CSSLP Practice Test

Certification is a comprehensive assessment of the management, operational, and technical security controls in an information system.

Accreditation is the official management decision given by a senior agency official to authorize operation of an information system. 

Explanation: Certification and Accreditation (C&A or CnA) is a process for implementing information security. It is a systematic procedure for evaluating, describing, testing, and authorizing systems prior to or after a system is in operation. The C&A process is used extensively in the U.S. Federal Government. Some C&A processes include FISMA, NIACAP, DIACAP, and DCID 6/3. Certification is a comprehensive assessment of the management, operational, and technical security controls in an information system, made in support of security accreditation, to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome with respect to meeting the security requirements for the system. Accreditation is the official management decision given by a senior agency official to authorize operation of an information system and to explicitly accept the risk to agency operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), agency assets, or individuals, based on the implementation of an agreed-upon set of security controls.

Configuration identification

Explanation: Configuration identification is known as the decomposition process of a verification system into Configuration Items. Configuration identification is the process of identifying the attributes that define every aspect of a configuration item. A configuration item is a product (hardware and/or software) that has an end-user purpose. These attributes are recorded in configuration documentation and baselined. Baselining an attribute forces formal configuration change control processes to be effected in the event that these attributes are changed. Answer: D is incorrect. Configuration control is a procedure of the Configuration management. Configuration control is a set of processes and approval stages required to change a configuration item's attributes and to re-baseline them. It supports the change of the functional and physical attributes of software at various points in time, and performs systematic control of changes to the identified attributes. Configuration control is a means of ensuring that system changes are approved before being implemented. Only the proposed and approved changes are implemented, and the implementation is complete and accurate. Answer: A is incorrect. The configuration status accounting procedure is the ability to record and report on the configuration baselines associated with each configuration item at any moment of time. It supports the functional and physical attributes of software at various points in time, and performs systematic control of accounting to the identified attributes for the purpose of maintaining software integrity and traceability throughout the software development life cycle. Answer: C is incorrect. Configuration auditing is the quality assurance element of configuration management. It is occupied in the process of periodic checks to establish the consistency and completeness of accounting information and to validate that all configuration management policies are being followed. Configuration audits are broken into functional and physical configuration audits. They occur either at delivery or at the moment of effecting the change. A functional configuration audit ensures that functional and performance attributes of a configuration item are achieved, while a physical configuration audit ensures that a configuration item is installed in accordance with the requirements of its detailed design documentation. 

Data remanence

Explanation: Data remanence refers to the data that remains even after the efforts have been made for removing or erasing the data. This event occurs because of data being left intact by an insignificant file deletion operation, by storage media reformatting, or through physical properties of the storage medium. Data remanence can make unintentional disclosure of sensitive information possible. So, it is required that the storage media is released into an uncontrolled environment. Answer: C and B are incorrect. These are the made-up disasters. Answer: A is incorrect. Object reuse refers to reassigning some other object of a storage media that has one or more objects. 

Life cycle

Explanation: A life cycle model helps to provide an insight into the development process and emphasizes on the relationships among the different activities in this process. This model describes a structured approach to the development and adjustment process involved in producing and maintaining systems. The life cycle model addresses specifications, design, requirements, verification and validation, and maintenance activities

Transference 

Explanation: This is an example of transference as you have transferred the risk to a third party. Transference almost always is done with a negative risk event and it usually requires a contractual relationship.