Cyber Security Jobs Cryptography and Encryption 3

Question 1

What is a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack in the context of encrypted communications?

Accepted Answer

An attacker secretly intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties

Answer

An attacker mathematically breaks an encryption key offline

Answer

An attacker steals a user's private key from their device

Answer

An attacker performs a brute-force attack on a login form

Question 2

What does 'perfect forward secrecy' (PFS) guarantee in cryptographic protocols?

Accepted Answer

Past session keys remain secure even if long-term private keys are later compromised

Answer

All future communications are automatically encrypted with stronger keys

Answer

Session keys are stored securely for audit and recovery purposes

Answer

Encryption keys are rotated on a fixed schedule regardless of usage

Question 3

What does 'key escrow' mean in the context of cryptographic key management?

Accepted Answer

A copy of the encryption key is held by a trusted third party for authorized recovery

Answer

The process of securely generating new cryptographic key pairs

Answer

Distributing encryption keys to authorized users across an organization

Answer

The permanent destruction of expired or revoked cryptographic keys

Question 4

Which hashing algorithm is currently recommended by NIST for security-sensitive applications?

Accepted Answer

SHA-256

Answer

MD5

Answer

SHA-1

Answer

DES

Question 5

What is steganography in the context of information security?

Accepted Answer

The practice of hiding secret data within ordinary, non-secret files or messages

Answer

A method of symmetric key encryption for bulk data

Answer

A protocol for securely exchanging cryptographic keys

Answer

A digital signature algorithm based on elliptic curves

Question 6

What primary threat is post-quantum cryptography designed to address?

Accepted Answer

The ability of quantum computers to break classical public-key encryption algorithms

Answer

The need for faster symmetric encryption on mobile devices

Answer

Reducing cryptographic key sizes to improve efficiency

Answer

Improving the reliability of current hash function standards

Question 7

What is a 'zero-knowledge proof' in cryptography?

Accepted Answer

A method that proves knowledge of a secret without revealing the secret itself

Answer

A proof that a cryptographic key has never been used

Answer

An encryption method that requires no secret keys

Answer

A protocol for conducting anonymous financial transactions