Microsoft Windows 98 Risk Assessment & Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which action BEST reduces the risk of data loss from sudden power failures on a Windows 98 system?
- Increasing virtual memory size
- Implementing an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and enabling UPS monitoring in Windows 98 (Correct answer)
- Defragmenting the hard drive weekly
- Disabling the screen saver
Correct answer: Implementing an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and enabling UPS monitoring in Windows 98
A UPS provides battery backup during power outages, and Windows 98's built-in UPS support allows graceful shutdown before battery depletion, preventing file system corruption.
Question 2: A risk assessment reveals Windows 98 is running Internet Explorer 5.0. What is the MOST significant risk this represents?
- Slower page rendering than modern browsers
- Multiple critical unpatched vulnerabilities in an end-of-life browser version exploitable via malicious websites (Correct answer)
- Incompatibility with modern web fonts
- Higher RAM consumption
Correct answer: Multiple critical unpatched vulnerabilities in an end-of-life browser version exploitable via malicious websites
IE 5.0 contains numerous publicly known, unpatched security vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit simply by luring users to malicious web pages.
Question 3: In risk management for Windows 98 environments, what does the principle of 'defense in depth' suggest about relying solely on antivirus software?
- Antivirus alone is sufficient protection
- Multiple overlapping security controls should be used since antivirus is one layer, not a complete solution (Correct answer)
- Antivirus software is unnecessary if File Sharing is disabled
- Defense in depth only applies to network security
Correct answer: Multiple overlapping security controls should be used since antivirus is one layer, not a complete solution
Defense in depth requires layering multiple security controls — antivirus, strong passwords, patching, and limited sharing — because any single control can fail or be bypassed.
Question 4: When documenting risks in a Windows 98 environment, how is 'risk likelihood' BEST determined?
- By the age of the hardware
- By evaluating the exposure level, known exploit availability, and historical incident frequency for each identified vulnerability (Correct answer)
- By the cost of the software license
- By the number of users sharing the machine
Correct answer: By evaluating the exposure level, known exploit availability, and historical incident frequency for each identified vulnerability
Likelihood is assessed by combining how exposed the system is, whether public exploits exist for known vulnerabilities, and how often similar systems have been attacked.
Question 5: Which Windows 98 feature, if misconfigured, could allow remote attackers to execute code via crafted network packets?
- Windows Media Player skins
- Server Message Block (SMB) through File and Printer Sharing (Correct answer)
- Desktop themes
- Font rendering engine
Correct answer: Server Message Block (SMB) through File and Printer Sharing
SMB through File and Printer Sharing has historically been exploited by network worms and attackers to execute code remotely on vulnerable Windows systems.
Question 6: What risk does enabling 'Remote Administration' in Windows 98's Passwords control panel introduce?
- Increased disk space usage
- Potential for unauthorized remote control of the system if the remote admin password is weak or absent (Correct answer)
- Reduced network throughput
- Incompatibility with dial-up connections
Correct answer: Potential for unauthorized remote control of the system if the remote admin password is weak or absent
Remote Administration allows another machine to manage the Windows 98 system over the network; a weak or absent password grants attackers full remote management capability.
Question 7: A risk treatment plan for a legacy Windows 98 machine recommends 'network isolation.' Which implementation BEST achieves this?
- Placing the machine in a separate VLAN with firewall rules blocking all external traffic (Correct answer)
- Changing the workgroup name
- Disabling the screen saver password
- Setting desktop resolution to 800x600
Correct answer: Placing the machine in a separate VLAN with firewall rules blocking all external traffic
VLAN isolation with strict firewall rules prevents the Windows 98 machine from communicating with untrusted networks, containing the impact of its unpatched vulnerabilities.
Microsoft Windows 98 Risk Assessment & Management 5
Which action BEST reduces the risk of data loss from sudden power failures on a Windows 98 system?