Question 1

Define the C.I.A. triad in information security.

Accepted Answer

The C.I.A. triad represents Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

Question 2

What is a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack?

Accepted Answer

An attack where an adversary intercepts and relays communication between two parties.

Question 3

Differentiate between symmetric and asymmetric key cryptography.

Accepted Answer

Symmetric uses one shared key, while asymmetric uses a public-private key pair.

Question 4

What is the role of a Message Authentication Code (MAC)?

Accepted Answer

A MAC ensures the integrity and authenticity of a message.

Question 5

Define non-repudiation in the context of digital security.

Accepted Answer

Non-repudiation prevents a party from denying their actions.

Question 6

What is a digital certificate?

Accepted Answer

An electronic document used to prove the ownership of a public key.

Question 7

Briefly explain Steganography.

Accepted Answer

Steganography is the practice of hiding a secret message within an ordinary message.

Question 8

What is the difference between a block cipher and a stream cipher?

Accepted Answer

Block ciphers encrypt chunks of data, stream ciphers encrypt bit-by-bit.

Question 9

State the purpose of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS).

Accepted Answer

An IDS monitors network or system activities for malicious activities.

Question 10

What is a trapdoor one-way function?

Accepted Answer

A function that is easy to compute in one direction but hard to reverse without a special secret.

Question 11

Explain the operational steps of the RSA algorithm with a simple outline.

Accepted Answer

RSA algorithm relies on the mathematical difficulty of factoring large prime numbers.

Question 12

Describe the different types of firewalls and their specific use cases.

Accepted Answer

Firewalls filter network traffic based on predefined security rules.

Question 13

Explain the Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm and its vulnerability.

Accepted Answer

Diffie-Hellman securely exchanges cryptographic keys over a public channel.

Question 14

What is a Buffer Overflow attack, and how can it be mitigated?

Accepted Answer

Buffer overflow occurs when more data is written to a buffer than it can hold.

Question 15

Outline the principles and requirements of Digital Signatures.

Accepted Answer

Digital signatures provide authentication, data integrity, and non-repudiation.

Question 16

Discuss the architecture of IPSec, including its AH and ESP protocols.

Accepted Answer

IPSec secures IP communications via Authentication Header (AH) and Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP).

Question 17

Explain the properties of a secure cryptographic hash function.

Accepted Answer

Cryptographic hash functions must be deterministic, quick, and collision-resistant.

Question 18

Provide a detailed structure and working mechanism of the Advanced Encryption…

Accepted Answer

AES is a symmetric block cipher using substitution-permutation networks over multiple rounds.

Question 19

Explain the X.509 digital certificate format. Detail the components of Public…

Accepted Answer

X.509 defines the format for digital certificates within a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

Question 20

Describe the Kerberos authentication protocol in detail. Explain the roles of…

Accepted Answer

Kerberos is a secure, ticket-based authentication protocol for untrusted networks.

Question 21

Discuss the SSL/TLS protocol architecture. Detail the steps involved in the S…

Accepted Answer

SSL/TLS secures network communication via encrypted, authenticated transport tunnels.

Question 22

Differentiate between Viruses, Worms, and Trojans. Describe the typical lifec…

Accepted Answer

Viruses infect files, worms self-propagate, and Trojans masquerade as legitimate software.

Information Security Systems