Computer Security Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: Propagation phase

Propagation is the phase in which the virus writes copies of itself into other programs or into system areas of the disk. The dormant phase is idleness, the triggering phase is the event that wakes it, and the execution phase is the payload.

Answer: C

Correct answer: kept secret

If the digest travelled openly alongside the message, an attacker could alter the message and recompute the digest to match. The digest must therefore be protected - kept secret, encrypted, or bound to a key - or the whole check is worthless.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Firewall

A firewall inspects traffic entering and leaving the machine and blocks connections that are not permitted, which is what keeps an intruder from reaching the computer at all. Antivirus software deals with malicious code already present rather than with the connection.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Worm

A worm is distinguished from a virus precisely by independence: it needs no host program and no user action, but propagates itself across a network, and the traffic it generates is what disrupts communication. Trojans do not self-propagate, and a dropper merely installs other malware.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Secret

The same reason: a digest an attacker can replace gives no protection, since the altered message would carry a correctly computed digest. Keeping it secret, or computing it with a secret key, is what makes the check meaningful.

Answer: C

Correct answer: A filter for an internet connection that monitors outgoing and incoming activity

A firewall works on connections, allowing or blocking traffic in both directions according to its rules. It is not concerned with the content of files, which is what antivirus software examines, and the name is a metaphor rather than a description.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Computer Virus

A virus is code that attaches itself to a host program, spreads when that program runs, and carries a payload that may be trivial or destructive. Antivirus software is what opposes it, and Word and Access are ordinary applications.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Antivirus

McAfee is one of the long-established antivirus products, alongside Norton, Avast and AVG. Quick Heal is another antivirus rather than a category, which is why it cannot be the answer to a question about what kind of thing McAfee is.

Answer: B

Correct answer: It is a computer program

A virus is a program like any other; what distinguishes it is what it does - copy itself into other programs and carry a payload. It is not hardware and not a part of the operating system.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Spyware

A key logger records every keystroke and sends the record elsewhere, which makes it a form of spyware - software whose purpose is to gather information about the user without consent. Firmware is code stored in hardware and has nothing to do with it.