A security engineer is designing a system to store user passwords. The system must be resistant to both offline brute-force attacks and rainbow table attacks. Which approach is the most effective?

Use a symmetric encryption algorithm to store the passwords.

Use a slow key-derivation function like bcrypt with a unique salt per user.

Use a fast hash like SHA-256 with a global salt.

Use a fast hash like SHA-256 with a unique salt per user.

What is the purpose of key rotation in key management?

To limit the amount of data encrypted with a single key

To make the key easier to remember

To convert a symmetric key into an asymmetric key

A small company needs to encrypt files stored on a shared network drive so that only the five members of the finance team can read them. The company wants to avoid managing individual user certificates and wants a simple, fast solution that works on all their Windows workstations. Which approach best meets these requirements?

Use a single pre-shared AES-256 key and distribute it securely to each finance team member, then use a tool that supports AES encryption for the files.

Apply a hash-based integrity check to each file and store the hashes in a central database, then rely on the network drive's access controls for confidentiality.

Use EFS (Encrypting File System) on the shared drive, which automatically encrypts files with the logged-in user's certificate.

Generate an RSA key pair for each finance user and encrypt each file with the public key of every user, storing multiple encrypted copies.

GIAC Security Essentials

Domain 3Objective 1

Cryptography GSEC Practice Questions (Page 8)

Part of the Cryptography and Communications domain, which makes up ~12% of our current practice bank. GIAC (SANS) does not publish an official question count, but from its 240-minute exam (~95–160 total, ~11–19 in this domain), expect 4–6 from this objective — we provide 48 practice questions to prepare you well beyond it. (estimate)

48questions here

10free pages

7concepts

Questions 36–40

36expert · hard
A security engineer is designing a system to store user passwords. The system must be resistant to both offline brute-force attacks and rainbow table attacks. Which approach is the most effective?
Select an answer first
37foundation · easy
What is the purpose of key rotation in key management?
Select an answer first
38application · medium
A small company needs to encrypt files stored on a shared network drive so that only the five members of the finance team can read them. The company wants to avoid managing individual user certificates and wants a simple, fast solution that works on all their Windows workstations. Which approach best meets these requirements?
Select an answer first
39foundation · easy
Which property of a cryptographic hash function ensures that it is computationally infeasible to find two different inputs that produce the same hash output?
Select an answer first
40foundation · easy
Which of the following is an example of an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm?
Select an answer first

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Cryptography GSEC Practice Questions (Page 8)

Questions 36–40

A security engineer is designing a system to store user passwords. The system must be resistant to both offline brute-force attacks and rainbow table attacks. Which approach is the most effective?

What is the purpose of key rotation in key management?

Which property of a cryptographic hash function ensures that it is computationally infeasible to find two different inputs that produce the same hash output?

Which of the following is an example of an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm?

Keep studying — Cryptography and Communications