Secure-Software-Design WGU Secure Software Design (D487, KEO1) Exam Questions and Answers

The DKEAD category that has a risk rating based on the threat exploit’s potential level of harm is Damage potential. This category assesses the total damage or impact that a threat could cause if it is exploited by an attacker. The risk rating in this category is determined by evaluating the severity of the potential damage, which could range from information disclosure to complete system destruction or loss of system availability.

The type of threat described is Tampering. This threat occurs when an attacker intercepts and manipulates data being sent from the client to the server, such as form data being submitted to an API. The attacker may alter the data to change the intended operation, inject malicious content, or compromise the integrity of the system. Tampering attacks are a significant concern in secure software design because they can lead to unauthorized changes and potentially harmful actions within the application.

Security change management within the change management process involves ensuring that any changes, including updates or modifications to software, do not introduce new vulnerabilities and are in line with security policies. The question about securing remote administration directly reflects this component because it addresses the security considerations that must be managed when changes are made to how software is accessed and controlled remotely. This includes implementing secure protocols, authentication methods, and monitoring to prevent unauthorized access or breaches, which are crucial when managing changes in a secure manner.

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.

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

https://blog.halosecurity.com/what-really-matters-when-it-comes-to-pentesting-deliverables/

Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:

In the context of software security, a threat model is a structured representation that identifies potential threats to the system, evaluates their severity, and guides the development of mitigation strategies. When a security assessment reveals vulnerabilities or areas of concern, it's imperative to update the threat modeling artifacts to reflect these findings. This ensures that the threat model remains an accurate and current representation of the system's security posture.

By updating the threat modeling artifacts, the team documents the identified threats and outlines necessary coding and architectural changes to mitigate these threats. This proactive approach allows for the integration of security considerations early in the design and development phases, reducing the likelihood of vulnerabilities in the deployed system.

This practice aligns with the Design business function of the OWASP Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM), which emphasizes the importance of incorporating security into the software design process. Within this function, the Threat Assessment practice focuses on identifying and evaluating potential threats to inform security requirements and design decisions. Updating threat modeling artifacts is a key activity within this practice, ensuring that security assessments directly influence the system's design and architecture.

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.

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 secure coding best practice that emphasizes treating all incoming data as untrusted and subjecting it to validation is known as input validation. This practice is crucial for ensuring that a system only processes valid, clean data, thereby preventing many types of vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and buffer overflows, which can arise from maliciously crafted inputs.

Input validation involves verifying that the data meets certain criteria before it is processed by the system. This includes checking for the correct data type, length, format, and range. It also involves sanitizing the data to ensure that it does not contain any potentially harmful elements that could lead to security breaches.

A centralized input validation routine is recommended for the entire application, which helps in maintaining consistency and effectiveness in the validation process. This routine should be implemented on a trusted system, typically server-side, to prevent tampering or bypassing of the validation logic.

It’s important to classify all data sources into trusted and untrusted categories and to apply rigorous validation to all data from untrusted sources, such as user input, databases, file streams, and network interfaces.

By adhering to the input validation best practice, developers can significantly reduce the attack surface of their applications and protect against a wide array of common security threats.

Fuzzing is an automated or semi-automated software testing technique that involves providing invalid, unexpected, or random data to the inputs of a computer program1. This process is designed to uncover coding errors, security vulnerabilities, and other potential issues within the software by observing how it behaves under unexpected or malformed inputs. Fuzzing is particularly effective because it can expose corner cases that have not been properly dealt with and can be used to test programs that take structured inputs, such as file formats or protocols2.

Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:

The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM) is a framework designed to help organizations assess and improve their software security posture. SAMM is structured around five primary business functions: Governance, Design, Implementation, Verification, and Operations.

In this scenario, the focus is on reviewing design artifacts to ensure compliance with organizational security standards. This activity aligns with the Verification business function within SAMM. The Verification function encompasses security practices related to assessing and validating the security of software artifacts throughout the development lifecycle. Key practices under this function include:

Design Review: Evaluating design documents and models to identify potential security issues and ensure that security requirements are adequately addressed.

