ISC CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) Exam Practice Test

WAFs detect how the application interacts with the environment, so they are optimal for detecting and refuting things like SQL injection and XSS. Password cracking, syn floods, and ransomware usually aren’t taking place in the same way as injection and XSS, and they are better addressed with controls at the router and through the use of HIDS, NIDS, and antimalware tools.

All the others are data analytics methods, but “refractory iterations” is a nonsense term thrown in as a red herring.

Potential clients are not served by SOC Type 1 audits. A Type 2 or Type 3 report would be appropriate for potential clients. SOC Type 1 reports are intended for restricted use, where only the service organization itself, current clients, or auditors would have access to them.

Copyrights are protected tangible expressions of creative works. The other answers listed are answers to subsequent questions.

The SOC 3 is the least detailed, so the provider is not concerned about revealing it. The SOC 1 Types 1 and 2 are about financial reporting, and not relevant. The SOC 2 Type 2 is much more detailed and will most likely be kept closely held by the provider.

IaaS entails the cloud customer installing and maintaining the OS, programs, and data; PaaS has the customer installing programs and data; in SaaS, the customer only uploads data. In a community cloud, data and device owners are distributed.

Interoperability is ability to easily move between cloud providers, by either moving or reusing components and services. This can pertain to any cloud deployment model, and it gives organizations the ability to constantly evaluate costs and services as well as move their business to another cloud provider as needed or desired. Portability relates to the wholesale moving of services from one cloud provider to another, not necessarily the reuse of components or services for other purposes. Although resiliency is not an official concept within cloud computing, it certainly would be found throughout other topics such as elasticity, auto-scaling, and resource pooling. Scalability pertains to changing resource allocations to a service to meet current demand, either upward or downward in scope.

Incident response is the process through which security or operational issues are handled, including and coordination with and communication to the appropriate stakeholders. None of the other terms provided is the correct response.

Multifactor authentication systems are composed of something the user knows, has, and/or is, not something the user sends. Multifactor authentication commonly uses something that a user knows, has, and/or is (such as biometrics or features).

The more systems that be included in the baseline, the more cost-effective and scalable the baseline is. The baseline does not deal with breaches or version control; those are the provinces of the security office and CMB, respectively. Regulatory compliance might (and usually will) go beyond the baseline and involve systems, processes, and personnel that are not subject to the baseline.

PaaS should have the following key capabilities and characteristics:

- Support multiple languages and frameworks: PaaS should support multiple programming languages and frameworks, thus enabling the developers to code in whichever language they prefer or the design requirements specify. In recent times, significant strides and efforts have been taken to ensure that open source stacks are both supported and utilized, thus reducing “lock-in” or issues with interoperability when changing CSPs.

- Multiple hosting environments: The ability to support a wide variety of underlying hosting environments for the platform is key to meeting customer requirements and demands. Whether public cloud, private cloud, local hypervisor, or bare metal, supporting multiple hosting environments allows the application developer or administrator to migrate the application when and as required. This can also be used as a form of contingency and continuity and to ensure the ongoing availability.

- Flexibility: Traditionally, platform providers provided features and requirements that they felt suited the client requirements, along with what suited their service offering and positioned them as the provider of choice, with limited options for the customers to move easily. This has changed drastically, with extensibility and flexibility now afforded to meeting the needs and requirements of developer audiences. This has been heavily influenced by open source, which allows relevant plug-ins to be quickly and efficiently introduced into the platform.

- Allow choice and reduce lock-in: PaaS learns from previous horror stories and restrictions, proprietary meant red tape, barriers, and restrictions on what developers could do when it came to migration or adding features and components to the platform. Although the requirement to code to specific APIs was made available by the providers, they could run their apps in various environments based on commonality and standard API structures, ensuring a level of consistency and quality for customers and users.

- Ability to auto-scale: This enables the application to seamlessly scale up and down as required to accommodate the cyclical demands of users. The platform will allocate resources and assign these to the application as required. This serves as a key driver for any seasonal organizations that experience spikes and drops in usage.

