CAS-005 Sample Questions Answers

Integrating IDS, firewall, and DLP to reduce response time requires orchestration and automation. Let’s evaluate:

A. SOAR(Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response):SOAR integrates security tools, automates workflows, and speeds up incident response. It’s the best fit for this scenario, as CAS-005 highlights SOAR for operational efficiency.

B. CWPP (CloudWorkload Protection Platform):Focused on securing cloud workloads, not integrating on-premises tools.

C. XCCDF (Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format):A standard for compliance checklists, not a tool for integration or response.

The most likely cause of the anti-malware alerts on customer workstations is unsecure bundled libraries. When developing and deploying new applications, it is common for developers to use third-party libraries. If these libraries are not properly vetted for security, they can introduce vulnerabilities or malicious code.

Why Unsecure Bundled Libraries?

Third-Party Risks: Using libraries that are not secure can lead to malware infections if the libraries contain malicious code or vulnerabilities.

Code Dependencies: Libraries may have dependencies that are not secure, leading to potential security risks.

Common Issue: This is a frequent issue in software development where libraries are used for convenience but not properly vetted for security.

Other options, while relevant, are less likely to cause widespread anti-malware alerts:

A. Misconfigured code commit: Could lead to issues but less likely to trigger anti-malware alerts.

C. Invalid code signing certificate: Would lead to trust issues but not typically anti-malware alerts.

D. Data leakage: Relevant for privacy concerns but not directly related to anti-malware alerts.

Based on the provided logs, the user has accessed various applications from different geographic locations within a very short timeframe. This pattern is indicative of the "impossible travel" security rule, a common feature in Single Sign-On (SSO) systems designed to detect and prevent fraudulent access attempts.

Analysis of Logs:

At 8:47 p.m., the user accessed a VPN from Toronto.

At 8:48 p.m., the user accessed email from Los Angeles.

At 8:48 p.m., the user accessed the human resources system from Los Angeles.

At 8:49 p.m., the user accessed email again from Los Angeles.

At 8:52 p.m., the user attempted to access the human resources system from Toronto, which was denied.

These rapid changes in location are physically impossible and typically trigger security measures to prevent unauthorized access. The SSO system detected these inconsistencies and likely flagged the activity as suspicious, resulting in access denial.

The logs indicate unauthorized access from104.18.16.29, an external IP, to the building camera’s administrative console during off-hours.Restricting access only to approved IPsensures that only authorized personnel can remotely control the cameras, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and manipulation.

Implementing WAF protection (A)secures against web application attacks but does not restrict unauthorized administrative access.

Upgrading the firmware (B)is good security hygiene but does not immediately mitigate the active threat.

Blocking IP 104.18.16.29 (D)is a temporary measure, as an attacker can switch to another IP. A better long-term solution is whitelisting trusted IPs.

Homomorphic encryptionallows computations to be performed directly on encrypted data without decrypting it first. This technology is particularly useful for securely transmitting confidential data to a cloud service provider (CSP) and allowing the CSP to process the data without having any visibility into its content. This maintains data confidentiality even during processing. It is not about securing data at rest and in transit or simply storing data across nodes.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Per SecurityX CAS-005 GRC principles, outsourcing a function does not transfer accountability for protecting personally identifiable information (PII). While subprocessors handle data, the originating organization remains responsible under most data protection laws and frameworks (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

Due care in procurement (option B) is important, but it is a supporting concept, not the primary driver in this context.

Jurisdictional compliance (option D) is a requirement, but the underlying reason for risk assessment is that accountability for PII protection remains with the organization.

The table shows detailed information about products, includinglocation, chassis manufacturer, OS, application developer, and vendor. This type of information is typically assessed in a supply chain assessment to evaluate the security and reliability of components and services from different suppliers.

Why Supply Chain Assessment?

Component Evaluation: Assessing the origin and security of each component used in the products, including hardware, software, and third-party services.

Vendor Reliability: Evaluating the security practices and reliability of vendors involved in providing components or services.

Risk Management: Identifying potential risks associated with the supply chain, such as vulnerabilities in third-party components or insecure development practices.

Other types of assessments do not align with the detailed supplier and component information provided:

A. System: Focuses on individual system security, not the broader supply chain.

C. Quantitative: Focuses on numerical risk assessments, not supplier information.

D. Organizational: Focuses on internal organizational practices, not external suppliers.

The goal is to optimize bandwidth, increase speed, and maintain threat visibility in a low-bandwidth satellite office.Local cachingstores frequently accessed data locally, reducing bandwidth usage by minimizing repeated requests to external or internal resources. It speeds up access and doesn’t inherently reduce security visibility if paired with monitoring tools.

Option A:Distributed connection allocation might balance traffic but doesn’t directly reduce bandwidth usage or speed up access.

Option B:Local caching is ideal—reduces bandwidth, improves performance, and maintains visibility with proper security controls.

Option C:A CDN is great for external content delivery but less relevant for internal resources and doesn’t inherently address threat visibility.

Option D:SD-WAN improves WAN performance, but "vertical heterogeneity" is vague and not a standard term; it’s less tailored to this scenario than caching.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Using X.509 certificates for authentication with HTTPS encrypts credentials in transit and provides server identity verification. In SecurityX CAS-005 objectives, securing internal web services with TLS and mutual authentication is a primary method to reduce credential interception or reuse.

802.1X EAP-TTLS is for network access control, not web authentication.

DNS security (DNSSEC) ensures DNS integrity, not web session encryption.

IDS rules help detect, but not prevent, credential exposure.

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is the best method for identifying all components, dependencies, and open-source libraries used inan application. It ensures that organizations track and manage vulnerabilities in third-party code before deployment.

SCA tools generate a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM), which provides a full representation of the code and modules used in the application.

