SSCP VCE Exam Download

ATM is an example of a fast packet-switching network that can be used for either data, voice or video, but packets are of fixed size.

Source: HARRIS, Shon, All-In-One CISSP Certification Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2002, chapter 7: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 455).

A teardrop attack consists of modifying the length and fragmentation offset fields in sequential IP packets so the target system becomes confused and crashes after it receives contradictory instructions on how the fragments are offset on these packets. A SYN attack is when an attacker floods a system with connection requests but does not respond when the target system replies to those requests. A smurf attack is an attack where the attacker spoofs the source IP address in an ICMP ECHO broadcast packet so it seems to have originated at the victim's system, in order to flood it with REPLY packets. A buffer overflow attack occurs when a process receives much more data than expected.

Source: KRUTZ, Ronald L. & VINES, Russel D., The CISSP Prep Guide: Mastering the Ten Domains of Computer Security, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, Chapter 3: Telecommunications and Network Security (page 76).

ISO has defined five basic tasks related to network management :

Fault management: Detects the devices that present some kind of fault.

Configuration management: Allows users to know, define and change remotely the configuration of any device.

Accounting resources: Holds the records of the resource usage in the WAN.

Performance management: Monitors usage levels and sets alarms when a threshold has been surpassed.

Security management: Detects suspicious traffic or users and generates alarms accordingly.

Source: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Certified Information Systems Auditor 2002 review manual, Chapter 3: Technical Infrastructure and Operational Practices (page 137).

Only fiber optic cables are not affected by crosstalk or interference.

For your exam you should know the information about transmission media:

Copper Cable

Copper cable is very simple to install and easy to tap. It is used mostly for short distance and supports voice and data.

Copper has been used in electric wiring since the invention of the electromagnet and the telegraph in the 1820s.The invention of the telephone in 1876 created further demand for copper wire as an electrical conductor.

Copper is the electrical conductor in many categories of electrical wiring. Copper wire is used in power generation, power transmission, power distribution, telecommunications, electronics circuitry, and countless types of electrical equipment. Copper and its alloys are also used to make electrical contacts. Electrical wiring in buildings is the most important market for the copper industry. Roughly half of all copper mined is used to manufacture electrical wire and cable conductors.

Copper Cable

Image Source -

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced 'ko.aks), is a type of cable that has an inner conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. Many coaxial cables also have an insulating outer sheath or jacket. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing a geometric axis. Coaxial cable was invented by English engineer and mathematician Oliver Heaviside, who patented the design in 1880.Coaxial cable differs from other shielded cable used for carrying lower-frequency signals, such as audio signals, in that the dimensions of the cable are controlled to give a precise, constant conductor spacing, which is needed for it to function efficiently as a radio frequency transmission line.

Coaxial cable are expensive and does not support many LAN's. It supports data and video

Coaxial Cable

Image Source -

Fiber optics

An optical fiber cable is a cable containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with plastic layers and contained in a protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable will be deployed. Different types of cable are used for different applications, for example long distance telecommunication, or providing a high-speed data connection between different parts of a building.

Fiber optics used for long distance, hard to splice, not vulnerable to cross talk and difficult to tap. It supports voice data, image and video.

Radio System

Radio systems are used for short distance,cheap and easy to tap.

Radio is the radiation (wireless transmission) of electromagnetic signals through the atmosphere or free space.

Information, such as sound, is carried by systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves, such as their amplitude, frequency, phase, or pulse width. When radio waves strike an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. The information in the waves can be extracted and transformed back into its original form.

Fiber Optics

Image Source -

Microwave radio system

Microwave transmission refers to the technology of transmitting information or energy by the use of radio waves whose wavelengths are conveniently measured in small numbers of centimetre; these are called microwaves.

Microwaves are widely used for point-to-point communications because their small wavelength allows conveniently-sized antennas to direct them in narrow beams, which can be pointed directly at the receiving antenna. This allows nearby microwave equipment to use the same frequencies without interfering with each other, as lower frequency radio waves do. Another advantage is that the high frequency of microwaves gives the microwave band a very large information-carrying capacity; the microwave band has a bandwidth 30 times that of all the rest of the radio spectrum below it. A disadvantage is that microwaves are limited to line of sight propagation; they cannot pass around hills or mountains as lower frequency radio waves can.

Microwave radio transmission is commonly used in point-to-point communication systems on the surface of the Earth, in satellite communications, and in deep space radio communications. Other parts of the microwave radio band are used for radars, radio navigation systems, sensor systems, and radio astronomy.

Microwave radio systems are carriers for voice data signal, cheap and easy to tap.

Microwave Radio System

Image Source -

Satellite Radio Link

Satellite radio is a radio service broadcast from satellites primarily to cars, with the signal broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than terrestrial radio stations. It is available by subscription, mostly commercial free, and offers subscribers more stations and a wider variety of programming options than terrestrial radio.

Satellite radio link uses transponder to send information and easy to tap.

The following answers are incorrect:

Copper Cable - Copper cable is very simple to install and easy to tap. It is used mostly for short distance and supports voice and data.

Radio System - Radio systems are used for short distance,cheap and easy to tap.

Satellite Radio Link - Satellite radio link uses transponder to send information and easy to tap.

The following reference(s) were/was used to create this question:

CISA review manual 2014 page number 265 &

Official ISC2 guide to CISSP CBK 3rd Edition Page number 233