ISC Security Planning And Engineering Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO security standards are most relevant for an ISSEP designing a secure payment processing system?

Accepted Answer

ISO/IEC 27001.. PCI DSS is the mandatory standard for payment processing, and ISO 27001 is a foundational security management framework.

Answer

HIPAA.

Answer

GDPR.

Answer

OSHA.

Question 2

Which TWO items should be included in a system's security architecture documentation?

Accepted Answer

Network topology diagrams.. Network diagrams and data flow diagrams are essential for understanding the security posture of a system.

Answer

Marketing brochures for the software.

Answer

Office building blueprints.

Answer

Employee vacation schedules.

Question 3

Which THREE factors are essential when performing a threat model using the STRIDE methodology?

Accepted Answer

Designing effective security countermeasures.. STRIDE (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, Elevation of Privilege) requires identifying threats, mapping them to system components, and planning countermeasures.

Answer

Conducting a public relations campaign.

Answer

Automating the software build process.

Question 4

Which THREE items are required to verify the integrity of a downloaded software package?

Accepted Answer

The cryptographically signed hash (e.g., .asc or .sig file).. Option A is correct because the cryptographically signed hash (.asc or .sig file) contains the digital signature over the package's hash, which is the artifact you verify to confirm the download was not altered. Option C is correct because the software binary file is the actual downloaded package whose integrity is being checked; you compute its hash and compare it against the signed hash. Option D is correct because the author's public key is needed to verify the signature on the hash file, proving the hash genuinely came from the trusted author and was not forged. Option B is not required because the source repository URL only indicates where code originated and does not itself provide any cryptographic proof of integrity. Option E is not required because a developer's password is a secret credential for authentication, not a verification artifact, and integrity checking relies on public-key cryptography rather than shared secrets.

Answer

The original source code repository URL.

Answer

The developer's password.

Question 5

Which THREE actions should be taken when decommissioning an information system to ensure data security?

Accepted Answer

Remove the system from the network and inventory.. Clearing or purging the storage media, destroying the media if necessary, and auditing the decommissioning logs are key steps.

Answer

Archive all data to a public cloud bucket.

Answer

Format the hard drive as a quick process.

Question 6

Which THREE elements are required in a high-security access control policy?

Accepted Answer

Authentication and authorization conditions.. Access control policies must define roles (who), resources (what), and the conditions (how/when) under which access is granted.

Answer

Employee home addresses.

Answer

Office kitchen menu.

Question 7

Which THREE of the following are necessary to successfully implement Zero Trust in an existing enterprise environment?

Accepted Answer

Identity-based authentication.. Strong identity verification, micro-segmentation of the network, and continuous monitoring are the three pillars of a successful Zero Trust implementation.

Answer

Using static IP addresses for all users.

Answer

Trusting all traffic behind the firewall.

Question 8

You are assessing a system for compliance with FIPS 140-3. You need to ensure that the cryptographic module being used for TLS termination on a load balancer meets specific physical security requirements. Where should you look for the validation status of the cryptographic module?

Accepted Answer

NIST CMVP Module Registry. The NIST Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) maintains the official registry of all FIPS-validated modules.

Answer

Common Criteria Portal

Answer

CVE Database

Answer

ISO 27001 Annex A controls list

Question 9

An organization is migrating to a Zero Trust architecture as defined in NIST SP 800-207. Which component is responsible for evaluating the context of a request, such as device health and location, before granting access?

Accepted Answer

Policy Decision Point (PDP). The Policy Decision Point (PDP) is the architectural component that evaluates requests against security policies and context.

Answer

Policy Enforcement Point (PEP)

Answer

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Answer

Identity Provider (IdP)

Question 10

You are designing a secure microservices architecture. To meet the 'Data at Rest' security requirements, you decide to use envelope encryption. Which sequence correctly describes the flow of managing the Data Encryption Key (DEK)?

Accepted Answer

Encrypt data with DEK, encrypt DEK with KEK, store encrypted DEK with data.. Envelope encryption involves encrypting data with a DEK, then encrypting the DEK with a Key Encryption Key (KEK), storing the encrypted DEK alongside the data.

Answer

Encrypt data with KEK, encrypt KEK with DEK, store KEK in HSM.

Answer

Encrypt data with HSM-stored master key, store master key in memory.

Answer

Generate new DEK for every block, store all DEKs in a database.

Question 11

In the context of the NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF), which step involves the initial identification of security controls based on the system's impact level?

Accepted Answer

Select. Step 2 of the RMF is 'Select', where security controls are selected based on the categorization performed in Step 1.

Answer

Implement

Answer

Assess

Answer

Categorize

Question 12

When architecting a system to meet ISO 27001 requirements for secure system engineering, which TWO of the following design principles should be prioritized for protecting sensitive data at rest?

Accepted Answer

Enforcing strict access control policies for data access.. Encryption and access control (least privilege) are fundamental controls required by ISO 27001 for data protection.

Answer

Hosting all data on a single centralized server to simplify management.

Answer

Using a single administrative account for all data operations.

Answer

Disabling all logging to reduce storage overhead.

Question 13

An ISSEP professional is reviewing an architecture for compliance with NIST SP 800-160, Systems Security Engineering. Which THREE of the following activities are core to the 'Trustworthiness' objective for an engineered system?

Accepted Answer

Hardware-based root of trust integration.. Trustworthiness is built through robust design, consistent verification, and proactive mitigation of vulnerabilities throughout the lifecycle.

Answer

Prioritizing feature release speed over security patches.

Answer

Outsourcing all security monitoring to third-party providers.

Question 14

You are designing an incident response architecture for a cloud environment. Which TWO of the following configurations are critical for ensuring effective forensic readiness according to NIST SP 800-61?

Accepted Answer

Centralizing logs in a read-only security account.. Forensic readiness requires high-fidelity, tamper-proof logs and centralized aggregation to ensure evidence integrity.

Answer

Using local disk storage for all incident response artifacts.

Answer

Enabling verbose debug mode on all production services.

Answer

Configuring short retention periods for all system logs to save cost.

Question 15

An ISSEP is leading the security engineering effort for a new federal system that will process Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The system owner wants to ensure that the system's security requirements are derived from a formal threat model and that the design mitigates identified threats before development begins. Which activity should the ISSEP perform FIRST to integrate security into the early stages of the system development life cycle?

Accepted Answer

Perform a threat modeling exercise using a methodology such as STRIDE.. Threat modeling is a proactive security engineering activity that identifies threats and informs security requirements early in the SDLC. By using a methodology like STRIDE, the ISSEP can analyze data flows and trust boundaries, then derive specific mitigations. This ensures the system's design addresses threats before development, which is more effective and cost-efficient than retrofitting controls later.

Answer

Conduct a vulnerability assessment on the proposed system architecture.

Answer

Implement a continuous monitoring strategy using automated tools.

Answer

Develop a security assessment plan for the system's authorization package.