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HIPS
Series >
Protecting
Your Computer > Quiz + Answers
 The
questions, answers and explanations are provided below. If
you disagree with our answer, or have additional questions,
please send email to pdpp@miami.edu.
Include the text of the quiz question(s) with which you disagree
in your correspondence.
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1.
If a personal computer lacks technical protections like protective
software, which of these is/are correct?
A.
It is at greater risk for email spam, spoofs and phishes.
B.
It is at greater risk to have sensitive data extracted by
spyware and other malicious snoop-ware.
C.
It is at greater risk to have data on it corrupted or erased
by malware attacks.
D.
It is at greater risk to be hijacked as a vector for attacks
against other computers.
All
of these are true statements. Only a idiot or a masochist
connects an unprotected computer to the Internet.
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2. Of all the physical risks to which a personal
computer is subject, which is the least
common?
A. Theft.
B. "Environmental" mishaps (e.g.,
due to water, fire, lightning or other electrical surges,
rough handling, etc.
C. Mechanical failure (e.g., hard drive crash).
D. These are equally common.
A is correct. Mechanical failures and
environmental mishaps are much more common. Because of the
risks to data confidentiality, it's still appropriate to worry
about theft even if it is less common.
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3. Regarding backup copies of data, which of
these is/are correct?
A. The only true insurance for your computer data is having
backup copies, whether created by you or some "automatic"
process handled by others.
B. Office systems always automatically make
backup copies of data, so you do not need to worry about this
yourself.
C. It is generally considered safe to keep your
backup copies in the same location as your computer.
D. Backup copies require security, just like
the "originals" stored on the computer.
A and D are correct. Office systems
sometimes make backup copies; you need to check to be sure.
If you picked C, repeat the course.
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4. Regarding passwords, which of these is/are correct?
A. Shared computer systems usually have login passwords,
but this is usually not possible for personal computers.
B. When possible, a login password and a password-protected
screensaver should be used for a personal computer.
C. When available, passwords should be used for software
and Web sites that access sensitive data.
D. It is generally considered safe to use the "remember
my password" feature whenever it is available for software
and Web sites.
B and C are correct. A is not true. D is debatable
-- if the system itself is protected by a good password --
but generally considered bad practice.
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5. Regarding software
updates, which of these is/are critical?
A. Keeping the
operating system software up to date.
B. Keeping the
applications software you use up to date.
C. Keeping the
anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall protective software
up to date.
D. Using "automatic
update" methods whenever available is the best way to
keep software up to date.
All of
these are correct.
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• • • •
6. Regarding "protective software," which of these
is/are correct?
A.There is no benefit to installing anti-virus or anti-spyware
if your organization's network or your Internet Service Provider
(ISP) does so.
B. As long as anti-virus/anti-spyware software is set to
inspect all new files, it is not necessary to scan all the
old ones periodically.
C. There is no benefit to installing anti-virus software
if one already has anti-spyware, or vice-versa.
D. If a computer is used outside a protected office/organizational
network, some kind of firewall capability is usually recommended.
Only D is correct.
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• • • •
7. Regarding "communications security," which of
these is/are correct?
A. If a computer uses Wi-Fi/Airport/802.11 that wireless
connection should be configured to be secure.
B. If a computer uses Bluetooth, that wireless connection
should be configured to be secure.
C. If a computer is used to access particularly sensitive
data, the use of secure end-to-end communications via a Virtual
Private Network (VPN) should be considered.
D. Most computer operating systems automatically secure wireless
communications, so no intervention is required.
A and B and C are true. D is, at least given current
technology, quite false.
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• • • •
8. What about when a computer is ready to be "retired"?
Which of these is/are correct?
A. It is critical to assure that the computer is cleaned
of all sensitive data before it is "recycled."
B. Deletion of all files is sufficient to clean hard drives
and removable storage media.
C. Deletion and reformatting is sufficient to clean hard
drives and all removable storage media.
D. Deletion, and multiple over-writing is sufficient to clean
hard drives and all removable storage media.
A is the only answer that is clearly true. B is obviously
false. Most security experts would say reformatting is not
adequate either, so C is false even for magnetic media. D
is false if the media is not rewriteable, like a write-once
CD-R or DVD-R, but true for magnetic media.
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