CompTIA CAS-004 - CompTIA SecurityX Certification Exam

Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) is a feature of certain key agreement protocols that ensures a session key derived from a set of long-term keys cannot be compromised if one of the long-term keys is compromised in the future. In the context of a VPN, PFS ensures that each session has a unique encryption key, and even if a key is compromised, it will not compromise past or future VPN sessions.

Step by Step Explanation:

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology): Provides comprehensive password guidelines (e.g., SP 800-63B) widely used for securing systems, including handling PII.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Focuses on data privacy laws rather than technical password policies.

CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration): Addresses process improvement, not password complexity.

COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act): Focuses on child data privacy, not password rules.

Step by Step Explanation:

Database activity monitoring (DAM) tracks user actions within databases and generates alerts for anomalous behavior, such as unauthorized access to sensitive content.

Database field tokenization protects sensitive data but does not monitor access.

Database decoy involves creating fake data to detect misuse but is unrelated to monitoring.

Database integrity enforcement ensures data accuracy but does not generate access alerts.

“In forensic analysis on Unix‐like systems, the file utility examines the magic number and header information of a file to determine its true type, regardless of its filename or extension. This makes it invaluable when an adversary has renamed or stripped extensions from files to evade detection.”

— CompTIA CASP+ Official Study Guide, Third Edition, Chapter 7: Forensics and Incident Response, p. 485

“Use the file command as part of your forensic toolkit to validate image files (e.g., ISO, E01) by their internal signatures. This approach is more reliable than relying on extensions or filenames alone.”

— CompTIA CASP+ CAS-004 Exam Objectives (v7.1), Section 5.2: Forensic Analysis Techniques, p. 33

By leveraging the file utility’s signature‐based detection, the investigator can accurately identify ISO images even when their extensions have been altered or removed.

Using digital certificates for authentication is a secure method to control access to laptops and other devices. A device certificate can serve as an authenticator by providing a means for the device to prove its identity in a cryptographic manner. This certificate-based authentication is commonly used in enterprise environments for strong authentication.

Option C (Continuously monitor key risk indicators):Continuously monitoring key risk indicators (KRIs) ensures real-time visibility of changes in the attack surface, allowing for prompt identification of unexpected systems and minimizing risk.

Option A (Update the risk profile):Updating the risk profile reflects current risks but does not actively prevent the reoccurrence of unexpected systems.

Option B (Minimize errors in metrics):Reducing errors in metrics is useful for accuracy but does not directly address attack surface management.

Option D (Reduce assessment costs):Reducing costs does not mitigate or prevent the reoccurrence of external-facing systems.

Replacing the current antivirus with an EDR (endpoint detection and response) solution is the best solution for addressing several service outages on the endpoints due to new malware. An EDR solution is a technology that provides advanced capabilities for detecting, analyzing, and responding to threats or incidents on endpoints, such as computers, laptops, mobile devices, or servers. An EDR solution can use behavioral analysis, machine learning, threat intelligence, or other methods to identify new or unknown malware that may evade traditional antivirus solutions. An EDR solution can also provide automated or manual remediation actions, such as isolating, blocking, or removing malware from endpoints. Removing the web proxy and installing a UTM (unified threat management) appliance is not a good solution for addressing service outages on endpoints due to new malware, as it could expose endpoints to more threats or attacks by removing a layer of protection that filters web traffic, as well as not provide sufficient detection or response capabilities for endpoint-specific malware. Implementing a deny list feature on endpoints is not a good solution for addressing service outages on endpoints due to new malware, as it could be ineffective or impractical for blocking new or unknown malware that may not be on the deny list, as well as not provide sufficient detection or response capabilities for endpoint-specific malware. Adding a firewall module on the current antivirus solution is not a good solution for addressing service outages on endpoints due to new malware, as it could introduce compatibility or performance issues for endpoints by adding an additional feature that may not be integrated or optimized with the antivirus solution, as well as not provide sufficient detection or response capabilities for endpoint-specific malware. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-edr https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

 This could be the cause of the lack of visibility from the WAF (Web Application Firewall) for the web application, as the WAF may not be able to inspect or block unencrypted HTTP traffic. To solve this issue, the web server should redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS and use SSL/TLS certificates to encrypt the traffic.

