D315/C172 Section 3 Practice Quizzes

An employee receives a fake email claiming to be from the CEO, urging them to click a link to "update credentials immediately." The link leads to a lookalike login page that steals their password.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

Phishing Attack

A nurse logs in to a secure health portal by entering her password. She then retrieves a temporary PIN from her work-issued key fob and enters it to complete the login process.

In this scenario, what type of authentication factor does the key fob represent?

Something you have

A software company offers its services to users in France. To comply with European Union regulations, the company updates its platform to request explicit user consent before collecting personal information such as location and phone number.

Which law, regulation, or standard applies to this scenario?

GDPR

A visitor to a museum’s website enters malicious code into the online donation form. The site executes it and reveals donor information stored in its backend database.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

SQL Injection Attack

A journalist working remotely uses specialized software to establish a secure connection to her news agency’s internal network. This ensures that the reports she sends remain private and protected while in transit.

What security tool is being described in this scenario?

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

While working from a hotel lobby, an executive sees a network named “HotelWiFi_Free” and connects to it, assuming it’s the hotel’s official Wi-Fi. In reality, the SSID was created by an attacker nearby to mimic the legitimate network and capture sensitive login credentials.

What type of attack is being carried out in this scenario?

Evil Twin Attack

In a company’s finance department, multiple employees use the same administrator account to manage payroll tasks. As a result, it’s difficult to track who made specific changes or to assign permissions based on individual responsibilities.

What security principle is being violated in this scenario?

Least Common Mechanism

After a cloud backup provider fails to meet their guaranteed uptime during a critical outage, a business reviews the original contract terms that define expectations for reliability.

Which type of policy is being referenced in this situation?

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

After a major breach at a popular social media platform, attackers obtain a list of usernames and passwords. One attacker writes a script to automatically attempt logging into thousands of online shopping websites using the stolen credentials, hoping that many users have reused their passwords across multiple sites.

Which type of cyberattack is being carried out in this scenario?

Credential Stuffing Attack

An attacker travels through a residential neighborhood with a high-gain wireless antenna mounted on their car. They scan and record the locations of unsecured and poorly secured Wi-Fi networks belonging to local businesses—without permission—with plans to post this information online for other to use.

Which type of attack is being carried out in this scenario?

War Driving Attack

To reduce password reuse and user frustration, a law firm switches to a badge-based login system. Employees tap their badge to access their desktops—no passwords required. Because the system is simple and intuitive, users are more likely to use it as intended and less likely to bypass it.

Which security principle is demonstrated in this scenario?

Psychological acceptability

At a university, a parent contacts the registrar’s office requesting access to their 19-year-old child’s academic records. The staff member explains that, due to privacy laws, the student must provide written consent before any educational information can be shared.

Which law, regulation, or standard applies to this scenario?

FERPA

An insurance firm implements a new claims process where one adjuster calculates the settlement amount and a different manager must authorize the payment to reduce the risk of internal fraud.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Separation of Duties

A law firm shares confidential case files over a secure network. The files are encrypted before transmission, and all authorized users use the same key to both encrypt and decrypt the documents.

Which type of encryption is being used in this scenario?

Symmetric Encryption

A company installs a firewall on every employee’s laptop to inspect and control all traffic in and out of each device, even when working offsite.

What security tool is being described in this scenario?

Host-Based Firewall

A coworking space upgrades its Wi-Fi security to support both modern and legacy devices. After consulting with IT professionals, they select a wireless encryption standard that balances strong security with compatibility for older laptops and tablets.

Which wireless encryption method should be implemented to meet these requirements?

WPA2

A university’s online portal provides different access levels based on a user’s role. Professors can view and enter grades, students can only view their own academic records, and teaching assistants can access assignments but not final grades.

Which access control model is being used in this scenario?

Authorization

A corporate security system detects traffic matching a known ransomware signature. Within seconds, it blocks the connection before any damage occurs—no human intervention needed.

What security tool is being described in this scenario?

IPS

A developer asks why the system’s access control settings are published online. The IT manager explains that the system’s security depends on proper implementation—not secrecy—so transparency poses no risk.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Open Design

A bank implements training on how employees handle personal financial data and sends yearly notices to clients detailing how their data is stored and shared.

Which law, regulation, or standard applies to this scenario?

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

While using an unsecured coffee shop Wi-Fi, a remote worker has their login information captured by a nearby attacker running a packet sniffer, despite not noticing anything unusual.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

Eavesdropping Attack

To simplify employee logins, a startup integrates a well-known, streamlined identity provider rather than creating a custom login system. This reduces complexity and maintenance issues while maintaining strong security.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Economy of Mechanism

Employees at a bookstore frequently lose their Wi-Fi connection, even though the signal is strong. IT discovers someone nearby is sending fake disconnect packets to knock users off the network.

What type of attack is being carried out in this scenario?

Deauthentication Attack

A Canadian travel agency updates its privacy practices and launches a new customer portal. The portal clearly informs users about what personal data is collected during flight bookings (such as names, passport numbers, and payment details), how the data will be used (for booking and travel notifications), and whether it will be shared with third parties like airlines or government agencies.

Which privacy law or regulation is this agency complying with?

PIPEDA

While working remotely, Sofia logs in to her company dashboard by entering her username and password. She then opens an authentication app on her phone to retrieve and enter a verification code before gaining access.

