CRT Network Security & Protocols 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which protocol provides encrypted communication between a web browser and a server?
- FTP
- HTTP
- TLS (Correct answer)
- SMTP
Correct answer: TLS
TLS (Transport Layer Security) encrypts data in transit between clients and servers, replacing the older SSL protocol.
Question 2: What is the default port number used by HTTPS?
- 80
- 21
- 443 (Correct answer)
- 8080
Correct answer: 443
HTTPS uses TCP port 443 by default, while plain HTTP uses port 80.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a digital certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA)?
- To compress network traffic
- To verify the identity of a website or entity (Correct answer)
- To block unauthorized IP addresses
- To assign dynamic IP addresses
Correct answer: To verify the identity of a website or entity
Digital certificates bind a public key to an identity, allowing users to verify they are communicating with the legitimate server.
Question 4: Which type of encryption uses two mathematically related keys — one public and one private?
- Symmetric encryption
- Hash encryption
- Asymmetric encryption (Correct answer)
- Stream cipher
Correct answer: Asymmetric encryption
Asymmetric encryption (e.g., RSA) uses a key pair where data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted by the other.
Question 5: In a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack, what does the attacker primarily do?
- Floods a server with traffic
- Intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties (Correct answer)
- Guesses user passwords repeatedly
- Exploits unpatched software vulnerabilities
Correct answer: Intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties
A MitM attacker secretly relays and possibly modifies traffic between two parties who believe they are communicating directly.
Question 6: What does PKI stand for in the context of network security?
- Private Key Infrastructure
- Public Key Infrastructure (Correct answer)
- Protocol Key Integration
- Packet Key Inspection
Correct answer: Public Key Infrastructure
PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is the framework of policies, hardware, software, and procedures needed to manage digital certificates and public-key encryption.
Question 7: Which older protocol did TLS replace because of well-known security vulnerabilities?
- IPSec
- SSH
- SSL (Correct answer)
- PPTP
Correct answer: SSL
TLS was developed as a more secure successor to SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which had critical vulnerabilities like POODLE and BEAST.
CRT Network Security & Protocols 2
Which protocol provides encrypted communication between a web browser and a server?