SSCP Exam Question 707
Which of the following countermeasures would be the most appropriate to prevent possible intrusion or damage from wardialing attacks?
Correct Answer: B
Explanation/Reference:
Knowlege of modem numbers is a poor access control method as an attacker can discover modem numbers by dialing all numbers in a range. Requiring user authentication before remote access is granted will help in avoiding unauthorized access over a modem line.
"Monitoring and auditing for such activity" is incorrect. While monitoring and auditing can assist in detecting a wardialing attack, they do not defend against a successful wardialing attack.
"Making sure that only necessary phone numbers are made public" is incorrect. Since a wardialing attack blindly calls all numbers in a range, whether certain numbers in the range are public or not is irrelevant.
"Using completely different numbers for voice and data accesses" is incorrect. Using different number ranges for voice and data access might help prevent an attacker from stumbling across the data lines while wardialing the public voice number range but this is not an adequate countermeaure.
References:
CBK, p. 214
AIO3, p. 534-535
Knowlege of modem numbers is a poor access control method as an attacker can discover modem numbers by dialing all numbers in a range. Requiring user authentication before remote access is granted will help in avoiding unauthorized access over a modem line.
"Monitoring and auditing for such activity" is incorrect. While monitoring and auditing can assist in detecting a wardialing attack, they do not defend against a successful wardialing attack.
"Making sure that only necessary phone numbers are made public" is incorrect. Since a wardialing attack blindly calls all numbers in a range, whether certain numbers in the range are public or not is irrelevant.
"Using completely different numbers for voice and data accesses" is incorrect. Using different number ranges for voice and data access might help prevent an attacker from stumbling across the data lines while wardialing the public voice number range but this is not an adequate countermeaure.
References:
CBK, p. 214
AIO3, p. 534-535
SSCP Exam Question 708
What would be considered the biggest drawback of Host-based Intrusion Detection systems (HIDS)?
Correct Answer: A
Section: Analysis and Monitoring
Explanation/Reference:
The biggest drawback of HIDS, and the reason many organizations resist its use, is that it can be very invasive to the host operating system. HIDS must have the capability to monitor all processes and activities on the host system and this can sometimes interfere with normal system processing.
HIDS versus NIDS
A host-based IDS (HIDS) can be installed on individual workstations and/ or servers to watch for inappropriate or anomalous activity. HIDSs are usually used to make sure users do not delete system files, reconfigure important settings, or put the system at risk in any other way.
So, whereas the NIDS understands and monitors the network traffic, a HIDS's universe is limited to the computer itself. A HIDS does not understand or review network traffic, and a NIDS does not "look in" and monitor a system's activity. Each has its own job and stays out of the other's way.
The ISC2 official study book defines an IDS as:
An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a technology that alerts organizations to adverse or unwanted activity.
An IDS can be implemented as part of a network device, such as a router, switch, or firewall, or it can be a dedicated IDS device monitoring traffic as it traverses the network. When used in this way, it is referred to as a network IDS, or NIDS. IDS can also be used on individual host systems to monitor and report on file, disk, and process activity on that host. When used in this way it is referred to as a host-based IDS, or HIDS.
An IDS is informative by nature and provides real-time information when suspicious activities are identified. It is primarily a detective device and, acting in this traditional role, is not used to directly prevent the suspected attack.
What about IPS?
In contrast, an intrusion prevention system (IPS), is a technology that monitors activity like an IDS but will automatically take proactive preventative action if it detects unacceptable activity. An IPS permits a predetermined set of functions and actions to occur on a network or system; anything that is not permitted is considered unwanted activity and blocked. IPS is engineered specifically to respond in real time to an event at the system or network layer. By proactively enforcing policy, IPS can thwart not only attackers, but also authorized users attempting to perform an action that is not within policy. Fundamentally, IPS is considered an access control and policy enforcement technology, whereas IDS is considered network monitoring and audit technology.
The following answers were incorrect:
All of the other answer were advantages and not drawback of using HIDS
TIP FOR THE EXAM:
Be familiar with the differences that exists between an HIDS, NIDS, and IPS. Know that IDS's are mostly detective but IPS are preventive. IPS's are considered an access control and policy enforcement technology, whereas IDS's are considered network monitoring and audit technology.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (Kindle Locations 5817-5822). McGraw- Hill. Kindle Edition.
and
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Access Control ((ISC)
2 Press), Domain1, Page 180-188 or on the kindle version look for Kindle Locations 3199-3203. Auerbach Publications.
Explanation/Reference:
The biggest drawback of HIDS, and the reason many organizations resist its use, is that it can be very invasive to the host operating system. HIDS must have the capability to monitor all processes and activities on the host system and this can sometimes interfere with normal system processing.
