CCST Essential Security Principles (CIA) 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which CIA triad component ensures that data has not been altered without authorization?
- Confidentiality
- Integrity (Correct answer)
- Availability
- Authentication
Correct answer: Integrity
Integrity ensures data remains accurate and unmodified by unauthorized parties.
Mechanisms include cryptographic hashes (SHA-256), digital signatures, checksums, and access controls. Violations include unauthorized modification and data corruption.
Question 2: A company's web server crashes and customers cannot access the online store. Which CIA principle is violated?
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Availability (Correct answer)
- Non-repudiation
Correct answer: Availability
Availability ensures systems are accessible when needed. A server crash preventing access violates this.
Threats include hardware failures, DDoS attacks, and natural disasters. Maintained through redundancy, failover, load balancing, UPS, and disaster recovery plans.
Question 3: Which security control best protects the confidentiality of data transmitted over a public network?
- Antivirus software
- Encryption (Correct answer)
- Intrusion detection system
- Backup storage
Correct answer: Encryption
Encryption makes data unreadable without the proper key, providing primary confidentiality protection during transmission.
TLS encrypts web traffic, VPNs encrypt connections, SSH encrypts admin sessions. AES for bulk encryption, RSA/ECDHE for key exchange. Without encryption, data on public networks can be captured.
Question 4: What is the purpose of access control lists (ACLs) in relation to the CIA triad?
- They support availability by speeding up traffic
- They support confidentiality and integrity by restricting who can view or modify resources (Correct answer)
- They only support integrity by logging changes
- They support availability by preventing crashes
Correct answer: They support confidentiality and integrity by restricting who can view or modify resources
ACLs support confidentiality (restricting who views data) and integrity (restricting who modifies data).
ACLs can be discretionary (DAC), mandatory (MAC), or role-based (RBAC). They implement least privilege by granting minimum necessary access.
Question 5: Which approach provides defense in depth for CIA triad protections?
- Relying on a single strong firewall
- Implementing multiple layers of security controls addressing confidentiality, integrity, and availability (Correct answer)
- Using only encryption for all security
- Deploying a single antivirus on all endpoints
Correct answer: Implementing multiple layers of security controls addressing confidentiality, integrity, and availability
Defense in depth uses multiple overlapping layers so if one fails, others still provide protection.
For confidentiality: encryption + access controls + segmentation. For integrity: hashing + signatures + audit logging. For availability: redundancy + backups + DDoS mitigation. Plus administrative and physical controls.
Question 6: What role does multi-factor authentication (MFA) play in supporting the CIA triad?
- It supports availability by allowing faster logins
- It supports confidentiality by ensuring only verified users access protected resources (Correct answer)
- It supports integrity by preventing data modification
- It has no relation to the CIA triad
Correct answer: It supports confidentiality by ensuring only verified users access protected resources
MFA strengthens confidentiality by requiring multiple verification factors to access information.
Factors: something you know (password), have (token), are (biometric). Even if one factor is compromised, the attacker needs additional factors. Considered one of the most effective controls against credential attacks.
CCST Essential Security Principles (CIA) 2
Which CIA triad component ensures that data has not been altered without authorization?