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Unit 1: Introduction to Ethical Hacking, System Fundamentals, Cryptography - Practice Quiz

INT244 — Securing Computing Systems 50 Questions
0 Correct 0 Wrong 50 Left
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1 What is the primary difference between a 'Black Hat' hacker and a 'White Hat' hacker?

A. Authorization and intent
B. Technical skill level
C. The operating system used
D. The age of the hacker

2 Which term refers to the pre-computer era practice of manipulating telephone networks?

A. Sniffing
B. Phreaking
C. Phishing
D. Spoofing

3 Which phase of the ethical hacking methodology involves gathering information about a target without directly interacting with it?

A. Active Scanning
B. Gaining Access
C. Enumeration
D. Passive Reconnaissance

4 In the context of hacking methodologies, what is the primary goal of 'Clearing Tracks'?

A. To avoid detection and maintain access
B. To install a backdoor
C. To crash the system
D. To steal data

5 Which type of penetration testing is performed with no prior knowledge of the target system?

A. Gray Box
B. Crystal Box
C. Black Box
D. White Box

6 What is the specific legal requirement that distinguishes an ethical hacker from a malicious hacker?

A. Only hacking during business hours
B. Written permission from the owner
C. A Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification
D. Using Linux exclusively

7 Which OSI model layer is primarily responsible for logical addressing and routing?

A. Layer 3 (Network)
B. Layer 7 (Application)
C. Layer 2 (Data Link)
D. Layer 4 (Transport)

8 Which protocol is connection-oriented and ensures reliable data delivery?

A. ICMP
B. IP
C. UDP
D. TCP

9 Which TCP/IP port is the default for unencrypted web traffic (HTTP)?

A. Port 80
B. Port 22
C. Port 443
D. Port 21

10 Which port would an administrator typically use for secure remote command-line access to a Linux server?

A. Port 23 (Telnet)
B. Port 25 (SMTP)
C. Port 110 (POP3)
D. Port 22 (SSH)

11 What is the primary function of the Domain Name System (DNS) running on Port 53?

A. Assigning IP addresses to devices
B. Transferring files
C. Resolving domain names to IP addresses
D. Sending emails

12 How does a network switch differ from a network hub?

A. A switch cannot connect multiple devices.
B. A switch broadcasts data to all ports.
C. A switch operates at Layer 3.
D. A switch sends data only to the specific recipient MAC address.

13 What is a 'broadcast domain'?

A. A group of devices that receive broadcast frames originating from any device in the group
B. A specific IP address range for servers
C. The range of a WiFi signal
D. A domain used for TV broadcasting

14 What is the primary role of a Proxy Server?

A. To act as an intermediary between a client and a server
B. To physically connect cables
C. To generate encryption keys
D. To route packets between different networks

15 Which type of firewall filters traffic based on source, destination, port, and protocol without tracking the state of connections?

A. Packet Filtering Firewall
B. Next-Generation Firewall
C. Stateful Inspection Firewall
D. Application Gateway

16 What is a DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in network security?

A. A sub-network that exposes external-facing services to an untrusted network
B. A network segment with no security
C. A zone where military software is tested
D. An encrypted tunnel

17 Which file system is native to the Windows Operating System?

A. APFS
B. EXT4
C. HFS+
D. NTFS

18 The Android operating system is based on which kernel?

A. Linux Kernel
B. Darwin
C. Windows NT
D. Hybrid Kernel

19 In Linux, which user account has unrestricted access to all commands and files?

A. Root
B. System
C. Admin
D. SuperUser

20 Which component in Windows stores low-level settings for the OS and installed applications?

A. Active Directory
B. The Registry
C. Kernel
D. System32

21 The Caesar Cipher is an example of which type of cryptography?

A. Asymmetric Encryption
B. Hashing
C. Transposition Cipher
D. Substitution Cipher

22 Which machine was used by the Germans in WWII for encryption and famously broken by Alan Turing?

A. The Lorenz
B. The Colossus
C. The Enigma
D. The Sigaba

23 In Symmetric Cryptography, how many keys are used for the encryption and decryption process?

A. One
B. Two
C. Four
D. Three

24 Which of the following is a symmetric encryption algorithm?

A. RSA
B. AES
C. Diffie-Hellman
D. ECC

25 What is a major disadvantage of Symmetric Cryptography?

A. It cannot be implemented on mobile devices.
B. It increases file size.
C. Key distribution and sharing is difficult.
D. It is slower than asymmetric cryptography.

