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CEH · domain

Social Engineering and Physical Security

Practise Certified Ethical Hacker CEH Social Engineering and Physical Security practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.

14 questions3 easy5 medium6 hard

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Practice Social Engineering and Physical Security questions

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What this domain covers

What to know about Social Engineering and Physical Security

Social Engineering and Physical Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.

How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.

Which detail in the question changes the correct answer.

How to eliminate plausible but wrong options.

How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.

Watch out for

Common Social Engineering and Physical Security exam traps

  • Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
  • Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
  • Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
  • Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.

Question index

All Social Engineering and Physical Security questions (14)

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1

Refer to the exhibit. An attacker gains access to the user's workstation and wants to find a file containing passwords. Which file is most likely to contain credentials?

Easy
2

Which TWO of the following are effective physical security controls to prevent tailgating?

Hard
3

A penetration tester calls an employee claiming to be from the IT help desk and asks for their password to perform a 'security update'. The employee provides the password. Which social engineering technique is being used?

Medium
4

Match each wireless attack to its description.

Medium
5

Which of the following is the BEST defense against tailgating attacks in a secure facility?

Easy
6

Drag and drop the steps to perform a successful social engineering attack in a penetration test into the correct order.

Medium
7

An employee receives an email that appears to be from the CEO, asking the employee to urgently wire funds to a vendor. The email address is slightly misspelled. What type of social engineering attack is this?

Medium
8

You are a security consultant hired by a mid-sized company with 500 employees. The company has a central office with a lobby, reception, and two secure areas: the server room (requires keycard and PIN) and the executive floor (requires keycard only). Recently, employees have reported seeing unfamiliar people in restricted areas. Security logs show keycard access for the server room only during business hours, but no anomalies. However, the executive floor logs show multiple entries by a single employee, John from Sales, at odd hours. John claims he was working late. The company has a policy that all employees must wear ID badges visibly. You observe that employees often hold doors open for colleagues, and the receptionist does not verify visitor badges. Which of the following actions should you recommend FIRST to address the most likely attack vector?

Hard
9

A penetration tester is assessing an organization's physical security. The tester wants to gain unauthorized access to a secured server room that uses a biometric fingerprint scanner. Which of the following techniques would be MOST effective for bypassing the biometric scanner?

Medium
10

A security auditor is assessing the physical security of a corporate office building that houses a data center. The building has a single main entrance with a reception desk staffed during business hours (8 AM to 6 PM). After hours, employees use a keycard reader to access the building. The data center itself requires a separate keycard and a 6-digit PIN. The auditor notices that during lunch hours (12-1 PM), the reception desk is often unattended, and employees frequently hold the door for others to avoid using their keycard. Additionally, a recent social engineering test revealed that an attacker was able to call the help desk, claim to be a new employee, and request a password reset, which was granted without proper verification. Based on this scenario, which of the following is the MOST effective combination of controls to mitigate both the physical and social engineering weaknesses?

Hard
11

Refer to the exhibit. A security analyst reviews the firewall log and notices that user jdoe accessed a file server via SMB (port 445) from an internal IP (10.0.0.45) that is not the usual file server subnet. Which type of social engineering attack is most likely being attempted?

Hard
12

During a social engineering engagement, a tester calls the help desk posing as an employee from the IT department. The tester claims to be working on a critical system update and needs the employee's password to proceed. Which type of social engineering attack is being executed?

Hard
13

Refer to the exhibit. A security analyst runs ping and arp commands. What is the most likely attack occurring?

Hard
14

You are a security consultant for a mid-sized company with 500 employees. The company has a secure data center with a biometric access control system. Recently, a contractor was able to enter the data center without authorization by claiming he forgot his badge and an employee held the door for him. The contractor then accessed sensitive servers and exfiltrated data. The company wants to prevent such incidents. Which physical security control would be most effective in preventing this type of attack?

Easy

Frequently asked questions

What does the Social Engineering and Physical Security domain cover on the CEH exam?
Social Engineering and Physical Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How many questions are in this domain?
This page lists all 14 Social Engineering and Physical Security questions in the CEH question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
What is the best way to practise this domain?
Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
Can I practise only Social Engineering and Physical Security questions?
Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.
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