Accounting Information Systems, 13e (Romney/Steinbart)
Chapter 8 Controls for Information Security
8.1 Explain how information security affects information systems reliability.
1) The Trust Services Framework reliability principle that states that users must be able to enter,
update, and retrieve data during agreed-upon times is known as
A) availability.
B) security.
C) maintainability.
D) integrity.
2) According to the Trust Services Framework, the reliability principle of integrity is achieved
when the system produces data that
A) is available for operation and use at times set forth by agreement.
B) is protected against unauthorized physical and logical access.
C) can be maintained as required without affecting system availability, security, and integrity.
D) is complete, accurate, and valid.
3) Kuzman Jovan called a meeting of the top management at Jovan Capital Management.
Number one on the agenda was computer system security. “The risk of security breach incidents
has become unacceptable,” he said, and turned to the Chief Information Officer. “What do you
intend to do?” Which of the following is the best answer?
A) Evaluate and modify the system using COBOL.
B) Evaluate and modify the system using the CTC checklist.
C) Evaluate and modify the system using the Trust Services framework
D) Evaluate and modify the system using the COSO Internal Control Framework.
4) Which of the following is not one of the three fundamental information security concepts?
A) Information security is a technology issue based on prevention.
B) Security is a management issue, not a technology issue.
C) The idea of defense-in-depth employs multiple layers of controls.
D) The time-based model of security focuses on the relationship between preventive, detective
and corrective controls.
5) Which of the following is not one of the essential criteria for successfully implementing each
of the principles that contribute to systems reliability, as discussed in the Trust Services
Framework?
A) developing and documenting policies
B) effectively communicating policies to all outsiders
C) designing and employing appropriate control procedures to implement policies
D) monitoring the system and taking corrective action to maintain compliance with policies
6) If the time an attacker takes to break through the organization’s preventive controls is greater
than the sum of the time required to detect the attack and the time required to respond to the
attack, then security is
A) effective.
B) ineffective.
C) overdone.
D) undermanaged.
7) It was 8:03 A.M. when Jiao Jan, the Network Administrator for South Asian Technologies,
was informed that the intrusion detection system had identified an ongoing attempt to breach
network security. By the time that Jiao had identified and blocked the attack, the hacker had
accessed and downloaded several files from the company’s server. Using the notation for the
time-based model of security, in this case
A) D > P
B) P > D
C) P > C
D) C > P
8) There are “white hat” hackers and “black hat” hackers. Cowboy451 was one of the “black hat”
hackers. He had researched an exploit and determined that he could penetrate the target system,
download a file containing valuable data, and cover his tracks in eight minutes. Six minutes into
the attack he was locked out of the system. Using the notation of the time-based model of
security, which of the following must be true?
A) P < 6
B) D = 6
C) P = 6
D) P > 6
9) Identify a party below who was involved with developing the Trust Services Framework.
A) FASB
B) United States Congress
C) AICPA
D) IMA
10) Information security procedures protect information integrity by
A) preventing fictitious transactions.
B) reducing the system cost.
C) making the system more efficient.
D) making it impossible for unauthorized users to access the system.
11) Identify one aspect of systems reliability that is not a source of concern with regards to a
public cloud.
A) confidentiality
B) privacy
C) efficiency
D) availability
12) Identify the primary means of protecting data stored in a cloud from unauthorized access.
A) authentication
B) authorization
C) virtualization
D) securitization
13) Virtualization refers to the ability of
A) running multiple systems simultaneously on one physical computer.
B) eliminating the need for a physical computer.
C) using the Internet to perform all needed system functions.
D) using web-based security to protect an organization.
14) True or False: Cloud computing can potentially generate significant cost savings for an
organization.
15) True or False: Cloud computing is generally more secure than traditional computing.
16) The Trust Services Framework reliability principle that states sensitive information be
protected from unauthorized disclosure is known as
A) availability.
B) security.
C) confidentiality.
D) integrity.
17) The Trust Services Framework reliability principle that states personal information should be
protected from unauthorized disclosure is known as
A) availability.
B) security.
C) privacy.
D) integrity.
18) The Trust Services Framework reliability principle that states access to the system and its
data should be controlled and restricted to legitimate users is known as
A) availability.
B) security.
C) privacy.
D) integrity.
8.2 Discuss how a combination of preventive, detective, and corrective controls can be
employed to provide reasonable assurance about the security of an organization’s information
system.
1) Identify the statement below which is not a useful control procedure regarding access to
system outputs.
A) restricting access to rooms with printers
B) coding reports to reflect their importance
C) allowing visitors to move through the building without supervision
D) requiring employees to log out of applications when leaving their desk
2) Verifying the identity of the person or device attempting to access the system is an example of
A) authentication.