26 Asymmetric Cryptography is also known as:

A. Block cipher
B. Secret-key cryptography
C. Public-key cryptography
D. One-way cryptography

27 In an asymmetric encryption scenario, if Alice wants to send a confidential message to Bob, which key does she use to encrypt the message?

A. Alice's Public Key
B. Bob's Public Key
C. Alice's Private Key
D. Bob's Private Key

28 Which algorithm is a widely used Asymmetric cryptosystem?

A. 3DES
B. DES
C. RSA
D. AES

29 What is the primary purpose of a Hashing algorithm?

A. To compress data
B. To encrypt data for confidentiality
C. To create a communication tunnel
D. To verify data integrity

30 Which of the following is a characteristic of a secure hash function?

A. It uses two keys.
B. It is reversible (two-way).
C. It produces variable length output.
D. It is a one-way function.

31 What is a 'Collision' in the context of hashing?

A. When a hash function crashes
B. When data is lost during hashing
C. When two different inputs produce the same hash output
D. When encryption and decryption happen simultaneously

32 Which hashing algorithm is considered insecure today due to collision vulnerabilities?

A. MD5
B. SHA-3
C. SHA-256
D. Whirlpool

33 What is the 'Man-in-the-Middle' (MITM) attack in the context of cryptography?

A. An attacker intercepting and possibly altering communications between two parties
B. An attacker guessing the password
C. An attacker deleting the database
D. An attacker physically stealing the server

34 IPsec is primarily used to secure which type of connection?

A. Email transmission
B. File storage
C. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
D. Web browsing (HTTPS)

35 What are the two main modes of operation for IPsec?

A. Block and Stream
B. Public and Private
C. Open and Closed
D. Tunnel and Transport

36 What is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) primarily used for?

A. Securing email communications
B. Securing WiFi passwords
C. Securing hard drives
D. Securing routing tables

37 Which protocol succeeded SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to provide secure web browsing?

A. TLS (Transport Layer Security)
B. IPsec
C. HTTP
D. SSH

38 What is the purpose of a Digital Signature?

A. To verify authenticity and non-repudiation
B. To encrypt the message
C. To hide the message
D. To compress the message

39 In the context of SSL/TLS, what role does a Certificate Authority (CA) play?

A. It hosts the website.
B. It creates the HTML content.
C. It acts as a trusted third party that issues digital certificates.
D. It encrypts the traffic.

40 Which cryptographic concept refers to hiding a secret message within an ordinary file, like an image?

A. Steganography
B. Obfuscation
C. Hashing
D. Cryptography

41 Which phase of hacking involves scanning the network for specific IP addresses and open ports?

A. Maintaining Access
B. Gaining Access
C. Scanning
D. Reconnaissance

42 What is a 'Gray Hat' hacker?

A. Someone who hacks for government agencies
B. A hacker who is retired
C. Someone who hacks without permission but often without malicious intent, and may disclose vulnerabilities to the owner
D. A hacker who only uses old hardware

43 In a TCP header, which flag is used to initiate a connection?

A. RST
B. SYN
C. FIN
D. ACK

44 Which network device operates at Layer 1 (Physical Layer) of the OSI model?

A. Router
B. Firewall
C. Hub
D. Switch

45 Which command is commonly used to test the reachability of a host on an IP network?

A. ipconfig
B. ping
C. netstat
D. nslookup

46 What is the macOS operating system derived from?

A. Linux
B. MS-DOS
C. Solaris
D. Unix (BSD)

47 Which of the following describes 'Salting' in cryptography?

A. Adding random data to a password before hashing it
B. Encrypting the data twice
C. Changing the algorithm frequently
D. Using a longer key

48 What is the main security risk of using WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) for WiFi?

A. It is too slow.
B. It is not compatible with modern phones.
C. It requires a wired connection.
D. It uses a static key that is easily cracked.

49 In the context of firewalls, what does 'Ingress Filtering' refer to?

A. Filtering traffic entering the network
B. Filtering traffic leaving the network
C. Filtering based on time of day
D. Filtering internal traffic

50 What is the standard port for HTTPS traffic?

A. 443
B. 80
C. 8080
D. 21
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Unit 2