Networking and Security Study Guide

OSI Model Flashcards

Q: What layer of the OSI model is responsible for routing and forwarding packets?
A: Network Layer (Layer 3)

Q: What is the main function of the Presentation Layer?
A: Data translation, encryption, and compression (Layer 6)

Q: Which layer ensures reliable transmission with error checking and flow control?
A: Transport Layer (Layer 4)

Q: At which layer would you find the ARP protocol?
A: Data Link Layer (Layer 2)

Q: At which OSI layer does SSL/TLS operate?
A: Presentation Layer (Layer 6)

Q: What layer does a router operate at?
A: Network Layer (Layer 3)

Q: True or False: TCP operates at the Transport Layer.
A: True

Q: What OSI layer interacts directly with end users and applications?
A: Application Layer (Layer 7)

Q: Which OSI layer might be at fault if user sessions between applications are failing?
A: Session Layer (Layer 5)

Q: What layer does NAT typically function at?
A: Layer 3 (Network Layer)

Network Media Devices Flashcards

Q: What layer does a hub operate at?
A: Physical Layer (Layer 1)

Q: What layer does a switch operate at?
A: Data Link Layer (Layer 2)

Q: What layer does a router operate at?
A: Network Layer (Layer 3)

Q: What is the function of a bridge?
A: Connects two or more networks and filters traffic by MAC address

Q: What device regenerates and amplifies signals over long distances?
A: Repeater

Q: What is the difference between a switch and a hub?
A: A switch sends data only to the intended recipient, a hub broadcasts to all ports.

Q: What does an access point do?
A: Connects wireless devices to a wired network (Layer 2)

Q: True or False: A patch cable is used to connect a router to another router.
A: False (used for connecting devices to network hardware)

Basic Network Commands Flashcards

Q: What does the ping command do?
A: Tests reachability to another host using ICMP Echo Request

Q: What command displays IP configuration on Windows?
A: ipconfig

Q: What is the Linux equivalent of ipconfig?
A: ifconfig

Q: What command shows the route a packet takes to a destination on Windows?
A: tracert

Q: What command is used to trace a packet route in Linux?
A: traceroute

Q: What does the nslookup command do?
A: Displays DNS information and troubleshoots name resolution

Q: Which command displays all active connections and listening ports?
A: netstat

Q: What does the arp command show?
A: Displays IP-to-MAC address mappings in the ARP cache

Q: What command helps analyze DNS queries in detail?
A: dig (Domain Information Groper)

Q: What command securely copies files over SSH?
A: scp

Network Types Flashcards

Q: What is a PAN?
A: Personal Area Network—interconnects personal devices like phones, tablets, and laptops.

Q: What distinguishes a LAN from a WAN?
A: LANs cover small areas like buildings, WANs span large geographic areas.

Q: What is a SAN?
A: Storage Area Network—provides block-level access to storage over a high-speed network.

Q: What is a CAN typically used for?
A: Connects multiple LANs in campus-like settings, like universities or corporations.

Q: What is a MAN?
A: Metropolitan Area Network—covers cities or towns, larger than LANs but smaller than WANs.

Network Topologies Flashcards

Q: What is a bus topology?
A: A single central cable with terminators at each end—data travels both directions.

Q: What is a star topology?
A: All devices connect to a central device like a switch or hub.

Q: What is an ad-hoc network?
A: Peer-to-peer wireless network without centralized access point.

Q: What is an infrastructure network?
A: Devices connect through an access point and wired backbone.

Virtualization & Cloud Computing Flashcards

Q: What is a hypervisor?
A: Software that runs virtual machines (VMs).

Q: What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors?
A: Type 1 runs directly on hardware; Type 2 runs on a host OS.

Q: What is IaaS?
A: Infrastructure as a Service—provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.

Q: What is SaaS?
A: Software as a Service—software accessed via a web browser, no local installation needed.

Q: What is PaaS?
A: Platform as a Service—platform for developers to build, test, and deploy applications.

Security Concepts Flashcards

Q: What is the CIA triad?
A: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability

Q: What is a zero-day exploit?
A: A vulnerability unknown to the vendor, with no current fix.

Q: What is phishing?
A: A social engineering attack to trick users into revealing sensitive information.

Q: What is a buffer overflow attack?
A: Overwriting memory space with more data than a buffer can handle, possibly leading to execution of malicious code.

Q: What is an IDS?
A: Intrusion Detection System—monitors traffic and alerts on suspicious activity.

Q: What is a honeypot?
A: A decoy system designed to lure attackers and analyze behavior.

Q: What is MAC in access control?
A: Mandatory Access Control—access is determined by system-enforced rules.

Q: What is RBAC?
A: Role-Based Access Control—access is granted based on user role.

Wireless Security Flashcards

Q: What replaced WEP for improved wireless security?
A: WPA, then WPA2, then WPA3

Q: What is WPA3's advantage over WPA2?
A: Stronger encryption, protection from deauthentication attacks, and forward secrecy

Q: What is a deauth attack?
A: A denial-of-service attack that forces clients off a wireless network

Command Line Tools Flashcards

Q: What does nmap do?
A: Scans a network to discover hosts and open ports.

Q: What is tcpdump used for?
A: Captures and analyzes packets on a network.

Q: What is telnet?
A: A command-line tool for unencrypted remote connections.

Q: What is ssh used for?
A: Secure remote login and command execution over an encrypted connection.

Q: What is the difference between ftp and tftp?
A: FTP uses TCP and supports file management; TFTP uses UDP and lacks authentication.