CISA PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
In a public key infrastructure (PKI), which of the following may be relied upon to prove
that an online transaction was authorized by a specific customer?
Correct A. Nonrepudiation
B. Encryption
C. Authentication
D. Integrity
. - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is A.
A. Nonrepudiation, achieved through the use of digital signatures, prevents the senders
from later denying that they generated and sent the message.
B. Encryption may protect the data transmitted over the Internet, but may not prove that
the transactions were made.
C. Authentication is necessary to establish the identification of all parties to a
communication.
D. Integrity ensures that transactions are accurate but does not provide the identification
of the customer
Which of the following BEST ensures the integrity of a server's operating system (OS)?
A. Protecting the server in a secure location
B. Setting a boot password
Correct C. Hardening the server configuration
D. Implementing activity logging - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is C.
A. Protecting the server in a secure location is a good practice, but does not ensure that
a user will not try to exploit logical vulnerabilities and compromise the operating system
(OS).
,B. Setting a boot password is a good practice, but does not ensure that a user will not
try to exploit logical vulnerabilities and compromise the OS.
C. Hardening a system means to configure it in the most secure manner (install latest
security patches, properly define access authorization for users and administrators,
disable insecure options and uninstall unused services) to prevent nonprivileged users
from gaining the right to execute privileged instructions and, thus, take control of the
entire machine, jeopardizing the integrity of the OS.
D. Activity logging has two weaknesses in this scenario—it is a detective control (not a
preventive one), and the attacker who already gained privileged access can modify logs
or disable them.
The IS auditor is reviewing an organization's human resources (HR) database
implementation. The IS auditor discovers that the database servers are clustered for
high availability, all default database accounts have been removed and database audit
logs are kept and reviewed on a weekly basis. What other area should the IS auditor
check to ensure that the databases are appropriately secured?
A. Database digital signatures
Incorrect B. Database encryption nonces and other variables
C. Database media access control (MAC) address authentication
D. Database initialization parameters - ANSWER-You answered B. The correct answer
is D.
A. Digital signatures are used for authentication and nonrepudiation, and are not
commonly used in databases. As a result, this is not an area in which the IS auditor
should investigate.
B. A nonce is defined as a "parameter that changes over time" and is similar to a
number generated to authenticate one specific user session. Nonces are not related to
database security (they are commonly used in encryption schemes).
C. A media access control (MAC) address is the hardware address of a network
interface. MAC address authentication is sometimes used with wireless local area
network (WLAN) technology, but is not related to database security.
D. When a database is opened, many of its configuration options are governed by
initialization parameters. These parameters are usually governed by a file ("init.ora" in
the case of Oracle DBMS), which contains many settings. The system initialization
parameters address many "global" database settings, including authentication, remote
,access and other critical security areas. To effectively audit a database implementation,
the IS auditor must examine the database initialization parameters.
Which of the following processes will be MOST effective in reducing the risk that
unauthorized software on a backup server is distributed to the production server?
A. Manually copy files to accomplish replication.
B. Review changes in the software version control system.
Incorrect C. Ensure that developers do not have access to the backup server.
D. Review the access control log of the backup server. - ANSWER-You answered C.
The correct answer is B.
A. The review of the risk assessment process should be done at the start of the risk
analysis. Because the threats and impact have already been determined, there must
already be a risk assessment process in place.
B. It would be impossible to determine impact without first having identified the assets
affected; therefore, this must already have been completed.
C. Upon completion of a risk assessment, an IS auditor should describe and discuss
with management the threats and potential impacts on the assets as well as
recommendations for addressing the risk. However, this cannot be done until the
controls have been identified and the likelihood of the threat has been calculated.
D. It is important for an IS auditor to identify and evaluate the existence and
effectiveness of existing and planned controls so that the risk level can be calculated
after the potential threats and possible impacts are identified.
The PRIMARY purpose of an IT forensic audit is:
A. to participate in investigations related to corporate fraud.
B. the systematic collection and analysis of evidence after a system irregularity.
C. to assess the correctness of an organization's financial statements.
Incorrect D. to preserve evidence of criminal activity. - ANSWER-You answered D. The
correct answer is B.
A. Forensic audits are not limited to corporate fraud.
, B. The systematic collection and analysis of evidence best describes a forensic audit.
The evidence collected could then be analyzed and used in judicial proceedings.
C. Assessing the correctness of an organization's financial statements is not the primary
purpose of most forensic audits.
D. Forensics is the investigation of evidence related to a crime or misbehavior.
Preserving evidence is the forensic process, but not the primary purpose.
The sender of a public key would be authenticated by a:
A. certificate revocation list (CRL).
B. digital signature.
Correct C. digital certificate.
D. receiver's private key. - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is C.
A. A certificate revocation list (CRL) is the list of certificates that can no longer be
trusted.
B. A digital signature is used to ensure integrity of the message being sent and solve
the nonrepudiation issue of message origination.
C. A digital certificate is an electronic document that declares a public key holder is who
the holder claims to be. The certificates do handle data authentication as they are used
to determine who sent a particular message.
D. The sender's public key cannot be opened by any key except the sender's private
key.
When performing a review of a business process reengineering (BPR) effort, which of
the following choices would be the PRIMARY concern?
A. Controls are eliminated as part of the BPR effort.
Incorrect B. Resources are not adequate to support the BPR process.
C. The audit department is not involved in the BPR effort.
D. The BPR effort includes employees with limited knowledge of the process area. -
ANSWER-You answered B. The correct answer is A.
