Isaca Cybersecurity-Audit-Certificate - ISACA Cybersecurity Audit Certificate Exam

The FIRST activity associated with a successful cyber attack is reconnaissance. This is because reconnaissance is a phase of the cyber attack lifecycle that involves gathering information about the target organization or system, such as its network topology, IP addresses, open ports, services, vulnerabilities, etc. Reconnaissance helps to identify potential entry points and weaknesses that can be exploited by the attackers in later phases of the attack. The other options are not the first activity associated with a successful cyber attack, but rather follow after reconnaissance in the cyber attack lifecycle, such as exploitation (A), maintaining a presence C, or creating attack tools (D).

The incident management team is typically activated during the Identification phase of the incident response process. This phase involves detecting and determining the nature of the incident, which is crucial before any containment, eradication, or recovery efforts can begin. The team’s activation at this early stage ensures that the incident is properly identified and assessed, allowing for a more effective response.

References = The ISACA resources outline the incident response process and emphasize the importance of the Identification phase as the starting point for the incident management team’s activities. This is supported by the incident response models and guidance provided by ISACA, which detail the steps and phases involved in responding to security incidents12.

The characteristic of cloud computing that allows users to provision computing capabilities without human interaction from the service provider is known as on-demand self-service. This feature enables users to automatically manage their computing resources, such as server time and network storage, as needed, which provides agility and flexibility in resource management.

References: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines on-demand self-service as one of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing. It specifies that users can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider1234.

Procedures are detailed, step-by-step instructions that describe exactly how to perform a particular task or process. They are designed to ensure consistency and efficiency in the execution of tasks, and they are essential in maintaining the reliability of an organization’s operations, especially in the context of cybersecurity.

References: The ISACA Cybersecurity Audit resources emphasize the importance of procedures as part of an organization’s cybersecurity framework. Procedures are the operational steps that support the implementation of policies and adherence to guidelines and baselines, ensuring that tasks are performed correctly and consistently to mitigate risks123.

 Asymmetric algorithms are commonly used to securely distribute symmetric keys. The asymmetric encryption process involves a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. This method ensures that even if the public key is intercepted, the encrypted data cannot be decrypted without the corresponding private key. Symmetric keys are then used for the bulk encryption of data due to their efficiency in processing large volumes of information.

References = The use of asymmetric algorithms for key distribution is a well-established practice in the field of cryptography. It is mentioned in various ISACA resources that asymmetric encryption, such as RSA and ECC, is crucial for secure communications, especially for the initial exchange of symmetric keys, which are then used for encrypting data streams or bulk data123.

A passive activity that could be used by an attacker during reconnaissance to gather information about an organization is using open source discovery. This is because open source discovery is a technique that involves collecting and analyzing publicly available information about an organization, such as its website, social media, press releases, annual reports, etc. Open source discovery does not require any direct interaction or communication with the target organization or its systems or network, and therefore does not generate any traffic or alerts that could be detected by the organization’s security controls. The other options are not passive activities that could be used by an attacker during reconnaissance to gather information about an organization, but rather active activities that involve direct or indirect interaction or communication with the target organization or its systems or network, such as scanning the network perimeter (B), social engineering C, or crafting counterfeit websites (D).

The role of risk management is to provide an oversight function, ensuring that the business management’s decisions align with the organization’s risk appetite and strategy. If the risk management function were to overrule business management decisions, it could compromise its objectivity. This could lead to a conflict of interest and diminish the function’s ability to provide unbiased oversight and measurement of business activities.

References: The ISACA resources suggest that risk management should be a separate function that aids in the objective assessment and management of risks without directly intervening in business decisions12. This separation is crucial to maintain the integrity of the risk management process and to ensure that it can effectively monitor and measure business activities from an independent standpoint.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) provides additional protection to messages transmitted using portable wireless devices by creating a secure and encrypted tunnel for data transmission. This helps protect the data from being intercepted or accessed by unauthorized entities. While encryption secures the content of the messages, a VPN secures the transmission path, adding an extra layer of security.

References: The use of VPNs for enhancing the security of mobile devices is discussed in ISACA’s resources. VPNs are recommended as a measure to protect data in transit, especially when using public or unsecured networks, which is a common scenario for portable wireless devices

The MOST important thing for an IS auditor to consider in an assessment of the potential risk factors when a cloud service provider has not adequately secured its application programming interface (API) is the impact on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the cloud service. An API is a set of rules and protocols that allows communication and interaction between different software components or systems. An API is often used by cloud service providers to enable customers to access and manage their cloud resources and services. However, if an API is not adequately secured, it can expose the cloud service provider and its customers to various threats,such as unauthorized access, data breaches, tampering, denial-of-service attacks, or malicious code injection.