WGU Secure-Software-Design Dumps

After completing vulnerability scans and penetration analysis, security testers document the results to share with stakeholders, such as the organization’s largest customers. The deliverable being prepared in this context is the Security testing reports. These reports typically include detailed findings from the security assessments, explanations of the vulnerabilities discovered, the potential risks they pose, and recommendations for remediation. The purpose of these reports is to provide transparency about the security posture of the software or system and to guide the organization in addressing the identified security issues12. References: 1, 2

Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:

Transmitting data in a human-readable format, such as JSON, over an API can expose sensitive information if the communication channel is not secure. To protect the confidentiality and integrity of the data, it's essential to encrypt all requests and responses between clients and servers.

Implementing encryption, typically through protocols like HTTPS (which utilizes TLS/SSL), ensures that data transmitted over the network is not readable by unauthorized parties. This prevents potential attackers from intercepting and understanding the data, thereby safeguarding sensitive information contained within the API communications.

This practice is a fundamental aspect of secure software development and aligns with the Implementation business function of the OWASP SAMM. Within this function, the Secure Build practice emphasizes the importance of configuring the software to operate securely in its intended environment, which includes enforcing encryption for data in transit.

References:

OWASP SAMM: Implementation - Secure Build

The step in threat modeling that involves collecting exploitable weaknesses within the product is Identify and document threats. This step is crucial as it directly addresses the identification of potential security issues that could be exploited. It involves a detailed examination of the system to uncover vulnerabilities that could be targeted by threats.

References: The OWASP Foundation’s Threat Modeling Process outlines a structured approach where identifying and documenting threats is a key step1. Additionally, various sources on threat modeling agree that the identification of threats is a fundamental aspect of the process, as it allows for the subsequent analysis and mitigation of these threats2345.

The Asset-centric approach to threat modeling focuses on identifying and protecting the assets that are most valuable to an organization. This method prioritizes the assets themselves, assessing their sensitivity, value, and the impact on the business should they be compromised. It is a strategic approach that aims to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the organization’s key assets.

References:

A Review of Asset-Centric Threat Modelling Approaches1.

Approaches to Threat Modeling - are you getting what you need?2.

What Is Threat Modeling? - CrowdStrike3.

 Data flow analysis is a manual code review technique where the reviewer traces the path of data from its entry point in the software (input control) through its processing and manipulation within the application, to its exit points (outputs). This technique is used to ensure that the data is handled securely throughout its lifecycle within the application and to identify any potential security vulnerabilities that may arise from improper data handling or processing12

The issue described involves a PATCH request causing an unhandled server exception because the API does not support this method. The most direct and effective way to prevent such exceptions is to ensure that the API is configured to accept only the supported request methods: GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE. This can be achieved by implementing strict input validation to reject any requests that do not conform to the defined API specifications, including the request method. By doing so, any requests using unsupported methods like PATCH will be immediately rejected, thus preventing the server from reaching an exception state.

References:

OWASP’s guidance on error and exception handling emphasizes the importance of managing exceptions in a centralized manner and ensuring that all unexpected behavior is correctly handled within the application1.

Additional best practices for error handling in software development suggest the significance of input validation and the implementation of defensive programming techniques to prevent errors2.

The OWASP Foundation also highlights the principle that all security mechanisms should deny access until specifically granted, which supports the approach of configuring acceptable API requests3.

Fuzz testing is the ideal technique in this scenario. Here's why:

Focus on Integrations: The scenario emphasizes testing links between the software, databases, web servers, and web services. Fuzz testing is specifically designed to find vulnerabilities in how software handles data and communication between components.

Pre-release Testing: The product being close to release indicates a critical need to identify security flaws before public deployment. Fuzz testing is effective in uncovering unexpected behavior and potential vulnerabilities.

Fuzz Testing Targets: Fuzz testing works by injecting invalid or unexpected data into interfaces (like those between databases, web components, etc.) to observe how the software reacts. This helps expose potential security gaps and weaknesses.

