Ethical hacking, also known as penetration testing or white-hat hacking, is the practice of attempting to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks, applications, or other technological assets in a deliberate and legal manner. Ethical hacking aims to evaluate the security posture of a system or organization by replicating potential intrusions that malicious hackers could launch. This article will comprise 50 mcq on ethical hacking with their answers.
1. What is the primary goal of ethical hacking?
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a) To cause damage and disrupt systems
b) To gain unauthorized access to systems
c) To identify and fix security vulnerabilities
d) To steal sensitive information
Answer: c) To identify and fix security vulnerabilities
2. Which of the following is an example of passive reconnaissance in ethical hacking?
a) SQL injection
b) Port scanning
c) Social engineering
d) Network sniffing
Answer: d) Network sniffing
3. Which type of testing involves assessing a system without any prior knowledge or information?
a) Black-box testing
b) White-box testing
c) Gray-box testing
d) Blue-box testing
Answer: a) Black-box testing
4. What is the main difference between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing?
a) The tools used
b) The level of expertise required
c) The scope of testing
d) The time taken to complete the assessment
Answer: c) The scope of testing
5. Which of the following is NOT a phase of the ethical hacking process?
a) Footprinting and reconnaissance
b) Scanning
c) Exploitation
d) Destroying data
Answer: d) Destroying data
6. A security researcher discovers a critical vulnerability in a popular web application. What is the best course of action?
a) Exploit the vulnerability to raise awareness
b) Disclose the vulnerability responsibly to the vendor
c) Sell the vulnerability on the dark web for profit
d) Keep the vulnerability a secret to maintain an advantage
Answer: b) Disclose the vulnerability responsibly to the vendor
7. Which of the following password-cracking techniques tries all possible character combinations to guess a password?
a) Brute-force attack
b) Dictionary attack
c) Rainbow table attack
d) Phishing attack
Answer: a) Brute-force attack
8. What is the purpose of a honeypot in ethical hacking?
a) To attract and detect malicious activities
b) To hide sensitive information from attackers
c) To monitor legitimate user activities
d) To encrypt data and communication
Answer: a) To attract and detect malicious activities
9. Which of the following is an example of a social engineering attack?
a) Cross-site scripting (XSS)
b) Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
c) SQL injection
d) Tailgating into a secure building
Answer: d) Tailgating into a secure building
10. Which protocol is commonly used for secure remote login and file transfer?
a) HTTP
b) FTP
c) SSH
d) DNS
Answer: c) SSH
11. A security professional wants to test the security of a web application by simulating a malicious attack. What type of testing is this?
a) Vulnerability assessment
b) Penetration testing
c) Firewall testing
d) Compliance testing
Answer: b) Penetration testing
12. What is the main purpose of using a proxy server in ethical hacking?
a) To bypass firewalls and access restricted content
b) To hide the identity of the attacker
c) To encrypt communication between the attacker and the target
d) To conduct denial-of-service attacks
Answer: b) To hide the identity of the attacker
13. A security analyst is performing a network scan and finds an open port 22. What service is likely running on that port?
a) HTTP
b) FTP
c) SSH
d) SMTP
Answer: c) SSH
14. Which phase of the ethical hacking process involves gathering information about the target system?
a) Enumeration
b) Scanning
c) Footprinting and reconnaissance
d) Exploitation
Answer: c) Footprinting and reconnaissance
15. What is the main objective of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack?
a) Gain unauthorized access to a system
b) Steal sensitive data from a server
c) Make a service or website unavailable to legitimate users
d) Manipulate data packets during transmission
Answer: c) Make a service or website unavailable to legitimate users
16. Which of the following statements best defines “phishing” in the context of ethical hacking?
a) Gaining unauthorized access to a system using password-cracking techniques
b) Simulating an attack on a network to test its security measures
c) Social engineering technique to deceive users into revealing sensitive information
d) Utilizing software vulnerabilities to gain control of a remote system
Answer: c) Social engineering technique to deceive users into revealing sensitive information
17. What is the primary purpose of using encryption in communication channels?
a) To make data transmission faster
b) To hide data from network administrators
c) To secure data from unauthorized access during transmission
d) To prevent data loss in case of hardware failure
Answer: c) To secure data from unauthorized access during transmission
18. A security researcher finds a software vulnerability but chooses not to disclose it to the vendor or the public. What term best describes this action?
a) Responsible Disclosure
b) Full disclosure
c) White-hat hacking
d) Zero-day exploit
Answer: d) Zero-day exploit
19. Which of the following is an example of a physical security control?
a) Antivirus software
b) Network firewall
c) Biometric access control
d) Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
Answer: c) Biometric access control
20. What is the primary purpose of penetration testing?
a) To exploit vulnerabilities and gain unauthorized access
b) To assess the resilience of a system against various attacks
c) To conduct reconnaissance and gather information about the target
d) To simulate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
Answer: b) To assess the resilience of a system against various attacks
21. Which of the following statements best describes “gray-box testing” in ethical hacking?
a) The tester has full knowledge of the target system’s internal workings
b) The tester has no knowledge of the target system before starting the test
c) The tester has limited knowledge of the target system, similar to a user
d) The tester is not authorized to perform any testing on the target system
Answer: c) The tester has limited knowledge of the target system, similar to a user
