5.2 - Apply Cryptography Concepts SSCP Practice Questions (Page 5)

Questions 21–25

1. 21foundation · easy

   Which cryptanalysis technique relies on analyzing the frequency of characters in a ciphertext to break classical ciphers?

   • ABrute force attack
   • BFrequency analysis
   • CLinear cryptanalysis
   • DDifferential cryptanalysis
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 22expert · hard

   A startup is building a secure messaging app for mobile devices. They need to implement key exchange and digital signatures. They are considering using ECC instead of RSA. Which factor is most critical in this decision?

   • AECC requires less computational power and smaller keys, which is beneficial for mobile devices.
   • BECC keys can be used interchangeably with RSA keys.
   • CECC is a symmetric algorithm, making it faster for bulk encryption.
   • DECC is immune to all side-channel attacks.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
4. 23application · medium

   A financial institution must ensure that a customer's loan approval document cannot be repudiated by the approving officer. The officer signs the document electronically, and the institution needs to verify the signature later. Which combination of controls best provides non-repudiation?

   • AEncrypt the document with the officer's public key and store it in a shared folder.
   • BEncrypt the document with the officer's private key and store the encrypted file in the officer's personal drive.
   • CHash the document and encrypt the hash with the officer's private key, then store the document and signature with a timestamp in an audit log.
   • DUse a symmetric key to encrypt the document and share the key with the officer via email.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
5. 24foundation · easy

   What is the primary factor that determines the strength of an encryption algorithm against brute-force attacks?

   • AThe length of the key
   • BThe type of data being encrypted
   • CThe operating system used
   • DThe speed of the algorithm
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 25application · medium

   A security administrator is reviewing the password storage mechanism for a legacy application. The application currently stores unsalted SHA-256 hashes of user passwords. After a recent breach, the administrator wants to strengthen the storage without requiring users to change passwords immediately. Which action best addresses the vulnerability while maintaining compatibility?

   • ASwitch to storing plaintext passwords in an encrypted database column.
   • BApply a second round of SHA-256 to the existing hashes.
   • CUse a global static salt for all passwords and keep SHA-256.
   • DAdd a unique random salt to each password and rehash with a slow key derivation function like bcrypt.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first