Comptia A+ > Chapter 18 - Computer and Network Security > Flashcards

Chapter 18 - Computer and Network Security Flashcards

(104 cards)

Study These Flashcards
1
Q

What is the purpose of Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

A

To enforce controls on digital media use (e.g., prevent unauthorized copying/playing).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What do we call software that is free to use and modify?

A

Open-source software.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What malware creates a network of ‘zombie’ devices controlled by an attacker?

A

Botnet (bot malware that enrolls hosts into a command-and-control network).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is a backdoor in security terms?

A

A hidden mechanism that bypasses normal authentication/controls.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a brute-force attack?

A

Systematically trying all possible keys/passwords until one works.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What does BEC stand for and what is it?

A

Business Email Compromise; targeted, convincing emails to redirect payments or data.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How does a DoS attack differ from a DDoS?

A

DoS: single source; DDoS: many sources simultaneously.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is an evil twin attack?

A

A rogue wireless AP using the same SSID as a legitimate one to lure clients.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What malware secretly captures keystrokes?

A

Keylogger.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is a logic bomb?

A

Malicious code that triggers under specific conditions (e.g., date, user action).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack?

A

An attacker intercepts/relays communications, potentially altering data.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is phishing?

A

Deceptive messages posing as trusted entities to steal credentials/data.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is spear phishing?

A

Highly targeted phishing aimed at a specific person or org.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is whaling?

A

Spear phishing targeting executives/high-profile individuals.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is a rootkit?

A

Stealthy malware that hides its presence and often gains admin/kernel-level control.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is the goal of a replay attack?

A

To capture and re-send valid transmissions to gain unauthorized access.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is tailgating (piggybacking)?

A

Following an authorized person into a restricted area without permission.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is a worm?

A

Self-contained malware that self-replicates and spreads without user action.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How does a Trojan differ from a virus/worm?

A

Trojan masquerades as legitimate; it does not self-replicate like worms/viruses.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is a watering hole attack?

A

Compromising a site frequented by a target group to infect visitors.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a zero-day attack?

A

Exploiting a previously unknown (unpatched) vulnerability.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Where do you add a user to a department group in AD?

A

Active Directory Users and Computers > User properties > Member Of tab.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What does the ‘password history’ policy control?

A

How many unique new passwords must be used before reuse is allowed.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is the principle of least privilege?