The recovery service level (RSL) measures the percentage of operations that would be recovered during a BCDR situation. The recovery point objective (RPO) sets and defines the amount of data an organization must have available or accessible to reach the determined level of operations necessary during a BCDR situation. The recovery time objective (RTO) measures the amount of time necessary to recover operations to meet the BCDR plan. SRE is provided as an erroneous response.

Sarbanes-Oxley was a direct response to corporate scandals. FERPA is related to education. GLBA is about the financial industry. HIPAA is about health care.

Hashing involves taking a block of data and, through the use of a one-way operation, producing a fixed-size value that can be used for comparison with other data. It is used primarily for protecting data and allowing for rapid comparison when matching data values such as passwords. Labels involve looking for header information or other categorizations of data to determine its type and possible classifications. Metadata involves looking at information attributes of the data, such as creator, application, type, and so on, in determining classification. Content analysis involves examining the actual data itself for its composition and classification level.

While the provider might share any of the other options listed, the provider will not share administration of security controls with the customer. Security controls are the sole province of the provider.

The SOC 3 is the least detailed, so the provider is not concerned about revealing it. The SOC 1 Types 1 and 2 are about financial reporting and not relevant. The SOC 2 Type 2 is much more detailed and will most likely be kept closely held by the provider.

Fences are physical controls; carpets and ceilings are architectural features, and a door is not necessarily a control: the lock on the door would be a physical security control. Although you might think of a door as a potential answer, the best answer is the fence; the exam will have questions where more than one answer is correct, and the answer that will score you points is the one that is most correct.

In IaaS, the cloud provider only owns the hardware and supplies the utilities. The customer is responsible for the OS, programs, and data. In PaaS and SaaS, the provider also owns the OS. There is no QaaS. That is a red herring.

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) forms the basis of virtually all directory services, regardless of the specific vendor or software package.WS is a protocol for information exchange between two systems and does not actually store the data. ADFS is a Windows component for enabling single sign-on for the operating system and applications, but it relies on data from an LDAP server. PKI is used for managing and issuing security certificates.

Security requirements should be incorporated into the software development lifecycle (SDLC) from the earliest requirement gathering stage and should be incorporated prior to the requirement analysis phase.

With a typical BCDR solution, an organization would need some number of staff to quickly travel to the location of the BCDR site to configure systems and applications for recovery. With a cloud environment, everything is done over broad network access, with no need (or even possibility) to travel to a remote site at any time.

Sandboxing involves segregating and isolating information or processes from others within the same system or application, typically for security concerns. This is generally used for data isolation (for example, keeping different communities and populations of users isolated from other similar data).

The main problem when it comes to data discovery is the quality of the data that analysis is being performed against. Data that is malformed, incorrectly stored or labeled, or incomplete makes it very difficult to use analytical tools against.

Firewalls take into account source IP, destination IP, the port the traffic is using, as well as the network protocol (UDP/TCP). Whether or not the traffic is encrypted is not something a firewall is concerned with.

Regardless of which cloud-hosting model is used, the cloud customer always has sole responsibility for the data and its security.

Explanation

Any application that sends data to the user will face the potential that the user could manipulate or alter the data, whether it resides in cookies, GET or POST commands, or headers, or manipulates client-side validations. If the user receives data from the application, it is crucial that the application validate and verify any data that is received back from the user.

During any audit, regulations are the most important factor and guidelines for what must be tested. Although the requirements from management, stakeholders, and shareholders are also important, regulations are not negotiable and pose the biggest risk to any organization for compliance failure.

Upon successful user authentication, the identity provider gives information about the user to the relying party that it needs to make authorization decisions for granting access as well as the level of access needed.

Regardless of which cloud-hosting model is used, the cloud customer always has sole responsibility for the governance of systems and data.

In any environment, data encryption is incredibly important to prevent unauthorized exposure of data either internally or externally. If a system is compromised by an attack, having the data encrypted on the system will prevent its unauthorized exposure or export, even with the system itself being exposed.

