CCNA Security FAQ: Network Insecurity

CCNA Security FAQ: Network Insecurity

Q1. Which of the following constitutes the elements in the C-I-A triad?
A. Consolidation, Integration, Authentication
B. Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
C. Confusion, Impact, Animosity
D. Central, Intelligence, Agency
E. None of the above.

Answer: B is the correct answer. This is pretty much industry-wide

Q2. Cisco says that there are two major categories of threats to network security. Pick
them from the following list:
A. External threats
B. Viruses
C. Social engineering
D. Internal threats
E. Unauthorized access
F. Network misuse

Answer: A and D are correct. This is a trick question because the other answers are subcategories of external and internal threats. Viruses and social engineering are examples of external threats and unauthorized access and network misuse are examples of internal threats.

Q3. Which of the following is the best definition for integrity safeguards? (Choose one):
A. Ensuring that only authorized users have access to sensitive data.
B. Ensuring that only authorized entities can change sensitive data.
C. Ensuring that systems and the data that they provide access to remain available for authorized users.
D. Ensuring that only legitimate users can access the network subject to time of day (ToD) controls.
E. Configuring access control lists (ACLs), such that only specified protocols are allowed through the perimeter.

Answer: B is the correct answer. Answer A is a definition for confidentiality. Answer C is a definition of availability. Answers D and E are trick answers.

Q4. Match the following data classification levels for the public sector with their definitions:

  • Unclassified: _____
  • Secret: _____
  • Confidential: _____
  • Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU): _____
  • Top Secret: _____


A. Data with minimum confidentiality, integrity, or availability requirements; thus, little effort is made to secure it.

B. Data that would cause some embarrassment if revealed, but not enough to constitute a security breach.

C. First level of classified data. This data must comply with confidentiality requirements.

D. Data that requires concerted effort to keep secure. Typically, only a limited number of people are authorized to access this data, certainly fewer than those who are authorized to access confidential data.

E. The greatest effort is used to secure this data and to ensure its secrecy. Only those people with a “need to know” typically have access to data classified at this level

The answers are::

  • Unclassified: A
  • Secret: D
  • Confidential: C
  • Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU): B
  • Top Secret: E

Q5. Which of the following are not considered categories of security controls? (Choose all
that apply.)
A. Preventative control
B. Physical control
C. Deterrent control
D. Administrative control
E. Technical control
F. Detective control

Answer: A, C, and F are not categories of controls. Controls can be divided into three broad categories: physical, administrative, and technical. Remember the acronym PAT! Also recall that they can be further subdivided by type. Preventative, deterrent, and detective are examples of types of controls and not categories of controls.

Q6. Match the three types of laws found in most countries with their definitions:

Answer: Types of Law:

  • Civil: _____
  • Criminal: _____
  • Administrative: _____


A. Concerned with crimes. Penalties usually involve possible fines (paid to the court) and/or imprisonment of the offender.

B. Concerned with righting wrongs that do not involve crimes or criminal intent.Penalties are typically monetary and paid to the party who wins the lawsuit.

C. Typically government agencies in the course of enforcing regulations.Monetary awards are divided between the government agency and the victim (if any) of the contravened regulation.
The correct answers are:

  • Civil: B
  • Criminal (also called “tort”): A
  • Administrative: C

Q7. True or false: An exploit is the likelihood that a vulnerability might be exploited by aspecific attack

Answer: False. An exploit is an attack that takes advantage of a vulnerability. The definition given is
that for a “risk.”

Q8. Put the following seven steps for compromising targets and applications in the correct order:
A. Install back doors.
B. Escalate privileges.
C. Perform footprint analysis.
D. Manipulate users to gain access.
E. Enumerate applications and operating systems.
F. Gather additional passwords and secrets.
G. Leverage the compromised system

Answer: The correct order is C, E, D, B, F, A, G. In other words:

  1. Perform footprint analysis (reconnaissance).
  2. Enumerate applications and operating systems.
  3. Manipulate users to gain access.
  4. Escalate privileges.
  5. Gather additional passwords and secrets.
  6. Install back doors.
  7. Leverage the compromised system.

Q9. Fill in the blank for the following definition with the letter corresponding to the correct answer below:
If an attacker were simply guessing at sequence numbers—essentially using tools to calculate them—then the attack would be called _________ spoofing. Physical access to your network is not required.Choices:
A. Statistical
B. Invasive
C. Blind
D. Nonblind
E. Stochastic

Answer: is C. Blind spoofing is often done at a distance from your network and does not require physical network access.

Q10. True or false: Man-in-the-Middle (MiM) attacks attack a network or system’s availability.

Answer: False. DoS and DDoS attacks attack the network’s availability. MiM attacks attack a network’s confidentiality and integrity.

Q11. Which of the following strategies help mitigate against trust exploits?
A. Installing a firewall or IPS that can examine inbound traffic to ensure that it is protocol compliant, block traffic that isn’t, and also alert a custodian.
B. Installing Host Intrusion Protection System (HIPS) software on inside hosts.
C. Using ACLs on an IOS firewall.
D. All of the above.

Answer: The correct answer is D. Cisco recommends all strategies in mitigating against the possibility of a trust exploit.

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