Exam Overview
| Exam Code | SSCP |
| Exam Name | ISC2 Systems Security Certified Practitioner |
| Vendor | ISC2 |
| Total Questions | 1400 |
| Last Updated | 26-Oct, 2026 |
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Free SSCP Practice Questions
Explore 8 free practice questions for the ISC2 SSCP exam and review the answers and explanations to support your preparation.
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Question 1
Single answerIn Mandatory Access Control, sensitivity labels attached to object contain what information?
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Option A:Correct
The item's classification
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Option B:Correct
The item's classification and category set
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Option C:Correct
The item's category
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Option D:Correct
The items's need to know
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
A Sensitivity label must contain at least one classification and one category set.
Category set and Compartment set are synonyms, they mean the same thing. The sensitivity label
must contain at least one Classification and at least one Category. It is common in some
environments for a single item to belong to multiple categories. The list of all the categories to which
an itembelongs is called a compartment set or category set. The following answers are incorrect: the item's classification. Is incorrect because you need a category set as well. the item's category. Is incorrect because category set and classification would be both be required. The item's need to know. Is incorrect because there is no such thing. The need to know is indicated by the catergories the object belongs to. -
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Question 2
Single answerWhich of the following is needed for System Accountability?
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Option A:Correct
Audit mechanisms
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Option B:Correct
Documented design as laid out in the Common Criteria
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Option C:Correct
Authorization.
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Option D:Correct
Formal verification ofsystem design.
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: A
Explanation
Is a means of being able to track user actions. Through the use of audit logs and other tools the user actions are recorded and can be used at a later date to verify what actions were performed. Accountability is the ability to identify users and to be able to track user actions. The following answers are incorrect: Documented design as laid out in the Common Criteria. Is incorrect because the Common Criteria is an international standard to evaluate trust and would not be a factor in System Accountability. Authorization. Is incorrect because Authorization is granting access to subjects, just because you have authorization does not hold the subject accountable for their actions. Formal verification of system design. Is incorrect because all you have done is to verify the system design and have not taken any steps toward system accountability.
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Question 3
Single answerWhat is Kerberos?
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Option A:Correct
A three-headed dog from the egyptian mythology.
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Option B:Correct
A trusted third-party authentication protocol.
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Option C:Correct
A security model.
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Option D:Correct
A remote authentication dial in user server.
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
B Is correct because that is exactly what Kerberos is. The following answers are incorrect: A three-headed dog from Egyptian mythology. Is incorrect because we are dealing with Information Security and not the Egyptian mythology but the Greek Mythology. A security model. Is incorrect because Kerberos is an authentication protocol and not just a security model. A remote authentication dial in user server. Is incorrect because Kerberos is not a remote authentication dial in user server that would be called RADIUS.
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Question 4
Single answerThe type of discretionary access control (DAC) that is based on an individual ' s identity is also called:
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Option A:Correct
Identity-based Access control
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Option B:Correct
Rule-based Access control
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Option C:Correct
Non-Discretionary Access Control
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Option D:Correct
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: A
Explanation
An identity-based access control is a type of Discretionary Access Control (DAC) that is based on an individual ' s identity.
DAC is good for low level security environment. The owner of the file decides who has access to the file.
If a user creates a file, he is the owner of that file. An identifier for this user is placed in the file header and/or in an access control matrix within the operating system.
Ownership might also be granted to a specific individual. For example, a manager for a certain department might be made the owner of the files and resources within her department. A system that uses discretionary access control (DAC) enables the owner of the resource to specify which subjects can access specific resources.
This model is called discretionary because the control of access is based on the discretion of the owner. Many times department managers, or business unit managers , are the owners of the data within their specific department. Being the owner, they can specify who should have access and who should not. -
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Question 5
Single answerLike the Kerberos protocol, SESAME is also subject to which of the following?
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Option A:Correct
timeslot replay
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Option B:Correct
password guessing
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Option C:Correct
symmetric key guessing
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Option D:Correct
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
Sesame is an authentication and access control protocol, that also supports communication confidentiality and integrity. It provides public key based authentication along with the Kerberos style authentication, that uses symmetric key cryptography. Sesame supports the Kerberos protocol and adds some security extensions like public key based authentication and an ECMA-style Privilege Attribute Service.
