ECCouncil 212-82 Exam Dumps & Practice Test Questions
Question No 1:
Ryleigh, a system administrator, needs to ensure her organization’s data is regularly backed up. She decides to schedule a complete backup on a fixed date when no employees are actively using the system. This planned downtime ensures that the system remains idle, preventing any data changes during the backup and allowing for a full, uninterrupted data capture.
What type of backup method is Ryleigh using in this scenario?
A Nearline backup
B Cold backup
C Hot backup
D Warm backup
Answer: B
Explanation:
Ryleigh is using a method where the backup is performed during a period of scheduled inactivity—meaning the system is shut down or not being accessed by users. This kind of backup is known as a cold backup, also referred to as an offline backup.
A cold backup is one of the most reliable techniques when it comes to ensuring complete data consistency and integrity. It is executed while the system or database is entirely turned off or in a dormant state. Since no transactions or changes can occur during this process, it eliminates the risk of capturing inconsistent or partial data, which is a potential problem in other types of backups. This makes cold backups especially useful in situations where exact replication of data is critical—such as for databases or enterprise applications that handle sensitive or high-volume information.
In Ryleigh’s scenario, the system is explicitly placed into a non-operational state during the backup. This mirrors a textbook definition of a cold backup. Such an approach is frequently used when maintaining absolute data accuracy is more important than keeping the system online. While it may not be the most time-efficient method—since it requires a full system downtime—it is often the preferred choice for critical systems that cannot tolerate any data loss or corruption.
Now, considering the other options:
A Nearline backup refers to a scenario where data is still accessible, though it may not be immediately online. It involves storage solutions that are slower than active memory but faster than offline storage. It doesn’t match Ryleigh’s decision to fully shut down the system.
C Hot backup is the exact opposite of cold backup. It occurs while the system is online and actively being used. Although this method reduces downtime, it increases the risk of inconsistencies because data might change during the backup process.
D Warm backup is a hybrid where the system remains operational but is in a low-usage or standby mode. It may be used for failover systems or limited-access environments but still allows some level of user or process interaction—unlike the fully inactive state Ryleigh uses.
In summary, Ryleigh’s strategy of backing up data during scheduled downtime, with the system entirely inactive, reflects a cold backup technique, which is optimal for ensuring reliable and accurate data preservation.
Question No 2:
Steve, a network engineer, is assigned to diagnose a problem involving dropped packets on the network. To get to the root of the issue, he uses a diagnostic tool that sends ICMP echo requests to a server. After reviewing the results, he determines that the packets are being lost specifically at the gateway, indicating a poor network link.
Which network tool did Steve most likely use to uncover the issue?
A dnsenum
B arp
C traceroute
D ipconfig
Answer: C
Explanation:
In this scenario, Steve is attempting to identify the source of packet drops within a network path. To do this, he uses a tool that sends ICMP echo request packets—commonly associated with tools like ping and traceroute. However, since he was able to pinpoint that the issue was occurring specifically at the gateway, this implies that the tool he used could display the sequence of network hops and identify where along that route the packets were failing. The tool best suited for this purpose is traceroute.
Traceroute operates by sending a sequence of ICMP (or sometimes UDP/TCP) packets with increasing Time-To-Live (TTL) values. As each packet passes through a router (or gateway), the TTL decreases by one. When the TTL reaches zero, the router discards the packet and returns an ICMP "time exceeded" message to the sender. This process allows traceroute to map out the route from the source to the destination, identifying each hop along the way and measuring the response time at each point.
This makes traceroute extremely effective for identifying bottlenecks, latency issues, or in Steve’s case, pinpointing the exact hop where packet loss begins to occur. Since he observed that the packets were being dropped at the gateway, this confirms that traceroute provided the detailed visibility he needed into the network path.
Let’s examine the incorrect options:
A dnsenum is a DNS enumeration tool that helps gather information about DNS records, such as subdomains, IP addresses, and zone transfers. While it's useful for security assessments and DNS mapping, it has nothing to do with tracing packets or diagnosing connectivity issues.
B arp is used to view or manipulate the ARP cache, which maps IP addresses to MAC addresses within a local area network. While helpful in diagnosing local connectivity issues, it provides no information about packet paths or drops beyond the local segment.
D ipconfig is a Windows command-line utility used to view and manage the network configuration of a device. It shows IP addresses, subnet masks, and gateway info, but it doesn’t trace the route of packets or detect where they are being dropped.