B) authorization.
C) identification.
D) threat monitoring.
3) Restricting access of users to specific portions of the system as well as specific tasks, is an
example of
A) authentication.
B) authorization.
C) identification.
D) threat monitoring.
4) ________ is/are an example of a preventive control.
A) Emergency response teams
B) Encryption
C) Log analysis
D) Intrusion detection
5) ________ is/are an example of a detective control.
A) Physical access controls
B) Encryption
C) Emergency response teams
D) Log analysis
6) Which of the following is an example of a corrective control?
A) physical access controls
B) encryption
C) intrusion detection
D) incident response teams
7) Which of the following is not a requirement of effective passwords?
A) Passwords should be changed at regular intervals.
B) Passwords should be no more than 8 characters in length.
C) Passwords should contain a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and characters.
D) Passwords should not be words found in dictionaries.
8) Multi-factor authentication
A) involves the use of two or more basic authentication methods.
B) is a table specifying which portions of the systems users are permitted to access.
C) provides weaker authentication than the use of effective passwords.
D) requires the use of more than one effective password.
9) Identify the best description of an access control matrix below.
A) does not have to be updated
B) is used to implement authentication controls
C) matches the user’s authentication credentials to his authorization
D) is a table specifying which portions of the system users are permitted to access
10) Perimeter defense is an example of which of the following preventive controls that are
necessary to provide adequate security?
A) training
B) controlling physical access
C) controlling remote access
D) host and application hardening
11) Which of the following preventive controls are necessary to provide adequate security for
social engineering threats?
A) controlling remote access
B) encryption
C) host and application hardening
D) awareness training
12) A special purpose hardware device or software running on a general purpose computer,
which filters information that is allowed to enter and leave the organization’s information system,
is known as a(n)
A) demilitarized zone.
B) intrusion detection system.
C) intrusion prevention system.
D) firewall.
13) This protocol specifies the procedures for dividing files and documents into packets to be
sent over the Internet.
A) access control list
B) Internet protocol
C) packet switching protocol
D) transmission control protocol
14) This protocol specifies the structure of packets sent over the internet and the route to get
them to the proper destination.
A) access control list
B) Internet protocol
C) packet switching protocol
D) transmission control protocol
15) This network access control determines which IP packets are allowed entry to a network and
which are dropped.
A) access control list
B) deep packet inspection
C) stateful packet filtering
D) static packet filtering
16) Compatibility tests utilize a(n) ________, which is a list of authorized users, programs, and
data files the users are authorized to access or manipulate.
A) validity test
B) biometric matrix
C) logical control matrix
D) access control matrix
17) The process that screens individual IP packets based solely on the contents of the source
and/or destination fields in the packet header is known as
A) access control list.
B) deep packet inspection.
C) stateful packet filtering.
D) static packet filtering.
18) The process of maintaining a table listing all established connections between the
organization’s computers and the internet to determine whether an incoming packet is part of an
ongoing communication initiated by an internal computer is known as
A) stateful packet filtering.
B) deep packet inspection.
C) access control list.
D) static packet filtering.
19) The process that allows a firewall to be more effective by examining the data in the body of
an IP packet, instead of just the header, is known as
A) deep packet inspection.
B) stateful packet filtering.
C) static packet filtering.
D) an intrusion prevention system.
20) The security technology that evaluates IP packet traffic patterns in order to identify attacks
against a system is known as
A) an intrusion prevention system.
B) stateful packet filtering.
C) static packet filtering.
D) deep packet inspection.
21) This is used to identify rogue modems (or by hackers to identify targets).
A) war chalking
B) war dialing
C) war driving
D) none of the above
22) The process of turning off unnecessary features in the system is known as
A) deep packet inspection.
B) hardening.
C) intrusion detection.
D) war dialing.
23) The most common input-related vulnerability is
A) buffer overflow attack.
B) hardening.
C) war dialing.
D) encryption.
24) Which of the below keeps a record of the network traffic permitted to pass through a
firewall?
A) intrusion detection system
B) vulnerability scan
C) log analysis
D) penetration test
25) The process that uses automated tools to identify whether a system possesses any well-
known security problems is known as a(n)
A) intrusion detection system.
B) log analysis.
C) penetration test.
D) vulnerability scan.
26) This is an authorized attempt by an internal audit team or an external security consultant to
attempt to break into the organization’s information system.
A) log analysis
B) intrusion detection system
C) penetration test
D) vulnerability scan
27) A well-known hacker started his own computer security consulting business shortly after
being released from prison. Many companies pay him to attempt to gain unauthorized access to
their network. If he is successful, he offers advice as to how to design and implement better
controls. What is the name of the testing for which the hacker is being paid?