Defenses against BGP hijacks include IP prefix filtering, meaning IP address announcements are sent and accepted only from a small set of well-defined autonomous systems, and monitoring Internet traffic to identify signs of abnormal traffic flows.

The security analyst should remove the cipher TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_RC4_128_SHA to support the business requirements, as it is considered weak and vulnerable to on-path attacks. RC4 is an outdated stream cipher that has been deprecated by major browsers and protocols due to its flaws and weaknesses. The other ciphers are more secure and compliant with secure-by-design principles and PCI DSS. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-a-cipher https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

A multicloud provider solution is the best option for proceeding with the digital transformation while ensuring SLA (service level agreement) requirements in the event of a CSP (cloud service provider) incident. A multicloud provider solution is a strategy that involves using multiple CSPs for different cloud services or applications, such as infrastructure, platform, or software as a service. A multicloud provider solution can provide resiliency, redundancy, and availability for cloud services or applications, as it can distribute the workload and risk across different CSPs and avoid single points of failure or vendor lock-in. An on-premises solution as a backup is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could involve high costs, complexity, or maintenance for maintaining both cloud and on-premises resources, as well as affect the scalability or flexibility of cloud services or applications. A load balancer with a round-robin configuration is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could introduce latency or performance issues for cloud services or applications, as well as not provide sufficient resiliency or redundancy in case of a CSP incident. An active-active solution within the same tenant is not a good option for proceeding with the digital transformation, as it could still be affected by a CSP incident that impacts the entire tenant or region, as well as increase the costs or complexity of managing multiple instances of cloud services or applications. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-multicloud https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure), proxy, CASB (cloud access security broker), and DRM (digital rights management) are technologies that can mitigate the concerns of processing sensitive information using SaaS (software as a service) collaboration tools. VDI is a technology that provides virtualized desktop environments for users that are hosted and managed by a central server, allowing users to access applications or data from any device or location. VDI can prevent data leakage to the media via printing of documents, as it can restrict or monitor the printing capabilities or permissions of users or devices. Proxy is a technology that acts as an intermediary between clients and servers, filtering or modifying web traffic based on predefined rules or policies. Proxy can prevent data leakage to a personal email address, as it can block or redirect web requests to unauthorized or untrusted email domains or services. CASB is a technology that provides visibility and control over cloud services or applications, enforcing security policies or compliance requirements based on predefined rules or criteria. CASB can prevent data access and viewing by systems administrators, as it can encrypt or mask sensitive data before it reaches the cloud provider or application, making it unreadable or inaccessible by unauthorized parties. DRM is a technology that restricts the access, use, modification, or distribution of digital content or devices, enforcing the rights and permissions granted by the content owner or provider to authorized users or devices. DRM can prevent data upload to a file storage site, as it can limit or disable the copying, sharing, or transferring capabilities or permissions of users or devices. Verified References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-vdi https://partners.comptia.org/docs/default-source/resources/casp-content-guide

We recommend that you encrypt your virtual hard disks (VHDs) to help protect your boot volume and data volumes at rest in storage, along with your encryption keys and secrets. Azure Disk Encryption helps you encrypt your Windows and Linux IaaS virtual machine disks. Azure Disk Encryption uses the industry-standard BitLocker feature of Windows and the DM-Crypt feature of Linux to provide volume encryption for the OS and the data disks. The solution is integrated with Azure Key Vault to help you control and manage the disk-encryption keys and secrets in your key vault subscription. The solution also ensures that all data on the virtual machine disks are encrypted at rest in Azure Storage. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/iaas