The Intelligence domain in the Building Security in Maturity Model (BSIMM) focuses on gathering and using information about software security. This includes understanding the types of attacks that are possible against the software being developed, which is why reviewing attack models falls under this domain. The BSIMM domain of Intelligence involves creating models of potential attacks on software (attack models), analyzing actual attacks that have occurred (attack intelligence), and sharing this information to improve security measures. By reviewing attack models, the software security group is essentially assessing the organization’s ability to anticipate and understand potential security threats, which is a key aspect of the Intelligence domain.

References: The references used to verify this answer include the official BSIMM documentation and related resources that describe the various domains and their activities within the BSIMM framework12345.

The task described involves assessing a document management application that has been in use for many years to ensure compliance with organizational policies. This typically falls under the category of a security strategy for legacy code. Legacy code refers to software that has been around for a while and may not have been designed with current security standards or organizational policies in mind. A security strategy for legacy code would involve reviewing and updating the application to meet current security requirements and organizational policies, ensuring that it remains secure and compliant over time.

References: The answer is based on standard practices for managing and securing legacy software systems, which include regular assessments and updates to align with current security standards and organizational policies1.

The privacy impact rating for an application that stores personally identifiable information (PII), monitors users with ongoing transfers of anonymous data, and changes settings without notifying the user would be P1 high privacy risk. Storing PII already poses a significant risk due to the potential for data breaches and misuse. Monitoring users and transferring data, even if anonymous, increases the risk as it involves ongoing data collection. Changing settings without user notification is a serious privacy concern because it can lead to unauthorized data processing or sharing, further elevating the risk level.

References:

Practical Data Security and Privacy for GDPR and CCPA - ISACA1.

Privacy risk assessment and privacy-preserving data monitoring2.

How To Effectively Monitor Your Privacy Program: A New Series3.

The activity being performed is the final privacy review. This step is crucial in the Ship phase of the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), where the security team assesses if there are any changes or unresolved issues that could impact the requirements for handling personal information. These requirements are typically documented in the earlier stages of the development lifecycle, and the final privacy review ensures that the software complies with these requirements before release.

References: The explanation is based on the best practices outlined in the SDL Activities and Best Practices, which detail the importance of conducting a final privacy review during the Ship phase to ensure that all privacy issues have been addressed12.

 The security testing technique that involves evaluating the vulnerability of all externally facing enterprise applications through both automated and manual system interactions is known as Penetration Testing. This method simulates real-world attacks on systems to identify potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers. It is a proactive approach to discover security weaknesses before they can be exploited in a real attack scenario. Penetration testing can include a variety of methods such as network scanning, application testing, and social engineering tactics to ensure a comprehensive security evaluation.

References: The concept of Penetration Testing as a method for evaluating vulnerabilities aligns with industry standards and practices, as detailed in resources from security-focused organizations and literature1.

Option D best addresses security change management, here's why:

Focus on Change: The question directly asks about a modification to how remote administration is secured. This aligns with the core goal of security change management, which is to evaluate and control the security implications of changes to systems.

Security-Specific: The question is explicitly concerned with security, not general functionality or requirements.

Practical Aspect: Remote administration access is a frequent target for attackers, making it a common area for security change management scrutiny.

The last step of the SDLC code review process is to review the code for security issues. This involves a detailed examination of the code to identify any potential security vulnerabilities that could be exploited. It’s a critical phase where the focus is on ensuring that the code adheres to security best practices and does not contain any flaws that could compromise the security of the application or system. The process typically includes manual inspection as well as automated tools to scan for common security issues. The goal is to ensure that the software is as secure as possible before it is deployed. References: Mastering the Code Review Process, Understanding the SDLC, How Code Reviews Improve Software Quality in SDLC - LinkedIn.

Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:

The scenario outlines the process of decommissioning a legacy application after a new product has successfully taken over its functions. This corresponds to the End of Life phase in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

The End of Life phase involves retiring outdated systems and transitioning users to newer solutions. This phase ensures that obsolete applications are systematically phased out, reducing maintenance costs and potential security vulnerabilities associated with unsupported software.

In this case, running both the legacy and new applications concurrently provided a safety net to ensure the new system's stability. After confirming the new product's reliability, the organization proceeds to disable the legacy system, marking its End of Life.

