WGU D317
WGU D430 Information Security
Approved Set Exam Guide Questions and
Answers 2025
CIA Triad-
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
Confidentiality
The protection of information from unauthorized access or disclosure. It ensures that
sensitive data is only accessible to those who are authorized to see it and that it is kept
secure from anyone else who shouldn't have access.
4 ways confidentiality is kept:
Encryption, access controls, data masking, secure communication protocols
What transforms data into a format that is unreadable without the correct decryption
key? Even if the data is intercepted or accessed by unauthorized individuals, they
cannot read it without the key.
Encryption
What limits who can view or interact with data based on user roles or permissions? This
might involve authentication methods like passwords, biometrics, or multi-factor
authentication.
Access Controls
What hides certain portions of data to prevent unauthorized users from viewing
sensitive details? For example, displaying only the last four digits of a credit card
number.
Data Masking
What uses protocols like HTTPS, SSL/TLS, or VPNs to ensure that data is securely
transmitted over the internet?
Secure Communication Protocols
Integirty
WGU D317
,WGU D317
Focuses on ensuring that information remains accurate, consistent, and unaltered—
except by authorized individuals or processes. Ensures data is not tampered with in an
unauthorized way.
5 aspects of maintaining integrity
Hashing, digital signatures, checksums, verison control, and access controls & audit
logs
What creates a unique fingerprint of data, which can be checked later to see if the data
has been altered? If even a small change is made, the hash value will be different. This
is often used to verify the integrity of files and messages.
Hashing
What allows a sender to sign data or a message in a way that proves both the origin
and the integrity of the message?
Digital Signature
What are used to verify data integrity by comparing the expected checksum value with
the calculated one after data transmission or storage?
Checksums
What can help track changes and ensure that any modifications are properly authorized
and tracked?
Version Control
What limits who can modify data and keeping logs of changes, which helps prevent
unauthorized alterations and provides a way to trace any issues that might arise?
Access Controls & Audit Logs
Availability
Focuses on ensuring that information and systems are accessible and usable when
needed by authorized users. It's about making sure that services, data, and systems are
up and running smoothly, without unnecessary downtime, and that users can access
what they need without disruption.
6 elements of availability
Redundancy, failover systems, disaster recovery plans, load balancing, DDoS
protection, and regular maintenance & updates
WGU D317
, WGU D317
What focuses on having backup systems or infrastructure in place, like additional
servers, storage, or power supplies, which ensures that if one component fails, others
can take over and prevent service interruptions?
Redundancy
What is the ability for systems to automatically switch to a backup component in case of
failure called?
Failover Systems
What plans outline how to restore systems and data after unexpected events, such as
natural disasters, cyberattacks, or hardware failures?
Disaster Recovery Plans
What helps distribute network or application traffic across multiple servers ensures that
no single server is overwhelmed, which improves performance and reduces the chance
of downtime?
Load Balancing
What can overwhelm servers with traffic, causing them to crash or become
inaccessible?
DDoS Protection
What includes rate-limiting, traffic filtering, or cloud-based DDoS protection, helps
maintain availability during DDoS attacks?
DDoS Protection
What ensures that the underlying infrastructure is properly maintained can prevent
downtime caused by technical failures or security issues?
Regular Maintenance and Updates
What is an extension of the traditional CIA Triad that adds three additional principles to
provide a more comprehensive approach to IS?
Parkerian Hexad
What refers to the physical control or ownership of information or data, including that
someone must have actual control over the data or resource to prevent unauthorized
use or theft?
Possession
WGU D317
WGU D430 Information Security
Approved Set Exam Guide Questions and
Answers 2025
CIA Triad-
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
Confidentiality
The protection of information from unauthorized access or disclosure. It ensures that
sensitive data is only accessible to those who are authorized to see it and that it is kept
secure from anyone else who shouldn't have access.
4 ways confidentiality is kept:
Encryption, access controls, data masking, secure communication protocols
What transforms data into a format that is unreadable without the correct decryption
key? Even if the data is intercepted or accessed by unauthorized individuals, they
cannot read it without the key.
Encryption
What limits who can view or interact with data based on user roles or permissions? This
might involve authentication methods like passwords, biometrics, or multi-factor
authentication.
Access Controls
What hides certain portions of data to prevent unauthorized users from viewing
sensitive details? For example, displaying only the last four digits of a credit card
number.
Data Masking
What uses protocols like HTTPS, SSL/TLS, or VPNs to ensure that data is securely
transmitted over the internet?
Secure Communication Protocols
Integirty
WGU D317
,WGU D317
Focuses on ensuring that information remains accurate, consistent, and unaltered—
except by authorized individuals or processes. Ensures data is not tampered with in an
unauthorized way.
5 aspects of maintaining integrity
Hashing, digital signatures, checksums, verison control, and access controls & audit
logs
What creates a unique fingerprint of data, which can be checked later to see if the data
has been altered? If even a small change is made, the hash value will be different. This
is often used to verify the integrity of files and messages.
Hashing
What allows a sender to sign data or a message in a way that proves both the origin
and the integrity of the message?
Digital Signature
What are used to verify data integrity by comparing the expected checksum value with
the calculated one after data transmission or storage?
Checksums
What can help track changes and ensure that any modifications are properly authorized
and tracked?
Version Control
What limits who can modify data and keeping logs of changes, which helps prevent
unauthorized alterations and provides a way to trace any issues that might arise?
Access Controls & Audit Logs
Availability
Focuses on ensuring that information and systems are accessible and usable when
needed by authorized users. It's about making sure that services, data, and systems are
up and running smoothly, without unnecessary downtime, and that users can access
what they need without disruption.
6 elements of availability
Redundancy, failover systems, disaster recovery plans, load balancing, DDoS
protection, and regular maintenance & updates
WGU D317
, WGU D317
What focuses on having backup systems or infrastructure in place, like additional
servers, storage, or power supplies, which ensures that if one component fails, others
can take over and prevent service interruptions?
Redundancy
What is the ability for systems to automatically switch to a backup component in case of
failure called?
Failover Systems
What plans outline how to restore systems and data after unexpected events, such as
natural disasters, cyberattacks, or hardware failures?
Disaster Recovery Plans
What helps distribute network or application traffic across multiple servers ensures that
no single server is overwhelmed, which improves performance and reduces the chance
of downtime?
Load Balancing
What can overwhelm servers with traffic, causing them to crash or become
inaccessible?
DDoS Protection
What includes rate-limiting, traffic filtering, or cloud-based DDoS protection, helps
maintain availability during DDoS attacks?
DDoS Protection
What ensures that the underlying infrastructure is properly maintained can prevent
downtime caused by technical failures or security issues?
Regular Maintenance and Updates
What is an extension of the traditional CIA Triad that adds three additional principles to
provide a more comprehensive approach to IS?
Parkerian Hexad
What refers to the physical control or ownership of information or data, including that
someone must have actual control over the data or resource to prevent unauthorized
use or theft?
Possession
WGU D317
