SSCP Exam Question 26
Which of the following is the most reliable, secure means of removing data from magnetic storage media such as a magnetic tape, or a cassette?
Correct Answer: A
A "Degausser (Otherwise known as a Bulk Eraser) has the main function of reducing to near zero the magnetic flux stored in the magnetized medium. Flux density is measured in Gauss or Tesla. The operation is speedier than overwriting and done in one short operation. This is achieved by subjecting the subject in bulk to a series of fields of alternating polarity and gradually decreasing strength.
The following answers are incorrect:Parity Bit Manipulation. Parity has to do with disk lerror detection, not data removal. A bit or series of bits appended to a character or block of characters to ensure that the information received is the same as the infromation that was sent.
Zeroization. Zeroization involves overwrting data to sanitize it. It is time-consuming and not foolproof. The potential of restoration of data does exist with this method. Buffer overflow. This is a detractor. Although many Operating Systems use a disk buffer to temporarily hold data read from disk, its primary purpose has no connection to data removal. An overflow goes outside the constraints defined for the buffer and is a method used by an attacker to attempt access to a system.
The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:
Shon Harris AIO v3. pg 908 Reference: What is degaussing.
The following answers are incorrect:Parity Bit Manipulation. Parity has to do with disk lerror detection, not data removal. A bit or series of bits appended to a character or block of characters to ensure that the information received is the same as the infromation that was sent.
Zeroization. Zeroization involves overwrting data to sanitize it. It is time-consuming and not foolproof. The potential of restoration of data does exist with this method. Buffer overflow. This is a detractor. Although many Operating Systems use a disk buffer to temporarily hold data read from disk, its primary purpose has no connection to data removal. An overflow goes outside the constraints defined for the buffer and is a method used by an attacker to attempt access to a system.
The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:
Shon Harris AIO v3. pg 908 Reference: What is degaussing.
SSCP Exam Question 27
How are memory cards and smart cards different?
Correct Answer: C
The main difference between memory cards and smart cards is their capacity to process information. A memory card holds information but cannot process information. A smart card holds information and has the necessary hardware and software to actually process that information.
A memory card holds a user's authentication information, so that this user needs only type in a user ID or PIN and presents the memory card to the system. If the entered information and the stored information match and are approved by an authentication service, the user is successfully authenticated.
A common example of a memory card is a swipe card used to provide entry to a building. The user enters a PIN and swipes the memory card through a card reader. If this is the correct combination, the reader flashes green and the individual can open the door and
enter the building.
Memory cards can also be used with computers, but they require a reader to process the
information. The reader adds cost to the process, especially when one is needed for every
computer. Additionally, the overhead of PIN and card generation adds additional overhead
and complexity to the whole authentication process. However, a memory card provides a
more secure authentication method than using only a password because the attacker
would need to obtain the card and know the correct PIN.
Administrators and management need to weigh the costs and benefits of a memory card
implementation as well as the security needs of the organization to determine if it is the
right authentication mechanism for their environment.
One of the most prevalent weaknesses of memory cards is that data stored on the card are
not protected. Unencrypted data on the card (or stored on the magnetic strip) can be
extracted or copied. Unlike a smart card, where security controls and logic are embedded
in the integrated circuit, memory cards do not employ an inherent mechanism to protect the
data from exposure.
Very little trust can be associated with confidentiality and integrity of information on the
memory cards.
The following answers are incorrect:
"Smart cards provide two-factor authentication whereas memory cards don't" is incorrect.
This is not necessarily true. A memory card can be combined with a pin or password to
offer two factors authentication where something you have and something you know are
used for factors.
"Memory cards normally hold more memory than smart cards" is incorrect. While a memory
card may or may not have more memory than a smart card, this is certainly not the best
answer to the question.
"Only smart cards can be used for ATM cards" is incorrect. This depends on the decisions
made by the particular institution and is not the best answer to the question.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Shon Harris, CISSP All In One, 6th edition , Access Control, Page 199 and also for people
using the Kindle edition of the book you can look at Locations 4647-4650.
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition :
Access Control ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 2124-2139). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.
A memory card holds a user's authentication information, so that this user needs only type in a user ID or PIN and presents the memory card to the system. If the entered information and the stored information match and are approved by an authentication service, the user is successfully authenticated.
A common example of a memory card is a swipe card used to provide entry to a building. The user enters a PIN and swipes the memory card through a card reader. If this is the correct combination, the reader flashes green and the individual can open the door and
enter the building.
Memory cards can also be used with computers, but they require a reader to process the
information. The reader adds cost to the process, especially when one is needed for every
computer. Additionally, the overhead of PIN and card generation adds additional overhead
and complexity to the whole authentication process. However, a memory card provides a
more secure authentication method than using only a password because the attacker
would need to obtain the card and know the correct PIN.
