ITPEC FE Morning October 2023 Question 43
Which of the following is a technique that attempts to intrude into the system in order to detect security-related vulnerabilities of the computer or network?
Explanation
Penetration test — testers deliberately attack the system, as an intruder would, to find exploitable vulnerabilities.
In a penetration test, authorised testers try real attack techniques (port scanning, exploiting known flaws, password attacks, injection) against a computer or network. Every successful intrusion reveals a vulnerability that can be fixed before a real attacker finds it. The key word in the question is "attempts to intrude": the test is active and aimed at security.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- •(b) Regression test — re-runs existing tests after a change to confirm nothing that used to work is now broken; it is not about intrusion
- •(c) Software inspection — a formal, moderated review of code or documents by reading them; nothing is executed or attacked
- •(d) Walk-through — the author leads colleagues through a document or code to find defects; again a review, not an attack
Key rule: Reviews (inspection, walk-through) examine artefacts statically; a penetration test executes attacks against the running system.
Security · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from an official ITPEC past paper. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with ITPEC. See the official FE past-paper collection or Report an issue.