Cybersecurity Flashcards

A website uses HTTPS instead of HTTP. What does this primarily protect against?

Answer: Eavesdropping on data in transit

HTTPS encrypts data between the browser and server, preventing eavesdroppers from reading transmitted information.

Which type of attack tricks a user into clicking a disguised link that performs an unintended action on a site where the user is authenticated?

Answer: Cross-site request forgery (CSRF)

CSRF exploits the trust a website has in a logged-in user's browser by forging authenticated requests.

What is the purpose of a digital certificate in secure communications?

Answer: To verify the identity of a server or entity

Digital certificates bind a public key to an identity, allowing users to verify they are communicating with the intended server.

A company stores passwords as plain text in its database. Why is this a critical security flaw?

Answer: A database breach exposes all passwords immediately

Plain text storage means any breach instantly reveals all user passwords, unlike hashed storage which requires additional cracking effort.

Which of the following best describes the principle of 'defense in depth'?

Answer: Layering multiple security controls so one failure doesn't compromise the whole system

Defense in depth uses multiple overlapping layers of security so that if one layer fails, others still protect the system.

What distinguishes a worm from a traditional computer virus?

Answer: Worms self-replicate and spread across networks without user action

Unlike viruses that need a host file and user interaction, worms autonomously replicate and spread across networks.

An attacker sends millions of requests to a web server until it crashes. This is an example of which attack?

Answer: Denial-of-service (DoS) attack

A DoS attack overwhelms a server with traffic to exhaust its resources and make it unavailable to legitimate users.