Arcitura Education Exam S90.18 Topic 4 Question 103 Discussion

Actual exam question for Arcitura Education's S90.18 exam

Question #: 103
Topic #: 4

The messages exchanged between two services are kept confidential by using symmetric encryption. The security specialist is quite strict about making sure that no attacker is able to intercept and decipher messages sent between these two services. As a result, periodic audits are conducted in order to ensure that shared keys are always kept confidential. A single shared key has been in use for quite some time now. The security specialist was confident that all keys were well guarded, but just recently their security was compromised. How is this possible given that the shared key was never lost?

ASymmetric encryption is not intended for long-term use. It needs to be replaced with asymmetric encryption after some time.

BThe attackers somehow figured out which encryption algorithm was used. As a result, they were able to decipher the messages.

CBecause the same shared key was used for a long time, attackers were able to obtain the key by comparing messages sent between the two services.

DThe shared key was decoded by the attackers using algorithms from related private keys used during prior message exchanges.

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: C

by Lindy at Nov 17, 2024, 06:25 PM

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Fatima

4 months ago

D sounds plausible. If the attackers got hold of some private keys used in the past, they might have been able to reverse-engineer the shared key. Security is hard, even for the pros.

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Brendan

4 months ago

Haha, the security specialist must have been asleep at the wheel! Didn't they know that shared keys need to be rotated regularly? This is Crypto 101, folks.

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Rozella

4 months ago

C) Because the same shared key was used for a long time, attackers were able to obtain the key by comparing messages sent between the two services.

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Ramonita

4 months ago

B) The attackers somehow figured out which encryption algorithm was used. As a result, they were able to decipher the messages.

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Lillian

4 months ago

A) Symmetric encryption is not intended for long-term use. It needs to be replaced with asymmetric encryption after some time.

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Nelida

5 months ago

Maybe we should have replaced the shared key with asymmetric encryption sooner.

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Merilyn

5 months ago

I think the attackers must have somehow obtained the key by comparing messages.

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Ettie

5 months ago

I can't believe the shared key was compromised!

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Mattie

5 months ago

Hmm, I don't know. Symmetric encryption should be replaced periodically, but I'm not sure that's the issue here. Maybe the attackers found a way to crack the algorithm itself?

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Alica

4 months ago

C) Because the same shared key was used for a long time, attackers were able to obtain the key by comparing messages sent between the two services.

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Buffy

4 months ago

B) The attackers somehow figured out which encryption algorithm was used. As a result, they were able to decipher the messages.

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Stefania

4 months ago

A) Symmetric encryption is not intended for long-term use. It needs to be replaced with asymmetric encryption after some time.

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Glendora

5 months ago

I think the answer is C. Using the same shared key for a long time makes it vulnerable to attacks like known-plaintext attacks. The attackers could have compared messages to deduce the key.

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Viola

4 months ago

D) The shared key was decoded by the attackers using algorithms from related private keys used during prior message exchanges.

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Stevie

4 months ago

C) Because the same shared key was used for a long time, attackers were able to obtain the key by comparing messages sent between the two services.

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Jerry

4 months ago

B) The attackers somehow figured out which encryption algorithm was used. As a result, they were able to decipher the messages.

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Marg

4 months ago

A) Symmetric encryption is not intended for long-term use. It needs to be replaced with asymmetric encryption after some time.

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Lourdes

4 months ago

D) The shared key was decoded by the attackers using algorithms from related private keys used during prior message exchanges.

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Rocco

4 months ago

C) Because the same shared key was used for a long time, attackers were able to obtain the key by comparing messages sent between the two services.

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Margarett

4 months ago

B) The attackers somehow figured out which encryption algorithm was used. As a result, they were able to decipher the messages.

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Ahmed

5 months ago

A) Symmetric encryption is not intended for long-term use. It needs to be replaced with asymmetric encryption after some time.

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