Other options:

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (C) checks for vulnerabilities but does not map dependencies.

Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) (D) works at runtime, not before deployment.

Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) (B) works while the application is running.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the regulation most likely being addressed by the news organization. GDPR includes provisions for the "right to be forgotten," which allows individuals to request the deletion of personal data that is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. This regulation aims to protect the privacy and personal data of individuals within the European Union.

Implementing security and quality checks in a CI/CD pipeline ensures that:

Container images are scanned for vulnerabilities beforedeployment.

Version control is enforced, preventing unauthorized changes.

Hashes validate image integrity.

Other options:

A (Configuring ACLs on mesh networks) improves access control but does not ensure scanning.

C (Audits on container images) detect changes but do not enforce best practices.

D (Pulling from a vendor repository) does not ensure vulnerability scanning.

When users disconnect from Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions without properly logging off, their sessions remain active on the server. If their passwords are changed due to the 90-day rotation policy, these lingering sessions may attempt to reauthenticate using outdated credentials, leading to multiple failed login attempts and potential account lockouts.

Automating the logout of inactive sessions ensures that disconnected or idle sessions are terminated after a specified period, preventing stale sessions from causing authentication issues. This approach aligns with best practices for session management and helps maintain security compliance.

To prevent sensitive corporate information from being exposed if a laptop is stolen, the solution must ensure that data is not stored locally and access is tightly controlled. According to the CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 study guide (Domain 4: Governance, Risk, and Compliance, 4.3), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) hosts data and applications in the cloud, reducing the risk of data exposure on physical devices. Combining DaaS with multifactor authentication (MFA) ensures that even if a laptop is stolen, unauthorized access to the cloud environment is prevented.

Option B:IP allow lists and SSO do not address data stored locally on the laptop, which could be accessed offline.

Option C:MDM and stronger passwords help but do not prevent data exposure if the device is compromised (e.g., via offline attacks).

Option D:Updating policies and monitoring breaches are reactive measures that do not directly protect data on a stolen laptop.

Option A:DaaS ensures no sensitive data resides on the device, and MFA secures access, making it the best solution.

The malware uses TCP 4444 to move laterally between systems. A host-based firewall can block unauthorized communication ports (like TCP 4444) on each workstation, preventing malware from establishing connections and spreading. Configuring the CPU's NX bit and enabling ASLR primarily help in mitigating memory-based exploits, not in stopping lateral movement. Enabling UEFI ensures boot integrity but does not mitigate active lateral communication. An edge firewall would protect the network perimeter, not internal workstation-to-workstation communication.

The table shows that the user "SALES1" is consistently blocked despite having met the MFA requirements. The common factor in these blocked attempts is the source IP address (8.11.4.16) being identified as from Germany while the user is assigned to France. This discrepancy suggests that the network geolocation is being misidentified by the authentication server, causing legitimate access attempts to be blocked.

Why Network Geolocation Misidentification?

Geolocation Accuracy: Authentication systems often use IP geolocation to verify the location of access attempts. Incorrect geolocation data can lead to legitimate requests being denied if they appear to come from unexpected locations.

Security Policies: Company security policies might block access attempts from certain locations to prevent unauthorized access. If the geolocation is wrong, legitimate users can be inadvertently blocked.

Consistent Pattern: The user "SALES1" from the IP address 8.11.4.16 is always blocked, indicating a consistent issue with geolocation.

Other options do not align with the pattern observed:

A. Bypass MFA requirements: MFA is satisfied, so bypassing MFA is not the issue.

C. Administrator access policy: This is about user access, not specific administrator access.

D. OTP codes: The user has satisfied MFA, so OTP code configuration is not the issue.

The application allows users to input URLs, which the application then fetches using requests.get(url). This functionality can be exploited if not properly validated, leading to potential security vulnerabilities such as Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF).

Implementing a code scanner as part of the development pipeline can help identify insecure coding practices, such as unsanitized user inputs and improper handling of external requests. Code scanners analyze the source code for known vulnerabilities and coding errors, enabling developers to remediate issues before deployment.

To reduce the risk of unauthorized BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) usage, the organization should implement Conditional Access and Network Access Control (NAC).

Why Conditional Access and NAC?

Conditional Access:

User-to-Device Binding: Conditional access policies can enforce that only registered and compliant devices are allowed to access corporate resources.

Context-Aware Security: Enforces access controls based on the context of the access attempt, such as user identity, device compliance, location, and more.

Network Access Control (NAC):

DeviceConfiguration Requirements: NAC ensures that only devices meeting specific security configurations are allowed to connect to the network.

Access Control: Provides granular control over network access, ensuring that BYOD devices comply with security policies before gaining access.

Other options, while useful, do not address the specific need to control and secure BYOD devices effectively:

A. Cloud IAM to enforce token-based MFA: Enhances authentication security but does not control device compliance.

D. PAM to enforce local password policies: Focuses on privileged account management, not BYOD control.

E. SD-WAN to enforce web content filtering: Enhances network performance and security but does not enforce BYOD device compliance.

F. DLP to enforce data protection capabilities: Protects data but does not control BYOD device access and compliance.

The question states that security scanning and quality assurance (QA) in the CI/CD pipeline have been completed with no issues, indicating that the code in the test branch is ready for production. According to the CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 study guide (Domain 2: Security Operations, 2.3), in a secure CI/CD pipeline, once code passes automated security scans, QA, and other checks (e.g., unit testing, peer reviews), the next step is to merge the tested branch into the main branch for deployment to production.

Option B:Threat modeling is typically performed earlier, during design or development, not after passing CI/CD checks.

Option C:Unit testing is part of the CI/CD pipeline and should already be completed.