Penetration testing involves using the same strategies and toolsets that hackers would use against a system to discovery potential vulnerabilities.

Regulatory requirements are those imposed upon businesses and their operations either by law, regulation, policy, or standards and guidelines. These requirements are specific either to the locality in which the company or application is based or to the specific nature of the data and transactions conducted.

In order to obtain and comply with certifications, independent external audits must be performed and satisfied. Although some testing of certification controls can be part of an internal audit, they will not satisfy requirements.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets stringent requirements in the United States for the protection of healthcare records.

The loss of staffing would not be a reason to declare a BCDR situation because it does not impact production operations or equipment, and the same staff would be needed for a BCDR situation.

GitHub is an application for code collaboration, including versioning and branching of code trees. It is not used for applying or maintaining system configurations.

Disaster recovery and business continuity are vital concerns with availability. If data is destroyed or compromised, having regular backup systems in place as well as being able to perform disaster recovery in the event of a major or widespread problem allows operations to continue with an acceptable loss of time and data to management. This also ensures that sensitive data is protected and persisted in the event of the loss or corruption of data systems or physical storage systems.

The recovery time objective (RTO) is a measure of the amount of time it would take to recover operations in the event of a disaster to the point where management's objectives are met for BCDR.

The goal with any cloud-hosting setup is for the cloud customer to be able to perform most or all its functions for service provisioning and configuration without any need for support from or interaction with the cloud provider beyond the automated tools provided. To fulfill the tenants of on-demand self-service, required interaction with the cloud provider--either half time, full time, or a commensurate amount of time based on the contract--would be in opposition to a cloud's intended use. As such, these answers are incorrect.

Chillers and cooling systems are internal to a data center and its operations, and as such they are considered an internal redundancy. Power feeds, network circuits, and generators are all external to a data center and provide utility services to them, which makes them an external redundancy.

The question is describing the Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud offering, and as such, structured and unstructured storage types will be available to the customer. Volume and object are storage types associated with IaaS, and although the other answers present similar-sounding storage types, they are a mix of real and fake names.

With cloud providers hosting a number of different customers, it would be impractical for them to pursue additional certifications based on the needs of a specific customer. Cloud environments are built to a common denominator to serve the greatest number of customers. Especially within a public cloud model, it is not possible or practical for a cloud provider to alter its services for specific customer demands. Resource pooling and virtualization within a cloud environment would be the same for all customers, and would not impact certifications that a cloud provider might be willing to pursue. Regulations would form the basis for certification problems and would be a reason for a cloud provider to pursue specific certifications to meet customer requirements.

An injection attack is where a malicious actor will send commands or other arbitrary data through input and data fields with the intent of having the application or system execute the code as part of its normal processing and queries. This can trick an application into exposing data that is not intended or authorized to be exposed, or it could potentially allow an attacker to gain insight into configurations or security controls. Missing function-level access control exists where an application only checks for authorization during the initial login process and does not further validate with each function call. Cross-site request forgery occurs when an attack forces an authenticated user to send forged requests to an application running under their own access and credentials. Cross-site scripting occurs when an attacker is able to send untrusted data to a user's browser without going through validation processes.

DNSSEC is an extension of the normal DNS protocol that enables a system to verify the integrity of a DNS query resolution by signing it from the authoritative source and verifying the signing chain. It is not used for securing data transmissions or exchanges. HTTPS is the most common method for securing web service and data calls within a cloud, and TLS is the current standard for encrypting HTTPS traffic. VPNs are widely used for securing data transmissions and service access.

A cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attack forces a client that a user has used to authenticate to an application to send forged requests under the user's own credentials to execute commands and requests that the application thinks are coming from a trusted client and user. Although this type of attack cannot be used to steal data directly because the attacker has no way of seeing the results of the commands, it does open other ways to compromise an application. Missing function-level access control exists where an application only checks for authorization during the initial login process and does not further validate with each function call. Cross-site scripting occurs when an attacker is able to send untrusted data to a user's browser without going through validation processes. An injection attack is where a malicious actor sends commands or other arbitrary data through input and data fields with the intent of having the application or system execute the code as part of its normal processing and queries.

