Are You a Cybersecurity Expert? Quiz

Answer: fingerprint scan

Biometrics is a form of authentication in which you identify yourself with any part of the human body. In addition to fingerprint scans, other forms of biometrics are face ID and retina scans. This answers the question of "who you are" when it comes to identification.

Answer: ransomware

Indicators of ransomware are files that were once readable but can no longer be opened, new file extensions (e.g. resume.doc becomes resume.doc.exe), and messages about paying by Bitcoin or Apple Pay in order to retrieve your files. An example of ransomware is WannaCry.

Answer: medical records

HIPAA is short for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It protects information pertaining to laboratory results, medications, heart rate, blood pressure, and hospital discharge instructions.

Answer: firewall

Firewalls use predetermined rules to allow transmission of data from reliable sources and reject data from questionable IP addresses. Here is an example of a firewall instruction:

Source: 72.61.68.41
Destination: 18.23.91.3
Port: 389
Protocol: LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
Action: DENY

This firewall instruction is coming from a device with the IP address 18.23.91.3, making it host-based. It is blocking traffic to port 389 (LDAP) from IP address 72.61.68.41. This protects that particular port which accesses a digital directory that stores important data on network users and network devices.

An IPS (short for intrusion prevention system|) detects and block threats. A VPN (short for virtual private/public network) establishes a secure Internet connection. A proxy server protects users and servers by functioning as a middleman between the Internet and connected devices.

Answer: whaling

Whaling targets CEOs, executive directors, and people holding senior leadership positions. Whaling emails usually consist of links to fake Zoom meetings, business proposals with malicious attachments, and acquisition scams.

Answer: DMZ

Network segmentations refers to splitting a whole network into isolated network zones. A DMZ (short for demilitarized zone) functions as a buffer between the LAN (local area network) and the internet. A web server in a DMZ holds a website's source code and should have restricted access.

Answer: hexadecimal digits

A hashing algorithm's hash value converts user input into a fixed string of hexadecimal characters called a digital fingerprint. This is done to verify integrity in terms of making sure the information hasn't been tampered with. MD5 is not a recommended hashing algorithm because it is outdated and prone to collisions. SHA-256, on the other hand, is preferred since the hash string is much longer, making it much more complex compared to MD5. Here are some examples of MD5 and SHA-256:

MD5: 14673a987a69d2bb416db3de218fdcf0

SHA-256: 0fef81b9c36b8ba01957ac2b30926c809bba612852d0983ccac2c03c041504b3

Answer: RAM

RAM is extremely volatile, because it disappears in nanoseconds. When you turn off the computer, the data in the RAM is gone and cannot be retrieved. That could mean potentially losing valuable evidence which may not work in your favor when testifying in court about a cyber incident.

Answer: acceptance

Suppose a denial of service attack takes a web server completely offline for three days. The annual loss expectancy is $8000/year. Say the cost of mitigation is $9500. Spending that amount of money to mitigate this risk would result in a loss of $1500. On the other hand, if the cost of mitigation is $4800, then you save $3200.

It is more cost effective to accept the risk if the cost of mitigation exceeds the projected annual loss from the incident.

Answer: "Passwords should be changed every 6 months."

A cybersecurity guideline is a recommended rule made to protect your organization's sensitive data and devices. Changing your password every 6 months is a recommended guideline because doing so consistently decreases the likelihood of malware and data theft.