Systems & Application Security Flashcards

Which hardening technique involves disabling or removing unnecessary services, ports, and software from a system?

Answer: Reducing the attack surface

Reducing the attack surface by removing unneeded services and components limits the number of potential entry points an attacker can exploit.

What is the primary security benefit of containerization technologies like Docker?

Answer: They isolate applications from each other and the host system

Containers provide process and filesystem isolation so that a compromised container has limited ability to affect other containers or the host OS.

Which type of malware disguises itself as legitimate software to trick users into installing it?

Answer: Trojan horse

A Trojan horse masquerades as benign or useful software, but delivers a malicious payload once executed by an unsuspecting user.

What is 'input validation' in the context of application security?

Answer: Ensuring data entered by users meets expected format and type before processing

Input validation checks that user-supplied data conforms to expected formats, preventing injection attacks and other input-based vulnerabilities.

Which security measure involves using multiple independent systems to perform the same function to verify results?

Answer: Diversity of defense

Diversity of defense uses different, independent security controls so that a failure or bypass of one does not compromise the entire system.

What is the purpose of code signing in application security?

Answer: To verify the authenticity and integrity of software using a digital signature

Code signing uses a digital certificate to confirm the software's origin and that it has not been tampered with since it was signed.

In a secure SDLC, during which phase should threat modeling ideally occur?

Answer: Design

Threat modeling during the design phase identifies potential threats and security requirements early, when changes are least costly to implement.