Computer Knowledge ยท General Awareness

Information Security

4,143 Questions

Information security involves protecting computer systems and data from unauthorized access, cyber threats, and damage. It is a core part of the computer knowledge section in various banking and government exams. Practicing these concepts helps in understanding digital signatures, network security, and access control effectively.

Cybersecurity threatsAccess controlCryptography basicsSecurity risk managementDatabase protection

Information Security Questions

Multiple choice technology security
  1. A function that encrypts the data provided.

  2. A function that transforms a string of characters into a number known as the message digest .

  3. A function that uses MD5 algorithm with private key to decrypt

  4. All the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

To answer this question, the user needs to understand the concept of hash functions and their purpose in cryptography.

Option A is incorrect because hash functions are not used for encryption; rather, they are used for creating fixed-size and unique representations of input data.

Option B is correct. A hash function takes an input (usually a string of characters) and produces a fixed-size output, called a message digest or hash value. This value is typically much smaller than the input, making it easier to store and compare. Hash functions are used for a variety of purposes, including data integrity checking, password storage, and digital signatures.

Option C is incorrect because hash functions are one-way functions, meaning that they cannot be easily reversed. They are not used for decryption.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

The Answer is: B. A function that transforms a string of characters into a number known as the message digest.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. SQL Injection

  2. Cross site scripting (XSS)

  3. Buffer Overflow

  4. None of the choices

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is Cross Site Scripting (XSS). George posts malicious code (script) on a website, and when Alice visits it, her browser executes the code, sending her session key to George. This is the classic XSS attack pattern: inject script, victim visits, script executes in victim's browser context. SQL Injection (A) targets databases, not client-side session theft. Buffer Overflow (C) is a memory corruption vulnerability.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Buffer overflow

  2. Cross site scripting (XSS)

  3. Directory traversal

  4. Obfuscation

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is Directory Traversal (aka Path Traversal). The URL contains encoded sequences (like %2e for '.' and %2f for '/') that attempt to navigate up the directory tree to access /etc/passwd. This attack bypasses web root restrictions by manipulating file paths. Buffer overflow (A) sends excessive data. XSS (B) injects scripts. Obfuscation (D) hides code, not an attack type itself.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Client Certificates

  2. Basic

  3. Digest

  4. NTLM

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

To solve this question, the user needs to have knowledge of different HTTP authentication mechanisms and their characteristics.

Now, let's go through each option and explain why it is right or wrong:

A. Client Certificates: This option is incorrect because client certificates are used to authenticate the client to the server and are typically encrypted, not sent in clear text.

B. Basic: This option is correct. Basic authentication is one of the simplest authentication schemes and sends login and password credentials in clear text. This means that if someone intercepts the traffic, they can read the credentials and potentially use them to gain unauthorized access to the system.

C. Digest: This option is incorrect because Digest authentication uses a challenge-response mechanism to authenticate the user and does not send the credentials in clear text.

D. NTLM: This option is incorrect because NTLM authentication uses a challenge-response mechanism and does not send the credentials in clear text.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

The Answer is: B

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Session Fixation Attack

  2. Brute force attack

  3. Insecure Direct Object Reference

  4. Injection Flaws

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

To answer this question, the user needs to know about common types of attacks on web applications and their characteristics.

Option A: Session Fixation Attack, which is also known as a session hijacking attack, involves an attacker fixing the session identifier of a user to gain unauthorized access to the user's account. This option is incorrect because it does not match the given scenario.

Option B: Brute force attack is the correct answer. A brute force attack is a common type of attack where an automated process tries a large number of possible values to crack a password or find a key. This type of attack is often used to gain unauthorized access to a system or application. This option matches the given scenario.

Option C: Insecure Direct Object Reference is a type of attack where an attacker can access an unauthorized resource by manipulating an object reference. This option is incorrect because it does not match the given scenario.

Option D: Injection Flaws are a type of attack where an attacker sends malicious input to an application to exploit a vulnerability and gain unauthorized access to the system. This option is incorrect because it does not match the given scenario.