HIDS versus NIDS
A host-based IDS (HIDS) can be installed on individual workstations and/ or servers to watch for inappropriate or anomalous activity. HIDSs are usually used to make sure users do not delete system files, reconfigure important settings, or put the system at risk in any other way.
So, whereas the NIDS understands and monitors the network traffic, a HIDS's universe is limited to the computer itself. A HIDS does not understand or review network traffic, and a NIDS does not "look in" and monitor a system's activity. Each has its own job and stays out of the other's way.
The ISC2 official study book defines an IDS as:
An intrusion detection system (IDS) is a technology that alerts organizations to adverse or unwanted activity.
An IDS can be implemented as part of a network device, such as a router, switch, or firewall, or it can be a dedicated IDS device monitoring traffic as it traverses the network. When used in this way, it is referred to as a network IDS, or NIDS. IDS can also be used on individual host systems to monitor and report on file, disk, and process activity on that host. When used in this way it is referred to as a host-based IDS, or HIDS.
An IDS is informative by nature and provides real-time information when suspicious activities are identified. It is primarily a detective device and, acting in this traditional role, is not used to directly prevent the suspected attack.
What about IPS?
In contrast, an intrusion prevention system (IPS), is a technology that monitors activity like an IDS but will automatically take proactive preventative action if it detects unacceptable activity. An IPS permits a predetermined set of functions and actions to occur on a network or system; anything that is not permitted is considered unwanted activity and blocked. IPS is engineered specifically to respond in real time to an event at the system or network layer. By proactively enforcing policy, IPS can thwart not only attackers, but also authorized users attempting to perform an action that is not within policy. Fundamentally, IPS is considered an access control and policy enforcement technology, whereas IDS is considered network monitoring and audit technology.
The following answers were incorrect:
All of the other answer were advantages and not drawback of using HIDS
TIP FOR THE EXAM:
Be familiar with the differences that exists between an HIDS, NIDS, and IPS. Know that IDS's are mostly detective but IPS are preventive. IPS's are considered an access control and policy enforcement technology, whereas IDS's are considered network monitoring and audit technology.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Harris, Shon (2012-10-25). CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition (Kindle Locations 5817-5822). McGraw- Hill. Kindle Edition.
and
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition : Access Control ((ISC)
2 Press), Domain1, Page 180-188 or on the kindle version look for Kindle Locations 3199-3203. Auerbach Publications.
SSCP Exam Question 709
Which of the following is based on the premise that the quality of a software product is a direct function of the quality of its associated software development and maintenance processes?
Correct Answer: A
Explanation/Reference:
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a service mark owned by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and refers to a development model elicited from actual data. The data was collected from organizations that contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense, who funded the research, and became the foundation from which CMU created the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Like any model, it is an abstraction of an existing system.
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a methodology used to develop and refine an organization's software development process. The model describes a five-level evolutionary path of increasingly organized and systematically more mature processes. CMM was developed and is promoted by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a research and development center sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD). SEI was founded in 1984 to address software engineering issues and, in a broad sense, to advance software engineering methodologies. More specifically, SEI was established to optimize the process of developing, acquiring, and maintaining heavily software-reliant systems for the DoD. Because the processes involved are equally applicable to the software industry as a whole, SEI advocates industry-wide adoption of the CMM.
The CMM is similar to ISO 9001, one of the ISO 9000 series of standards specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 9000 standards specify an effective quality system for manufacturing and service industries; ISO 9001 deals specifically with software development and maintenance. The main difference between the two systems lies in their respective purposes: ISO 9001 specifies a minimal acceptable quality level for software processes, while the CMM establishes a framework for continuous process improvement and is more explicit than the ISO standard in defining the means to be employed to that end.
CMM's Five Maturity Levels of Software Processes
At the initial level, processes are disorganized, even chaotic. Success is likely to depend on individual efforts, and is not considered to be repeatable, because processes would not be sufficiently defined and documented to allow them to be replicated.
At the repeatable level, basic project management techniques are established, and successes could be repeated, because the requisite processes would have been made established, defined, and documented.
At the defined level, an organization has developed its own standard software process through greater attention to documentation, standardization, and integration.
