ISC Systems Security Implementation Verification And Validation Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A security professional is verifying the implementation of MFA on an administrative account. What is the most reliable way to confirm the MFA configuration is working correctly?

Accepted Answer

Attempt to log in with valid credentials and verify that the system prompts for the secondary token.. Successful authentication with a second factor is the ultimate proof of correct implementation.

Answer

Verify that the account has a 'mobile' field populated.

Answer

Review the MFA server logs for daily activity.

Answer

Check the user account settings in the Active Directory console.

Question 2

You are auditing the implementation of an API Gateway. How do you verify that rate limiting is effectively preventing a DoS attack?

Accepted Answer

Send a flood of requests exceeding the defined rate limit and verify that the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests status code.. Testing rate limiting involves exceeding the defined threshold to see if the gateway returns the correct error code.

Answer

Use a vulnerability scanner to check for OWASP API vulnerabilities.

Answer

Review the API Gateway configuration files for the 'rate_limit' keyword.

Answer

Monitor the CPU usage of the backend server.

Question 3

You are verifying that a specific file on a server has not been modified. Which tool or command is most appropriate for verifying file integrity?

Accepted Answer

sha256sum. Hashing is the standard method for verifying that a file has not been altered.

Answer

cat <filename>

Answer

grep 'modified' <filename>

Answer

ls -l

Question 4

When validating a secure boot implementation on a server, which component should be verified in the UEFI firmware settings?

Accepted Answer

Verify that 'Secure Boot' is set to 'Enabled' and the 'Platform Key' (PK) is installed.. Secure Boot validation requires ensuring the UEFI firmware is set to enforce digital signatures on bootloaders.

Answer

Validate the TPM version is 2.0.

Answer

Check that 'Legacy Boot' is set to 'Disabled'.

Answer

Ensure the system clock is synchronized with a secure NTP server.

Question 5

A system is undergoing accreditation. You need to verify that automated vulnerability scanning is occurring on a recurring basis. Which artifact provides the best evidence?

Accepted Answer

A series of scan reports spanning the required frequency interval.. Scheduled task logs or scan reports with time-stamped evidence are the best way to verify recurring operations.

Answer

A copy of the security policy document.

Answer

An email from the security team confirming they run scans.

Answer

A screenshot of the vulnerability scanner dashboard.

Question 6

You are verifying the implementation of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS). Which technique is used to ensure the IDS is detecting traffic as expected?

Accepted Answer

Replay a known malicious packet capture (PCAP) through the network segment.. Simulated attacks (using tools like Metasploit or Nmap) are the only way to verify detection capability.

Answer

Review the last update date of the signature database.

Answer

Check the IDS management console for 'Up' status.

Answer

Verify that the IDS is configured in 'Inline' mode.

Question 7

During a validation exercise, you need to confirm that an application's logging mechanism is compliant with NIST SP 800-92. Which element must be verified?

Accepted Answer

Ensure every log entry contains a user ID, timestamp, and event outcome.. NIST SP 800-92 emphasizes that logs must include user IDs, timestamps, and success/failure status.

Answer

Check if logs are printed to the console.

Answer

Confirm that the logging level is set to 'DEBUG'.

Answer

Verify that all logs are stored in a database.

Question 8

When validating a firewall's implementation, what does checking the 'Implicit Deny' rule verify?

Accepted Answer

That no traffic is allowed unless explicitly permitted.. The implicit deny rule is the final catch-all rule that drops all traffic not explicitly allowed.

Answer

That the firewall is blocking all outgoing traffic.

Answer

That the firewall can handle high traffic volumes.

Answer

That the firewall is correctly logging denied packets.

Question 9

You are verifying the security configuration of an Amazon S3 bucket. Which S3 feature must be enabled to ensure that object deletions are reversible in case of accidental or malicious data loss?

Accepted Answer

S3 Versioning. S3 Versioning allows for the retrieval of previous versions of an object, even after deletion.

Answer

S3 Object Lock

Answer

S3 Block Public Access

Answer

S3 Lifecycle Policies

Question 10

When validating a server's compliance with hardening guidelines, which tool provides the most efficient way to check OS configuration against the DISA STIG?

Accepted Answer

SCAP Compliance Checker (SCC). SCAP Compliance Checker (SCC) is designed specifically to automate the verification of STIGs.

Answer

Wireshark

Answer

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)

Answer

Nmap

Question 11

You are performing a security validation of a database to ensure that all administrative actions are captured. Which feature must be checked to confirm that logging is capturing these events?

Accepted Answer

Audit Policy configuration. Database auditing policies define what actions are tracked; verifying the active policy is key.

Answer

Database connection pool settings

Answer

Database backup settings

Answer

Database user permissions

Question 12

You are verifying the security of a Linux server's SSH configuration. Which directive should be set to 'no' to prevent unauthorized remote root login?

Accepted Answer

PermitRootLogin. PermitRootLogin no is a standard hardening requirement for SSH.

Answer

PubkeyAuthentication

Answer

X11Forwarding

Answer

PasswordAuthentication

Question 13

A security engineer is validating that an application server is not vulnerable to common web attacks. What is the first step in the validation process?

Accepted Answer

Identify the assets and the relevant security requirements.. Inventory and understanding the threat landscape are prerequisites for any validation effort.

Answer

Enable all logging mechanisms.

Answer

Patch the operating system.

Answer

Run a full-scale penetration test.

Question 14

When conducting a security validation of a cloud-based infrastructure, which TWO of the following tasks are essential for verification?

Accepted Answer

Verifying that security group ingress rules are restrictive.. Verifying IAM roles and network security groups are critical, foundational steps in cloud security validation.

Answer

Ensuring the billing account is audited for cost anomalies.

Answer

Checking the physical server hardware for tamper evidence.

Answer

Validating the OS patch level of the underlying host.

Question 15

A security engineer is validating a server's hardening posture against CIS Benchmarks. Which TWO of the following configurations must be verified for the SSH service?

Accepted Answer

Verifying that 'PermitEmptyPasswords' is set to 'no'.. Hardening SSH requires disabling insecure protocols and authentication methods.

Answer

Configuring the service to use only the RSA algorithm.

Answer

Enabling 'AllowTcpForwarding' for all users.

Answer

Setting the default port to 8080.