Option D:Peer reviews are conducted before or during the test phase, not after QAand security scans are clear.

Option A:Merging the test branch to the main branch is the logical next step to prepare for production deployment.

The sshd_config file is the main configuration file for the OpenSSH server. To disable weak CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) ciphers for SSH connections, the security engineer should modify the sshd_config file to update the list of allowed ciphers. This file typically contains settings for the SSH daemon, including which encryption algorithms are allowed.

By editing the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and updating the Ciphers directive, weak ciphers can be removed, and only strong ciphers can be allowed. This change ensures that the SSH server does not use insecure encryption methods.

After applying mitigations that reduce the likelihood of a risk’s impact, the next step is toassess the residual risk—the risk that remains after controls are implemented. This ensures the organization understands if the mitigation is sufficient or if further action is needed, aligning with risk management best practices.

Option A:Correct—residual risk assessment is the logical next step to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigations.

Option B:Updating the threat model might follow but isn’t immediate; residual risk comes first.

Option C:Moving to the next risk skips evaluating the current mitigation’s success.

Option D:Recalculating impact magnitude is part of residual risk assessment but isn’t the full process.

When dealing with false positives and false negatives reported by a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system, the goal is to enhance the accuracy of the alerts and ensure that actual threats are identified correctly. The following sources of information best support the analysis process:

A. Third-party reports and logs: Utilizing external sources of information such as threat intelligence reports, vendor logs, and other third-party data can provide a broader perspective on potential threats. These sources often contain valuable insights and context that can help correlate events more accurately, reducing the likelihood of false positives and false negatives.

B. Trends: Analyzing trends over time can help inunderstanding patterns and anomalies in the data. By observing trends, the security team can distinguish between normal and abnormal behavior, which aids in fine-tuning the SIEM configurations to better detect true positives and reduce false alerts.

Other options such as dashboards, alert failures, network traffic summaries, and manual review processes are also useful but are more operational rather than foundational for understanding the root causes of reporting errors in SIEM configurations.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

Privacy regulations (C), such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), require companies to provide data subject access request (DSAR) handling processes. A DSAR allows individuals to request details about their personal data stored by a company and request modifications or deletions.

Information security standards (A) focus on overall security controls, while e-discovery requirements (B) relate to legal investigations rather than ongoing compliance.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Best practice in CAS-005 network security design is to deploy:

NIDS passively via a port mirror (SPAN port) to avoid introducing latency or failure points.

NIPS inline in a strategic point, such as integrated with the main firewall, to actively block threats.This combination provides both visibility and active protection without overloading network paths.

To design resilience in an enterprise system that can survive environmental catastrophes, recover within 24 hours, and be resilient to active exploitation, the best strategy is to allocate fully redundant and geographically distributed standby sites. Here’s why:

Geographical Redundancy: Having geographically distributed standby sites ensures that if one site is affected by an environmental catastrophe, the other sites can take over, providing continuity of operations.

Full Redundancy: Fully redundant sites mean that all critical systems and data are replicated, enabling quick recovery in the event of a critical loss of availability.

Resilience to Exploitation: Distributing resources across multiple sites reduces the risk of a single point of failure and increases resilience against targeted attacks.

Risk mitigation involves taking actions to reduce either the likelihood or impact of a threat. By implementing a firewall between the two environments, Company A is minimizing the risk of threats from Company B impacting its own systems. Accepting the risk would involve taking no action, avoiding it would mean terminating activities with Company B, and transferring would involve outsourcing the risk, none of which occurred here.

A proxy-based Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is chosen primarily for its ability to block unapproved applications and services. Here’s why:

Application and Service Control: Proxy-based CASBs can monitor and control the use of applications and services by inspecting traffic as it passes through the proxy. This allows the organization to enforce policies that block unapproved applications and services, ensuring compliance with security policies.

Visibility and Monitoring: By routing traffic through the proxy, the CASB can provide detailed visibility into user activities and data flows, enabling better monitoring and threat detection.

Real-Time Protection: Proxy-based CASBs can provide real-time protection against threats by analyzing and controlling traffic before it reaches the end user, thus preventing the use of risky applications and services.

10.1.45.65 SFTP ServerDisable 8080

10.1.45.66 Email Server Disable 415 and 443

10.1.45.67 Web Server Disable 21, 80

10.1.45.68 UTM Appliance Disable 21

Advancements in quantum computing pose a significant threat to current encryption systems, especially those based on the difficulty of factoring large prime numbers, such as RSA. Quantum computers have the potential to solve these problems exponentially faster than classical computers, making current cryptographic systems vulnerable.

Why Large Prime Numbers are Vulnerable:

Shor's Algorithm: Quantum computers can use Shor's algorithm to factorize large integers efficiently, which undermines the security of RSA encryption.

Cryptographic Breakthrough: The ability to quickly factor large prime numbers means that encrypted data, which relies on the hardness of thismathematical problem, can be decrypted.

Other options, while relevant, do not capture the primary reason for the shift towards new encryption algorithms:

B. Zero Trust security architectures: While important, the shift to homomorphic encryption is not the main driver for new encryption algorithms.

C. Perfect forward secrecy: It enhances security but is not the main reason for new encryption algorithms.

D. Real-time IP traffic capture: Quantum computers pose a more significant threat to the underlying cryptographic algorithms than to the real-time capture of traffic.

Select the Action Items for the Appropriate Locations:

Authorization Server:

Action Item: Grant access

The authorization server's role is to authenticate the user and then issue an authorization code or token that the client application can use to access resources. Granting access involves the server authenticating the resource owner and providing the necessary tokens for the client application.

Resource Server:

Action Item: Access issued tokens

The resource server is responsible for serving the resources requested by the client application. It must verify the issued tokens from the authorization server to ensure the client has the right permissions to access the requested data.