ANSWERS 100% CORRECT
In a public key infrastructure (PKI), which of the following may be relied upon to prove
that an online transaction was authorized by a specific customer?
Correct A. Nonrepudiation
B. Encryption
C. Authentication
D. Integrity
. - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is A.
A. Nonrepudiation, achieved through the use of digital signatures, prevents the senders
from later denying that they generated and sent the message.
B. Encryption may protect the data transmitted over the Internet, but may not prove that
the transactions were made.
C. Authentication is necessary to establish the identification of all parties to a
communication.
D. Integrity ensures that transactions are accurate but does not provide the identification
of the customer
Which of the following BEST ensures the integrity of a server's operating system (OS)?
A. Protecting the server in a secure location
B. Setting a boot password
Correct C. Hardening the server configuration
D. Implementing activity logging - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is C.
A. Protecting the server in a secure location is a good practice, but does not ensure that
a user will not try to exploit logical vulnerabilities and compromise the operating system
(OS).
,B. Setting a boot password is a good practice, but does not ensure that a user will not
try to exploit logical vulnerabilities and compromise the OS.
C. Hardening a system means to configure it in the most secure manner (install latest
security patches, properly define access authorization for users and administrators,
disable insecure options and uninstall unused services) to prevent nonprivileged users
from gaining the right to execute privileged instructions and, thus, take control of the
entire machine, jeopardizing the integrity of the OS.
D. Activity logging has two weaknesses in this scenario—it is a detective control (not a
preventive one), and the attacker who already gained privileged access can modify logs
or disable them.
The IS auditor is reviewing an organization's human resources (HR) database
implementation. The IS auditor discovers that the database servers are clustered for
high availability, all default database accounts have been removed and database audit
logs are kept and reviewed on a weekly basis. What other area should the IS auditor
check to ensure that the databases are appropriately secured?
A. Database digital signatures
Incorrect B. Database encryption nonces and other variables
C. Database media access control (MAC) address authentication
D. Database initialization parameters - ANSWER-You answered B. The correct answer
is D.
A. Digital signatures are used for authentication and nonrepudiation, and are not
commonly used in databases. As a result, this is not an area in which the IS auditor
should investigate.
B. A nonce is defined as a "parameter that changes over time" and is similar to a
number generated to authenticate one specific user session. Nonces are not related to
database security (they are commonly used in encryption schemes).
C. A media access control (MAC) address is the hardware address of a network
interface. MAC address authentication is sometimes used with wireless local area
network (WLAN) technology, but is not related to database security.
D. When a database is opened, many of its configuration options are governed by
initialization parameters. These parameters are usually governed by a file ("init.ora" in
the case of Oracle DBMS), which contains many settings. The system initialization
parameters address many "global" database settings, including authentication, remote
,access and other critical security areas. To effectively audit a database implementation,
the IS auditor must examine the database initialization parameters.
Which of the following processes will be MOST effective in reducing the risk that
unauthorized software on a backup server is distributed to the production server?
A. Manually copy files to accomplish replication.
B. Review changes in the software version control system.
Incorrect C. Ensure that developers do not have access to the backup server.
D. Review the access control log of the backup server. - ANSWER-You answered C.
The correct answer is B.
A. The review of the risk assessment process should be done at the start of the risk
analysis. Because the threats and impact have already been determined, there must
already be a risk assessment process in place.
B. It would be impossible to determine impact without first having identified the assets
affected; therefore, this must already have been completed.
C. Upon completion of a risk assessment, an IS auditor should describe and discuss
with management the threats and potential impacts on the assets as well as
recommendations for addressing the risk. However, this cannot be done until the
controls have been identified and the likelihood of the threat has been calculated.
D. It is important for an IS auditor to identify and evaluate the existence and
effectiveness of existing and planned controls so that the risk level can be calculated
after the potential threats and possible impacts are identified.
The PRIMARY purpose of an IT forensic audit is:
A. to participate in investigations related to corporate fraud.
B. the systematic collection and analysis of evidence after a system irregularity.
C. to assess the correctness of an organization's financial statements.
Incorrect D. to preserve evidence of criminal activity. - ANSWER-You answered D. The
correct answer is B.
A. Forensic audits are not limited to corporate fraud.
, B. The systematic collection and analysis of evidence best describes a forensic audit.
The evidence collected could then be analyzed and used in judicial proceedings.
C. Assessing the correctness of an organization's financial statements is not the primary
purpose of most forensic audits.
D. Forensics is the investigation of evidence related to a crime or misbehavior.
Preserving evidence is the forensic process, but not the primary purpose.
The sender of a public key would be authenticated by a:
A. certificate revocation list (CRL).
B. digital signature.
Correct C. digital certificate.
D. receiver's private key. - ANSWER-You are correct, the answer is C.
A. A certificate revocation list (CRL) is the list of certificates that can no longer be
trusted.
B. A digital signature is used to ensure integrity of the message being sent and solve
the nonrepudiation issue of message origination.
C. A digital certificate is an electronic document that declares a public key holder is who
the holder claims to be. The certificates do handle data authentication as they are used
to determine who sent a particular message.
D. The sender's public key cannot be opened by any key except the sender's private
key.
When performing a review of a business process reengineering (BPR) effort, which of
the following choices would be the PRIMARY concern?
A. Controls are eliminated as part of the BPR effort.
Incorrect B. Resources are not adequate to support the BPR process.
C. The audit department is not involved in the BPR effort.
D. The BPR effort includes employees with limited knowledge of the process area. -
ANSWER-You answered B. The correct answer is A.
