- (Topic 1)
Which access control type has a central authority that determine to what objects the subjects have access to and it is based on role or on the organizational security policy?

Correct Answer:C
Non Discretionary Access Control include Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and Rule Based Access Control (RBAC or RuBAC). RABC being a subset of NDAC, it was easy to eliminate RBAC as it was covered under NDAC already.
Some people think that RBAC is synonymous with NDAC but RuBAC would also fall into this category.
Discretionary Access control is for environment with very low level of security. There is no control on the dissemination of the information. A user who has access to a file can copy the file or further share it with other users.
Rule Based Access Control is when you have ONE set of rules applied uniformly to all users. A good example would be a firewall at the edge of your network. A single rule based is applied against any packets received from the internet.
Mandatory Access Control is a very rigid type of access control. The subject must dominate the object and the subject must have a Need To Know to access the information. Objects have labels that indicate the sensitivity (classification) and there is also categories to enforce the Need To Know (NTK).
Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the
Ten Domains of Computer Security, 2001, John Wiley & Sons, Page 33.

- (Topic 2)
Which of the following would be the best reason for separating the test and development environments?

Correct Answer:B
The test environment must be controlled and stable in order to ensure that development projects are tested in a realistic environment which, as far as possible, mirrors the live environment.
Reference(s) used for this question:
Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, chapter 6: Business Application System Development, Acquisition, Implementation and Maintenance (page 309).

- (Topic 4)
Which of the following is NOT a common category/classification of threat to an IT system?

Correct Answer:D
Hackers are classified as a human threat and not a classification by itself.
All the other answers are incorrect. Threats result from a variety of factors, although they are classified in three types: Natural (e.g., hurricane, tornado, flood and fire), human (e.g. operator error, sabotage, malicious code) or technological (e.g. equipment failure, software error, telecommunications network outage, electric power failure).
Reference:
SWANSON, Marianne, & al., National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-34-rev1/sp800-34-rev1_errata-Nov11- 2010.pdf, June 2002 (page 6).

- (Topic 5)
What kind of certificate is used to validate a user identity?

Correct Answer:A
In cryptography, a public key certificate (or identity certificate) is an electronic document which incorporates a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity ?? information such as the name of a person or an organization, their address, and so forth. The certificate can be used to verify that a public key belongs to an individual.
In a typical public key infrastructure (PKI) scheme, the signature will be of a certificate authority (CA). In a web of trust scheme, the signature is of either the user (a self-signed certificate) or other users ("endorsements"). In either case, the signatures on a certificate are attestations by the certificate signer that the identity information and the public key belong together.
In computer security, an authorization certificate (also known as an attribute certificate) is a digital document that describes a written permission from the issuer to use a service or a resource that the issuer controls or has access to use. The permission can be delegated.
Some people constantly confuse PKCs and ACs. An analogy may make the distinction clear. A PKC can be considered to be like a passport: it identifies the holder, tends to last for a long time, and should not be trivial to obtain. An AC is more like an entry visa: it is typically issued by a different authority and does not last for as long a time. As acquiring an entry visa typically requires presenting a passport, getting a visa can be a simpler process.
A real life example of this can be found in the mobile software deployments by large service providers and are typically applied to platforms such as Microsoft Smartphone (and related), Symbian OS, J2ME, and others.
In each of these systems a mobile communications service provider may customize the mobile terminal client distribution (ie. the mobile phone operating system or application environment) to include one or more root certificates each associated with a set of capabilities or permissions such as "update firmware", "access address book", "use radio interface", and the most basic one, "install and execute". When a developer wishes to enable distribution and execution in one of these controlled environments they must acquire a certificate from an appropriate CA, typically a large commercial CA, and in the process they usually have their identity verified using out-of-band mechanisms such as a combination of phone call, validation of their legal entity through government and commercial databases, etc., similar to the high assurance SSL certificate vetting process, though often there are additional specific requirements imposed on would-be developers/publishers.
Once the identity has been validated they are issued an identity certificate they can use to sign their software; generally the software signed by the developer or publisher's identity certificate is not distributed but rather it is submitted to processor to possibly test or profile the content before generating an authorization certificate which is unique to the particular software release. That certificate is then used with an ephemeral asymmetric key-pair to sign the software as the last step of preparation for distribution. There are many advantages to separating the identity and authorization certificates especially relating to risk mitigation of new content being accepted into the system and key management as well as recovery from errant software which can be used as attack vectors.
References:
HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, 2001, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, page 540.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_certificate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_certificate

- (Topic 1)
Which of the following is not a preventive login control?

Correct Answer:A
The last login message displays the last login date and time, allowing a user to discover if their account was used by someone else. Hence, this is rather a detective control.
Source: RUSSEL, Deborah & GANGEMI, G.T. Sr., Computer Security Basics, O'Reilly, July 1992 (page 63).

- (Topic 2)
Who of the following is responsible for ensuring that proper controls are in place to address integrity, confidentiality, and availability of IT systems and data?

Correct Answer:C
The system and information owners are responsible for ensuring that proper controls are in place to address integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the IT systems and data they own. IT security practitioners are responsible for proper implementation of security requirements in their IT systems.
Source: STONEBURNER, Gary et al., NIST Special publication 800-30, Risk management Guide for Information Technology Systems, 2001 (page 6).