Administrators and management need to weigh the costs and benefits of a memory card
implementation as well as the security needs of the organization to determine if it is the
right authentication mechanism for their environment.
One of the most prevalent weaknesses of memory cards is that data stored on the card are
not protected. Unencrypted data on the card (or stored on the magnetic strip) can be
extracted or copied. Unlike a smart card, where security controls and logic are embedded
in the integrated circuit, memory cards do not employ an inherent mechanism to protect the
data from exposure.
Very little trust can be associated with confidentiality and integrity of information on the
memory cards.
The following answers are incorrect:
"Smart cards provide two-factor authentication whereas memory cards don't" is incorrect.
This is not necessarily true. A memory card can be combined with a pin or password to
offer two factors authentication where something you have and something you know are
used for factors.
"Memory cards normally hold more memory than smart cards" is incorrect. While a memory
card may or may not have more memory than a smart card, this is certainly not the best
answer to the question.
"Only smart cards can be used for ATM cards" is incorrect. This depends on the decisions
made by the particular institution and is not the best answer to the question.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Shon Harris, CISSP All In One, 6th edition , Access Control, Page 199 and also for people
using the Kindle edition of the book you can look at Locations 4647-4650.
Schneiter, Andrew (2013-04-15). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition :
Access Control ((ISC)2 Press) (Kindle Locations 2124-2139). Auerbach Publications. Kindle Edition.
SSCP Exam Question 28
This type of attack is generally most applicable to public-key cryptosystems, what type of attack am I ?
Correct Answer: A
Explanation/Reference:
A chosen-ciphertext attack is one in which cryptanalyst may choose a piece of ciphertext and attempt to obtain the corresponding decrypted plaintext. This type of attack is generally most applicable to public-key cryptosystems.
A chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA) is an attack model for cryptanalysis in which the cryptanalyst gathers information, at least in part, by choosing a ciphertext and obtaining its decryption under an unknown key. In the attack, an adversary has a chance to enter one or more known ciphertexts into the system and obtain the resulting plaintexts. From these pieces of information the adversary can attempt to recover the hidden secret key used for decryption.
A number of otherwise secure schemes can be defeated under chosen-ciphertext attack. For example, the El Gamal cryptosystem is semantically secure under chosen-plaintext attack, but this semantic security can be trivially defeated under a chosen-ciphertext attack. Early versions of RSA padding used in the SSL protocol were vulnerable to a sophisticated adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack which revealed SSL session keys. Chosen-ciphertext attacks have implications for some self-synchronizing stream ciphers as well.
Designers of tamper-resistant cryptographic smart cards must be particularly cognizant of these attacks, as these devices may be completely under the control of an adversary, who can issue a large number of chosen-ciphertexts in an attempt to recover the hidden secret key.
According to RSA:
Cryptanalytic attacks are generally classified into six categories that distinguish the kind of information the cryptanalyst has available to mount an attack. The categories of attack are listed here roughly in increasing order of the quality of information available to the cryptanalyst, or, equivalently, in decreasing order of the level of difficulty to the cryptanalyst. The objective of the cryptanalyst in all cases is to be able to decrypt new pieces of ciphertext without additional information. The ideal for a cryptanalyst is to extract the secret key.
A ciphertext-only attack is one in which the cryptanalyst obtains a sample of ciphertext, without the plaintext associated with it. This data is relatively easy to obtain in many scenarios, but a successful ciphertext-only attack is generally difficult, and requires a very large ciphertext sample. Such attack was possible on cipher using Code Book Mode where frequency analysis was being used and even thou only the ciphertext was available, it was still possible to eventually collect enough data and decipher it without having the key.
A known-plaintext attack is one in which the cryptanalyst obtains a sample of ciphertext and the corresponding plaintext as well. The known-plaintext attack (KPA) or crib is an attack model for cryptanalysis where the attacker has samples of both the plaintext and its encrypted version (ciphertext), and is at liberty to make use of them to reveal further secret information such as secret keys and code books.
A chosen-plaintext attack is one in which the cryptanalyst is able to choose a quantity of plaintext and then obtain the corresponding encrypted ciphertext. A chosen-plaintext attack (CPA) is an attack model for cryptanalysis which presumes that the attacker has the capability to choose arbitrary plaintexts to be encrypted and obtain the corresponding ciphertexts. The goal of the attack is to gain some further information which reduces the security of the encryption scheme. In the worst case, a chosen-plaintext attack could reveal the scheme's secret key.
This appears, at first glance, to be an unrealistic model; it would certainly be unlikely that an attacker could persuade a human cryptographer to encrypt large amounts of plaintexts of the attacker's choosing. Modern cryptography, on the other hand, is implemented in software or hardware and is used for a diverse range of applications; for many cases, a chosen-plaintext attack is often very feasible. Chosen-plaintext attacks become extremely important in the context of public key cryptography, where the encryption key is public and attackers can encrypt any plaintext they choose.