At the managed level, an organization monitors and controls its own processes through data collection and analysis.
At the optimizing level, processes are constantly being improved through monitoring feedback from current processes and introducing innovative processes to better serve the organization's particular needs.
When it is applied to an existing organization's software development processes, it allows an effective approach toward improving them. Eventually it became clear that the model could be applied to other processes. This gave rise to a more general concept that is applied to business processes and to developing people.
CMM is superseded by CMMI
The CMM model proved useful to many organizations, but its application in software development has sometimes been problematic. Applying multiple models that are not integrated within and across an organization could be costly in terms of training, appraisals, and improvement activities. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) project was formed to sort out the problem of using multiple CMMs.
For software development processes, the CMM has been superseded by Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), though the CMM continues to be a general theoretical process capability model used in the public domain.
CMM is adapted to processes other than software development
The CMM was originally intended as a tool to evaluate the ability of government contractors to perform a contracted software project. Though it comes from the area of software development, it can be, has been, and continues to be widely applied as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g., IT Service Management processes) in IS/IT (and other) organizations.
Source:
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid92_gci930057,00.html and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a service mark owned by Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and refers to a development model elicited from actual data. The data was collected from organizations that contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense, who funded the research, and became the foundation from which CMU created the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Like any model, it is an abstraction of an existing system.
The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) is a methodology used to develop and refine an organization's software development process. The model describes a five-level evolutionary path of increasingly organized and systematically more mature processes. CMM was developed and is promoted by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a research and development center sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD). SEI was founded in 1984 to address software engineering issues and, in a broad sense, to advance software engineering methodologies. More specifically, SEI was established to optimize the process of developing, acquiring, and maintaining heavily software-reliant systems for the DoD. Because the processes involved are equally applicable to the software industry as a whole, SEI advocates industry-wide adoption of the CMM.
The CMM is similar to ISO 9001, one of the ISO 9000 series of standards specified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 9000 standards specify an effective quality system for manufacturing and service industries; ISO 9001 deals specifically with software development and maintenance. The main difference between the two systems lies in their respective purposes: ISO 9001 specifies a minimal acceptable quality level for software processes, while the CMM establishes a framework for continuous process improvement and is more explicit than the ISO standard in defining the means to be employed to that end.
CMM's Five Maturity Levels of Software Processes
At the initial level, processes are disorganized, even chaotic. Success is likely to depend on individual efforts, and is not considered to be repeatable, because processes would not be sufficiently defined and documented to allow them to be replicated.
At the repeatable level, basic project management techniques are established, and successes could be repeated, because the requisite processes would have been made established, defined, and documented.
At the defined level, an organization has developed its own standard software process through greater attention to documentation, standardization, and integration.
At the managed level, an organization monitors and controls its own processes through data collection and analysis.
At the optimizing level, processes are constantly being improved through monitoring feedback from current processes and introducing innovative processes to better serve the organization's particular needs.
When it is applied to an existing organization's software development processes, it allows an effective approach toward improving them. Eventually it became clear that the model could be applied to other processes. This gave rise to a more general concept that is applied to business processes and to developing people.
CMM is superseded by CMMI
The CMM model proved useful to many organizations, but its application in software development has sometimes been problematic. Applying multiple models that are not integrated within and across an organization could be costly in terms of training, appraisals, and improvement activities. The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) project was formed to sort out the problem of using multiple CMMs.
For software development processes, the CMM has been superseded by Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), though the CMM continues to be a general theoretical process capability model used in the public domain.
CMM is adapted to processes other than software development
The CMM was originally intended as a tool to evaluate the ability of government contractors to perform a contracted software project. Though it comes from the area of software development, it can be, has been, and continues to be widely applied as a general model of the maturity of processes (e.g., IT Service Management processes) in IS/IT (and other) organizations.
Source:
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid92_gci930057,00.html and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Maturity_Model
SSCP Exam Question 710
What is the highest amount a company should spend annually on countermeasures for protecting an asset valued at $1,000,000 from a threat that has an annualized rate of occurrence (ARO) of once every five years and an exposure factor (EF) of 30%?
Correct Answer: C
Section: Risk, Response and Recovery
Explanation/Reference:
The cost of a countermeasure should not be greater in cost than the risk it mitigates (ALE). For a quantitative risk assessment, the equation is ALE = ARO x SLE where the SLE is calculated as the product of asset value x exposure factor. An event that happen once every five years would have an ARO of .2 (1 divided by 5).
