What is the primary function of a proxy server?

Encrypt data in transit between sites

Act as an intermediary for client requests, providing caching, filtering, and anonymity

Distribute network traffic across multiple servers

Monitor network traffic for intrusions

Which statement accurately describes how an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is typically deployed in a network?

Inline with the traffic flow, so it can drop malicious packets

Out-of-band, receiving a copy of traffic via a span port or TAP

As a proxy for all client requests

A small business wants to reduce bandwidth usage by caching frequently accessed websites and also wants to prevent employees from visiting known malicious domains. Which device should they deploy at the internet gateway?

A stateful firewall with application control

A proxy server with caching and URL filtering

An intrusion detection system (IDS)

A company is designing a new network segment for its public web servers. They want to allow only HTTP/HTTPS traffic from the internet to the web servers, and they want to block any malicious traffic before it reaches the servers. Which placement of security devices is most effective?

Place an IPS at the perimeter, and place a firewall between the IPS and the web servers

Place only an IPS at the perimeter and no firewall

Place a firewall at the perimeter, and place an IPS between the firewall and the web servers

Place only a firewall at the perimeter and no other devices

A company runs a critical web application that handles sensitive customer data. They have a WAF in place, but they are seeing false positives that block legitimate users. The security team wants to reduce false positives without significantly reducing security. Which approach is most effective?

Disable the WAF and rely on the network firewall for protection

Increase the sensitivity of the WAF rules to catch more attacks

Replace the WAF with an intrusion prevention system (IPS)

Tune the WAF rules to whitelist known legitimate traffic patterns and use anomaly detection with a learning mode

GIAC Security Essentials

Domain 2Objective 2

Network Security Devices GSEC Practice Questions (Page 4)

Part of the Network Security domain, which makes up ~17% of our current practice bank. GIAC (SANS) does not publish an official question count, but from its 240-minute exam (~95–160 total, ~16–27 in this domain), expect 4–7 from this objective — we provide 51 practice questions to prepare you well beyond it. (estimate)

51questions here

11free pages

13concepts

Questions 16–20

16foundation · easy
What is the primary function of a proxy server?
Select an answer first
17foundation · easy
Which statement accurately describes how an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is typically deployed in a network?
Select an answer first
18application · medium
A small business wants to reduce bandwidth usage by caching frequently accessed websites and also wants to prevent employees from visiting known malicious domains. Which device should they deploy at the internet gateway?
Select an answer first
19application · medium
A company is designing a new network segment for its public web servers. They want to allow only HTTP/HTTPS traffic from the internet to the web servers, and they want to block any malicious traffic before it reaches the servers. Which placement of security devices is most effective?
Select an answer first
20expert · hard
A company runs a critical web application that handles sensitive customer data. They have a WAF in place, but they are seeing false positives that block legitimate users. The security team wants to reduce false positives without significantly reducing security. Which approach is most effective?
Select an answer first

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