Back-End Development Back-End Security and Authentication 3

Question 1

What is the purpose of environment variables in back-end application security?

Accepted Answer

To store sensitive configuration like API keys and passwords outside of source code

Answer

To speed up the application by caching configuration

Answer

To define CSS variables for the UI

Answer

To set the programming language runtime version

Question 2

What is input validation and why is it important on the server side?

Accepted Answer

Checking and sanitizing data on the server to ensure it meets expected formats and prevent malicious input

Answer

Validating user input only on the client side to improve UX

Answer

Formatting database query results before sending them to the client

Answer

Verifying that API responses conform to the expected schema

Question 3

What does XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) mean in the context of web security?

Accepted Answer

An attack where malicious scripts are injected into web pages viewed by other users

Answer

A method for sharing scripts between domains

Answer

A technique for encrypting JavaScript code

Answer

A browser feature for cross-origin requests

Question 4

Which HTTP header helps prevent clickjacking attacks?

Accepted Answer

X-Frame-Options

Answer

Content-Type

Answer

Authorization

Answer

Cache-Control

Question 5

What is the purpose of HTTPS Strict Transport Security (HSTS)?

Accepted Answer

To force browsers to always connect to the site using HTTPS, even if HTTP is requested

Answer

To enforce strong passwords on HTTPS connections

Answer

To restrict server access to trusted IP addresses

Answer

To encrypt cookies on the server side

Question 6

What does 'salting' a password mean in cryptographic terms?

Accepted Answer

Appending a unique random value to each password before hashing to prevent rainbow table attacks

Answer

Adding a fixed string to all passwords before hashing

Answer

Encrypting the password with a symmetric key

Answer

Hashing the password multiple times