Cyber Security Identity and Access Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is multi-factor authentication (MFA)?
- Using multiple passwords for a single account
- Requiring two or more verification factors from different categories to authenticate (Correct answer)
- Sharing one account across multiple users
- Requiring an admin to approve every login attempt
Correct answer: Requiring two or more verification factors from different categories to authenticate
MFA combines something you know, something you have, and/or something you are to verify identity more securely.
Question 2: What is the purpose of Single Sign-On (SSO)?
- Allow a user to have only one password across all systems
- Allow a user to authenticate once and gain access to multiple applications (Correct answer)
- Restrict users to accessing a single application per session
- Automatically log users out after 30 minutes of inactivity
Correct answer: Allow a user to authenticate once and gain access to multiple applications
SSO lets users authenticate once with a central identity provider and access multiple connected applications without re-authenticating.
Question 3: What does RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) grant permissions based on?
- The user's IP address
- The user's assigned role within the organization (Correct answer)
- The time of day the user logs in
- The user's physical location
Correct answer: The user's assigned role within the organization
RBAC assigns permissions to roles (e.g., admin, editor, viewer) and users inherit permissions by being assigned to roles.
Question 4: What is an access token in OAuth 2.0 used for?
- Encrypting user passwords during transmission
- Authorizing an application to access resources on behalf of a user (Correct answer)
- Verifying the identity of the user at the token issuer
- Generating one-time passwords for MFA
Correct answer: Authorizing an application to access resources on behalf of a user
An OAuth 2.0 access token grants an application permission to access specific resources without exposing user credentials.
Question 5: What is the purpose of an Identity Provider (IdP) in federated identity management?
- Store application data for connected services
- Authenticate users and issue identity assertions consumed by service providers (Correct answer)
- Manage firewall rules for cloud applications
- Generate encryption keys for TLS certificates
Correct answer: Authenticate users and issue identity assertions consumed by service providers
An IdP authenticates users centrally and issues tokens or assertions that service providers trust to grant access.
Question 6: What is a privileged access workstation (PAW) used for?
- Allow general employees to access cloud services
- Provide a hardened, isolated machine for performing administrative tasks (Correct answer)
- Monitor network traffic from admin accounts
- Rotate service account passwords automatically
Correct answer: Provide a hardened, isolated machine for performing administrative tasks
A PAW is a dedicated, hardened workstation used only for privileged tasks, reducing the attack surface for admin credentials.
Cyber Security Identity and Access Management 1
What is multi-factor authentication (MFA)?