Modifying the metadata does not change the actual data. Although this initial phase is called "create," it can also refer to modification. In essence, any time data is considered "new," it is in the create phase. This can come from data that is newly created, data that is imported into a system and is new to that system, or data that is already present and is modified into a new form or value.

During the data-in-use state, the information has already been accessed from storage and transmitted to the service, so reliance on a technology such as digital signatures is imperative to ensure security and complement the security methods used during previous states. Data in transit relies on technologies such as TLS to encrypt network transmission of packets for security. Data at rest primarily uses encryption for stored file objects. Archived data would be the same as data at rest.

The Infinity Paradigm of the International Data Center Authority (IDCA) takes a macro-level approach to data center design. The IDCA does not use a specific, focused approach on specific components to achieve tier status. Building Industry Consulting Services International (BICSI) issues certifications for data center cabling. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes a broad range of fire safety and design standards for many different types of facilities. The Uptime Institute publishes the most widely known and used standard for data center topologies and tiers.

The store phase occurs immediately after the create phase, and as data is committed to storage structures, the first opportunity for security controls to be implemented is realized. During the create phase, the data is not yet part of a system where security controls can be applied, and although the use and share phases also entail the application of security controls, they are not the first phase where the process occurs.

With SDN, the filtering and forwarding capabilities and administration are separated. This allows the cloud provider to build interfaces and management tools for administrative delegation of filtering configuration, without having to allow direct access to underlying network equipment. Firewalling and protocols are both terms related to networks, but they are not components SDN is concerned with.

Within a SaaS implementation, the cloud customer licenses the use of the software from the cloud provider because SaaS delivers a fully functional application to the customer. With SaaS, the cloud provider is responsible for the entire software application and any necessary infrastructure to develop, run, and maintain it. The purchasing, development, and maintenance are fully the responsibility of the cloud provider.

Public clouds, such as AWS and Azure, are massive systems run by major corporations, and they account for a significant share of Internet traffic and services. They are always expanding, offer enormous resources to customers, and are the least likely to run into resource constraints compared to the other deployment models. Private clouds would likely have the resources available for specific uses and could not be assumed to have a large pool of resources available for expansion. A community cloud would have the same issues as a private cloud, being targeted to similar organizations. A hybrid cloud, because it spans multiple clouds, would not fit the bill either, without the use of individual cloud models.

Data loss prevention (DLP) extends the capabilities for data protection beyond the standard and traditional security controls that are offered by operating systems, application containers, and network devices. DLP is not specifically implemented to counter malicious insiders, and would not be particularly effective in doing so, because a malicious insider with legitimate access would have other ways to obtain data. DLP is a set of practices and controls to manage and minimize risk, comply with regulatory requirements, and show due diligence with the protection of data.

Broad network access to cloud services, although it is an integral aspect of cloud computing, would not being a specific benefit to an organization with cyclical business needs. The other options would allow for lower costs during periods of low usage as well as provide the ability to expand services quickly and easily when needed for peak periods. Measured service allows a cloud customer to only use the resources it needs at the time, and resource pooling allows a cloud customer to access resources as needed. On-demand self-service enables the cloud customer to change its provisioned resources on its own, without the need to interact with the staff from the cloud provider.

Within IaaS, where the cloud customer is responsible for everything beyond the physical network, the number of users on a system would not be a factor in billing or service charges. The core cloud services for IaaS are based on the memory, storage, and CPU requirements of the cloud customer. Because the cloud customer with IaaS is responsible for its own images and deployments, these components comprise the basis of its cloud provisioning and measured services billing.

Measured service is the aspect of cloud computing that pertains to cloud services and resources being billed in a metered way, based only on the level of consumption and duration of the cloud customer. Although they sound similar to the correct answer, none of the other choices is the actual cloud terminology.

