CSLLP Secure Software Requirements 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What type of software requirement defines how the system should behave in terms of security, performance, or reliability?
- Functional requirement
- Non-functional requirement (Correct answer)
- Business requirement
- User story
Correct answer: Non-functional requirement
Non-functional requirements describe system qualities such as security, performance, and maintainability rather than specific behaviors or functions.
Question 2: Which process involves identifying and classifying data based on its sensitivity to determine appropriate security controls?
- Data normalization
- Data classification (Correct answer)
- Data aggregation
- Data masking
Correct answer: Data classification
Data classification assigns labels (such as public, internal, confidential, or top secret) to data based on sensitivity, guiding decisions about protection mechanisms.
Question 3: In abuse case modeling, what does an abuse case represent?
- A use case that has not been tested
- A scenario describing how an attacker might misuse the system (Correct answer)
- A poorly written user story
- A deprecated software feature
Correct answer: A scenario describing how an attacker might misuse the system
Abuse cases (also called misuse cases) describe how a malicious actor or a user with bad intent could abuse the system's functionality to cause harm.
Question 4: What is a security requirement that specifies users must be authenticated before accessing any resource?
- Authorization requirement
- Authentication requirement (Correct answer)
- Audit requirement
- Availability requirement
Correct answer: Authentication requirement
An authentication requirement specifies how and when users must prove their identity before the system grants them access to resources.
Question 5: Which US law mandates security and privacy requirements for federal agency information systems?
- HIPAA
- PCI DSS
- FISMA (Correct answer)
- GLBA
Correct answer: FISMA
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requires federal agencies to develop, document, and implement security programs for their information systems.
Question 6: Which standard provides a framework for software assurance maturity, helping organizations improve their secure software development practices?
- ISO 27001
- OWASP SAMM (Correct answer)
- NIST CSF
- CIS Benchmarks
Correct answer: OWASP SAMM
The OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM) provides a measurable framework for integrating security practices into software development and helps organizations benchmark their maturity.
What type of software requirement defines how the system should behave in terms of security, performance, or reliability?