Any cipher that can prevent chosen-plaintext attacks is then also guaranteed to be secure against known- plaintext and ciphertext-only attacks; this is a conservative approach to security.
Two forms of chosen-plaintext attack can be distinguished:
Batch chosen-plaintext attack, where the cryptanalyst chooses all plaintexts before any of them are encrypted. This is often the meaning of an unqualified use of "chosen-plaintext attack".
Adaptive chosen-plaintext attack, is a special case of chosen-plaintext attack in which the cryptanalyst is able to choose plaintext samples dynamically, and alter his or her choices based on the results of previous encryptions. The cryptanalyst makes a series of interactive queries, choosing subsequent plaintexts based on the information from the previous encryptions.
Non-randomized (deterministic) public key encryption algorithms are vulnerable to simple "dictionary"-type attacks, where the attacker builds a table of likely messages and their corresponding ciphertexts. To find the decryption of some observed ciphertext, the attacker simply looks the ciphertext up in the table. As a result, public-key definitions of security under chosen-plaintext attack require probabilistic encryption (i.e., randomized encryption). Conventional symmetric ciphers, in which the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt a text, may also be vulnerable to other forms of chosen-plaintext attack, for example, differential cryptanalysis of block ciphers.
An adaptive-chosen-ciphertext is the adaptive version of the above attack. A cryptanalyst can mount an attack of this type in a scenario in which he has free use of a piece of decryption hardware, but is unable to extract the decryption key from it.
An adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack (abbreviated as CCA2) is an interactive form of chosen-ciphertext attack in which an attacker sends a number of ciphertexts to be decrypted, then uses the results of these decryptions to select subsequent ciphertexts. It is to be distinguished from an indifferent chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA1).
The goal of this attack is to gradually reveal information about an encrypted message, or about the decryption key itself. For public-key systems, adaptive-chosen-ciphertexts are generally applicable only when they have the property of ciphertext malleability - that is, a ciphertext can be modified in specific ways that will have a predictable effect on the decryption of that message.
A Plaintext Only Attack is simply a bogus detractor. If you have the plaintext only then there is no need to perform any attack.
References:
RSA Laboratories FAQs about today's cryptography: What are some of the basic types of cryptanalytic attack?
also see:
http://www.giac.org/resources/whitepaper/cryptography/57.php
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chosen-plaintext_attack
A chosen-ciphertext attack is one in which cryptanalyst may choose a piece of ciphertext and attempt to obtain the corresponding decrypted plaintext. This type of attack is generally most applicable to public-key cryptosystems.
A chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA) is an attack model for cryptanalysis in which the cryptanalyst gathers information, at least in part, by choosing a ciphertext and obtaining its decryption under an unknown key. In the attack, an adversary has a chance to enter one or more known ciphertexts into the system and obtain the resulting plaintexts. From these pieces of information the adversary can attempt to recover the hidden secret key used for decryption.
A number of otherwise secure schemes can be defeated under chosen-ciphertext attack. For example, the El Gamal cryptosystem is semantically secure under chosen-plaintext attack, but this semantic security can be trivially defeated under a chosen-ciphertext attack. Early versions of RSA padding used in the SSL protocol were vulnerable to a sophisticated adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack which revealed SSL session keys. Chosen-ciphertext attacks have implications for some self-synchronizing stream ciphers as well.
Designers of tamper-resistant cryptographic smart cards must be particularly cognizant of these attacks, as these devices may be completely under the control of an adversary, who can issue a large number of chosen-ciphertexts in an attempt to recover the hidden secret key.
According to RSA:
Cryptanalytic attacks are generally classified into six categories that distinguish the kind of information the cryptanalyst has available to mount an attack. The categories of attack are listed here roughly in increasing order of the quality of information available to the cryptanalyst, or, equivalently, in decreasing order of the level of difficulty to the cryptanalyst. The objective of the cryptanalyst in all cases is to be able to decrypt new pieces of ciphertext without additional information. The ideal for a cryptanalyst is to extract the secret key.
A ciphertext-only attack is one in which the cryptanalyst obtains a sample of ciphertext, without the plaintext associated with it. This data is relatively easy to obtain in many scenarios, but a successful ciphertext-only attack is generally difficult, and requires a very large ciphertext sample. Such attack was possible on cipher using Code Book Mode where frequency analysis was being used and even thou only the ciphertext was available, it was still possible to eventually collect enough data and decipher it without having the key.
A known-plaintext attack is one in which the cryptanalyst obtains a sample of ciphertext and the corresponding plaintext as well. The known-plaintext attack (KPA) or crib is an attack model for cryptanalysis where the attacker has samples of both the plaintext and its encrypted version (ciphertext), and is at liberty to make use of them to reveal further secret information such as secret keys and code books.