B2B Client Application:

Action Item: Authorize access to other applications

The B2B client application must handle the OAuth flow to authorize access on behalf of the user without requiring direct knowledge of the user's credentials. This includes obtaining authorization tokens from the authorization server and using them to request access to the resource server.

Detailed Explanation:

OAuth 2.0 is designed to provide specific authorization flows for web applications, desktopapplications, mobile phones, and living room devices. The integration involves multiple steps and components, including:

Resource Owner (User):

The user owns the data and resources that are being accessed.

Client Application (B2B Client Application):

Requests access to the resources controlled by the resource owner but does not directly handle the user's credentials. Instead, it uses tokens obtained through the OAuth flow.

Authorization Server:

Handles the authentication of the resource owner and issues the access tokens to the client application upon successful authentication.

Resource Server:

Hosts the resources that the client application wants to access. It verifies the access tokens issued by the authorization server before granting access to the resources.

OAuth Workflow:

The resource owner accesses the client application.

The client application redirects the resource owner to the authorization server for authentication.

The authorization server authenticates the resource owner and asks for consent to grant access to the client application.

Upon consent, the authorization server issues an authorization code or token to the client application.

The client application uses the authorization code or token to request access to the resources from the resource server.

The resource server verifies the token with the authorization server and, if valid, grants access to the requested resources.

The most secure way to prevent inadvertent data disclosure when encrypted SSDs are reused is to securely delete the encryption keys used by the SSD. Without the encryption keys, the data on the SSD remains encrypted and is effectively unreadable, rendering any residual data useless. This method is more reliable and efficient than overwriting data multiple times or using other physical destruction methods.

The logs indicate multiple failed login attempts for user10, who may have been part of the staff reduction 60 days prior. If user10's account was removed, and their home directory deleted, any applications or services relying on files or configurations within that directory would fail. This scenario is common when service accounts are not properly identified and preserved during staff reductions.

Ensuring that service accounts are documented and maintained separately from user accounts is essential to prevent unintended disruptions to applications and services.

The scenario describes a sophisticated attack where the threat actor used steganography within LDAP to exfiltrate data. Given that thehardware and OS firmware were validated and found uncompromised, the attack vector likely exploited a network communication channel. To mitigate such risks, enforcing allow lists for authorized network ports and protocols is the most effective strategy.

Here’s why this option is optimal:

Port and Protocol Restrictions: By creating an allow list, the organization can restrict communications to only those ports and protocols that are necessary for legitimate business operations. This reduces the attack surface by preventing unauthorized or unusual traffic.

Network Segmentation: Enforcing such rules helps in segmenting the network and ensuring that only approved communications occur, which is critical in preventing data exfiltration methods like steganography.

Preventing Unauthorized Access: Allow lists ensure that only predefined, trusted connections are allowed, blocking potential paths that attackers could use to infiltrate or exfiltrate data.

Other options, while beneficial in different contexts, are not directly addressing the network communication threat:

B. Measuring and attesting to the entire boot chain: While this improves system integrity, it doesn’t directly mitigate the risk of data exfiltration through network channels.

C. Rolling thecryptographic keys used for hardware security modules: This is useful for securing data and communications but doesn’t directly address the specific method of exfiltration described.

D. Using code signing to verify the source of OS updates: Ensures updates are from legitimate sources, but it doesn’t mitigate the risk of network-based data exfiltration.

The “cipher unavailable” message indicates that the client and server could not agree on a common cipher suite. After the OpenSSL update, the server likely dropped support for older, insecure ciphers (such as RC4 or 3DES) that legacy clients still use. The safest remediation is to update or configure the client applications to support modern, secure ciphers such as AES in Galois/Counter Mode (AES-GCM) or an equivalent strong cipher suite that is supported by the updated OpenSSL server.

Option A (SSL 3.0) is unsafe because SSL 3.0 is deprecated and vulnerable to multiple attacks (e.g., POODLE).

Option C (ECB mode) is insecure due to pattern leakage and should never be enforced.

Option D (ECC signatures) relates to key exchange and signatures, not to the “cipher unavailable” issue directly.

This approach aligns with SecurityX CAS-005 cryptographic interoperability guidance—modernize clients rather than reintroduce insecure protocols.

Chain of custody ensures that evidence is protected, documented, and accounted for from the moment it is collected until it is presented in court or a legal proceeding. Properly maintaining chain of custody is critical to proving that the evidence has not been tampered with. Although encryption protects data during transit, and legal issues are important, without a documented chain of custody, the integrity of the evidence itself could be challenged and invalidated.

To meet the requirements of centrally managing configurations, pushing policies, remotely wiping devices, and maintaining an asset inventory, the best solution is to implement a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution.

MDM Capabilities:

Central Management: MDM allows administrators to manage the configurations of all devices from a central console.

Policy Enforcement: MDM solutions enable the push of security policies and updates to ensure compliance across all managed devices.

Remote Wipe: In case a device is lost or stolen, MDM provides the capability to remotely wipe the device to protect sensitive data.

Asset Inventory: MDM maintains an up-to-date inventory of all managed devices, including their configurations and installed applications.

Other options do not provide the same comprehensive capabilities required for managing specialized endpoints.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

SecurityX CAS-005 secure DevOps guidance recommends integrating security controls into the CI/CD pipeline. By validating container security baselines at security gates before deployment, noncompliant builds are stopped early, ensuring consistency across environments.

Option B is useful but does not ensure compliance if changes are made after image creation.

Option A detects drift but only after deployment.

Option D is reactive and does not prevent insecure deployments.

Understanding the Security Event:

Administrator accounts are highly privilegedand require strict monitoring.

