CERTIFIED ETHICAL HACKER (CEH) CERTIFICATION:
COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM WITH ANSWERS AND
RATIONALES (QUESTIONS 1-100)
1. What is the primary difference between ethical hacking and malicious hacking?
A) The tools used
B) The skills required
C) Authorization and intent
D) The target systems
Answer: C
Rationale: Ethical hacking is performed with proper authorization and the intent to improve security,
while malicious hacking lacks authorization and has harmful intent .
2. Which phase of ethical hacking involves gathering information about the target without direct
interaction?
A) Scanning
B) Gaining Access
C) Reconnaissance
D) Maintaining Access
Answer: C
Rationale: Reconnaissance, or footprinting, is the phase where information is gathered passively about
the target without direct engagement .
3. What is the primary purpose of footprinting in ethical hacking?
A) Exploit system vulnerabilities
B) Gain unauthorized access to a network
C) Gather information about a target system to identify potential attack vectors
D) Cover tracks after an attack
Answer: C
,Rationale: Footprinting is a reconnaissance technique used to collect as much information as possible
about a target to identify potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors .
4. Which of the following is an example of passive footprinting?
A) Port scanning
B) Reviewing the target's website
C) Vulnerability scanning
D) Social engineering
Answer: B
Rationale: Passive footprinting involves collecting information without directly interacting with the
target, such as reviewing publicly available websites and social media .
5. What is the purpose of the nslookup command?
A) Ping a remote host
B) Trace the route to a remote host
C) Query DNS records
D) Scan for open ports
Answer: C
Rationale: nslookup is used to query DNS servers to obtain information about domain names and IP
addresses .
6. Which of the following is an active reconnaissance technique?
A) Using Google dorks to find sensitive information
B) Scanning for open ports using Nmap
C) Searching the target's social media profiles
D) Browsing the target's public job postings
Answer: B
Rationale: Active reconnaissance involves directly interacting with the target, such as scanning for open
ports using tools like Nmap .
,7. What is the purpose of a ping sweep?
A) To identify live hosts on a network
B) To identify open ports on a host
C) To identify operating systems
D) To identify running services
Answer: A
Rationale: A ping sweep sends ICMP echo requests to a range of IP addresses to determine which hosts
are alive and responding .
8. Which command is commonly used to perform a ping sweep on a Windows system?
A) ping -t
B) ping -a
C) for /L %i in (1,1,254) do ping -n 1 192.168.1.%i
D) ping -n 1
Answer: C
Rationale: This Windows command uses a for loop to ping each IP address in a subnet to identify active
hosts .
9. Which file on a Linux system contains password hashes?
A) /etc/passwd
B) /etc/shadow
C) /etc/group
D) /etc/hosts
Answer: B
Rationale: /etc/shadow stores user password hashes in a secure, restricted file that can only be read by
the root user .
10. What is the most common file system used by Windows operating systems?
A) FAT32
B) NTFS
, C) exFAT
D) EXT4
Answer: B
Rationale: NTFS (New Technology File System) is the default file system for modern Windows operating
systems, providing features like security permissions, compression, and encryption .
11. What is the purpose of the netstat command?
A) Display network statistics and connections
B) Display routing table information
C) Display active processes
D) Display user account information
Answer: A
Rationale: The netstat command displays active network connections, listening ports, routing tables, and
network statistics .
12. Which of the following is an example of a social engineering attack?
A) Sending a phishing email to a user to obtain their credentials
B) Exploiting a vulnerability in a web application
C) Using brute force to crack a password
D) Performing a SQL injection attack
Answer: A
Rationale: Social engineering attacks manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information, such
as through phishing emails .
