. This passive validation requires no additional tools and directly correlates the WAF alert with backend behavior, avoiding the risk of actively exploiting a live system.

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Use a manual SQL injection tool like sqlmap to test the application.

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Implement prepared statements in the application code.

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Run a vulnerability scan with a SQL injection detection module.

Question 6

A business continuity coordinator is planning a test of the disaster recovery plan. Which type of test involves a walk-through of the plan with key stakeholders without actually invoking the technical recovery?

Accepted Answer

Tabletop exercise. A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based session where key stakeholders walk through the disaster recovery plan step-by-step without invoking any technical recovery procedures. This validates roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes in a low-risk environment, ensuring the plan's logic is sound before any actual failover or system restoration is attempted.

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Full interruption test

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Checklist review

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Parallel test

Question 7

A company uses BGP to exchange routes with its ISP. To prevent prefix hijacking, which mechanism should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

RPKI. RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure) is the correct mechanism because it cryptographically validates the origin AS of a BGP route announcement, preventing prefix hijacking by ensuring that only the legitimate owner of an IP prefix can announce it. Unlike other options, RPKI provides a trust anchor based on the IP address allocation hierarchy, making it the only solution that directly addresses the root cause of hijacking—unauthorized origin AS claims.

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BGP MD5 authentication

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BGP community values

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AS-path filtering

Question 8

During a security assessment, a consultant discovers that a legacy VPN solution uses MS-CHAPv2 for authentication and does not support IKE. The protocol is known to be vulnerable to dictionary attacks. Which VPN protocol is most likely being used?

Accepted Answer

PPTP. MS-CHAPv2 is a Microsoft proprietary authentication protocol used by PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol). PPTP does not support IKE (Internet Key Exchange) and relies on MS-CHAPv2, which is vulnerable to dictionary attacks due to its weak hashing and lack of mutual authentication. The combination of MS-CHAPv2 authentication and the absence of IKE support directly points to PPTP as the VPN protocol in use.

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IPsec with IKEv2

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SSL/TLS VPN

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L2TP/IPsec

Question 9

An organization is implementing a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy. The security architect must ensure that corporate data on the device is protected from unauthorized access if the device is lost or stolen, while minimizing impact on user privacy. Which solution is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Use mobile device management (MDM) to create a secure container for corporate apps and data. A secure container (often implemented via MDM with app wrapping or per-app VPN) creates an encrypted, isolated partition on the device for corporate apps and data. This ensures that if the device is lost or stolen, the corporate data remains encrypted and inaccessible without the container's authentication, while personal apps and data outside the container remain untouched, thus minimizing privacy impact.

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Require employees to use company-issued devices only

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Disable camera and microphone on the device

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Full device encryption with remote wipe capability

Question 10

An organization is adopting a microservices architecture. Which security control is most effective for ensuring that inter-service communication is authenticated and authorized?

Accepted Answer

Implementing mutual TLS (mTLS) between services. Mutual TLS (mTLS) is the most effective control because it provides both authentication and encryption for inter-service communication. In a microservices architecture, mTLS ensures that each service presents a valid X.509 certificate, and both sides verify each other's identity before any data exchange, preventing unauthorized or spoofed services from communicating. This aligns with the principle of zero trust, where no implicit trust is granted based on network location.

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Relying on network segmentation and IP allowlisting

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Using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) in the HTTP header

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Using pre-shared API keys for each service pair

Question 11

Which type of security testing involves analyzing source code for vulnerabilities without executing the code?

Accepted Answer

SAST. SAST (Static Application Security Testing) analyzes source code, bytecode, or binary code for security vulnerabilities without executing the program. It operates by scanning the codebase for patterns known to be insecure (e.g., SQL injection via string concatenation) using techniques like data flow analysis, taint tracking, and pattern matching, all performed at rest.

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Penetration testing

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IAST

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DAST

Question 12

During a penetration test, an ethical hacker sets up a rogue access point with the same SSID as the corporate network and broadcasts a stronger signal. Users inadvertently connect to the rogue AP, allowing the hacker to capture credentials. What is this attack called?

Accepted Answer

Evil twin attack. Evil twin attack. This attack involves setting up a rogue access point that broadcasts the same SSID as a legitimate corporate network but with a stronger signal, causing users to connect to it instead. Once connected, the attacker can capture credentials or other sensitive data through man-in-the-middle techniques, exploiting the lack of mutual authentication in many Wi-Fi implementations.

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Deauthentication attack

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ARP spoofing

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Karma attack

Question 13

A company's security team discovers that an employee inadvertently shared sensitive customer data via a public cloud storage link. The incident response team contains the breach and notifies affected customers. Which of the following risk management strategies would BEST prevent recurrence?

Accepted Answer

Deploy a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution that monitors and controls sharing of sensitive data.. A Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution provides automated, policy-based monitoring and control of sensitive data being shared via public cloud storage links. Unlike awareness training (which relies on human behavior) or blanket blocking (which hinders productivity), DLP can inspect content in real time using pattern matching, fingerprinting, or exact data matching to prevent unauthorized sharing before it occurs, directly addressing the root cause of inadvertent exposure.

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Block all access to public cloud storage services from corporate devices.

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Implement mandatory security awareness training focusing on data handling procedures.

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Encrypt all sensitive data at rest and in transit to render shared data useless.

