Cybersecurity Essentials Module 1 Quiz Answers
Module 1: Cybersecurity Threats Vulnerabilities and Attacks Quiz Question Answers
1. A cybercriminal sends a series of maliciously formatted packets to a database server, which causes the server to crash. What do you call this type of attack?
- SQL injection
- DoS
- Man-in-the-middle
- Packet injection
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
2. Employees in an organization report that the network access is slow. Further investigation reveals that one employee downloaded a third-party scanning program for the printer. What type of malware may have been introduced?
- Phishing
- Worm
- Spam
- Trojan horse
Explanation: Worms are malicious code that replicates by independently exploiting vulnerabilities in networks. Worms usually slow down networks. Whereas a virus requires a host program to run, worms can run by themselves. Other than the initial infection, worms no longer require user participation. After a worm affects a host, it is able to spread very quickly over the network. Worms share similar patterns. They all have an enabling vulnerability, a way to propagate themselves, and they all contain a payload.
3. A penetration test carried out by an organization identified a backdoor on the network. What action should the organization take to find out if their systems have been compromised?
- Look for policy changes in Event Viewer
- Scan the systems for viruses
- Look for unauthorized accounts
- Look for usernames that do not have passwords
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
4. All employees in an organization receive an email stating that their account password will expire immediately and that they should reset their password within five minutes. Which of the following statements best describes this email?
- It is a piggyback attack
- It is an impersonation attack
- It is a hoax
- It is a DDoS attack
Explanation: Social engineering uses several different tactics to gain information from victims.
5. What do you call an impersonation attack that takes advantage of a trusted relationship between two systems?
- Man-in-the-middle
- Sniffing
- Spamming
- Spoofing
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
6. Which best practices can help defend against social engineering attacks?
- Add more security guards
- Educate employees regarding security policies
- Enable a policy that states that the IT department should supply information over the phone only to managers
- Deploy well-designed firewall appliances
- Resist the urge to click on enticing web links
- Do not provide password resets in a chat window
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist must be aware of the technologies and measures that are used as countermeasures to protect the organization from threats and vulnerabilities.
7. What non-technical method could a cybercriminal use to gather sensitive information from an organization?
- Pharming
- Man-in-the-middle
- Social engineering
- Ransomware
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
8. Employees in an organization report that they cannot access the customer database on the main server. Further investigation reveals that the database file is now encrypted. Shortly afterward, the organization receives a threatening email demanding payment for the decryption of the database file. What type of attack has the organization experienced?
- DoS attack
- Trojan horse
- Man-in-the-middle attack
- Ransomware
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
9. Which of the following statements describes a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack?
- One computer accepts data packets based on the MAC address of another computer
- A botnet of zombies, coordinated by an attacker, overwhelms a server with DoS attacks
- An attacker sends an enormous quantity of data that a server cannot handle
- An attacker monitors network traffic to learn authentication credentials
Explanation: An attacker builds a network of infected hosts, called a botnet, comprised of zombies. Zombies are the infected hosts. The attacker uses handler systems to control the zombies. The zombie computers constantly scan and infect more hosts, creating more zombies. When ready, the hacker instructs the handler systems to make the botnet of zombies carry out a DDoS attack.
10. What type of attack occurs when data goes beyond the memory areas allocated to an application?
- RAM spoofing
- SQL injection
- RAM injection
- Buffer overflow
Explanation: A cybersecurity specialist needs to be familiar with the characteristics of the different types of malware and attacks that threaten an organization.
