- (Exam Topic 2)
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of an organization would like staff members to have the flexibility to work from home anytime during business hours, including during a pandemic or crisis. However, the CEO is concerned that some staff members may take advantage of the flexibility and work from high-risk countries while on holiday or outsource work to a third-party organization in another country. The Chief Information Officer believes the company can implement some basic controls to mitigate the majority of the risk. Which of the following would be best to mitigate the CEO's concerns? (Select two).

Correct Answer:AB
Geolocation and time-of-day restrictions would be best to mitigate the CEO’s concerns about staff members working from high-risk countries while on holiday or outsourcing work to a third-party organization in another country. Geolocation is a technique that involves determining the physical location of a device or user based on its IP address, GPS coordinates, Wi-Fi signals, or other indicators. Time-of-day restrictions are policies that limit the access or usage of resources based on the time of day or week. Geolocation and time-of-day restrictions can help to enforce access control rules, prevent unauthorized access, detect anomalous behavior, and comply with regulations. References: https://www.comptia.org/blog/what-is-geolocation
https://www.certblaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CompTIA-Security-SY0-601-Exam-Objectives-1.0.pd

- (Exam Topic 2)
A penetration tester was able to compromise a host using previously captured network traffic. Which of the
following is the result of this action?

Correct Answer:D
A replay attack is a form of network attack in which valid data transmission is maliciously or fraudulently repeated or delayed12. This can allow an attacker to compromise a host by resending a previously captured message, such as a password or a session token, that looks legitimate to the receiver1. A replay attack can be prevented by using methods such as random session keys, timestamps, or one-time passwords that expire after use12. A replay attack is different from an integer overflow, which is a type of software vulnerability that occurs when an arithmetic operation attempts to create a numeric value that is too large to be represented within the available storage space3. A race condition is another type of software vulnerability that occurs when multiple processes access and manipulate the same data concurrently, and the outcome depends on the order of execution3. A memory leak is a type of software defect that occurs when a program fails to release memory that is no longer needed, causing the program to consume more memory than necessary and potentially affecting the performance or stability of the system3.

- (Exam Topic 2)
Which of the following is required in order (or an IDS and a WAF to be effective on HTTPS traffic?

Correct Answer:C
TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a protocol that is used to encrypt data sent over HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). In order for an intrusion detection system (IDS) and a web application firewall (WAF) to be effective on HTTPS traffic, they must be able to inspect the encrypted traffic. TLS inspection allows the IDS and WAF to decrypt and inspect the traffic, allowing them to detect any malicious activity. References: [1] CompTIA Security+ Study Guide Exam SY0-601 [1], Sixth Edition, Chapter 11, "Network Security Monitoring" [2] CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide, Chapter 7, "Intrusion Detection and Prevention"

- (Exam Topic 1)
As part of annual audit requirements, the security team performed a review of exceptions to the company policy that allows specific users the ability to use USB storage devices on their laptops The review yielded the following results.
• The exception process and policy have been correctly followed by the majority of users
• A small number of users did not create tickets for the requests but were granted access
• All access had been approved by supervisors.
• Valid requests for the access sporadically occurred across multiple departments.
• Access, in most cases, had not been removed when it was no longer needed
Which of the following should the company do to ensure that appropriate access is not disrupted but unneeded access is removed in a reasonable time frame?

Correct Answer:A
According to the CompTIA Security+ SY0-601 documents, the correct answer option is A. Create an automated, monthly attestation process that removes access if an employee’s supervisor denies the approval12.
This option ensures that appropriate access is not disrupted but unneeded access is removed in a reasonable time frame by requiring supervisors to approve or deny the exceptions on a regular basis. It also reduces the manual workload of the security team and improves the compliance with the company policy.

- (Exam Topic 1)
The help desk has received calls from users in multiple locations who are unable to access core network services The network team has identified and turned off the network switches using remote commands. Which of the following actions should the network team take NEXT?

Correct Answer:D
An incident response plan is a set of procedures and guidelines that defines how an organization should respond to a security incident. An incident response plan typically includes the following phases: preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned.
If the help desk has received calls from users in multiple locations who are unable to access core network services, it could indicate that a network outage or a denial-of-service attack has occurred. The network team has identified and turned off the network switches using remote commands, which could be a containment measure to isolate the affected devices and prevent further damage.
The next action that the network team should take is to initiate the organization’s incident response plan, which would involve notifying the appropriate stakeholders, such as management, security team, legal team, etc., and following the predefined steps to investigate, analyze, document, and resolve the incident.
The other options are not correct because:
A. Disconnect all external network connections from the firewall. This could be another containment measure to prevent external attackers from accessing the network, but it would also disrupt legitimate network traffic and services. This action should be taken only if it is part of the incident response plan and after notifying the relevant parties.
B. Send response teams to the network switch locations to perform updates. This could be a recovery measure to restore normal network operations and apply patches or updates to prevent future incidents, but it should be done only after the incident has been properly identified, contained, and eradicated.
C. Turn on all the network switches by using the centralized management software. This could be a recovery measure to restore normal network operations, but it should be done only after the incident has been properly identified, contained, and eradicated.
According to CompTIA Security+ SY0-601 Exam Objectives 1.5 Given a scenario, analyze indicators of compromise and determine the type of malware:
“An incident response plan is a set of procedures and guidelines that defines how an organization should respond to a security incident. An incident response plan typically includes the following phases: preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned.”
References: https://www.comptia.org/certifications/security#examdetails https://www.comptia.org/content/guides/comptia-security-sy0-601-exam-objectives

- (Exam Topic 2)
An audit identified Pll being utilized in the development environment of a crit-ical application. The Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) is adamant that this data must be removed: however, the developers are concerned that without real data they cannot perform functionality tests and search for specific data. Which of the following should a security professional implement to best satisfy both the CPOs and the development team's requirements?

Correct Answer:D
Data tokenization is a technique of replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive substitutes called tokens that have no intrinsic value or meaning. It can satisfy both the CPO’s and the development team’s requirements by removing personally identifiable information (PII) from the development environment of a critical application while preserving the functionality and format of the data for testing purposes.