SY0-301 · Question #623
Which of the following would a security administrator use to verify the integrity of a file?
The correct answer is D. Hash. A cryptographic hash generates a unique fixed-length digest of a file's contents, so any modification - however small - produces a different hash, making it the standard tool for integrity verification.
Question
Which of the following would a security administrator use to verify the integrity of a file?
Options
- ATime stamp
- BMAC times
- CFile descriptor
- DHash
How the community answered
(25 responses)- A4% (1)
- C8% (2)
- D88% (22)
Why each option
A cryptographic hash generates a unique fixed-length digest of a file's contents, so any modification - however small - produces a different hash, making it the standard tool for integrity verification.
A timestamp records when a file was last modified but can be easily manipulated and does not prove the content is unchanged.
MAC times (Modified, Accessed, Created) are forensic metadata used for timeline analysis, not cryptographic proof of content integrity.
A file descriptor is an operating system handle to an open file and has no bearing on verifying file integrity.
Hashing algorithms such as SHA-256 produce a deterministic, fixed-length value tied to the exact bit-level content of a file. A security administrator computes and stores the hash at a known-good state, then recomputes it later; any mismatch proves the file has been altered, which is the definition of integrity verification.
Concept tested: Cryptographic hashing for file integrity verification
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/fips/180/4/final
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