Deck 8: Information Security

Question 1

In an asymmetric encryption algorithm, also called a public key encryption algorithm, the key for encryption and the key for decryption are quite different, although related.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Sometimes the word cracker is used to denote those who break into someone else's computer.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The term ____________________ comes about because perpetrators cast out bait, in the form of e-mail messages, to thousands of potential victims in the hope that one or two will "bite" and fall for this scam.

Answer 3

phishing

Question 4

____________________ is the science of "secret writing."

Question 5

Your best defense against someone guessing your password is to be smart about how you choose and use your password.

Question 6

In the early days of computing, when big mainframes were the only option, logical security was enforced by securing the rooms housing these machines. _________________________

Question 7

A text file can be hidden in an image file by changing (if needed) the least significant bit of each byte of the image file to match the ____________________ form of the characters in the text.

Question 8

Any positive ____________________ is either a prime number or a number that can be written in a unique way as a product of prime factors.

Question 9

DES is a block cipher and the blocks are 48 bits long. _________________________

Question 10

Firewall software guards the access points to your computer, blocking communications to or from sites you don't permit. _________________________

Question 11

In a(n) ____________________ key system, the encryption key for messages to go to a particular receiver is broadcast to everyone, but the decryption key cannot be derived from it and is known only by the receiver.

Question 12

The main difficulty with a symmetric algorithm is how to securely transmit the secret key.

Question 13

Knowledge of the hashing algorithm gives you and the system administrator certain knowledge of the original password.

Question 14

A(n) asymmetric encryption algorithm requires the use of a secret key known to both the sender and receiver. _________________________

Question 15

When a user attempts to log on to the machine, the security system reads the user ID and checks that the password matches the password for that user in the password file.

Question 16

The operating system encrypts the password for a given user by encoding the information, using a process that is difficult to apply but easy to undo.

Question 17

A(n) Trojan horse embeds itself within another program or file and when that program or file is activated, it copies itself and attacks other files on the system. _________________________

Question 18

SSL protocols are the only protocols that are supported by all Web browsers.

Question 19

A block cipher encodes one character at a time.

Question 20

The success of RSA encryption depends on the fact that it is extremely difficult to find the prime factors for n if n is a small number.

Question 21

____ is the process of using people to get the information you want.

A) Social networking
B) Social engineering
C) Social objecting
D) Social management

Question 22

A ____ attack automatically directs browsers on many machines to a single URL at roughly the same time, causing so much network traffic to that site that it is effectively shut down to legitimate users.

A) denial-of-use
B) trial-of-service
C) trial-of-use
D) denial-of-service

Question 23

In a ____ cipher a single letter of plaintext generates a single letter of ciphertext.

A) substitution
B) next
C) shift
D) modulo

Question 24

____ means keeping information secure-that is, protected from those who should not have access to it.

A) Network security
B) Network assurance
C) Information assurance
D) Information security

Question 25

A ____ captures the user's passwords and credit card numbers (and sends them to someone else), or may even put the computer under someone else's remote control at some point in the future.

A) keystroke logger
B) virus
C) worm
D) sniffer

Question 26

A ____ is an integer greater than 1 that can only be written as the product of itself and 1.

A) prime number
B) primary number
C) natural number
D) whole number

Question 27

For a given user ID, ____ software will first try all words in its built-in dictionary, encrypting each with the well-known hash function and comparing the result with the password file.

A) password-cracking
B) password-phreaking
C) password-whacking
D) password-tackling

Question 28

A ____ cipher, also called a shift cipher, involves shifting each character in the message to another character some fixed distance farther along in the alphabet.

A) block
B) Trojan
C) Caesar
D) Brutus

Question 29

Some laptops now use ____ information such as fingerprint scanning.

A) psychometric
B) electromagnetic
C) biometric
D) optical

Question 30

The first line of defense against illicit use of, or threats to, computer resources and sensitive information is a strong ____ and authorization process.

A) authentication
B) encryption
C) access
D) interference

Question 31

____ is a practice used to illegally obtain sensitive information such as credit card numbers, account numbers, and passwords.

A) Phishing
B) Pharming
C) Blasting
D) Fishing

Question 32

____ verifies who has the right to gain access to the computer, whether it is your local machine or the Web server.

A) Authorization
B) Authentication
C) Access
D) Encryption

Question 33

____ governs what an authenticated user is allowed to do.

A) Authentication
B) Encryption
C) Access management
D) Authorization

Question 34

The ____ maintains a file of user IDs and corresponding passwords.

A) switch
B) router
C) operating system
D) firewall

Question 35

The exchange of setup information between the client and server, preparatory to exchanging real data, is known as a ____.

A) handshake
B) training exchange
C) linkage
D) synchronization

Question 36

To try all possible passwords of length k or less would require ____ attempts.

A) nk
B) kk
C) n1 + n2 + . . . + nk
D) k1 + k2 + . . . + kn

Question 37

A(n) ____ takes the password the user originally chooses, chops it up, and stirs it around according to a given formula.

A) hash function
B) encryption function
C) mash function
D) stash function

Question 38

____ is a series of protocols developed by Netscape Communications in the mid-1990s.

A) TLS
B) SSL
C) TSL
D) SST

Question 39

The most common public key encryption algorithm is ____.

A) SHA1
B) AES
C) DES
D) RSA

Question 40

To solve the problem of two users having the same password, some operating systems keep a third entry for each user in the password file, namely ____ at which the user created the password.

A) the system
B) the approximate time
C) the system name
D) the exact time

Question 41

How do operating systems solve the problem of a thief stealing a password file and seeing that his password and another password hash to the same value?

Question 42

Provide at least four suggestions for choosing passwords, and three suggestions for using passwords.

Question 43

How does Triple DES improve the security of DES?

Question 44

Explain what a denial-of-service attack is, including the terms DDOS and zombie army in your response.

Question 45

Explain in detail the definition of the terms hacker and cracker and the evolution of these terms

Question 46

Provide at least five examples of ways in which you can protect yourself from online threats.

Question 47

What is the definition of phishing?

Question 48

Depending on who a given user is, he or she can have various access privileges. What are four examples?

Question 49

Explain at length what a Caesar cipher does.

Question 50

What is the major difference between TSL and SSL?