A) penetration test
B) vulnerability scan
C) deep packet inspection
D) buffer overflow test
28) The ________ disseminates information about fraud, errors, breaches and other improper
system uses and their consequences.
A) chief information officer
B) chief operations officer
C) chief security officer
D) computer emergency response team
29) In 2007, a major U.S. financial institution hired a security firm to attempt to compromise its
computer network. A week later, the firm reported that it had successfully entered the system
without apparent detection and presented an analysis of the vulnerabilities that had been found.
This is an example of a
A) preventive control.
B) detective control.
C) corrective control.
D) standard control.
30) Which of the following is commonly true of the default settings for most commercially
available wireless access points?
A) The security level is set at the factory and cannot be changed.
B) Wireless access points present little danger of vulnerability so security is not a concern.
C) Security is set to the lowest level that the device is capable of.
D) Security is set to the highest level that the device is capable of.
31) In recent years, many of the attacks carried out by hackers have relied on this type of
vulnerability in computer software.
A) code mastication
B) boot sector corruption
C) weak authentication
D) buffer overflow
32) Noseybook is a social networking site that boasts over a million registered users and a
quarterly membership growth rate in the double digits. As a consequence, the size of the
information technology department has been growing very rapidly, with many new hires. Each
employee is provided with a name badge with a photo and embedded computer chip that is used
to gain entry to the facility. This is an example of a(n)
A) authentication control.
B) biometric device.
C) remote access control.
D) authorization control.
33) When new employees are hired by Pacific Technologies, they are assigned user names and
appropriate permissions are entered into the information system’s access control matrix. This is
an example of a(n)
A) authentication control.
B) biometric device.
C) remote access control.
D) authorization control.
34) When new employees are hired by Pacific Technologies, they are assigned user names and
passwords and provided with laptop computers that have an integrated fingerprint reader. In
order to log in, the user’s fingerprint must be recognized by the reader. This is an example of a(n)
A) authorization control.
B) biometric device.
C) remote access control.
D) defense in depth.
35) Information technology managers are often in a bind when a new exploit is discovered in the
wild. They can respond by updating the affected software or hardware with new code provided
by the manufacturer, which runs the risk that a flaw in the update will break the system. Or they
can wait until the new code has been extensively tested, but that runs the risk that they will be
compromised by the exploit during the testing period. Dealing with these issues is referred to as
A) change management.
B) hardening.
C) patch management.
D) defense in depth.
36) The most effective method for protecting an organization from social engineering attacks is
providing
A) a firewall.
B) stateful packet filtering.
C) a demilitarized zone.
D) employee awareness training.
37) The most effective way to protect network resources that are exposed to the internet, yet
reside outside of a network is
A) a firewall.
B) employee training.
C) a demilitarized zone.
D) stateful packet filtering.
38) All employees of E.C. Hoxy are required to pass through a gate and present their photo
identification cards to the guard before they are admitted. Entry to secure areas, such as the
Information Technology Department offices, requires further procedures. This is an example of
a(n)
A) authentication control.
B) authorization control.
C) physical access control.
D) hardening procedure.
39) On April 1, 2012, students enrolled in an economics course at Harvard University received
an e-mail stating that class would be cancelled. The e-mail claimed to be from the professor, but
it wasn’t. Computer forensic experts determined that the e-mail was sent from a computer in one
of the campus labs at 6:32 A.M. They were then able to uniquely identify the computer that was
used by means of its network interface card’s ________ address. Security cameras revealed the
identity of the student responsible for spoofing the class.
A) IDS
B) TCP/IP
C) MAC
D) DMZ
40) Identify three ways users can be authenticated and give an example of each.
41) Describe four requirements of effective passwords .
42) Explain social engineering.
43) Explain the value of penetration testing.
44) Describe the function of a computer incident response team (CIRT) and the steps that a CIRT
should perform following a security incident.
45) Identify six physical access controls.
46) A border router
A) routes electronic communications within an organization.
B) connects an organization’s information system to the Internet.
C) permits controlled access from the Internet to selected resources.
D) serves as the main firewall.
47) A demilitarized zone
A) routes electronic communications within an organization.
B) connects an organization’s information system to the Internet.
C) permits controlled access from the Internet to selected resources.
D) serves as the main firewall.
48) Describe what information security process the term hardening refers to.
49) Describe what a man-trap is and how it contributes to information security.
50) Why does COBIT5 DSS-05.06 stress the importance of restricting physical access to
network printers?
A) because hackers can use them to print out sensitive information
B) because hackers often hide inside large network printers until night
C) because document images are often stored on network printers
D) because network printers are easier to hack into than computers
51) The most important element of any preventive control is
A) the people.
B) the performance.
C) the procedure(s).
D) the penalty.