Which of the following NIST Special Publication documents provides a guideline on network security testing?

Question

Options

• ANIST SP 800-60
• BNIST SP 800-37
• CNIST SP 800-59
• DNIST SP 800-42
• ENIST SP 800-53A
• FNIST SP 800-53

• A
  6% (1)
• D
  88% (15)
• F
  6% (1)

Explanation

NIST SP 800-42 is titled Guideline on Network Security Testing, making it the direct match for the question. It covers methodologies for testing network security, including penetration testing and network scanning techniques.

The distractors cover related but distinct topics: 800-60 maps information types to security categories; 800-37 describes the Risk Management Framework (RMF); 800-59 identifies information systems as national security systems; 800-53 provides the catalog of security and privacy controls; and 800-53A provides procedures for assessing those controls - close to testing, but focused on control assessment rather than network security testing specifically.

Memory tip: Think "42 = the network test" - just as 42 is famously "the answer" in pop culture, SP 800-42 is your answer when the question asks about network security testing specifically. Alternatively, note that 800-53/A are a pair (controls + assessment), which helps eliminate them as a set, leaving 800-42 as the network-testing outlier.

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