Server 4 shows failed login attempts for the administrator account.This could indicate abrute-force attack or unauthorized access attempt.

The fact thatnone of the admin login attempts were successfulsuggestssomeone was trying to guess the credentials.

Why Option D isCorrect:

Failed logins for administrator accounts are a critical security concern.

If an attacker gains access, they couldescalate privileges and compromise the network.

Investigatingunauthorized admin login attemptsshould be thetop priorityin a log audit.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

A (Endpoint not submitting logs):While this is concerning, it does not indicate anactive attack.

B (Lateral movement):There's no evidence of a compromised account moving between servers yet.

C (Misconfigured syslog server):False negatives are a possibility, but thefailed admin loginsare real.

To meet the requirements of only allowing internally signed applications, preventing unauthorized software installations, and logging attempts to run unauthorized software, configuring application control with blocked hashes and enterprise-trusted root certificates is the best solution. This approach ensures that only applications signed by trusted certificates are allowed to execute, while all other attempts are blocked and logged. It effectively prevents unauthorized software installations by restrictingexecution to pre-approved applications.

To enable code signing with an existing PKI, the first step is to configure the Certificate Authority (CA) to issue code signing certificates. Adding a new template with attributes specific to code signing (e.g., key usage for signing) allows the CA to support this requirement without disrupting existing operations.

Option A:Correct—templates define certificate types; this isthe foundational step.

Option B:Wildcard certificates are for domains, not code signing.

Option C:Recalculating root CA keys is unnecessary and risky unless compromised.

Option D:SAN (Subject Alternative Name) is for multi-domain certificates, irrelevant here.

User behavior analytics (UBA)detectsanomalousactivityby analyzing historical patterns and comparing them to recent behavior. The time shift in account activity suggestspotential compromise or misuse.

TTP-based inquiries (A)focus on known attack tactics, techniques, and procedures but do not involve behavior tracking.

Adversary emulation (C)simulates attacks but does not analyze real data trends.

OSINT analysis (D)gathers intelligence from public sources, which is unrelated to internal account behavior analysis.

Anacceptable use policy (AUP)defines what is considered appropriate use of corporate email and prevents unnecessary emails to personal accounts. This helps in reducing false DLP alerts while maintaining compliance.

Quarantining emails (A)is unnecessary since the content was not flagged as sensitive.

Encryption (C)secures emails but does not address overuse.

Phishing awareness training (D)is unrelated to policy enforcement for outgoing emails.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)restricts elevated permissions, reducing the risk of widespread ransomware attacks.Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)protects against credential theft and ensures that even if passwords are compromised, accounts are not easily accessible.Network segmentationbreaks the flat network into secure zones, limiting lateral movement by attackers. SD-WAN and BGP relate to network routing and efficiency, not security architecture specifically. Remote access VPN secures external access but does not solve internal flat network issues. Network Access Control (NAC) is helpful but secondary compared to PAM, MFA, and segmentation in this context.

Understanding the Security Event:

Unauthorized usersgained access from non-production to production.

IAM policies were weak, allowingbulk user creation.

Vulnerability assessments were disabled, andpatching was delayed.

Logs were unavailable, making incident response difficult.

Why Options A, D, and E areCorrect:

A (Disable bulk user creation by IAM team)→ Prevents unauthorized mass user account creation, which could beexploited by attackers.

D (Routine updates for endpoints & network devices)→ Patch management ensuresvulnerabilities are not left open for attackers.

E (Ensure all security/network devices send logs to SIEM)→ Helps withreal-time monitoring and detection of unauthorized activities.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

B (180-day log retention)→ While log retention is good,real-time monitoring is the priority.

C (Review application allow list daily)→ Reviewing itdaily is impractical. Regular audits are better.

F (Restrict production-to-non-production traffic)→ The issue isunauthorized access, not traffic routing.

When the cost to mitigate certain risks is higher than the asset values, the best approach is to purchase insurance. Thismethod allows the company to transfer the risk to an insurance provider, ensuring that financial losses are covered in the event of an incident. This approach is cost-effective and ensures that risks are prioritized appropriately without overspending on mitigation efforts.

Building playbooks for different scenarios and performing regular table-top exercises directly addresses the issues identified in the lessons-learned review. Here's why:

Lost important information for further analysis: Playbooks outline step-by-step procedures for incident response, ensuring that team members know exactly what to document and how to preserve evidence.

Did not utilize the chain of communication: Playbooks include communication protocols, specifying who to notify and when. Regular table-top exercises reinforce these communication channels, ensuring they are followed during actual incidents.

Did not follow the right steps for a proper response: Playbooks provide a clear sequence of actions to be taken during various types of incidents, helping the team to respond in a structured and effective manner. Regular exercises allow the team to practice these steps, identifying and correcting any deviations from the plan.

Investing in better forensic tools (Option A) or requiring certifications (Option C) are also valuable, but they do not directly address the procedural and communication gaps identified. Publishing and enforcing the incident response policy (Option D) is important but not as practical and hands-on as playbooks and exercises in ensuring the team is prepared.

Understanding Residual Risk:

Residual riskis the amount of risk remainingafter controls and mitigations have been applied.

Risk appetitedefines the level of risk an organization iswilling to acceptbefore taking additional actions.

Why Option D is Correct:

TheCIO must clarify the organization’s "Risk Appetite"to determinehow much residual risk is acceptable.

If risk exceeds the appetite,additional security measuresneed to be implemented.

This aligns withISO 31000andNIST Risk Management Framework (RMF).

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

A (Mitigation):Mitigationrefers toreducing risk, but it doesn’t define the acceptable level of residual risk.

B (Impact):Impact assessment measurespotential damage, but it does not determine what is acceptable.

C (Likelihood):Likelihood is theprobability of risk occurring, but not what level isacceptable.