A

Grant only the minimum access rights needed to perform a job.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What’s the difference between Share and NTFS permissions?
Share: apply only to network access; NTFS: apply to local and network access.
26
When Share and NTFS permissions conflict over the network, which applies?
The most restrictive effective permission (intersection of Share and NTFS).
27
What Windows feature prompts for admin consent/elevation?
User Account Control (UAC).
28
What is degaussing?
Using a strong magnetic field to erase magnetic media (e.g., HDD tapes).
29
Why is degaussing ineffective for SSDs?
SSDs store data in flash cells; magnetism does not erase them.
30
What is the first step after identifying malware symptoms?
Quarantine/contain: disconnect from networks to prevent spread.
31
Which command repairs protected Windows system files post-malware?
sfc /scannow.
32
What is a firewall?
A device/software that filters traffic based on security rules (stateful/stateless).
33
What does an IDS do?
Monitors/alerts on suspicious activity (passive detection).
34
What does an IPS do?
Detects and actively blocks malicious traffic (prevention).
35
What is a VPN?
An encrypted tunnel over an untrusted network (e.g., internet).
36
What is a DMZ used for?
A screened subnet hosting public-facing services, isolating them from the internal LAN.
37
What is MAC address filtering on Wi‑Fi?
Allow/deny list by device MAC; weak because MACs can be spoofed.
38
Why is hiding the SSID a weak defense?
SSID can be discovered in beacons/probes; provides little real security.
39
What is the first action in incident response for a technician?
Identify and report the incident to the appropriate team; follow the IR plan.
40
Why document a security incident after resolution?
For root-cause analysis, prevention, training, and legal/audit evidence.
41
What is adware?
Software that displays unwanted ads; may track user behavior.
42
What is a dictionary attack?
Trying passwords from a wordlist rather than all combinations.
43
What is grayware?
Potentially unwanted software (e.g., adware, some toolbars/trackers).
44
What is CSRF (cross-site request forgery)?
Tricking an authenticated user’s browser to perform unwanted actions on a site.
45
Why create Organizational Units (OUs) in AD?
To group objects for delegated admin and targeted Group Policy.
46
What does 'minimum password age' enforce?
How long a user must wait before changing a password again.
47
What are explicit permissions?
Rights set directly on an object.
48
What are inherited permissions?
Rights passed down from a parent folder to child items.
49
What is the most secure hard drive destruction method?
Physical destruction (e.g., shredding/drilling/hammer mill).
50
Why disable System Restore before malware removal?
To avoid restoring infected snapshots and re-infection.
51
What is the final step in malware remediation?
Educate the user and implement preventive measures (updates, least privilege, training).
52
What is a UTM appliance?
Unified Threat Management: consolidates firewall, IDS/IPS, filtering, etc.
53
What initial Wi‑Fi hardening step should you take?
Change the default SSID and admin password on the AP/router.
54
Which Wi‑Fi encryption is stronger: WPA2 or WPA3?
WPA3 (uses SAE; provides forward secrecy).
55
What should a technician do upon discovering prohibited content?
Report to management/HR; do not investigate or copy the content.
56
What is PII?
Personally Identifiable Information (e.g., SSN, name, address) that can identify an individual.
57
What is vishing?
Voice phishing via phone/voicemail to solicit sensitive info.
58
Why place an AP centrally rather than near windows?
To reduce RF leakage outside and lower attack surface.
59
What is a proxy server used for?
To intermediate client requests for filtering, caching, or anonymity.
60
Why is plugging in a found USB drive risky?
It could deliver malware (e.g., autorun/BadUSB) as a baiting attack.
61
What Windows feature encrypts internal drives to protect data at rest?
BitLocker Drive Encryption.
62
What motherboard chip stores BitLocker keys and security info?
Trusted Platform Module (TPM).
63
What is smishing?
Phishing via SMS/text messages.
64
What is shoulder surfing?
Observing someone’s screen/keyboard to capture sensitive info.
65
What is dumpster diving?
Searching discarded materials for sensitive information.
66
What is pretexting?
Creating a fabricated scenario to trick targets into divulging data.
67
What is MFA and why use it?
Multi-Factor Authentication; adds factors (something you know/have/are) to reduce account takeover risk.
68
What is password spraying?
Trying a few common passwords across many accounts to evade lockouts.
69
What is account lockout policy?
Settings that lock accounts after a number of failed logins for a duration.
70
What are the CIA triad elements?
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
71
What is hashing vs encryption?
Hashing is one-way integrity check; encryption is reversible confidentiality protection.
72
What is least functionality (hardening)?
Disable/remove unnecessary services, ports, and software.
73
What is patch management?
Regularly applying updates to OS/apps/firmware to close vulnerabilities.
74
What is data loss prevention (DLP)?
Tools/policies to prevent sensitive data exfiltration.
75
What is SIEM used for?
Security Information and Event Management: collect, correlate, and alert on security logs.
76
What is defense in depth?
Layered controls (technical, administrative, physical) for redundancy.
77
What is 802.1X?
Port-based network access control (NAC) using RADIUS for authentication.
78
What is WPA2‑PSK vs WPA2‑Enterprise?
PSK uses shared passphrase; Enterprise uses per-user credentials via 802.1X/RADIUS.
79
What Wi‑Fi setup feature is insecure and should be disabled?
WPS (Wi‑Fi Protected Setup) due to PIN brute-force vulnerabilities.
80
What is a reverse proxy?
A proxy that sits in front of servers to handle client requests (e.g., TLS offload, WAF).
81
What is a WAF?
Web Application Firewall; protects web apps from attacks (e.g., SQLi, XSS).
82
What is endpoint detection and response (EDR)?
Advanced endpoint telemetry and response for threats beyond classic antivirus.
83
What is ransomware?
Malware that encrypts data and demands payment for decryption.
84
What is spyware?
Software that secretly collects user information.
85
What is sandboxing?
Running code in an isolated environment to observe behavior safely.
86
What should you preserve during incident response?
Evidence (logs, images) with chain of custody.
87
What are secure data sanitization options for SSDs?
Crypto-erase, ATA Secure Erase/NVMe sanitize, or physical destruction.
88
What is the 3‑2‑1 backup rule?
3 copies of data, on 2 different media, with 1 offsite copy.
89
What is a security baseline?
A benchmark configuration to harden systems consistently.
90
What is least privilege vs need-to-know?
Least privilege limits system permissions; need-to-know limits data access.
91
What is social engineering?
Manipulating people to bypass technical controls.
92
What is ARP spoofing?
Forging ARP replies to position as MITM on a LAN.
93
What is port security on switches?
Limits learned MACs/port behavior to prevent rogue devices.
94
What is geofencing in MDM/security?
Applying policies/actions based on device location.
95
What is TLS?
Transport Layer Security; encrypts data in transit for protocols like HTTPS.
96
What is PKI?
Public Key Infrastructure; manages certificates/keys for trust and encryption.
97
What is an allowlist vs blocklist?
Allowlist permits only approved items; blocklist denies known bad items.
98
What is application whitelisting?
Restricting systems to run only approved applications.
99
What is a security awareness program?
Ongoing user education to reduce human-related security risks.
100
What post-incident activity improves future response?
Lessons learned meeting and plan updates.
101
What is network segmentation and why use it?
Dividing networks (e.g., VLANs/ACLs) to contain breaches and limit lateral movement.
102
What is a NAC solution?
Network Access Control; evaluates device posture before granting access.
103
What is content filtering?
Blocking access to malicious/inappropriate websites or files.
104
What does 'implicit deny' mean in ACLs?
Traffic not explicitly allowed is denied by default.
Comptia A+
flashcards
Decks in class (19)
# Cards
Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2026 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions