Malicious software (malware) and social engineering are two common attack categories that any organization will face, but there are some complexities to each category.  If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 exam, you should have a basic understanding of determining malware types given a scenario.

For example, can you answer this practice test question?

Q. Security administrators recently discovered suspicious activity within your network. After investigating the activity, they discovered malicious traffic from outside your network connecting to a server within your network. They determined that a malicious threat actor used this connection to install malware on the server and the malware is collecting data and sending it out of the network. Which of the following BEST describes the type of malware used by the threat actor?

A. APT

B. Organized crime

C. RAT

D. Crypto-malware

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

Malware (malicious software) includes a wide range of software that has malicious intent. Malware is not software that you would knowingly purchase or download and install. Instead, it is installed onto your system through devious means.

RAT

A remote access Trojan (RAT) is a type of malware that allows attackers to take control of systems from remote locations. It is often delivered via drive-by downloads. Once installed on a system, attackers can then access the infected computer at any time, and install additional malware if desired.

Some RATs automatically collect and log keystrokes, usernames and passwords, incoming and outgoing email, chat sessions, and browser history as well as take screenshots. The RAT can then automatically send the data to the attackers at predetermined times.

Additionally, attackers can explore the network using the credentials of the user or the user’s computer. Attackers often do this to discover, and exploit, additional vulnerabilities within the network. It’s common for attackers to exploit this one infected system and quickly infect the entire network with additional malware, including installing RATs on other systems.

Ransomware

A specific type of Trojan is ransomware. Attackers encrypt the user’s data or take control of the computer and lock out the user. Then, they demand that the user pay a ransom to regain access to the data or computer. Criminals often deliver ransomware via drive-by downloads or embedded in other software delivered via email. Attackers originally targeted individuals with ransomware. However, they have increasingly been targeting organizations demanding larger and larger ransoms.

Many organizations indicate that ransomware attacks continue to grow and are becoming one of the greatest cyber threats:

• Symantec reported that ransomware attacks grew by 35 percent in 2015 (compared with 2014).
• The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) reported that CryptoWall 3, a specific version of ransomware, resulted in $325 million in losses in 2015 alone. It’s difficult to know how much money has been lost by all versions of ransomware.
• In a public service announcement (Alert Number I-091516-PSA), the FBI reported that a single variant of ransomware infected as many as 100,000 computers a day in the first quarter of 2016.
• In their 2017 Annual Threat Report, SonicWall reported that the number of ransomware attacks observed by the SonicWall GRID Threat Network increased from 4 million in 2015 to 638 million in 2016.

Ransomware types continue to evolve. In early versions, they sometimes just locked the user out of the system. However, this is rarely done anymore. Instead, attackers typically encrypt the user’s data to ensure that users can’t retrieve it. Ransomware that encrypts the user’s data is sometimes called crypto-malware.

Some ransomware has added in a new blackmail technique called doxing. If the user doesn’t pay the ransom to decrypt the files, the attacker threatens to publish the files along with the victim’s credentials. Malware that uses doxing is sometimes called doxingware.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

Spyware

Spyware is software installed on users’ systems without their awareness or consent. Its purpose is often to monitor the user’s computer and the user’s activity. Spyware takes some level of control over the user’s computer to learn information and sends this information to a third party. If spyware can access a user’s private data, it results in a loss of confidentiality.

Some examples of spyware activity are changing a user’s home page, redirecting web browsers, and installing additional software within the browser. In some situations, these changes can slow a system down, resulting in poorer performance. These examples are rather harmless compared with what more malicious spyware (called privacy-invasive software) might do.

Privacy-invasive software tries to separate users from their money using data-harvesting techniques. It attempts to gather information to impersonate users, empty bank accounts, and steal identities. For example, some spyware includes keyloggers. The spyware periodically reads the data stored by the keylogger, and sends it to the attacker. In some instances, the spyware allows the attacker to take control of the user’s system remotely.

Spyware is often included with other software like a Trojan. The user installs one application but unknowingly gets some extras. Spyware can also infect a system in a drive-by download. The user simply visits a malicious web site that includes code to automatically download and install the spyware onto the user’s system.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Adware

When adware first emerged, its intent was primarily to learn a user’s habits for the purpose of targeted advertising. As the practice of gathering information on users became more malicious, more people began to call it spyware. However, some traditional adware still exists. Internet marketers have become very sophisticated and use a combination of web analytics with behavioral analytics to track user activity. They then provide targeted ads based on past user activity.

The term adware also applies to software that is free but includes advertisements. The user understands that the software will show advertisements and has the option to purchase a version of the software that does not include the ads. All of this is aboveboard without any intention of misleading the user.

Q. Security administrators recently discovered suspicious activity within your network. After investigating the activity, they discovered malicious traffic from outside your network connecting to a server within your network. They determined that a malicious threat actor used this connection to install malware on the server and the malware is collecting data and sending it out of the network. Which of the following BEST describes the type of malware used by the threat actor?

A. APT

B. Organized crime

C. RAT

D. Crypto-malware

Answer is C. The scenario describes a remote access Trojan (RAT), which is a type of malware that allows attackers to take control of systems from remote locations.

While the threat actor may be a member of an advanced persistent threat (APT) or an organized crime group, these are threat actor types, not types of malware.

Crypto-malware is a type of ransomware that encrypts data, but there isn’t an indication that the data is being encrypted in this scenario.

See Chapter 6 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information on malware types.

As a security professional, you need to be aware of the different security issues associated with threats, vulnerabilities, and risks, and the tools available to combat them.  If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 exam, you should have a basic understanding of some specific tools used to assess networks and manage risks.

For example, can you answer this practice test question?

Q. Your organization has a legacy server running within the DMZ. It is running older software that is not compatible with current patches, so management has decided to let it remain unpatched. Management wants to know if attackers can access the internal network if they successfully compromise this server. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate action?

A. Perform a vulnerability scan.

B. Perform a port scan.

C. Perform a black box test.

D. Perform a penetration test.

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

Obtaining Authorization

It’s important to obtain vulnerability testing authorization and penetration testing authorization before performing any vulnerability testing or penetration testing. In most cases, this consent is in writing. If it isn’t in writing, many security professionals won’t perform the test. A penetration test without consent is an attack. An organization may perceive a well-meaning administrator doing an unauthorized penetration test as a black hat or gray hat attacker. The administrator might be updating his résumé after running an unauthorized scan or penetration test.

Many organizations use a written rules-of-engagement document when hiring outside security professionals to perform the test. The rules-of-engagement document identifies the boundaries of the penetration test. If testing does result in an outage even though the testers followed the rules of engagement, repercussions are less likely.

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing actively assesses deployed security controls within a system or network. It starts with passive reconnaissance, such as a vulnerability scan, but takes it a step further and tries to exploit vulnerabilities by simulating or performing an attack.

White, Gray, and Black Box Testing

It’s common to identify testing based on the level of knowledge the testers have prior to starting the test. These testers could be internal employees or external security professionals working for a third-party organization hired to perform the test. The three types of testing are:

• Black box testing. Testers have zero knowledge of the environment prior to starting a black box test. Instead, they approach the test with the same knowledge as an attacker. When testing new applications, black box testers wouldn’t have any prior experience with the application. When testing networks, they aren’t provided any information or documentation on the network before the test. Black box testers often use fuzzing to check for application vulnerabilities.
• White box testing. Testers have full knowledge of the environment before starting a white box test. For example, they would have access to product documentation, source code, and possibly even logon details.
• Gray box testing. Testers have some knowledge of the environment prior to starting a gray box test. For example, they might have access to some network documentation, but not know the full network layout.

You may also come across the terms black hat, white hat, and gray hat. These aren’t referring to testers but instead to different types of attackers. They are reminiscent of the Wild West, where you could easily identify the good guys and the bad guys by the color of their hat. Black hat identifies a malicious attacker performing criminal activities. White hat identifies a security professional working within the law. Gray hat identifies individuals who may have good intentions, but their activities may cross ethical lines. For example, an activist, sometimes called a hacktivist, may use attack methods to further a cause, but not for personal gain.

Hackers and crackers are terms you may also come across. Originally, a hacker indicated someone proficient with computers who wanted to share knowledge with others. They weren’t malicious. In contrast, a cracker was a proficient hacker who used the knowledge for malicious purposes. However, English is a living language that continues to evolve and the media consistently uses the term hacker to identify malicious attackers.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Intrusive Versus Non-Intrusive Testing

Scans can be either intrusive or non-intrusive. You can also think of these terms as invasive and non-invasive, respectively. Tools using intrusive methods can potentially disrupt the operations of a system. In contrast, tools using non-intrusive methods will not compromise a system. These terms also apply to penetration testing (intrusive) and vulnerability scanning (non-intrusive).

When comparing penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, it’s important to remember that penetration tests are intrusive and more invasive than vulnerability scans. They involve probing a system and attempting to exploit any vulnerabilities they discover. If they successfully exploit a vulnerability, a penetration test can potentially disrupt services and even take a system down.

Vulnerability scans are generally non-intrusive and less invasive than penetration tests. They never attempt to exploit a vulnerability. Because of this, a vulnerability scan is much safer to run on a system or network because it is significantly less likely that it will affect services.

Q. Your organization has a legacy server running within the DMZ. It is running older software that is not compatible with current patches, so management has decided to let it remain unpatched. Management wants to know if attackers can access the internal network if they successfully compromise this server. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate action?

A. Perform a vulnerability scan.

B. Perform a port scan.

C. Perform a black box test.

D. Perform a penetration test.

Answer is D. A penetration test attempts to exploit a vulnerability and can determine if a successful attack will allow attackers into the internal network.

A vulnerability scan is passive. It does not attempt to compromise a system, so it cannot verify if an attacker can access the internal network.

A port scan only identifies open ports.

A black box test only refers to the knowledge of the testers and indicates they have zero knowledge prior to starting a test.

See Chapter 8 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information on using risk management tools.

If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 exam, you should have a good understanding of cryptography algorithms and their basic characteristics. This includes encryption algorithms.

For example, can you answer this practice test question?

Q. Your organization is investigating possible methods of sharing encryption keys over a public network. Which of the following is the BEST choice?

A. CRL

B. PBKDF2

C. Hashing

D. ECDHE

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

RSA

Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman developed RSA in 1977 and the RSA acronym uses their last names (Rivest, Shamir, Adleman). It is an asymmetric encryption method using both a public key and a private key in a matched pair, and it is widely used on the Internet and elsewhere due to its strong security.

As an example, email applications often use RSA to privately share a symmetric key between two systems. The application uses the recipient’s public key to encrypt a symmetric key, and the recipient’s private key decrypts it.

The RSA algorithm uses the mathematical properties of prime numbers to generate secure public and private keys. Specifically, RSA relies on the fact that it is difficult to factor the product of two large prime numbers. The math is complex and intriguing to mathematicians, but you don’t have to understand the math to understand that RSA is secure if sufficient key sizes are used.

What is a sufficient key size? RSA laboratories recommend a key size of 2,048 bits to protect data through the year 2030. If data needs to be protected beyond 2030, they recommend a key size of 3,072 bits.

Static Versus Ephemeral Keys

The two primary categories of asymmetric keys are static and ephemeral. In general, a static key is semipermanent and stays the same over a long period of time. In contrast, an ephemeral key has a very short lifetime and is re-created for each session.

RSA uses static keys. A certificate includes an embedded public key matched to a private key and this key pair is valid for the lifetime of a certificate, such as a year. Certificates have expiration dates and systems continue to use these keys until the certificate expires. A benefit of static keys is that a CA can validate them. An ephemeral key pair includes a private ephemeral key and a public ephemeral key.

However, systems use these key pairs for a single session and then discard them. Some versions of Diffie-Hellman (discussed later in this section) use static keys and some versions use ephemeral keys.

Perfect forward secrecy is an important characteristic that ephemeral keys comply with asymmetric encryption. Perfect forward secrecy indicates that a cryptographic system generates random public keys for each session and it doesn’t use a deterministic algorithm to do so. In other words, given the same input, the algorithm will create a different public key. This helps ensure that systems do not reuse keys. The result is that the compromise of a long-term key does not compromise any past keys.

Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) doesn’t take as much processing power as other cryptographic methods. Because of this, ECC is often considered with common use cases of low-power devices. For example, ECC is often used with small wireless devices because it doesn’t take much processing power to achieve the desired security. It uses mathematical equations to formulate an elliptical curve. It then graphs points on the curve to create keys. This is mathematically easier and requires less processing power, while also being more difficult to crack.

The U.S. NSA previously endorsed the use of ECC for digital signatures and Diffie-Hellman key agreements. However, they announced in late 2015 their intent to move away from its use. Since then, they have deprecated the use of various ECC versions for government agencies.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Diffie-Hellman

Diffie-Hellman (DH) is a key exchange algorithm used to privately share a symmetric key between two parties. Once the two parties know the symmetric key, they use symmetric encryption to encrypt the data.

Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman first published the Diffie-Hellman scheme in 1976. Interestingly, Malcolm J. Williamson secretly created a similar algorithm while working in a British intelligence agency. It is widely believed that the work of these three provided the basis for public-key cryptography.

Diffie-Hellman methods support both static keys and ephemeral keys. RSA is based on the Diffie-Hellman key exchange concepts using static keys. Two Diffie-Hellman methods that use ephemeral keys are:

• DHE. Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral (DHE) uses ephemeral keys, generating different keys for each session. Some documents list this as Ephemeral Diffie-Hellman (EDH).
• ECDHE. Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral (ECDHE) uses ephemeral keys generated using ECC. Another version, Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH), uses static keys.

When Diffie-Hellman is used, the two parties negotiate the strongest group that both parties support. There are currently more than 25 DH (Diffie Hellman) groups in use and they are defined as DH Group 1, DH Group 2, and so on. Higher group numbers indicate the group is more secure. For example, DH Group 1 uses 768 bits in the key exchange process and DH Group 15 uses 3,072 bits.

Q. Your organization is investigating possible methods of sharing encryption keys over a public network. Which of the following is the BEST choice?

A. CRL

B. PBKDF2

C. Hashing

D. ECDHE

Answer is D. Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral (ECDHE) allows entities to negotiate encryption keys securely over a public network and is the best choice of the available answers.

A certificate revocation list (CRL) identifies revoked certificates and is unrelated to sharing encryption keys.

Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2) is a key stretching technique designed to make password cracking more difficult.

Hashing methods do not support sharing encryption keys over a public network.

Note that some of these answers can easily be thrown out as unrelated to the question if you know what they are. For example, neither a CRL nor hashing is related to encryption keys and are obviously wrong. Further, if you remember that PBKDF2 is a key stretching technique used to make it more difficult to crack stored passwords, you can eliminate it too because  the question is focused on sharing encryption keys over a public network.

See Chapter 10 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information on cryptography and PKI.

If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 version of the Security+ exam, you should have a basic understanding of some common security controls used to protect against malware.  This includes spam filters on mail gateways.

For example, can you answer this question?

Q. Your organization has been receiving a significant amount of spam with links to malicious web sites. You want to stop the spam. Of the following choices, which provides the BEST solution?

A. Add the domain to a block list.

B. Use a URL filter.

C. Use a MAC filter.

D. Add antivirus software.

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

Protecting Systems from Malware

Malware is a significant threat for any organization. Administrators commonly implement layered security, or a defense-in-depth plan, to protect against malware.

Here is a list of some common security controls used to protect against malware:

• Spam filter on mail gateways. Phishing attacks are delivered as malicious spam. Spam filters on mail gateways (email servers) detect and filter spam before it ever gets to users. Some networks route email through another device first to filter out spam. If users never receive a malicious email, there isn’t any chance of them clicking on a malicious link in that email.
• Anti-malware software on mail gateways. Malicious email often includes malware as attachments. Anti-malware software on the mail server can detect and block it. The software strips potentially malicious attachments off the email, and typically sends a notification to the user explaining what was removed and why.
• All systems. All workstations and servers have anti-malware software installed. Servers may have additional, specialized anti-malware software installed depending on the applications running on the servers.
• Boundaries or firewalls. Many networks include detection tools that monitor network traffic through the firewall. For example, unified threat management (UTM) inspects network traffic to reduce the risk of malware entering the network.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

Data Execution Prevention

Data execution prevention (DEP) is a security feature that prevents code from executing in memory regions marked as nonexecutable. It helps prevent an application or service from executing code from a nonexecutable memory region. The primary purpose of DEP is to protect a system from malware.

DEP is enforced by both hardware and software. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) implement DEP using the no-execute page-protection (NX) feature. Intel implements DEP using the Execute Disable Bit (XD) feature. Both are enabled in the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). Within Windows, DEP is enabled in the System Properties – Performance Settings.

If DEP is not enabled in the BIOS or UEFI, but you try to install Windows, you will typically see an error message such as “Your PC’s CPU isn’t compatible with Windows.” The solution is to enable DEP in BIOS or the UEFI.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Advanced Malware Tools

Many vendors have begun developing advanced malware tools. These go beyond just examining files to determine if they are malware. As an example, Cisco’s Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) combines multiple technologies to protect a network before an attack, during an attack, and after an attack.

AMP analyzes a network to prevent attacks using threat intelligence and analytics. It collects worldwide threat intelligence from Cisco’s Security Intelligence organization, Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group, and Threat Grid intelligence feeds. This information helps it detect and alert on malware similar to any antivirus software.

During an attack, AMP uses a variety of techniques to detect and block emerging threats before they infiltrate a network, or contain and remediate malware that gets into a network. AMP uses continuous analysis to detect suspicious file and network activity within a network, which helps it detect malware operating within the network.

Security administrators view logs and alerts to analyze and interpret the output from advanced malware tools such as AMP. For example, administrators might see an alert indicating that encrypted data is being sent out of the network. This is a serious red flag and indicates malware is collecting data and sending it to an attacker.

Spam Filters

Organizations often implement a multipronged approach to block spam. For example, many UTM systems include spam filters to detect and block spam. The output of the UTM goes to an email server. Email servers also have methods of detecting and blocking spam. The email server sends all email to the users, except for what it detects as spam. User systems also have anti-spam filters, or junk mail options, as a final check.

The challenge with any spam filter is to only filter out spam, and never filter out actual email. For example, a company wouldn’t want a spam filter to filter out an email from a customer trying to buy something. Because of this, most spam filters err on the side of caution, allowing spam through rather than potentially marking valid email as spam. Although the science behind spam filtering continues to improve, criminals have also continued to adapt.

Spam filters typically allow you to identify email addresses as safe, or to be blocked. You can add these as individual addresses or entire domains. For example, if you want to ensure you get email from Homer when he sends email from springfield.com, you can identify homer@ springfield.com as a safe email address. If you want to ensure you get all email from springfield.com, you can designate springfield.com as a safe domain. Similarly, you can block either the single email address homer@springfield.com or the entire domain springfield.com.

Q. Your organization has been receiving a significant amount of spam with links to malicious web sites. You want to stop the spam. Of the following choices, which provides the BEST solution?

A. Add the domain to a block list.

B. Use a URL filter.

C. Use a MAC filter.

D. Add antivirus software.

Answer is A. You can block emails from a specific domain sending spam by adding the domain to a block list. While the question doesn’t indicate that the spam is coming from a single domain, this is still the best answer of the given choices.

A URL filter blocks outgoing traffic and can be used to block the links to the malicious web sites in this scenario, but   it doesn’t stop the email.

Routers and switches use MAC filters to restrict access within a network.

Antivirus software does not block spam.

See Chapter 6 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information on malware.

Business continuity planning helps an organization predict and plan for potential outages of critical services or functions. The goal is to ensure that critical business operations continue and the organization can survive the outage.  If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 exam, you should know how to identify critical systems and components that are essential to the organization’s success.

For example, can you answer this practice test question?

Q. A security analyst is creating a document that includes the expected monetary loss from a major outage. She is calculating the potential impact on life, property, finances, and the organization’s reputation. Which of the following documents is she MOST likely creating?

A. BCP

B. BIA

C. MTBF

D. RPO

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

Business Impact Analysis Concepts

A business impact analysis (BIA) is an important part of a BCP. It helps an organization identify critical systems and components that are essential to the organization’s success. These critical systems support mission-essential functions. The BIA also helps identify vulnerable business processes. These are processes that support mission-essential functions.

As an example, imagine an organization has an online e-commerce business. Some basic mission-essential functions might include serving web pages, providing a shopping cart path, accepting purchases, sending email confirmations, and shipping purchases to customers. The shopping cart path alone is a business process and because it is essential to the mission of e-commerce sales, management will likely consider it a vulnerable business process to protect. The customer needs to be able to view products, select a product, enter customer information, enter credit card data, and complete the purchase. Some critical systems that support the web site are web servers and a back-end database application hosted on one or more database servers.

If critical systems and components fail and cannot be restored quickly, mission-essential functions cannot be completed. If this lasts too long, it’s very possible that the organization will not survive the disaster.

For example, if a disaster such as a hurricane hit, which services must the organization restore to stay in business? Imagine a financial institution. It might decide that customers must have uninterrupted access to account data through an online site. If customers can’t access their funds online, they might lose faith with the company and leave in droves.

However, the company might decide to implement alternate business practices in other elements of the business. For example, management might decide that accepting and processing loan applications is not important enough to continue during a disaster. Loan processing is still important to the company’s bottom line, but a delay will not seriously affect its ability to stay in business. In this scenario, continuous online access is a mission-essential function, but processing loan applications during a disaster is not mission-essential.

Creating a BIA

The time to make these decisions is not during a crisis. Instead, the organization completes a BIA in advance. The BIA involves collecting information from throughout the organization and documenting the results. This documentation identifies core business or mission requirements. The BIA does not recommend solutions. However, it provides management with valuable information so that they can focus on critical business functions. It helps them address some of the following questions:

• What are the critical systems and functions?
• Are there any dependencies related to these critical systems and functions?
• What is the maximum downtime limit of these critical systems and functions?
• What scenarios are most likely to impact these critical systems and functions?
• What is the potential loss from these scenarios?

As an example, imagine an organization earns an average of $5,000 an hour through online sales. In this scenario, management might consider online sales to be a mission-essential function and all systems that support online sales are critical systems. This includes web servers and back-end database servers. These servers depend on the network infrastructure connecting them, Internet access, and access to payment gateways for credit card charges.

After analysis, they might determine that the maximum allowable outage for online sales is five hours. Identifying the maximum downtime limit is extremely important. It drives decisions related to recovery objectives and helps an organization identify various contingency plans and policies.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Q. A security analyst is creating a document that includes the expected monetary loss from a major outage. She is calculating the potential impact on life, property, finances, and the organization’s reputation. Which of the following documents is she MOST likely creating?

A. BCP

B. BIA

C. MTBF

D. RPO

Answer is B. A business impact analysis (BIA) includes information on potential monetary losses along with the impact on life, property, and the organization’s reputation. It is the most likely document of those listed that would include this information.

A business continuity plan (BCP) includes a BIA, but the BIA is more likely to include this information than the BCP is.

The mean time between failures (MTBF) provides a measure of a system’s reliability.

The recovery point objective (RPO) refers to the amount of data you can afford to lose, but it does not include monetary losses.

See Chapter 9 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information on business continuity elements.

If you’re planning to take the SY0-501 version of the Security+ exam, you should have a good understanding of basic forensics concepts. A forensic evaluation helps the organization collect and analyze data as evidence it can use in the prosecution of a crime. In general, forensic evaluations proceed with the assumption that the data collected will be used as evidence in court. Because of this, forensic practices protect evidence to prevent modification and control evidence after collecting it.

For example, can you answer this practice test question?

Q. Your organization is involved in a lawsuit. A judge issued a court order requiring your organization to keep all emails from the last three years. Your data retention policy states that email should only be maintained from the last 12 months. After investigating, administrators realize that backups contain email from the last three years. What should they do with these backups?

A. Backups older than 12 months should be deleted to comply with the data retention policy.

B. Backups for the last 12 months should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

C. Backups for the last two years should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

D. Backups for the last three years should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

More, do you know why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect answers are incorrect? The answer and explanation are available at the end of this post.

Chain of Custody

A key part of incident response is collecting and protecting evidence. A chain of custody is a process that provides assurances that evidence has been controlled and handled properly after collection. Forensic experts establish a chain of custody when they first collect evidence.

Security professionals use a chain of custody form to document this control. The chain of custody form provides a record of every person who was in possession of a physical asset collected as evidence. It shows who had custody of the evidence and where it was stored the entire time since collection. Additionally, personnel often tag the evidence as part of a chain of custody process. A proper chain of custody process ensures that evidence presented in a court of law is the same evidence that security professionals collected.

If evidence is not controlled, someone can modify, tamper, or corrupt it. Courts will rule the evidence inadmissible if there is a lack of adequate control, or even a lack of documentation showing that personnel maintained adequate control. However, the chain of custody provides proof that personnel handled the evidence properly.

Legal Hold

A legal hold refers to a court order to maintain different types of data as evidence. As an example, imagine that Ziffcorp is being sued for fraud and is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. A court orders them to maintain digital and paper documents for the past three years related to the case. Ziffcorp now needs to take steps to preserve the data.

This data may include emails; databases; backup tapes; data stored on servers in file shares and document libraries; and data stored on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones owned by the company. The first step management needs to take is to direct the data custodians to preserve this data. On the surface, this might sound easy, but it can be tremendously complex, especially if it is not clear to data custodians what data should be maintained. They might preserve too much data, resulting in a significant cost to store it. They might preserve too little data, subjecting the company to more litigation in a suspected cover-up.

Data retention policies also apply here. As an example, imagine that the data retention policy states that email older than six months is deleted. If administrators rigorously followed the policy, the company wouldn’t have any emails from more than six months ago. That’s OK if the policy is in writing and administrators are following it.

What if the administrators didn’t follow the data retention policy? What if they have email from as long as two years ago? In this scenario, administrators need to maintain these emails. If they take steps to delete the emails after receiving the court order, it looks like they are trying to withhold evidence and puts the organization into legal jeopardy for a cover-up.

CompTIA Security+ Study Guide

The 501 Version of the Study Guide

The CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide is an update to the top-selling SY0-201, SY0-301, and SY0-401 study guides, which have helped thousands of readers pass the exam the first time they took it.  It includes the same elements readers raved about in the previous three versions.

Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action.

You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. Additionally, each chapter includes a comprehensive review section to help you focus on what’s important.

---

---

Over 300 realistic practice test questions with in-depth explanations will help you test your comprehension and readiness for the exam. The book includes:

• A 75 question pre-test
• A 75 question post-test
• Practice test questions at the end of every chapter.

Each practice test question includes a detailed explanation to help you understand the content and the reasoning behind the question. You’ll be ready to take and pass the exam the first time you take it.

If you plan to pursue any of the advanced security certifications, this guide will also help you lay a solid foundation of security knowledge. Learn this material, and you’ll be a step ahead for other exams. This SY0-501 study guide is for any IT or security professional interested in advancing in their field, and a must-read for anyone striving to master the basics of IT security.

Kindle edition also available.

Recovery of Data

Generically, data recovery refers to restoring lost data, such as restoring a corrupt file from a backup. In the context of forensics, data recovery goes further. Even without backups, it’s often possible to recover data that has been intentionally or accidentally deleted.

When a user deletes a file, the operating system typically just marks it for deletion and makes the space the file is consuming available to use for other files. However, the file is still there. Many file systems place the file in a recycle bin or trash can and you can just retrieve it from there. Even if the user empties the trash after deleting a file, forensic experts can use tools to undelete the files.

Formatting a drive appears as though it has overwritten all the data on the drive. However, just as forensic experts have tools to undelete files, they also have tools they can use to unformat drives. It’s worth noting that criminals have access to these same tools, too, and can recover data from systems that haven’t been sanitized.

Active Logging for Intelligence Gathering

It’s often appropriate for organizations to engage in strategic intelligence or counterintelligence gathering by increasing the amount of data that they collect. For example, an active logging strategy can help an organization gather a significant amount of data on attackers.

Typically, a network infrastructure is configured to log only the data needed for daily operations. If the network is under attack, administrators might increase the logging capabilities at some point while the attack is happening. However, they might not have valuable data if they had those same logging capabilities enabled when the attack began.

An active logging strategy increases the amount of logged data collected on a routine basis. Ideally, network administrators will have filters available so that they can view only the data they need for daily operations. However, if an attack begins, security professionals can view all the logged data.

Full Security+ Course

SY0-501 Full Security+ Course

Helping you Pass the First Time

Online access includes all of the content from the

CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

• Introduction
• About the exam (including information on the number of questions, test duration, passing score, types of questions and more. Also includes a listing of the exam objectives)
• 75 question pre-assessment exam
• Mastering Security Basics (full content from Chapter 1 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Identity and Access Management (full content from Chapter 2 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Exploring Network Technologies and Tools (full content from Chapter 3 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Your Network (full content from Chapter 4 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Securing Hosts and Data (full content from Chapter 5 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Comparing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Common Attacks (full content from Chapter 6 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Protecting Against Advanced Attacks (full content from Chapter 7 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Using Risk Management Tools (full content from Chapter 8 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Controls to Protect Assets (full content from Chapter 9 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Understanding Cryptography and PKI (full content from Chapter 10 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• Implementing Policies to Mitigate Risks (full content from Chapter 11 of the study guide including the exam topic review and 15 practice test questions)
• 75 question post-assessment exam
• Glossary

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

---

Test your readiness with these quality materials

Random 75-question tests

Random practice tests from the all of the practice test questions in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. All questions include explanations so you'll know why the correct answers are correct, and why the incorrect answers are incorrect.

3 sets Performance-based Questions

Three new sets of performance-based questions with a total of 30 questions. These new questions use a new testing engine that includes realistic drag and drop, matching, sorting, and fill in the blank questions.

Flashcard Set

• 494 Online Security+ Glossary Flashcards
• 222 Online Security+ Acronyms Flashcards
• 223 Online Security+ Remember This Slide from the popular CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Remember This Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over one hour and 20 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Audio - SY0-501 Security+ Question and Answer Audio Files

Learn by Listening. Over two hours hour and 53 minutes of audio (MP3 downloads.)

Bonus #1

Audio from the end of chapter reviews from each of the chapters in the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. Over one hour and 40 minutes of additional audio.

Bonus #2

Access to all of the online content that is available for free to anyone that purchases the CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide. This includes labs, extra practice test questions, and supplementary materials

Bonus #3 

Access the study materials for a total of 60 days because sometimes life happens.

Get the SY0-501 Full Security+ Course Here

Q. Your organization is involved in a lawsuit. A judge issued a court order requiring your organization to keep all emails from the last three years. Your data retention policy states that email should only be maintained from the last 12 months. After investigating, administrators realize that backups contain email from the last three years. What should they do with these backups?

A. Backups older than 12 months should be deleted to comply with the data retention policy.

B. Backups for the last 12 months should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

C. Backups for the last two years should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

D. Backups for the last three years should be protected to comply with the legal hold.

Answer is D. The court order specified a legal hold on email from the last three years, so all the backups for the last three years should be kept.

If the backups had been destroyed before the court order, they wouldn’t be available, so the legal hold wouldn’t apply to them.

Deleting them after the court order is illegal.

Protecting only the backups from the last 12 months or the last two years doesn’t comply with the court order.

See Chapter 11 of the CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide for more information implementing policies to mitigate risks.