What type of authentication method is being used in this scenario?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

An airport experiences a sudden error during a system update. The server hosting sensitive passenger data immediately denies all access by default until the problem is resolved.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Fail-Safe

A college student connects to a public Wi-Fi network at the library to check their bank account. An attacker nearby intercepts the communication between the student and the bank server, capturing the login credentials and modifying the account balance displayed.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

Man-in-the-Middle Attack

While submitting her résumé and personal information through an online job application, Olivia notices a lock icon in the browser’s address bar and that the URL begins with “https://.” This indicates her data will be encrypted during transmission.

Which type of encryption is being used to protect Olivia’s information in transit?

TLS/SSL

A popular news website experiences a surge of malicious input submitted through its comment section. The site's firewall analyzes the content of each comment and automatically blocks those containing suspicious code, such as SQL injection attempts aimed at the website’s database.

Which type of firewall is being used in this scenario?

Application Layer Firewall

Lena visits her workplace portal to check her paystub. She’s prompted to enter her username and password. The system cross-checks the credentials with its internal database to verify her identity.

Which aspect of AAA is being demonstrated?

Authentication

A disgruntled employee repeatedly tries to access restricted HR files. After three failed login attempts, the system locks their account. The system also logs them out after a few minutes of inactivity, requiring reauthentication.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Complete Mediation

A university server begins slowing down significantly. Logs show that a single device has been sending an overwhelming stream of ICMP Echo Requests to the server, consuming bandwidth and degrading performance.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

Ping Flood Attack

An attacker uses automated software to try thousands of different password combinations in an attempt to gain access to an employee’s email account.

What type of attack is being carried out in this scenario?

Brute-force Attack

A university’s firewall examines every incoming data packet and compares it to previously established outbound requests. If the response doesn’t match the expected state, the packet is rejected.

What type of firewall is being used in this scenario?

Stateful Inspection Firewall

During a routine audit, a company reviews its digital and physical assets to assess the sensitivity of stored data and the importance of each asset to business operations.

Which type of policy is being referenced in this scenario?

Asset Classification Policy

A movie theater chain introduces mobile payment kiosks at all locations. To protect customer credit card data, the IT team enforces encryption, limits employee access to payment systems, and performs monthly vulnerability scans.

Which law, regulation, or standard applies to this scenario?

PCI DSS

While traveling, a company executive accesses a quarterly report by downloading it from the organization's cloud server. Although the connection is encrypted, the file is still being transferred over the network to the executive’s laptop.

In this scenario, what state is the data in during the transfer?

Data in transit

A remote employee installs unapproved software and streams TV shows on their company-issued tablet. When IT contacts them, the employee claims they were unaware that this behavior violated any rules. HR refers the employee to the onboarding materials that clearly outlined proper usage of company devices.

Which type of security governance policy is being enforced in this scenario?

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Symbols drawn on an apartment building mark the location of nearby unsecured Wi-Fi networks. A local technician recognizes these symbols from an old hacker’s guide.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

War Chalking Attack

A logistics company configures its inventory system so that each employee’s access is based on their job responsibilities. Warehouse workers can scan incoming and outgoing shipments, supervisors can modify inventory entries, and executives are limited to generating reports.

Which type of access control model is being used in this scenario?

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)

An attacker clones the MAC address of a company’s main file server. By doing so, they are able to intercept internal network traffic intended for the server while appearing to be a legitimate device on the network.

What type of attack is being carried out in this scenario?

Spoofing Attack

A government agency applies a strict access policy for its internal systems. Only network traffic that meets specific conditions—such as coming from authorized IP address ranges, using approved communication protocols, and targeting designated ports—is allowed. Even high-ranking officials are denied access if their traffic doesn’t match these predefined rules.

Which type of access control model is being enforced in this scenario?

Discretionary access control (DAC)

A hospital's IT team investigates suspicious login activity. They review logs showing the exact time, user account, and device IP used for each attempt. These records help trace the source of the behavior.

Which aspect of AAA is being demonstrated?

Accounting

A customer service rep is given access to view customer contact info but cannot see payment details or modify orders. Their permissions are limited to what's needed for their role.

What security principle is being demonstrated?

Least Privilege

A marketing director uploads a presentation to a shared drive. They grant edit permissions to an external contractor while restricting the rest of the team to view-only access.

Which access control model is demonstrated in this scenario?

DAC (Discretionary Access Control)

A multinational company sets up a secure wireless network that requires employees to authenticate using their company login credentials. Each connection attempt is verified by a centralized authentication server before access is granted.

What type of wireless security implementation is being used in this scenario?

WPA3-Enterprise

A government office sends confidential election data to its headquarters. To ensure only the central server can access the information, the sender encrypts the file with the recipient’s public key.

Which encryption type is being used in this scenario?

Asymmetric Encryption

Without realizing it, a customer attempting to log in to their online insurance account is redirected to a lookalike site. This occurred after a hacker altered the DNS records for the legitimate site.

What type of attack is occurring in this scenario?

Pharming Attack

A security tool on a university network detects abnormal traffic patterns. It sends alerts to IT about potential threats but cannot block the traffic.

What security tool is being described in this scenario?

IDS

A company's firewall filters network traffic by evaluating each packet's IP address and port number. It decides whether to allow or block traffic without inspecting the content of the data itself.

What type of firewall is being used in this scenario?

Packet Filtering Firewall