ISC2 Information Systems Security Architecture Professional Exam

biophysical qualities to identify a user. Nowadays, the usage of biometric devices such as hand scanners and retinal scanners is becoming

more common in the business environment. It is the most secure method of authentication.

Answer option C is incorrect. Username and password is the least secure method of authentication in comparison of smart card and biometrics

authentication. Username and password can be intercepted.

Answer option A is incorrect. Smart card authentication is not as reliable as biometrics authentication.

Answer option B is incorrect. Anonymous authentication does not provide security as a user can log on to the system anonymously and he is

not prompted for credentials.

password to each application. In SSO, a user can access all computer applications and systems where he has access permission without

entering multiple passwords. This reduces human error and systems failure and is therefore highly desirable. There are many commercial SSO

solutions available in the market. Some of them are as follows:

Central Authentication Service (CAS)

The Dutch NREN

CoSign

Enterprise Single Sign-On (E-SSO)

Web Single Sign-On (Web SSO)

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)

Direct SSO

Shibboleth

Answer option B is incorrect. A one-time password (OTP) is a password only valid for a single login session or transaction. OTP avoids a

number of shortcomings that are associated with traditional passwords. The most important shortcoming that is addressed by OTP is that OTP

is not vulnerable to replay attacks. If a potential intruder manages to record an OTP that was already used to log into a service or to conduct

a transaction, he will not be able to abuse it since it will be no longer valid.

Answer option D is incorrect. Kerberos is a secure protocol that supports ticketing authentication. A ticket is granted in response to a client

computer authentication request by the Kerberos authentication server, if the request contains valid user credentials and a valid Service

Principal Name (SPN). The ticket is then used by the client computer to access network resources. To enable Kerberos authentication, the

client and server computers must have a trusted connection to the domain Key Distribution Center (KDC). The task of KDC is to distribute

shared secret keys to enable encryption.

Answer option C is incorrect. In the dynamic password authentication scheme, passwords are changed after a specified time or time interval.

enforce one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar. Thus, a

turnstile can be used in the case of paid access.

Answer option D is incorrect. A fence is a perimeter-defining device. It differentiates between those locations that are under some specified

security protection and those that are not under any security protection. Fencing contains various components, materials, and construction

methods. It also includes stripes painted on the ground, barbed wires, chain link fences, concrete walls, and some invisible perimeters in

which laser, motion, and heat detectors are used.

Answer option A is incorrect. Biometrics is a method of authentication that uses physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, scars, retinal

patterns, and other forms of biophysical qualities to identify a user. Nowadays, the usage of biometric devices such as hand scanners and

retinal scanners is becoming more common in the business environment.

Answer option B is incorrect. A man-trap in modern physical security protocols refers to a small space having two sets of interlocking doors

such that the first set of doors must close before the second set opens. Identification may be required for each door, and possibly different

measures for each door. For example, a key may open the first door, but a personal identification number entered on a number pad opens the

second. Other methods of opening doors include proximity cards or biometric devices such as fingerprint readers or iris recognition scans.

'Man-traps' may be configured so that when an alarm is activated, all doors lock and trap the suspect between the doors in the 'dead-space'

or lock just one door to deny access to a secure space such as a data center or research lab.

password to each application. In SSO, a user can access all computer applications and systems where he has access permission without

entering multiple passwords. This reduces human error and systems failure and is therefore highly desirable. There are many commercial SSO

solutions available in the market. Some of them are as follows:

Central Authentication Service (CAS)

The Dutch NREN

CoSign

Enterprise Single Sign-On (E-SSO)

Web Single Sign-On (Web SSO)

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)

Direct SSO

Shibboleth

Answer option B is incorrect. A one-time password (OTP) is a password only valid for a single login session or transaction. OTP avoids a

number of shortcomings that are associated with traditional passwords. The most important shortcoming that is addressed by OTP is that OTP

is not vulnerable to replay attacks. If a potential intruder manages to record an OTP that was already used to log into a service or to conduct

a transaction, he will not be able to abuse it since it will be no longer valid.

Answer option D is incorrect. Kerberos is a secure protocol that supports ticketing authentication. A ticket is granted in response to a client

computer authentication request by the Kerberos authentication server, if the request contains valid user credentials and a valid Service

Principal Name (SPN). The ticket is then used by the client computer to access network resources. To enable Kerberos authentication, the

client and server computers must have a trusted connection to the domain Key Distribution Center (KDC). The task of KDC is to distribute

shared secret keys to enable encryption.

Answer option C is incorrect. In the dynamic password authentication scheme, passwords are changed after a specified time or time interval.

interruption in service to customers. This is particularly important with database servers. If one fails, in a clustered environment the customer

will not even know the main database server is down.

Clustering also provides load balancing. This is critical for Web servers in high volume e-commerce situations. Clustering allows the load to be

distributed over many computers rather than focused on a single server.