A chosen-plaintext attack is one in which the cryptanalyst is able to choose a quantity of plaintext and then obtain the corresponding encrypted ciphertext. A chosen-plaintext attack (CPA) is an attack model for cryptanalysis which presumes that the attacker has the capability to choose arbitrary plaintexts to be encrypted and obtain the corresponding ciphertexts. The goal of the attack is to gain some further information which reduces the security of the encryption scheme. In the worst case, a chosen-plaintext attack could reveal the scheme's secret key.
This appears, at first glance, to be an unrealistic model; it would certainly be unlikely that an attacker could persuade a human cryptographer to encrypt large amounts of plaintexts of the attacker's choosing. Modern cryptography, on the other hand, is implemented in software or hardware and is used for a diverse range of applications; for many cases, a chosen-plaintext attack is often very feasible. Chosen-plaintext attacks become extremely important in the context of public key cryptography, where the encryption key is public and attackers can encrypt any plaintext they choose.
Any cipher that can prevent chosen-plaintext attacks is then also guaranteed to be secure against known- plaintext and ciphertext-only attacks; this is a conservative approach to security.
Two forms of chosen-plaintext attack can be distinguished:
Batch chosen-plaintext attack, where the cryptanalyst chooses all plaintexts before any of them are encrypted. This is often the meaning of an unqualified use of "chosen-plaintext attack".
Adaptive chosen-plaintext attack, is a special case of chosen-plaintext attack in which the cryptanalyst is able to choose plaintext samples dynamically, and alter his or her choices based on the results of previous encryptions. The cryptanalyst makes a series of interactive queries, choosing subsequent plaintexts based on the information from the previous encryptions.
Non-randomized (deterministic) public key encryption algorithms are vulnerable to simple "dictionary"-type attacks, where the attacker builds a table of likely messages and their corresponding ciphertexts. To find the decryption of some observed ciphertext, the attacker simply looks the ciphertext up in the table. As a result, public-key definitions of security under chosen-plaintext attack require probabilistic encryption (i.e., randomized encryption). Conventional symmetric ciphers, in which the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt a text, may also be vulnerable to other forms of chosen-plaintext attack, for example, differential cryptanalysis of block ciphers.
An adaptive-chosen-ciphertext is the adaptive version of the above attack. A cryptanalyst can mount an attack of this type in a scenario in which he has free use of a piece of decryption hardware, but is unable to extract the decryption key from it.
An adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack (abbreviated as CCA2) is an interactive form of chosen-ciphertext attack in which an attacker sends a number of ciphertexts to be decrypted, then uses the results of these decryptions to select subsequent ciphertexts. It is to be distinguished from an indifferent chosen-ciphertext attack (CCA1).
The goal of this attack is to gradually reveal information about an encrypted message, or about the decryption key itself. For public-key systems, adaptive-chosen-ciphertexts are generally applicable only when they have the property of ciphertext malleability - that is, a ciphertext can be modified in specific ways that will have a predictable effect on the decryption of that message.
A Plaintext Only Attack is simply a bogus detractor. If you have the plaintext only then there is no need to perform any attack.
References:
RSA Laboratories FAQs about today's cryptography: What are some of the basic types of cryptanalytic attack?
also see:
http://www.giac.org/resources/whitepaper/cryptography/57.php
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chosen-plaintext_attack
SSCP Exam Question 29
This free (for personal use) program is used to encrypt and decrypt emails.
Correct Answer: C
SSCP Exam Question 30
Which of the following tools is NOT likely to be used by a hacker?
Correct Answer: C
Explanation/Reference:
It is a data integrity assurance software aimed at detecting and reporting accidental or malicious changes to data.
The following answers are incorrect :
Nessus is incorrect as it is a vulnerability scanner used by hackers in discovering vulnerabilities in a system.
Saint is also incorrect as it is also a network vulnerability scanner likely to be used by hackers.
Nmap is also incorrect as it is a port scanner for network exploration and likely to be used by hackers.
Reference :
Tripwire : http://www.tripwire.com
Nessus : http://www.nessus.org
Saint : http://www.saintcorporation.com/saint
Nmap : http://insecure.org/nmap
It is a data integrity assurance software aimed at detecting and reporting accidental or malicious changes to data.
The following answers are incorrect :
Nessus is incorrect as it is a vulnerability scanner used by hackers in discovering vulnerabilities in a system.
Saint is also incorrect as it is also a network vulnerability scanner likely to be used by hackers.
Nmap is also incorrect as it is a port scanner for network exploration and likely to be used by hackers.
Reference :
Tripwire : http://www.tripwire.com
Nessus : http://www.nessus.org
Saint : http://www.saintcorporation.com/saint
Nmap : http://insecure.org/nmap
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