To ensure always-on VPN access is enabled and restricted to company assets, the network engineer needs to generate device certificates using the specific template settings required for the company's VPN solution. These certificates ensure that only authorized devices can establish a VPN connection.

Why Device Certificates are Necessary:

Authentication: Device certificates authenticate company assets, ensuring that only authorized devices can access the VPN.

Security: Certificates provide a higher level of security compared to username and password combinations, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

Compliance: Certificates help in meeting security policies and compliance requirements by ensuring that only managed devices can connect to the corporate network.

Other options do not provide the same level of control and security for always-on VPN access:

B. Modify signing certificates for IKE version 2: While important for VPN protocols, it does not address device-specific authentication.

C. Create a wildcard certificate: This is not suitable for device-specific authentication and could introduce security risks.

D. Add the VPN hostname as a SAN entry: This is more related to certificate management and does not ensure device-specific authentication.

The immediate action after discovering ransomware is toisolate the affected serversto prevent further spread of the malware to other systems in the network. Paying the ransom is not recommended as it does not guarantee data recovery and encourages criminal behavior. Notifying law enforcement is necessary, but containment must happen first to limit damage. Requesting server restoration should only occur after containment and a thorough investigation to ensure no remnants of ransomware remain.

To ensure that logs from a legacy platform are properly retained beyond the default retention period, configuring the SIEM to aggregate the logs is the best approach. SIEM solutions are designed to collect, aggregate, and store logs from various sources, providing centralized log management and retention. This setup ensures that logs are retained according to policy and can be easily accessed for analysis and compliance purposes.

The error message"NET::ERR_CERT_WEAK_SIGNATURE_ALGORITHM" indicates that the web browser is rejecting the certificate because it uses a weak signature algorithm. This commonly happens with self-signed certificates, which often use outdated or insecure algorithms.

Why Discontinue Self-Signed Certificates?

Security Compliance: Modern browsers enforce strict security standards and may reject certificates that do not comply with these standards.

Trusted Certificates: Using certificates from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) ensures compliance with security standards and is less likely to be flagged as insecure.

Weak Signature Algorithm: Self-signed certificates might use weak algorithms like MD5 or SHA-1, which are considered insecure.

Other options do not address the specific cause of the certificate error:

A. Rewriting legacy web functions: Does not address the certificate issue.

B. Disabling deprecated ciphers: Useful for improving security but not related to the certificate error.

C. Blocking non-essential ports: This is unrelated to the issue of certificate validation.

Understanding Business Impact Analysis (BIA):

ABIA assesses the effects of disruptionsto an organization's operations.

It helpsprioritize resourcesbased on the potential impact ofdowntime, compliance issues, and critical processes.

Why Options B, C, and F are Correct:

B (Applicable contract obligations)→ Many companies havelegal and compliance obligationsregarding downtime, availability, and SLAs. This information helps determine whatrisk levelsare acceptable.

C (Costs associated with downtime)→ BIA quantifies the financial impact of system failures. Knowinglost revenue, regulatory fines, and recovery costshelps in planning.

F (Critical processes)→ Identifyingcore business processesallows an organization toprioritize recoveryeffortsandmaintain operational continuity.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

A (Inventory details)→ While useful for asset management, it doesnot directly impact business continuity planning.

D (Network diagrams)→ These help in security architecture but arenot directly related to the financial/business impact analysis.

E (Contingency plans)→ BIA isperformed before contingency planningto identifywhat needs protection.

A centralized Software Bill of Materials (SBoM) is the best solution for identifying vulnerabilities in container images in aprivate repository. An SBoM provides a comprehensive inventory of all components, dependencies, and their versions within a container image, facilitating quick evaluation and response to vulnerabilities.

Why Centralized SBoM?

Comprehensive Inventory: An SBoM lists all software components, including their versions and dependencies, allowing for thorough vulnerability assessments.

Quick Identification: Centralizing SBoM data enables rapid identification of affected containers when a vulnerability is disclosed.

Automation: SBoMs can be integrated into automated tools for continuous monitoring and alerting of vulnerabilities.

Regulatory Compliance: Helps in meeting compliance requirements by providing a clear and auditable record of all software components used.

Other options, while useful, do not provide the same level of comprehensive and efficient vulnerability management:

A. SAST scan reports: Focuses on static analysis of code but may not cover all components in container images.

C. CIS benchmark compliance reports: Ensures compliance with security benchmarks but does not provide detailed component inventory.

D. Credentialed vulnerability scan: Useful for in-depth scans but may not be as efficient for quick vulnerability evaluation.

The security diagram proposed by the security architect depicts a Zero Trust security model. Zero Trust is asecurity framework that assumes all entities, both inside and outside the network, cannot be trusted and must be verified before gaining access to resources.

Key Characteristics of Zero Trust in the Diagram:

Role-based Access Control: Ensures that users have access only to the resources necessary for their role.

Mandatory Access Control: Additional layer of security requiring authentication for access to sensitive areas.

Network Access Control: Ensures that devices meet security standards before accessing the network.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Enhances security by requiring multiple forms of verification.

This model aligns with the Zero Trust principles of never trusting and always verifying access requests, regardless of their origin.

Analysis and Remediation Options for Each IoC:

IoC 1:

Evidence:

Source: Apache_httpd

Type: DNSQ

Dest: @10.1.1.1:53,@10.1.2.5

Data: update.s.domain, CNAME 3a129sk219r9slmfkzzz000.s.domain, 108.158.253.253

Analysis:

Analysis: The service is attempting to resolve a malicious domain.

Reason: The DNS queries and the nature of the CNAME resolution indicate that the service is trying to resolve potentially harmful domains, which is a common tactic used by malware to connect to command-and-control servers.