Therefore, the correct answer is:

The Answer is: B. Brute force attack.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Absolutely Correct Assumption

  2. Absolutely Incorrect assumption

  3. Partially Correct Assumption

  4. Possibly correct Assumption

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The answer to this question is C. Partially Correct Assumption.

Explanation:

The cloud provider will take care of the physical security of the infrastructure, such as the data centers and the network. However, the responsibility for application security still lies with the organization that owns the application. This includes things like ensuring that the application is coded securely, that it is properly configured, and that it is regularly updated with security patches.

Therefore, the assumption that security will entirely be the service provider's responsibility is partially correct. The service provider will take care of some aspects of security, but the organization still has a responsibility to ensure the security of their application.

Here is a table that summarizes the different aspects of security that are the responsibility of the cloud provider and the organization:

Aspect of Security Responsibility
Physical security of the infrastructure Cloud provider
Network security Cloud provider
Application security Organization
Data security Organization
Compliance with regulations Organization
Multiple choice technology security
  1. Requirements Analysis

  2. Vulnerability Assessment

  3. Code Review

  4. All of the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Application security activities span the entire software development lifecycle. Requirements analysis defines core security criteria, source code review identifies security flaws statically, and vulnerability assessment evaluates active systems. Therefore, all of these options represent application security activities.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. access control should be handled by the application and database layers

  2. Always include current authenticated username as part of the query.

  3. Never rely on presentation layer to restrict values submitted by the user

  4. All the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

All options are valid measures to prevent Database Access Control attacks. Access control must be enforced at both application and database layers (defense-in-depth). Including the authenticated username in queries ties operations to specific users. Never trusting presentation layer validation prevents bypass attacks. Option D correctly captures that all these practices are necessary.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. If the request does not contain a nonce that proves its provenance

  2. The application acts on an HTTP request without verifying that the request was made with the user's consent

  3. A Web application uses session cookies

  4. All the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

CSRF vulnerabilities arise when applications rely on automatically transmitted session cookies, execute requests without explicit user consent checks, and fail to use unpredictable, transaction-specific nonces. Since all these conditions facilitate Cross-Site Request Forgery, all options are correct.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Session ID

  2. Session number

  3. Sequence number

  4. Source IP address

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In network-level TCP session hijacking, predicting or intercepting the TCP sequence number is critical for injecting unauthorized data packets into the active stream. Application-level hijacking relies on session IDs, while source IP addresses alone do not enable packet injection.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Input field length validation

  2. Encryption

  3. Firewall

  4. Use of web forms

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Input field length validation directly checks that incoming data does not exceed buffer capacities, preventing buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Encryption protects confidentiality, firewalls control network access, and web forms are interface components; none of these address memory bounds directly.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Port filtering firewall

  2. Encryption

  3. Session monitoring

  4. Strong passwords

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Encryption (such as SSL/TLS or HTTPS) encrypts session communication, preventing attackers from sniffing or intercepting session tokens over the network. Firewalls, strong passwords, and session monitoring are insufficient because they cannot prevent passive sniffing of unencrypted IDs in transit.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Blank Password

  2. IP Printing buffer overflow

  3. SQL Injection

  4. None of the choices

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The jill.c (or JilWIN_32) exploit targets a buffer overflow vulnerability (MS01-023) in Microsoft IIS 5.0's Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) ISAPI extension. It allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary system code, whereas blank passwords and SQL injection are unrelated.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Broken authentication and Sesion Management

  2. Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

  3. SQL Injection

  4. Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) occurs when vulnerable code executes malicious scripts in a victim's browser, enabling attackers to hijack sessions, deface sites, or distribute malware. SQL Injection targets databases, while CSRF triggers unauthorized actions, and broken session management exposes user tokens.

Multiple choice technology security
  1. Yes

  2. No. Additional System Hardening is needed

  3. No.Additional Database hardening is needed.

  4. No. Additional Application hardening is needed.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Application security alone is NOT sufficient for database security. Databases require additional hardening measures like encryption at rest, access controls, auditing, parameterized queries, and least-privilege configurations. Option C correctly identifies that database-specific hardening is still necessary. Options B and D are partially correct but C is the most precise answer.