SLE = Asset Value (AV) x Exposure Fact (EF)
SLE = 1,000,000 x .30 = 300,000
ALE = SLE x Annualized Rate of Occurance (ARO)
ALE = 300,000 x .2 = 60,000
Know your acronyms:
ALE -- Annual loss expectancy
ARO -- Annual rate of occurrence
SLE -- Single loss expectancy
The following are incorrect answers:
$300,000 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
$150,000 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
$1,500 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Mc Graw Hill, Shon Harris, CISSP All In One (AIO) book, Sixth Edition , Pages 87-88 and Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP Exam, (OIG), Pages 60-61
Explanation/Reference:
The cost of a countermeasure should not be greater in cost than the risk it mitigates (ALE). For a quantitative risk assessment, the equation is ALE = ARO x SLE where the SLE is calculated as the product of asset value x exposure factor. An event that happen once every five years would have an ARO of .2 (1 divided by 5).
SLE = Asset Value (AV) x Exposure Fact (EF)
SLE = 1,000,000 x .30 = 300,000
ALE = SLE x Annualized Rate of Occurance (ARO)
ALE = 300,000 x .2 = 60,000
Know your acronyms:
ALE -- Annual loss expectancy
ARO -- Annual rate of occurrence
SLE -- Single loss expectancy
The following are incorrect answers:
$300,000 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
$150,000 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
$1,500 is incorrect. See the explanation of the correct answer for the correct calculation.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Mc Graw Hill, Shon Harris, CISSP All In One (AIO) book, Sixth Edition , Pages 87-88 and Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP Exam, (OIG), Pages 60-61
SSCP Exam Question 711
Which of the following steps is NOT one of the eight detailed steps of a Business Impact Assessment (BIA):
Correct Answer: A
Explanation/Reference:
Source: HARRIS, S., CISSP All- In-One Exam Guide, 3rd. Edition, 2005, Chapter 9, Page 701.
There have been much discussion about the steps of the BIA and I struggled with this before deciding to scrape the question about "the four steps," and re-write the question using the AIO for a reference. This question should be easy.... if you know all eight steps.
The eight detailed and granular steps of the BIA are:
1. Select Individuals to interview for the data gathering.
2. Create data gathering techniques (surveys, questionnaires, qualitative and quantitative approaches).
3. Identify the company's critical business functions.
4. Identify the resources that these functions depend upon.
5. Calculate how long these functions can survive without these resources.
6. Identify vulnerabilities and the threats to these functions.
7. Calculate risk for each of the different business functions.
8. Document findings and report them to management.
Shon goes on to cover each step in Chapter 9.
Source: HARRIS, S., CISSP All- In-One Exam Guide, 3rd. Edition, 2005, Chapter 9, Page 701.
There have been much discussion about the steps of the BIA and I struggled with this before deciding to scrape the question about "the four steps," and re-write the question using the AIO for a reference. This question should be easy.... if you know all eight steps.
The eight detailed and granular steps of the BIA are:
1. Select Individuals to interview for the data gathering.
2. Create data gathering techniques (surveys, questionnaires, qualitative and quantitative approaches).
3. Identify the company's critical business functions.
4. Identify the resources that these functions depend upon.
5. Calculate how long these functions can survive without these resources.
6. Identify vulnerabilities and the threats to these functions.
7. Calculate risk for each of the different business functions.
8. Document findings and report them to management.
Shon goes on to cover each step in Chapter 9.
- Other Version
- 14503ISC.SSCP.v2022-10-04.q999
- 77ISC.Vceprep.SSCP.v2022-05-30.by.mildred.592q.pdf
- 11853ISC.SSCP.v2022-05-14.q592
- 112ISC.Exam4labs.SSCP.v2021-08-27.by.janice.837q.pdf
- Latest Upload
- 146Salesforce.Sales-Con-201.v2026-10-08.q104
- 143ACAMS.CAMS.v2026-10-08.q94
- 154CheckPoint.156-315.82.v2026-10-07.q59
- 157Microsoft.MB-820.v2026-10-07.q79
- 216CompTIA.SK0-005.v2026-10-07.q338
- 165Fortinet.NSE7_SSE_AR-26.v2026-10-05.q26
- 258IIA.IIA-CIA-Part1-CN.v2026-10-05.q321
- 378ISC.CISSP-CN.v2026-10-05.q802
- 166HP.HPE0-J81.v2026-10-05.q24
- 303Cisco.350-801.v2026-10-05.q313