Code Review: Analyzing source code to detect security vulnerabilities and ensure adherence to secure coding standards.

Security Testing: Conducting various testing methodologies, such as penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, to identify and remediate security weaknesses in the software.

By focusing on the Verification function, the organization aims to proactively identify and address security concerns during the design and development phases, thereby enhancing the overall security posture of their software products.

The privacy impact statement requirement that defines how personal information will be protected when authorized or independent external entities are involved is best categorized under Third party requirements. This aspect of privacy impact assessments ensures that personal data is safeguarded even when it is necessary to involve third parties, which could be service providers, partners, or other entities that might handle personal information on behalf of the primary organization. These requirements typically include stipulations for data handling agreements, security measures, and compliance checks to ensure that third parties maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the personal information they process.

The activity described pertains to the review of noncommercial software libraries to ensure compliance with the legal specifications set by the authors. This is part of the open-source licensing review, which is a critical activity in the Ship phase of the Security Development Lifecycle (SDL). This review ensures that all open-source components are used in accordance with their licenses, which is essential for legal and security compliance.

The phase being described is the Design phase of the SDLC. During this phase, developers and IT staff determine the architectural and operational details of the product, which includes decisions on how to deliver various components such as secure REST services, mobile apps, and web applications. The Design phase is crucial for setting the foundation for the development work that will follow, ensuring that the product will be secure, scalable, and maintainable.

The issue described involves a session management vulnerability where the user’s session remains active even after the browser window is closed, allowing another user on the same machine to access the application without logging in. To prevent this security risk, it’s essential to adjust the session management controls to include an automatic timeout feature. This means that after a period of inactivity, or when the browser window is closed, the session should automatically expire, requiring a new login to access the application. This adjustment ensures that even if a user forgets to log out, their session won’t remain active indefinitely, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.

 The principle of running with the least privilege is a fundamental security concept that involves granting users only the permissions they need to perform their tasks and no more. This minimizes the risk of a user gaining access to administrator-level functionality that they are not authorized to use. By limiting the privileges of user accounts to the bare minimum necessary, the potential damage from various attacks, such as privilege escalation, is significantly reduced.

The phase being described is the Implementation phase of the SDLC. During this phase, the actual development starts, and the product begins to be built. The teams are actively writing code, which is a key activity of the Implementation phase. This phase involves translating the design and specifications into executable code, developing the software’s features, and then integrating the various components into a full-fledged system.

The task described involves assessing a document management application that has been in use for many years. This scenario typically requires a security strategy that addresses the unique challenges of legacy code. Legacy code refers to software that has been around for a long time and may not have been developed with current security standards in mind. A security strategy for legacy code would include measures to ensure that the application complies with current organizational policies, which may involve code reviews, updates, and the implementation of modern security practices to mitigate any potential vulnerabilities inherent in older code12.

The deliverable that would aid a software security team in preparing a detailed schedule mapping security development lifecycle phases to the type of analysis they will execute is Security test plans. These plans are crucial as they outline the testing strategies and specific security tests that will be conducted during the development lifecycle to ensure the software meets the required security standards.

Security test plans are developed after the requirements and design phases and are used throughout the implementation, verification, and release phases. They include detailed instructions for security testing, criteria for success, and the types of security testing to be performed, such as static and dynamic analysis, penetration testing, and code review.

These plans are living documents that should be updated as new threats are identified and as the project evolves. They ensure that all team members understand the security goals, the risks, and the measures that need to be taken to mitigate those risks.

By having a well-defined security test plan, the team can ensure that security is not an afterthought but is integrated into every phase of the software development lifecycle, thus producing more secure software.

Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:

Engaging an independent security consulting firm to simulate attacks on deployed products is an example of Penetration Testing.

Penetration testing involves authorized simulated attacks on a system to evaluate its security. The objective is to identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious entities and to assess the system's resilience against such attacks. This proactive approach helps organizations understand potential weaknesses and implement necessary safeguards.

According to the OWASP Testing Guide, penetration testing is a critical component of a comprehensive security program:

"Penetration testing involves testing the security of systems and applications by simulating attacks from malicious individuals."