Remediation:

Remediation: Implement a blocklist for known malicious ports.

Reason: Blocking known malicious domains at the DNS level prevents the resolution of harmful domains, thereby protecting the network from potential connections to malicious servers.

IoC 2:

Evidence:

Src: 10.0.5.5

Dst: 10.1.2.1, 10.1.2.2, 10.1.2.3, 10.1.2.4, 10.1.2.5

Proto: IP_ICMP

Data: ECHO

Action: Drop

Analysis:

Analysis: Someone is footprinting a network subnet.

Reason: The repeated ICMP ECHO requests to different addresses within a subnet indicate that someone is scanning the network to discover active hosts, a common reconnaissance technique used by attackers.

Remediation:

Remediation: Block ping requests across the WAN interface.

Reason: Blocking ICMP ECHO requests on the WAN interface can prevent attackers from using ping sweeps to gather information about the network topology and active devices.

IoC 3:

Evidence:

Proxylog:

GET /announce?info_hash=%01dff%27f%21%10%c5%wp%4e%1d%6f%63%3c%49%6d&peer_id%3dxJFS

Uploaded=0&downloaded=0&left=3767869&compact=1&ip=10.5.1.26&event=started

User-Agent: RAZA 2.1.0.0

Host: localhost

Connection: Keep-Alive

HTTP200 OK

Analysis:

Analysis: An employee is using P2P services to download files.

Reason: The HTTP GET request with parameters related to a BitTorrent client indicates that the employee is using peer-to-peer (P2P) services, which can lead to unauthorized data transfer and potential security risks.

Remediation:

Remediation: Enforce endpoint controls on third-party software installations.

Reason: By enforcing strict endpoint controls, you can prevent the installation and use of unauthorized software, such as P2P clients, thereby mitigating the risk of data leaks and other security threats associated with such applications.

Geofencingallows the device to be restricted based on its physical location — disabling or locking devices when they move outside of trusted zones.Full disk encryptionensures that if a device is lost, the data remains inaccessible to unauthorized users. Containerization protects specific apps or data, but does not disable the entire device. Patch management, allow/blocklists, and geotagging serve other important functions but are not directly linked to the requirements in this scenario.

HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code)ensures the integrity and authentication of API requests without exposing static or hard-coded private keys. It uses a secret key and a hash function, preventing replay attacks and tampering. VPNs secure the transport layer, MFA protects user accounts (not API-to-database communications), and DSA is a signature algorithm but does not address hard-coding risk directly.

Microsegmentation is a critical strategy within Zero Trust architecture that enhances context-aware access systems by dividing the network into smaller, isolated segments. This reduces the attack surface and limits lateral movement of attackers within the network. It ensures that even if one segment is compromised, the attacker cannot easily access other segments. This granular approach to network security is essential for enforcing strict access controls and monitoring within Zero Trust environments.

Reviewing data sovereignty laws in countries where the organization has no presence is likely due to concerns about regulatory enforcement. Data sovereignty laws dictate how data can be stored, processed, and transferred across borders. Understanding these laws is crucial for compliance, especially if the organization handles data that may be subject to foreign regulations.

A. The organization is performing due diligence of potential tax issues: This is less likely as tax issues are generally not directly related to data sovereignty laws.

B. The organization has been subject to legal proceedings in countries where it has a presence: While possible, this does not explain the focus on countries where the organization has no presence.

C. The organization is concerned with new regulatory enforcement in other countries: This is the most likely reason. New regulations could impact the organization’s operations, especially if they involve data transfers or processing data from these countries.

D. The organization has suffered brand reputation damage from incorrect media coverage: This is less relevant to the need for reviewing data sovereignty laws.

Step by Step Explanation:

Understanding the Scenario: The organization wants a strict application control policy: deny all software execution by default and only allow specifically authorized applications. This must be enforced across all operating systems. It is implied that they mean an Allow list, but Block List is the only reasonable answer.

Analyzing the Answer Choices:

A. SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux): SELinux is a security module for the Linux kernel that provides Mandatory Access Control (MAC). While it can enforce application control, it's specific to Linux and doesn't meet the "regardless of OS" requirement.

Creating a separate network for users who need access tothe application is the best action to secure an internal application that is critical to the production area and cannot be updated.

Why Separate Network?

Network Segmentation: Isolates the critical application from the rest of the network, reducing the risk of compromise and limiting the potential impact of any security incidents.

Controlled Access: Ensures that only authorized users have access to the application, enhancing security and reducing the attack surface.

Minimized Risk: Segmentation helps in protecting the application from vulnerabilities that could be exploited from other parts of the network.

Other options, while beneficial, do not provide the same level of security for a critical application:

A. Disallow wireless access: Useful but does not provide comprehensive protection.

B. Deploy intrusion detection capabilities using a network tap: Enhances monitoring but does not provide the same level of isolation and control.

C. Create an acceptable use policy: Important for governance but does not provide technical security controls.

A risk register is atool commonly used in risk management to document all identified risks, their assessment in terms of likelihood and impact, and the actions steps to manage them. By adding the newly identified risks to the risk register and assigning an owner and severity, the organization ensures that each risk is visible to stakeholders and has a designated individual responsible for its management. This aligns with the company's requirements for transparency and accountability in risk management.​

Forward secrecy (also known as perfect forward secrecy, PFS) ensures that session keys used in a VPN tunnel are ephemeral, meaning that even if an attacker compromises a long-term private key, past sessions cannot be decrypted. According to the CompTIA SecurityX CAS-005 study guide (Domain 3: Cybersecurity Technology, 3.1), enabling forward secrecy on VPN tunnels reduces the risk of cryptanalysis by ensuring that each session’s encryption key is unique and not derived from a single compromised key. This directly mitigates the impact of attacks like key theft or future decryption attempts.

