CSP Cybersecurity & Digital Surveillance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the purpose of 802.1X authentication in a surveillance network?
- To compress video streams for efficient storage
- To control which devices are allowed to connect to the network (Correct answer)
- To encrypt recorded footage on NVR storage
- To manage IP address assignments for cameras
Correct answer: To control which devices are allowed to connect to the network
IEEE 802.1X is a port-based network access control standard that authenticates devices before allowing them to connect to a network, preventing unauthorized devices from joining.
Question 2: An attacker floods a surveillance NVR with traffic, making it unable to record video. This is an example of which attack?
- Brute force attack
- Denial of Service (DoS) attack (Correct answer)
- Replay attack
- Privilege escalation
Correct answer: Denial of Service (DoS) attack
A Denial of Service attack overwhelms a target system with excessive traffic or requests, rendering it unavailable for legitimate use such as recording video.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'two-factor authentication' (2FA) as applied to surveillance system access?
- Using two different camera brands for redundancy
- Requiring both a password and a second verification factor such as a token or biometric (Correct answer)
- Having two administrators approve every login
- Encrypting data with two separate encryption keys
Correct answer: Requiring both a password and a second verification factor such as a token or biometric
Two-factor authentication requires users to present two distinct types of credentials — typically something they know (password) and something they have or are — to verify identity.
Question 4: In digital video surveillance, what is a 'replay attack'?
- An attacker reviewing previously recorded footage without authorization
- An attacker capturing and retransmitting valid video or authentication data to deceive the system (Correct answer)
- A camera automatically looping its recording back to overwrite old footage
- A method of backing up surveillance recordings to a secondary server
Correct answer: An attacker capturing and retransmitting valid video or authentication data to deceive the system
In a replay attack, a malicious actor captures legitimate network transmissions and retransmits them to trick systems into accepting them as valid, such as reusing an authentication token.
Question 5: What is the role of a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system in a surveillance infrastructure?
- To store compressed video archives long-term
- To collect, correlate, and analyze security event logs from across the network in real time (Correct answer)
- To manage physical access control badge assignments
- To encode video streams using H.264 or H.265 compression
Correct answer: To collect, correlate, and analyze security event logs from across the network in real time
A SIEM aggregates log data from multiple systems, correlates events, and generates alerts to help security teams detect and respond to threats across the network.
Question 6: Why is it critical to disable Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) on routers used in surveillance networks?
- UPnP causes cameras to reboot automatically
- UPnP can allow devices to automatically open ports, exposing cameras to the internet without administrator knowledge (Correct answer)
- UPnP reduces video quality on IP cameras
- UPnP prevents cameras from receiving firmware updates
Correct answer: UPnP can allow devices to automatically open ports, exposing cameras to the internet without administrator knowledge
UPnP can automatically configure port forwarding, potentially exposing surveillance devices directly to the internet without explicit administrator approval, creating serious security risks.
Question 7: Which encryption standard is currently recommended for protecting data at rest on surveillance video storage systems?
- DES (Data Encryption Standard)
- MD5 hashing
- AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard) (Correct answer)
- ROT13
Correct answer: AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard)
AES-256 is the current industry-recommended symmetric encryption algorithm for protecting sensitive data at rest, providing strong security with a 256-bit key length.
CSP Cybersecurity & Digital Surveillance 3
What is the purpose of 802.1X authentication in a surveillance network?