In conclusion, Steve's ability to trace the exact point of packet loss in the network path—specifically at the gateway—confirms that he used traceroute, which is the only option that provides this level of diagnostic insight into hop-by-hop packet flow.
Question No 3:
What type of attack signature analysis did Anderson perform when analyzing packet header fields like IP options, IP protocols, and IP fragmentation flags?
A. Context-based signature analysis
B. Atomic-signature-based analysis
C. Composite-signature-based analysis
D. Content-based signature analysis
Answer: B
Explanation:
Anderson, the security engineer, employed a method where he specifically analyzed individual packet header fields like IP options, IP protocols, and IP fragmentation flags to detect suspicious activities or modifications during packet transit. This type of analysis is known as atomic-signature-based analysis. Atomic-signature-based analysis focuses on single, discrete components of network packets, often looking for alterations or unusual behaviors in individual packet attributes. These attributes are typically fundamental, low-level packet characteristics such as IP options, flags, or offsets, which remain unchanged unless malicious actors modify them.
The key aspect of atomic-signature-based analysis is its focus on isolated packet fields, which allows the detection of subtle manipulations that might not affect the overall packet content but still indicate potential tampering or suspicious behavior. This is particularly important when trying to identify attacks that focus on altering specific network protocol characteristics to evade detection or manipulate traffic for malicious purposes.
In contrast:
Context-based signature analysis looks at the broader context in which packets are transmitted, considering how they interact with other network traffic or systems. This is not the focus of Anderson’s approach, as he concentrated on individual packet fields rather than examining the broader network context.
Composite-signature-based analysis involves analyzing the relationships between multiple packet components and detecting patterns that arise from combinations of various network characteristics. It typically looks at interactions between different elements of the network traffic, which was not Anderson’s method in this case.
Content-based signature analysis would involve examining the payload or actual content within the packet itself, such as inspecting data for known attack patterns. Anderson's focus, however, was on packet headers, not the packet's content, making this approach distinct from content-based analysis.
Therefore, Anderson’s method of analyzing specific packet header fields to detect modifications aligns with atomic-signature-based analysis, which is designed to detect attacks through the inspection of discrete, individual packet attributes.
Question No 4:
Which Wireshark menu did Leilani access to apply filters, manipulate protocols, and configure user-defined decodes?
A. Statistics
B. Capture
C. Main Toolbar
D. Analyze
Answer: D
Explanation:
Leilani, a network specialist, accessed a menu in Wireshark that allowed her to manipulate, display, and apply filters, as well as enable or disable the dissection of protocols and configure user-defined decodes. The correct menu that provides these advanced options is the Analyze menu.
Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer that allows users to capture and inspect network traffic. The Analyze menu contains a range of features that are particularly useful for dissecting and manipulating the data captured during a network traffic session. This menu includes options like:
Display Filters, which enable users to filter and display only the relevant network traffic based on specific criteria. Filters allow users to focus on the most important traffic during analysis.
Enable/Disable Protocol Dissection, which allows users to control which protocols are dissected during the capture. By enabling or disabling protocol dissectors, Leilani can optimize the capture and focus on particular protocols of interest.
User-Defined Decodes, which allows Leilani to configure custom rules for interpreting traffic, particularly useful when dealing with proprietary or non-standard protocols that Wireshark does not automatically recognize.
In contrast:
The Statistics menu (Option A) in Wireshark provides an overview of the network traffic, offering insights like packet counts, flow graphs, and protocol hierarchies. It is more about summarizing the traffic rather than allowing detailed manipulation or filtering of the captured data.
The Capture menu (Option B) is used to manage the settings related to packet capture, including starting and stopping captures and configuring capture interfaces, but it does not provide the advanced protocol manipulation and filtering features found in the Analyze menu.
The Main Toolbar (Option C) in Wireshark provides quick access to basic actions, such as starting or stopping captures, but it does not contain the detailed options for filtering and protocol dissection that are present in the Analyze menu.
Thus, the Analyze menu is the correct choice because it offers the specific functionality that Leilani used to apply filters, manage protocol dissection, and customize the display of captured data during her network analysis.
Question No 5:
Which type of event logs is Tenda analyzing in this scenario, where she is tasked with detecting unauthorized access or activities based on logs related to Windows security?
A Application Event Log
B Setup Event Log
C Security Event Log
D System Event Log
Answer: C
Explanation:
Tenda is analyzing logs to detect any signs of unauthorized access or activities, particularly focusing on events like log-on/log-off actions, resource access, and data related to the system’s audit policies. This makes the Security Event Log the most relevant log type being reviewed.
