CISSP · Question #928
CISSP Question #928: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation
The correct answer is A: Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and outdated hardware. Availability refers to ensuring systems and resources are accessible when needed. The combination that most directly and severely threatens availability involves active attacks that overwhelm systems combined with hardware failures that prevent recovery.
Question
Which of the following combinations would MOST negatively affect availability?
Options
- ADenial of Service (DoS) attacks and outdated hardware
- BUnauthorized transactions and outdated hardware
- CFire and accidental changes to data
- DUnauthorized transactions and denial of service attacks
Explanation
Availability refers to ensuring systems and resources are accessible when needed. The combination that most directly and severely threatens availability involves active attacks that overwhelm systems combined with hardware failures that prevent recovery.
Common mistakes.
- B. Unauthorized transactions primarily threaten integrity and confidentiality, not availability; while outdated hardware affects availability, pairing it with a non-availability threat makes this combination less impactful than A.
- C. Fire is a physical threat to availability, but accidental changes to data primarily threaten integrity rather than availability, making this a mixed-pillar combination that does not maximally target availability.
- D. While DoS attacks do threaten availability, unauthorized transactions target integrity and confidentiality rather than availability, so this pairing is less focused on availability than the DoS-plus-hardware-failure combination in option A.
Concept tested. CIA triad availability threats and attack combinations
Reference. https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2017/06/05/040-075.pdf
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