Option A:Forward secrecy is not required for hardware-accelerated cryptography, which depends on processor capabilities, not key management.

Option C:While confidentiality is important, this is too vague and does not specifically explain why forward secrecy is chosen.

Option D:Modern protocols (e.g., TLS 1.3, IPsec with ECDHE) support forward secrecy but donot mandate it as a prerequisite for use.

Option B:This is the most precise, as forward secrecy directly reduces the success of cryptanalysis by limiting the scope of key compromise.

In serverless computing, organizations rely heavily on CSPs to manage the infrastructure, runtime, and scaling. A key risk is thelevel of control and influence governments have over CSPs, potentially affecting availability, access, or confidentiality of hosted services due to legal orders or government actions. Concerns about virtualization technologies, scalability, or third-party monitoring are valid but less critical compared to the overarching legal and control risks tied to CSP reliance.

To provide secure access tointernal and external cloud resources, eliminate split-tunnel traffic flows, and enable identity and access management capabilities, the most appropriate solutions are CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) and SASE (Secure Access Service Edge).

Why CASB and SASE?

CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker):

Secure Access: CASB solutions provide secure access to cloud resources by enforcing security policies and monitoring user activities.

Identity and Access Management: CASBs integrate with identity and access management (IAM) systems to ensure that only authorized users can access cloud resources.

Visibility and Control: They offer visibility into cloud application usage and control over data sharing and access.

SASE (Secure Access Service Edge):

Eliminate Split-Tunnel Traffic: SASE integrates network security functions with WAN capabilities to ensure secure access without the need for split-tunnel configurations.

Comprehensive Security: SASE provides a holistic security approach, including secure web gateways, firewalls, and zero trust network access (ZTNA).

Identity-Based Access: SASE leverages IAM to enforce access controls based on user identity and context.

Other options, while useful, do not comprehensively address all the requirements:

A. Federation: Useful for identity management but does not eliminate split-tunnel traffic or provide comprehensive security.

B. Microsegmentation: Enhances security within the network but does not directly address secure access to cloud resources or split-tunnel traffic.

D. PAM (Privileged Access Management): Focuses on managing privileged accounts and does not provide comprehensive access control for internal and external resources.

E. SD-WAN: Enhances WAN performance but does not inherently provide the identity and access management capabilities or eliminate split-tunnel traffic.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Formal methods in software engineering use mathematically based specifications to ensure system correctness, safety, and compliance with requirements. SecurityX CAS-005 stresses the importance of traceability between code and both functional and non-functional requirements for high-assurance systems like avionics. A lack of traceability means it is impossible to verify that the implementation meets all required safety and performance standards—exactly what formal methods address.

The issue is tracing the original source of requests in a tiered architecture with a load balancer. The web server logs show internal IPs (192.168.1.10), not the external client IPs, because the load balancer forwards requests without preserving the source. Enabling theX-Forwarded-Forheader on the load balancer adds the client’s original IP to the HTTP request headers, allowing downstream servers to log it. This ensures traceability without altering the architecture significantly.

Option A:Correct—X-Forwarded-For is the standard solution for preserving client IPs through load balancers.

Option B:A Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS) detects anomalies but doesn’t address IP traceability.

Option C:A trusted CA certificate fixes the self-signed warning but is unrelated to source tracking.

Option D:Stored procedures improve database security but don’t help with IP logging.

Option E:Storing $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] captures the loadbalancer’s IP, not the client’s, unless X-Forwarded-For is enabled.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

SecurityX CAS-005 exam content emphasizes integrating security into the SDLC and using automated tools to identify vulnerabilities early.

Software dependency management solutions track and analyze libraries and components for known vulnerabilities before deployment, using vulnerability databases such as NVD or OSS Index.

IAST scanning still requires the application to be running and may detect issues later.

WAF policies help block attacks in production but do not prevent vulnerable code from being deployed.

SIEM monitoring is reactive and identifies issues after they occur.By detecting vulnerable dependencies early, software dependency management solutions prevent late-stage deployment delays and reduce security risk.

The scenario describes a prolonged, stealthy operation where files were exfiltrated over three months via secure channels (TLS-protected HTTP) from unexpected systems, then ceased. This aligns with anAdvanced Persistent Threat (APT), characterized by long-term, targeted attacks aimed at data theft or surveillance, often using sophisticated methods to remain undetected.

Option A:Decrypting RSA with weak encryption implies a cryptographic attack, but TLS suggests modern encryption was used, and there’s no evidence of decryption here.

Option B:A zero-day attack exploits unknown vulnerabilities, but the duration and cessation suggest a planned operation, not a single exploit.

Option C:APT fits perfectly—slow, persistent exfiltration fromunusual systems indicates a coordinated, stealthy threat actor.

Option D:An on-path (man-in-the-middle) attack intercepts traffic, but there’s no indication of interception; the focus is on unauthorized transfers.

Step by Step Explanation:

Understanding the Scenario: The question focuses on the historical design assumptions behind older operational technology (OT)systems, particularly in the context of command, control, and telemetry.

Analyzing the Answer Choices:

A. operating in an isolated/disconnected system: This is the most accurate assumption for many legacy OT systems. Historically, these systems weredesigned to operate in air-gapped environments, completely isolated from external networks (including the internet).

The logs show the device checking in from two distant locations (USA and Qatar) at nearly the same time, which indicatesimpossible travel— a strong indicator that either the device has been cloned, compromised, or credentials stolen. The best immediate action is todisable the device's account and accessto prevent potential misuse while an investigation is conducted. Malicious application installation or resource issues are possible but secondary concerns here compared to account compromise.