The Windows Event Viewer categorizes logs into various types based on the nature of the event. Let's break down the types of logs in the context of this scenario:
A. Application Event Log: This log primarily tracks events related to software applications running on the system. It captures errors or information specific to application behavior, such as crashes or configuration changes, but it does not generally focus on security-related events like user log-ins or system access controls.
B. Setup Event Log: This log is concerned with events during the installation and configuration of the Windows operating system and applications. While important for tracking system setup, it does not track security-specific events like unauthorized logins or access to sensitive resources.
C. Security Event Log: This is the key log that tracks security-related events, including user log-on/log-off attempts, access to resources, and activities related to system audit policies. This aligns directly with Tenda’s task, as she is looking for signs of unauthorized access or potential security breaches. The Security Event Log captures such crucial data as login attempts, both successful and failed, and access attempts to protected resources, which is essential for identifying any suspicious or unauthorized activities.
D. System Event Log: This log records events related to the system’s core functions, such as hardware issues, system services starting or stopping, and other operational tasks. Although it is vital for monitoring system health, it does not capture security-specific events like user access or system login data.
Given Tenda's goal of analyzing activities for signs of unauthorized access, the Security Event Log is the correct log type. This log plays a pivotal role in tracking user authentication and access control, which is essential for detecting and preventing potential security incidents.
Question No 6:
In the scenario where Warren is responding to a malware attack and takes steps to stop the infection from spreading to other systems, which step of the Incident Handling and Response (IH&R) process did he perform?
A Containment
B Recovery
C Eradication
D Incident triage
Answer: A
Explanation:
Warren's immediate action to halt the spread of the malware and prevent further damage to the organization aligns with the Containment step in the Incident Handling and Response (IH&R) process. Containment is focused on limiting the scope and impact of an ongoing incident, ensuring that it does not affect other systems or critical assets within the organization.
In the context of IH&R, the process generally includes several phases, such as preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned. Here’s an analysis of each step:
A. Containment: This step focuses on isolating the compromised systems to prevent the attack from spreading. Warren’s immediate action to stop the malware from infecting additional systems corresponds directly to containment. By isolating the affected systems, he effectively prevents further damage while other steps (eradication and recovery) can be planned.
B. Recovery: The recovery phase occurs after the incident has been contained and eradicated. During recovery, the focus is on restoring normal operations and bringing affected systems back online. Since Warren’s actions were to stop the spread of the infection, recovery had not yet taken place.
C. Eradication: Eradication involves completely removing the malware from the infected systems. This occurs after containment, as the infected systems must first be isolated before malware can be fully removed. Although Warren is likely to perform eradication next, his current actions are focused on preventing the malware from spreading, not removing it yet.
D. Incident triage: Incident triage is the initial step in which incidents are identified, categorized, and prioritized based on their potential impact. Warren is already past the triage phase and is actively addressing the incident. His actions fall into the containment stage, not the triage phase.
Therefore, Warren’s immediate response to stop the infection from spreading is an example of the Containment step in the IH&R process. Containment is crucial for minimizing the impact of a security incident while the remaining actions, such as eradication and recovery, can be carried out effectively.
Question No 7:
In an organization’s Incident Handling and Response (IH&R) process, a member of the team, Edwin, is tasked with restoring lost data from backup media following a malware attack. Before restoring the data, Edwin verifies that the backup media is free from malware traces.
Which step of the IH&R process is Edwin performing?
A Eradication
B Incident Containment
C Notification
D Recovery
Answer: D
Explanation:
The scenario described is part of the Recovery phase in the Incident Handling and Response (IH&R) process. The Recovery phase involves returning systems and data to normal operations after an incident. Edwin’s responsibility here is to restore the lost data from a backup, which is a core part of the recovery process. Before doing so, Edwin ensures that the backup media is not contaminated with malware. This precaution is necessary to prevent the malware from being reintroduced into the system, which would compromise the recovery effort.
The steps in the Incident Handling and Response process generally include the following:
Incident Identification – Detecting and identifying the security incident, such as a malware attack.
Incident Containment – Taking actions to prevent the spread of the malware, which may involve isolating affected systems from the network.
Eradication – Completely removing malware traces from compromised systems to ensure the environment is clean.
Recovery – Restoring systems and data to their original state while ensuring that the recovery process does not reintroduce malware. Edwin’s actions are a part of this step, as he is verifying the backup’s integrity before restoration.