The users under SESAME can authenticate using either symmetric encryption as in Kerberos or Public Key authentication. When using Symmetric Key authentication as in Kerberos, SESAME is also vulnerable to password guessing just like Kerberos would be. The Symmetric key being used is based on the password used by the user when he logged on the system. If the user has a simple password it could be guessed or compromise. Even thou Kerberos or SESAME may be use, there is still a need to have strong password discipline.
The Basic Mechanism in Sesame for strong authentication is as follow:
The user sends a request for authentication to the Authentication Server as in Kerberos, except that SESAME is making use of public key cryptography for authentication where the client will present his digital certificate and the request will be signed using a digital signature. The signature is communicated to the authentication server through the preauthentication fields. Upon receipt of this request, the authentication server will verifies the certificate, then validate the signature, and if all is fine the AS will issue a ticket granting ticket (TGT) as in Kerberos. This TGT will be use to communicate with the privilage attribute server (PAS) when access to a resource is needed.
Users may authenticate using either a public key pair or a conventional (symmetric) key. If public key cryptography is used, public key data is transported in preauthentication data fields to help establish identity.
Kerberos uses tickets for authenticating subjects to objects and SESAME uses Privileged Attribute Certificates (PAC), which contain the subject’s identity, access capabilities for the object, access time period, and lifetime of the PAC. The PAC is digitally signed so that the object can validate that it came from the trusted authentication server, which is referred to as the privilege attribute server (PAS). The PAS holds a similar role as the KDC within Kerberos. After a user successfully authenticates to the authentication service (AS), he is presented with a token to give to the PAS. The PAS then creates a PAC for the user to present to the resource he is trying to access. -
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Question 6
Single answerWhich of the following is NOT a technical control?
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Option A:Correct
Password and resource management
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Option B:Correct
Identification and authentication methods
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Option C:Correct
Monitoring for physical intrusion
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Option D:Correct
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Correct Answer: C
Explanation
It is considered to be a ' Physical Control '
There are three broad categories of access control: administrative, technical, and physical. Each category has different access control mechanisms that can be carried out manually or automatically. All of these access control mechanisms should work in concert with each other to protect an infrastructure and its data.
Each category of access control has several components that fall within it, a partial list is shown here. Not all controls fall into a single category, many of the controls will be in two or more categories. Below you have an example with backups where it is in all three categories:
Administrative Controls
Policy and procedures
- A backup policy would be in place
Personnel controls
Supervisory structure
Security-awareness training
Testing
Physical Controls
Network segregation
Perimeter security
Computer controls
Work area separation
Data backups (actual storage of the media, i:e Offsite Storage Facility)
Cabling
Technical Controls
System access
Network architecture
Network access
Encryption and protocols
Control zone
Auditing
Backup (Actual software doing the backups)
The following answers are incorrect :
Password and resource management is considered to be a logical or technical control.
Identification and authentication methods is considered to be a logical or technical control.
Intrusion Detection Systems is considered to be a logical or technical control. -
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Question 7
Single answerWhich of the following are suitable protocols for securing VPN connections at the lower layers of the OSI model?
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Option A:Correct
S/MIME and SSH
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Option B:Correct
TLS and SSL
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Option C:Correct
IPsec and L2TP
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Option D:Correct
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: C
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Question 8
Single answerThe control of communications test equipment should be clearly addressed by security policy for which of the following reasons?
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Option A:Correct
Test equipment is easily damaged.
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Option B:Correct
Test equipment can be used to browse information passing on a network.
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Option C:Correct
Test equipment is difficult to replace if lost or stolen.
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Option D:Correct
Show Answer & Explanation Hide Answer & Explanation
Correct Answer: B
Explanation
Test equipment must be secured. There are equipment and other tools that if in the wrong hands could be used to " sniff " network traffic and also be used to commit fraud. The storage and use of this equipment should be detailed in the security policy for this reason.
The following answers are incorrect:
Test equipment is easily damaged. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer, and from a security point of view not relevent.
Test equipment is difficult to replace if lost or stolen. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer, and from a security point of view not relevent.
Test equipment must always be available for the maintenance personnel. Is incorrect because it is not the best answer, and from a security point of view not relevent. -