13. Which of the following is a common technique used in phishing attacks?
A) Exploiting a vulnerability in a web browser
B) Sending a fraudulent email that appears to come from a legitimate source
C) Using a password cracking tool
D) Performing a denial-of-service attack
Answer: B
COMPLETE PRACTICE EXAM WITH ANSWERS AND
RATIONALES (QUESTIONS 1-100)
1. What is the primary difference between ethical hacking and malicious hacking?
A) The tools used
B) The skills required
C) Authorization and intent
D) The target systems
Answer: C
Rationale: Ethical hacking is performed with proper authorization and the intent to improve security,
while malicious hacking lacks authorization and has harmful intent .
2. Which phase of ethical hacking involves gathering information about the target without direct
interaction?
A) Scanning
B) Gaining Access
C) Reconnaissance
D) Maintaining Access
Answer: C
Rationale: Reconnaissance, or footprinting, is the phase where information is gathered passively about
the target without direct engagement .
3. What is the primary purpose of footprinting in ethical hacking?
A) Exploit system vulnerabilities
B) Gain unauthorized access to a network
C) Gather information about a target system to identify potential attack vectors
D) Cover tracks after an attack
Answer: C
,Rationale: Footprinting is a reconnaissance technique used to collect as much information as possible
about a target to identify potential vulnerabilities and attack vectors .
4. Which of the following is an example of passive footprinting?
A) Port scanning
B) Reviewing the target's website
C) Vulnerability scanning
D) Social engineering
Answer: B
Rationale: Passive footprinting involves collecting information without directly interacting with the
target, such as reviewing publicly available websites and social media .
5. What is the purpose of the nslookup command?
A) Ping a remote host
B) Trace the route to a remote host
C) Query DNS records
D) Scan for open ports
Answer: C
Rationale: nslookup is used to query DNS servers to obtain information about domain names and IP
addresses .
6. Which of the following is an active reconnaissance technique?
A) Using Google dorks to find sensitive information
B) Scanning for open ports using Nmap
C) Searching the target's social media profiles
D) Browsing the target's public job postings
Answer: B
Rationale: Active reconnaissance involves directly interacting with the target, such as scanning for open
ports using tools like Nmap .
,7. What is the purpose of a ping sweep?
A) To identify live hosts on a network
B) To identify open ports on a host
C) To identify operating systems
D) To identify running services
Answer: A
Rationale: A ping sweep sends ICMP echo requests to a range of IP addresses to determine which hosts
are alive and responding .
8. Which command is commonly used to perform a ping sweep on a Windows system?
A) ping -t
B) ping -a
C) for /L %i in (1,1,254) do ping -n 1 192.168.1.%i
D) ping -n 1
Answer: C
Rationale: This Windows command uses a for loop to ping each IP address in a subnet to identify active
hosts .
9. Which file on a Linux system contains password hashes?
A) /etc/passwd
B) /etc/shadow
C) /etc/group
D) /etc/hosts
Answer: B
Rationale: /etc/shadow stores user password hashes in a secure, restricted file that can only be read by
the root user .
10. What is the most common file system used by Windows operating systems?
A) FAT32
B) NTFS
, C) exFAT
D) EXT4
Answer: B
Rationale: NTFS (New Technology File System) is the default file system for modern Windows operating
systems, providing features like security permissions, compression, and encryption .
11. What is the purpose of the netstat command?
A) Display network statistics and connections
B) Display routing table information
C) Display active processes
D) Display user account information
Answer: A
Rationale: The netstat command displays active network connections, listening ports, routing tables, and
network statistics .
12. Which of the following is an example of a social engineering attack?
A) Sending a phishing email to a user to obtain their credentials
B) Exploiting a vulnerability in a web application
C) Using brute force to crack a password
D) Performing a SQL injection attack
Answer: A
Rationale: Social engineering attacks manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information, such
as through phishing emails .
13. Which of the following is a common technique used in phishing attacks?
A) Exploiting a vulnerability in a web browser
B) Sending a fraudulent email that appears to come from a legitimate source
C) Using a password cracking tool
D) Performing a denial-of-service attack
Answer: B
