Security Architecture and Trust Boundaries Study Guide

These questions are for study practice only and are not official exam questions.

1. 1. A downloaded file matches a published cryptographic hash, but both file and hash were obtained from the same untrusted attacker-controlled location. What limitation remains?

   • The attacker could have replaced both, so trusted provenance is still needed
   • A matching hash proves the author identity under all conditions
   • Hashes automatically encrypt downloaded files
   • The file must be safe because any hash is irreversible

2. 2. An organization assigns permissions to job roles such as payroll clerk and auditor, then assigns users to those roles. Which access-control model is illustrated?

   • A rule that all users receive identical unrestricted access
   • A physical-temperature control
   • Random access on each request
   • Role-based access control

3. 3. A system denies access when an authorization service is unavailable because its documented requirement favors confidentiality over immediate access. What behavior is this?

   • Fail open for the protected action
   • Fail closed for the specified access decision
   • Automatic approval because the check is unavailable
   • Deferred authorization after granting the action

4. 4. A platform verifies approved boot components before executing them. Which objective is this control most directly intended to support?

   • Guaranteeing that every later application is harmless
   • Preventing unauthorized boot code from entering the trusted startup path
   • Replacing user authorization checks after boot
   • Encrypting every network connection automatically

5. 5. An application uses a certificate whose chain is valid, but the requested server name does not match the identity in the certificate. Why is this significant?

   • A trusted issuer makes the certificate valid for every server name
   • Identity matching is unnecessary whenever encryption is negotiated
   • A trusted issuer chain alone does not prove the certificate belongs to the intended server name
   • Any name mismatch proves the private key is already public

6. 6. A team uses infrastructure as code and wants to detect unauthorized configuration changes over time. Which comparison is useful?

   • Review only the intended template without observing live state
   • Assume every manual edit was already approved
   • Compare only resource names while ignoring security settings
   • Compare deployed state with the approved version-controlled baseline

7. 7. A password-storage system assigns each password a unique random salt before using an appropriate password-hashing function. What benefit does the salt provide?

   • It makes short passwords impossible to guess
   • Identical passwords need not produce identical stored hashes, reducing reusable precomputation value
   • It replaces the need for a suitable password-hashing function
   • It must be kept secret like the user password

8. 8. A database operator needs read access to one reporting dataset for a temporary assignment. Which grant best follows least privilege?

   • Permanent administrative access to every database
   • Write access to unrelated employee records
   • The required read access to that dataset for the approved duration
   • A shared unrestricted root account

9. 9. A design says that being connected to the office network is not sufficient reason to trust an access request. Identity, device state, and authorization must still be evaluated. Which principle is reflected?

   • Permanent trust based only on network location
   • Unauthenticated default access
   • Zero-trust access evaluation
   • Security through familiar office furniture

10. 10. Two redundant servers share the same power supply and network switch. What resilience concern remains?

    • Shared components can create a common failure point
    • Redundancy guarantees protection from every outage
    • Different server names eliminate shared dependencies
    • The arrangement proves backups are unnecessary