References:

Systems Development Life Cycle

The phase being described is the Planning phase of the SDLC. This initial stage involves gathering business requirements and evaluating the feasibility of the project. It’s when the company leadership would typically meet with IT and other stakeholders to share visions for the future, discuss potential revenue streams, and determine the project’s direction before moving forward with development. This phase is crucial for setting the groundwork for all subsequent phases of the SDLC.

References:

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC): 7 Phases and 5 Models1.

What Is the Software Development Life Cycle? SDLC Explained2.

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Phases & Models3.

The security testing technique that involves using a testing tool to scan a running application for known exploit signatures is known as Automated Vulnerability Scanning. This method is part of dynamic analysis, which assesses the software in its running state to identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers. Automated vulnerability scanning tools are designed to detect and report known vulnerabilities by comparing the behavior and outputs of the application against a database of known exploit signatures1.

References: 1: Application Security Testing: Tools, Types and Best Practices | GitHub

Security testing reports are the deliverables that typically contain detailed results of the security evaluations performed. These reports include the types of tests conducted, such as static and dynamic analysis, penetration testing, and code reviews, as well as the number and types of vulnerabilities discovered. The purpose of these reports is to document the security posture of the software at the time of testing and to provide a basis for remediation efforts.

References: The information aligns with best practices in secure software development, which emphasize the importance of documenting security requirements and conducting risk analysis during the design phase to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities early in the SDLC12.

Static analysis is a method used to detect vulnerabilities in software without executing the code. It involves examining the codebase for patterns that are indicative of security issues, such as SQL injection vulnerabilities. This technique can identify potential threats and weaknesses by analyzing the code’s structure, syntax, and data flow.

References:

Static analysis as a means to identify security vulnerabilities1.

The importance of static analysis in the early stages of the SDLC to prevent security issues2.

Learning-based approaches to fix SQL injection vulnerabilities using static analysis3.

Validating user input data before it is processed by the application is a fundamental security control in software design. This process, known as input validation, ensures that only properly formed data is entering the workflow of the application, thereby preventing many types of attacks, including type mismatches as mentioned in the question. By validating input data, the application can reject any requests that contain unexpected or malicious data, reducing the risk of security vulnerabilities and ensuring the integrity of the system.

References:

Secure SDLC practices emphasize the importance of integrating security activities, such as creating security and functional requirements, code reviews, security testing, architectural analysis, and risk assessment, into the existing development workflow1.

A Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SSDLC) ensures that security is considered at every phase of the development process, from planning and design to coding, testing, deploying, and maintaining the software2.

 The category that classifies identified threats with no defenses in place, exposing the application to exploits, is Unmitigated Threats. This term refers to vulnerabilities for which no countermeasures or mitigations have been implemented. These threats are critical because they represent actual weaknesses that attackers can exploit. In the context of secure software design, it’s essential to identify these threats early in the SDLC to ensure that appropriate security controls can be designed and implemented to protect against them.

References:

Taxonomy of Cyber Threats to Application Security and Applicable Defenses1.

OWASP Foundation’s Threat Modeling Process2.

Mitigating Persistent Application Security Threats3.

An intercept proxy, also known as a proxy server, sits between a web client (such as a browser) and an external server to filter, monitor, or manipulate the requests and responses passing through it. This can be used for legitimate purposes, such as security testing and user privacy, but it can also be exploited by attackers to alter web traffic in a way that the developer did not intend, potentially leading to security vulnerabilities.

References:

Understanding of HTTP and HTTPS protocols12.

Definition and role of proxy servers3.

To remediate the vulnerability of servers responding to ping requests with sensitive information, the organization should configure the servers to return as little information as possible to network requests. This practice is known as reducing the attack surface. By limiting the amount of information disclosed, potential attackers have less data to use when attempting to exploit vulnerabilities. Regular updates and patching (Option B) are also important, but they do not address the specific issue of information disclosure. Uninstalling or disabling unnecessary features (Option C) and restricting access to configuration files (Option D) are good security practices, but they do not directly prevent the leakage of server information through ping responses.

References: The remediation steps are aligned with best practices in vulnerability management, which include finding, prioritizing, and fixing vulnerabilities, as well as configuring servers to minimize the exposure of sensitive information123.