Notification – Informing relevant parties, such as management, employees, or external stakeholders, about the incident.
Edwin’s careful verification of the backup is crucial to ensuring the data restoration process is clean and does not perpetuate the attack. As a result, the appropriate step in this scenario is Recovery.
Question No 8:
Kason, a forensic officer, is investigating a case involving online bullying of children. Before presenting the evidence in court, Kason carefully documents the sources and connection of the evidence to the case to ensure it is properly prepared.
Which rule of evidence is Kason primarily following?
A Authentic
B Understandable
C Reliable
D Admissible
Answer: A
Explanation:
The scenario provided illustrates the concept of Authentic evidence in legal proceedings. Kason, the forensic officer, is documenting the sources of evidence and ensuring its connection to the case before presenting it to the jury. The goal is to establish that the evidence is what it claims to be and has not been altered, fabricated, or tampered with. This process ensures the authenticity of the evidence, which is a critical aspect of presenting it in court.
Authenticity is essential because evidence that is not proven to be authentic may be rejected in court, as it could be seen as unreliable or manipulated. By documenting the evidence's sources and relevance, Kason is making sure that the materials are genuine and valid for consideration in the legal process.
Here’s a breakdown of the other options:
B Understandable: While it is important for evidence to be presented clearly, the core issue in this scenario is not how understandable the evidence is but ensuring its authenticity. Understandability refers more to how clearly the evidence is communicated to the jury.
C Reliable: Reliability is the degree to which evidence supports the facts of the case. Although reliable evidence is necessary, the primary focus in this scenario is establishing the authenticity of the evidence rather than its reliability.
D Admissible: Admissibility is concerned with whether evidence meets legal standards and can be presented in court. While admissibility is crucial, the scenario focuses more on Kason ensuring the evidence is authentic before it is admitted into court.
Thus, the rule of evidence demonstrated in the scenario is Authentic, as Kason is verifying and documenting the integrity and source of the evidence before presenting it in the legal process.
Question No 9:
Which of the following is the primary role of a SOC (Security Operations Center) analyst during the incident response process?
A. To perform forensic analysis on compromised systems.
B. To prevent attacks by deploying firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
C. To detect, analyze, and respond to security incidents in real-time.
D. To design the architecture of the organization's security infrastructure.
Answer: C. To detect, analyze, and respond to security incidents in real-time.
Explanation:
The primary role of a SOC analyst during the incident response process is to detect, analyze, and respond to security incidents in real-time. SOC analysts are responsible for actively monitoring security events across the network and systems using various security monitoring tools such as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), and other automated monitoring tools.
SOC analysts act as the first line of defense in identifying potential threats or security breaches, and they play a critical role in identifying and responding to incidents quickly to mitigate any damage. They follow established Incident Response (IR) procedures to handle the situation, investigate the root cause, and then escalate the issue if necessary.
While performing forensic analysis and designing security infrastructure may fall under the roles of specialized teams like forensic experts or security architects, SOC analysts primarily focus on real-time detection and response. Additionally, SOC analysts help to ensure that proper incident logging, reporting, and follow-up actions are documented in the security incident management system.
Question No 10:
What is the purpose of a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) system in a SOC environment?
A. To block malicious traffic and unauthorized access attempts.
B. To collect, analyze, and correlate security logs and events from different sources.
C. To perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessments.
D. To provide encryption for data in transit and at rest.
Answer: B. To collect, analyze, and correlate security logs and events from different sources.
Explanation:
A SIEM system is a crucial tool in a SOC environment for collecting, analyzing, and correlating security logs and events from various data sources, including firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), servers, and endpoints. SIEMs play an essential role in security monitoring by aggregating logs from different devices and systems, making it easier to detect patterns and potential security threats across the organization’s infrastructure.
The analysis and correlation of logs enable SOC analysts to identify suspicious activity and respond quickly to potential threats. For example, a SIEM system can help correlate multiple events such as a login attempt followed by a data transfer and trigger an alert for potential malicious behavior, such as a compromised account or data exfiltration attempt.
Additionally, SIEM systems provide centralized visibility into security incidents, allowing analysts to efficiently monitor and analyze vast amounts of data, detect anomalies, and prioritize security incidents based on severity. SIEMs also help with compliance by ensuring that logs are properly stored and preserved for auditing purposes.
While SIEM systems play a significant role in security detection, they do not block malicious traffic or perform encryption tasks. These responsibilities may fall under other security solutions like firewalls or encryption tools.
