ISC2 ISSAP Exam Questions
ISC2 Information Systems Security Architecture Professional Exam (Page 4 )

Updated On: 21-Feb-2026

A user is sending a large number of protocol packets to a network in order to saturate its resources and to disrupt connections to prevent communications between services.
Which type of attack is this?

  1. Denial-of-Service attack
  2. Vulnerability attack
  3. Social Engineering attack
  4. Impersonation attack

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is mounted with the objective of causing a negative impact on the performance of a computer or network. It is also known as network saturation attack or bandwidth consumption attack. Attackers make Denial- of-Service attacks by sending a large number of protocol packets to a network. A DoS attack can cause the following to occur:
Saturate network resources.
Disrupt connections between two computers, thereby preventing communications between services.
Disrupt services to a specific computer.
A SYN attack is a common DoS technique in which an attacker sends multiple SYN packets to a target computer. For each SYN packet received,
the target computer allocates resources and sends an acknowledgement (SYN-ACK) to the source IP address. Since the target computer does not receive a response from the attacking computer, it attempts to resend the SYN-ACK. This leaves TCP ports in the half-open state.
When an attacker sends TCP SYNs repeatedly before the half-open connections are timed out, the target computer eventually runs out of resources and is unable to handle any more connections, thereby denying service to legitimate users. Answer option D is incorrect. An impersonation attack attempts to access the system by using a valid user password.
Answer option B is incorrect. A vulnerability attack takes advantage of the vulnerabilities in an operating system or software service to enter into the operating system and disrupt its working.
Answer option C is incorrect. Social engineering is the art of convincing people and making them disclose useful information such as account names and passwords. This information is further exploited by hackers to gain access to a user's computer or network. This method involves mental ability of the people to trick someone rather than their technical skills. A user should always distrust people who ask him for his account name or password, computer name, IP address, employee ID, or other information that can be misused.



Which of the following types of firewall functions at the Session layer of OSI model?

  1. Circuit-level firewall
  2. Application-level firewall
  3. Packet filtering firewall
  4. Switch-level firewall

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

Circuit-level firewall operates at the Session layer of the OSI model. This type of firewall regulates traffic based on whether or not a trusted connection has been established.



Which of the following statements about a stream cipher are true? Each correct answer represents a complete solution. Choose three.

  1. It typically executes at a higher speed than a block cipher.
  2. It divides a message into blocks for processing.
  3. It typically executes at a slower speed than a block cipher.
  4. It divides a message into bits for processing.
  5. It is a symmetric key cipher.

Answer(s): A,D,E

Explanation:

A stream cipher is a symmetric key cipher or encryption. It divides a message into bits for processing. It typically executes at a higher speed than a block cipher. A stream cipher is also known as a state cipher, as the encryption of each digit is dependent on the current state.



Which of the following types of attack can be used to break the best physical and logical security mechanism to gain access to a system?

  1. Social engineering attack
  2. Cross site scripting attack
  3. Mail bombing
  4. Password guessing attack

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

Social engineering attack can be used to break the best physical and logical security mechanism to gain access to a system.
Social engineering is the art of convincing people and making them disclose useful information such as account names and passwords. This information is further exploited by hackers to gain access to a user's computer or network. This method involves mental ability of the people to trick someone rather than their technical skills. A user should always distrust people who ask him for his account name or password, computer name, IP address, employee ID, or other information that can be misused. Answer option D is incorrect. A password guessing attack occurs when an unauthorized user tries to log on repeatedly to a computer or network by guessing usernames and passwords. Many password guessing programs that attempt to break passwords are available on the
Internet. Following are the types of password guessing attacks:
Brute force attack
Dictionary attack
Answer option B is incorrect. A cross site scripting attack is one in which an attacker enters malicious data into a Website. For example, the attacker posts a message that contains malicious code to any newsgroup site.
When another user views this message, the browser interprets this code and executes it and, as a result, the attacker is able to take control of the user's system. Cross site scripting attacks require the execution of client-side languages such as JavaScript, Java, VBScript, ActiveX, Flash, etc.
within a user's Web environment. With the help of a cross site scripting attack, the attacker can perform cookie stealing, sessions hijacking, etc.
Answer option C is incorrect. Mail bombing is an attack that is used to overwhelm mail servers and clients by sending large amount of unwanted e-mails. The aim of this type of attack is to completely fill the recipient's hard disk with immense, useless files, causing at best irritation, and at worst total computer failure. E-mail filtering and properly configuring email relay functionality on mail servers can be helpful for protection against this type of attack.



You are the Security Consultant advising a company on security methods. This is a highly secure location that deals with sensitive national defense related data. They are very concerned about physical security as they had a breach last month. In that breach an individual had simply grabbed a laptop and ran out of the building.
Which one of the following would have been most effective in preventing this?

  1. Not using laptops.
  2. Keeping all doors locked with a guard.
  3. Using a man-trap.
  4. A sign in log.

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

A man-trap is a scenario in which there are two doors (for example one on each end of a short corridor) but only one can be open at a time.
Thus a person exiting the building would have to go through one door, close it, go to the other end of the corridor and open that door. The second door could not open until the first was closed. And in an emergency both doors can be automatically sealed.
Answer option A is incorrect. Laptops can be quite useful and effective. It is almost never the proper course of action to simply ban useful technology, rather than find good ways to secure it.
Answer option B is incorrect.
While this might work, it would be very expensive and would also cause a tremendous inconvenience for employees. Furthermore, there is always the possibility of a guard leaving for a moment. Answer option D is incorrect. Sign in logs are always a good idea. However, they would do nothing to prevent this scenario.






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