- (Exam Topic 2)
An organization is concerned that ils hosted web servers are not running the most updated version of the software. Which of the following would work best to help identify potential vulnerabilities?

Correct Answer:C
nmap is a network scanning tool that can perform various tasks such as port scanning, service detection, version detection, OS detection, vulnerability scanning, etc… nmap comptia.org -p 80 -sv is a command that scans port 80 (the default port for HTTP) on comptia.org domain name and tries to identify the service name and version running on that port. This can help identify potential vulnerabilities in the web server software by comparing the version with known exploits or patches.

- (Exam Topic 1)
A third party asked a user to share a public key for secure communication. Which of the following file formats should the user choose to share the key?

Correct Answer:D
A user should choose the .cer file format to share a public key for secure communication. A .cer file is a public key certificate that can be shared with third parties to enable secure communication.
References: CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, Exam SY0-601, 4th Edition, Chapter 6: Cryptography, pp. 301-302.
A public key is a cryptographic key that can be used to encrypt or verify data. A public key file is a file that contains one or more public keys in a specific format.
There are different formats for public key files, depending on the application and the algorithm used. Some of the common formats are:
.pfx: This is a file format that stores a certificate and its private and public keys. It is also known as PKCS#12 or Personal Information Exchange. It is used by some applications such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook to import and export certificates and keys.1
.csr: This is a file format that stores a Certificate Signing Request, which is a message sent to a Certificate Authority (CA) to request a digital certificate. It contains the public key and some information about the identity of the requester. It is also known as PKCS#10 or Certification Request Syntax.2
.pvk: This is a file format that stores a private key for Microsoft Authenticode code signing. It is used with a .spc file that contains the certificate and public key.3
.cer: This is a file format that stores a certificate, which is a document that binds a public key to an identity. It is also known as DER or Distinguished Encoding Rules. It is used by some applications such as OpenSSL and Java to read and write certificates.4

- (Exam Topic 1)
A security engineer needs to build @ solution to satisfy regulatory requirements that stale certain critical servers must be accessed using MFA However, the critical servers are older and are unable to support the addition of MFA, Which of te following will the engineer MOST likely use to achieve this objective?

Correct Answer:C
A jump server is a secure host that allows users to access other servers within a network. The jump server acts as an intermediary, and users can access other servers via the jump server after authenticating with MFA.

- (Exam Topic 2)
A company recently upgraded its authentication infrastructure and now has more computing power. Which of the following should the company consider using to ensure user credentials are
being transmitted and stored more securely?

Correct Answer:B
Salting is a technique that adds random data to user credentials before hashing them. This makes the hashed credentials more secure and resistant to brute-force attacks or rainbow table attacks. Salting also ensures that two users with the same password will have different hashed credentials.
A company that has more computing power can consider using salting to ensure user credentials are being transmitted and stored more securely. Salting can increase the complexity and entropy of the hashed credentials, making them harder to crack or reverse.

- (Exam Topic 1)
Which of the following describes a maintenance metric that measures the average time required to troubleshoot and restore failed equipment?

Correct Answer:C
Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) is a maintenance metric that measures the average time required to troubleshoot and restore failed equipment. References: CompTIA Security+ Certification Exam Objectives 4.6 Explain the importance of secure coding practices. Study Guide: Chapter 7, page 323.

- (Exam Topic 1)
A security researcher has alerted an organization that its sensitive user data was found for sale on a website. Which of the following should the organization use to inform the affected parties?

Correct Answer:B
The organization should use a communications plan to inform the affected parties. A communications plan is a document that outlines how an organization will communicate with internal and external stakeholders during a crisis or incident. It should include details such as who will be responsible for communicating with different stakeholders, what channels will be used to communicate, and what messages will be communicated.
An incident response plan is a document that outlines the steps an organization will take to respond to a security incident or data breach. A business continuity plan is a document that outlines how an organization will continue to operate during and after a disruption. A disaster recovery plan is a document that outlines how an organization will recover its IT infrastructure and data after a disaster.