Question 14

A multinational corporation with a hybrid cloud infrastructure has recently experienced a series of security incidents involving unauthorized access to sensitive customer data. The incidents were traced to compromised credentials of privileged users. The company has implemented multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all privileged accounts, but the attacks persisted. A security assessment team is brought in to evaluate the environment. During the assessment, they discover that some privileged accounts do not require MFA when accessing systems via API calls, and that session tokens for these APIs have a long expiration time of 24 hours. Additionally, the team finds that the logging and monitoring system does not capture API calls from privileged accounts, making it difficult to detect anomalous behavior. The company wants to remediate these issues effectively. Which of the following is the BEST course of action to address the root cause of the incidents?

Accepted Answer

Require MFA for all privileged access methods, including APIs, and reduce session token expiration to 15 minutes.. The root cause is that privileged accounts can bypass MFA when accessing systems via API calls, and long-lived session tokens (24 hours) provide a wide window for attackers to reuse stolen tokens. Requiring MFA for all privileged access methods, including APIs, closes the authentication gap, and reducing session token expiration to 15 minutes minimizes the impact of token theft by limiting the reuse window. This directly addresses the two key vulnerabilities identified in the assessment.

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Implement a SIEM system to analyze logs from all sources and create alerts for anomalous API activity.

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Conduct a full audit of privileged account usage and revoke access for any accounts with suspicious activity.

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Replace API tokens with certificate-based authentication for all privileged accounts.

Question 15

In a microservices architecture with a service mesh, what is the most effective approach to secure inter-service communication?

Accepted Answer

Implement mutual TLS (mTLS) and identity-based access policies. In a service mesh, mutual TLS (mTLS) provides both encryption and identity verification for every inter-service call, ensuring that only authenticated services with the correct identity can communicate. Identity-based access policies (e.g., using SPIFFE IDs) then enforce fine-grained authorization, which is essential in dynamic microservices environments where IP addresses are ephemeral. This combination directly addresses the core security requirements of confidentiality, integrity, and authentication in zero-trust architectures.

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Segment services into separate VLANs without encryption

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Use TLS only for all communication

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Rely on API keys in the request headers

Question 16

A security architect is designing a secure enclave for processing highly sensitive data. The architecture must ensure that even if the operating system is compromised, the enclave's memory contents remain confidential and integrity-protected. Which technology should be used?

Accepted Answer

Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX). Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) is the correct choice because it provides hardware-enforced isolation of memory regions (enclaves) that remain confidential and integrity-protected even if the operating system or hypervisor is compromised. SGX encrypts enclave memory on-die and decrypts it only within the CPU, preventing any privileged software from reading or tampering with the data.

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Full disk encryption (FDE) with a strong passphrase

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Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

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Hypervisor-based isolation

Question 17

A security engineer is reviewing the architecture of a system that uses the Bell-LaPadula model. The system has subjects with security clearances and objects with classifications. To prevent covert timing channels, which additional control should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

Disable concurrent access to shared resources. Covert timing channels exploit the ability of a subject to modulate the timing of its access to a shared resource, thereby leaking information to another subject at a different security level. The Bell-LaPadula model enforces mandatory access control (MAC) but does not inherently prevent these channels. Disabling concurrent access to shared resources (option C) eliminates the ability to use timing variations as a signaling mechanism, directly addressing the covert channel at the resource scheduling level.

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Enforce strict data labeling

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Implement audit logging

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Use encryption for data at rest

Question 18

A multinational corporation must comply with GDPR and CCPA. Which data protection strategy should they prioritize?

Accepted Answer

Data minimization. Data minimization is the correct priority because both GDPR (Article 5(1)(c)) and CCPA (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.100) require organizations to limit the collection and processing of personal data to what is directly relevant and necessary for the stated purpose. By minimizing the data held, the corporation reduces its legal exposure, simplifies compliance obligations, and inherently lowers the risk of a data breach impacting sensitive information. This principle is foundational to privacy-by-design and directly addresses the regulatory mandates, whereas the other options are secondary controls that do not address the core requirement of limiting data collection.

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Data masking

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Data retention

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Data encryption

Question 19

A company uses SSH for remote administration. To enhance security, they want to implement public-key authentication. Which statement about SSH public-key authentication is true?

Accepted Answer

The private key must be kept secret by the user. In SSH public-key authentication, the private key is the secret half of the asymmetric key pair and must be kept confidential by the user. The server stores only the public key, and authentication is proven by the client signing a challenge with the private key, which the server verifies using the stored public key. This ensures that even if the server is compromised, the private key remains safe on the client side.

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The public key is used to decrypt the session

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Public-key authentication does not require a passphrase

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The private key is stored on the server

Question 20

A security tester needs to test a new application for vulnerabilities but is concerned about contaminating the production database with test data. What is the best practice for conducting such tests?

Accepted Answer

Create a separate test environment with anonymized production data. Creating a separate test environment with anonymized production data ensures that testing does not affect the integrity or availability of the production database while still using realistic data to uncover vulnerabilities. Anonymization techniques, such as data masking or tokenization, remove personally identifiable information (PII) while preserving referential integrity and data distribution, allowing for accurate security testing without contaminating production systems.

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Perform the test on the production environment during off-hours

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Test only from the network perimeter to avoid data exposure

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Use synthetic data that mimics production but is not real