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) encapsulates its information in what is known as a SOAP envelope. It then leverages common communications protocols for transmission. Object is a type of cloud storage, but also a commonly used term with certain types of programming languages. Packet and payload are terms that sound similar to envelope but are not correct in this case.

With cloud providers hosting a number of different customers, it would be impractical for them to pursue additional certifications based on the needs of a specific customer. Cloud environments are built to a common denominator to serve the greatest number of customers, and especially within a public cloud model, it is not possible or practical for a cloud provider to alter their services for specific customer demands.

The payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) pertains to organizations that handle credit card transactions and is an industry regulatory standard, not a governmental one.

DNSSEC relates to the integrity of DNS resolutions and the prevention of spoofing or redirection, and does not pertain to the actual security of transmissions or the protection of data.

With international operations, systems ultimately cross many jurisdictional boundaries, and many times, they conflict with each other. The major hurdle to overcome for an organization is the lack of an ultimate international authority to mediate such conflicts, with a likely result of legal efforts in each jurisdiction.

Masking involves replacing specific data within a data set with new values. For example, with credit card fields, as most who have ever purchased anything online can attest, nearly the entire credit card number is masked with a character such as an asterisk, with the last four digits left visible for identification and confirmation.

With many SaaS implementations, data is not isolated to a particular customer but rather is part of the overall application. When it comes to data destruction, a particular challenge is ensuring that all of a customer's data is completely destroyed while not impacting the data of other customers.

The cloud service manager is responsible for the delivery of cloud services, the provisioning of cloud services, and the overall management of cloud services.

The contract should include requirements for notification by the cloud provider to the cloud customer upon the receipt of such an order. This serves a few important purposes. First, it keeps communication and trust open between the cloud provider and cloud customers. Second, and more importantly, it allows the cloud customer to potentially challenge the order if they feel they have the grounds or desire to do so.

Vendor documentation from the manufacturer of the physical hardware is the best source of best practices for securing the BIOS.

eDiscovery pertains to information and data that is in the possession, control, and custody of an organization.

Hex GBL is a reference to a computer part in Terry Pratchett’s fictional Discworld universe. The rest are not.

When a key management system is outside of the cloud environment hosting the application, availability is a primary concern because any access issues with the encryption keys will render the entire application unusable.

The standards put out by Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) primarily cover complex cabling designs and setups for data centers, but also include specifications on power, energy efficiency, and hot/cold aisle setups.

When leasing space in a data center, an organization will give up a large degree of control as to how it is built and maintained, and instead must conform to the policies and procedures of the owners and operators of the data center.

The GLBA, as it is commonly called based on the lead sponsors and authors of the act, is officially known as "The Financial Modernization Act of 1999." It is specifically focused on PII as it relates to financial institutions. There are three specific components of it, covering various areas and use, on top of a general requirement that all financial institutions must provide all users and customers with a written copy of their privacy policies and practices, including with whom and for what reasons their information may be shared with other entities.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires the U.S. Federal Department of Health and Human Services to publish and enforce regulations pertaining to electronic health records and identifiers between patients, providers, and insurance companies. It is focused on the security controls and confidentiality of medical records, rather than the specific technologies used, so long as they meet the requirements of the regulations.

Representational State Transfer (REST) is a software architectural scheme that applies the components, connectors, and data conduits for many web applications used on the Internet. It uses and relies on the HTTP protocol and supports a variety of data formats.

A Type 2 hypervisor differs from a Type 1 hypervisor in that it runs on top of another operating system rather than directly tied into the underlying hardware of the virtual host servers. With this type of implementation, additional security and architecture concerns come into play because the interaction between the operating system and the hypervisor becomes a critical link. The hypervisor no longer has direct interaction and control over the underlying hardware, which means that some performance will be lost due to the operating system in the middle needing its own resources, patching requirements, and operational oversight.

Rapid elasticity allows a cloud environment to automatically add or remove resources to or from a system or application based on its current demands. Whereas a traditional data center model would require standby hardware and substantial effort to add resources in response to load increases, a cloud environment can easily and rapidly expand to meet resources demands, so long as the application is properly implemented for it.