22. What is the main goal of a SQL injection attack?
a) To exploit a web server’s configuration vulnerabilities
b) To overload a server and crash it
c) To steal sensitive data from a database
d) To gain unauthorized access to a network
Answer: c) To steal sensitive data from a database
23. Which type of ethical hacker has permission to perform penetration testing on systems they do not own?
a) Black-hat hacker
b) Gray-hat hacker
c) White-hat hacker
d) Script kiddie
Answer: c) White-hat hacker
24. Which of the following is an example of a passive vulnerability scanner?
a) Nmap
b) Wireshark
c) Metasploit
d) Nessus
Answer: b) Wireshark
25. In ethical hacking, what is the term used for a technique that involves redirecting network traffic to a malicious server?
a) DNS poisoning
b) ARP spoofing
c) IP hijacking
d) Packet sniffing
Answer: b) ARP spoofing
26. Which of the following is NOT a common type of social engineering attack?
a) Phishing
b) Spoofing
c) Brute force
d) Baiting
Answer: c) Brute force
27. What is the purpose of a “rootkit” in ethical hacking?
a) To gain administrative privileges on a system
b) To conduct DDoS attacks
c) To encrypt data during transmission
d) To simulate network traffic for testing purposes
Answer: a) To gain administrative privileges on a system
28. Which of the following statements best describes “payload” in the context of ethical hacking?
a) The IP address of the target system
b) The malicious code that will be executed on the target system
c) The physical location of the target server
d) The encryption key used for secure communication
Answer: b) The malicious code that will be executed on the target system
29. Which phase of the ethical hacking process involves probing the target system for potential vulnerabilities?
a) Footprinting and reconnaissance
b) Scanning
c) Enumeration
d) Exploitation
Answer: b) Scanning
30. What is the main purpose of a firewall in network security?
a) To prevent unauthorized access to a network
b) To encrypt data during transmission
c) To hide the identity of the network’s users
d) To detect and remove malware from the network
Answer: a) To prevent unauthorized access to a network
31. What is the term used for a malicious program that appears to be a legitimate application but performs unauthorized activities on a system?
a) Worm
b) Trojan horse
c) Virus
d) Spyware
Answer: b) Trojan horse
32. Which type of ethical hacker has no malicious intent and only wants to learn about computer security?
a) Script kiddie
b) Black-hat hacker
c) White-hat hacker
d) Gray-hat hacker
Answer: c) White-hat hacker
33. What is the main purpose of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in ethical hacking?
a) To gain unauthorized access to a remote system
b) To bypass firewalls and access restricted content
c) To encrypt data during transmission
d) To simulate DDoS attacks
Answer: c) To encrypt data during transmission
34. Which type of ethical hacking testing approach provides the tester with complete knowledge of the target system’s internal workings?
a) White-box testing
b) Black-box testing
c) Gray-box testing
d) Blue-box testing
Answer: a) White-box testing
35. A security analyst discovers a vulnerability in a web application and reports it to the vendor. The vendor acknowledges the report but fails to fix the issue. What should the security analyst do next?
a) Publicly disclose the vulnerability to put pressure on the vendor
b) Keep the vulnerability a secret to avoid potential exploitation
c) Exploit the vulnerability to demonstrate its severity to the vendor
d) Share the vulnerability details with other security researchers to find a solution collaboratively
Answer: a) Publicly disclose the vulnerability to put pressure on the vendor
36. What is the main objective of a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack?
a) To impersonate a legitimate user to gain access to a system
b) To intercept and manipulate communication between two parties
c) To overwhelm a server with excessive traffic
d) To exploit vulnerabilities in a web application
Answer: b) To intercept and manipulate communication between two parties
37. A security researcher discovers a vulnerability and decides to sell the information to the highest bidder without notifying the vendor. What ethical principle is being violated?
a) Integrity
b) Confidentiality
c) Availability
d) Responsible Disclosure
Answer: d) Responsible Disclosure
38. Which of the following is an example of an active vulnerability scanner?
a) Wireshark
b) Metasploit
c) Nessus
d) Nmap
Answer: c) Nessus
39. What is the primary purpose of using encryption in storage media, such as hard drives?
a) To increase the performance of the storage media
b) To prevent data loss in case of hardware failure
c) To hide data from network administrators
d) To secure data from unauthorized access if the media is stolen
Answer: d) To secure data from unauthorized access if the media is stolen
40. Which of the following statements best describes “social engineering” in the context of ethical hacking?
a) The process of breaking encryption algorithms
b) A set of techniques used to gain unauthorized access to a system
c) Manipulating people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions
d) A method to test the resilience of a system against cyberattacks
Answer: c) Manipulating people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions
41. What is the primary goal of performing “fuzz testing” (fuzzing) in ethical hacking?
a) To identify and fix security vulnerabilities in the code
b) To overload a system and cause it to crash
c) To impersonate a legitimate user and gain unauthorized access
d) To encrypt communication between the attacker and the target
Answer: a) To identify and fix security vulnerabilities in the code
42. Which type of ethical hacking testing approach involves having partial knowledge of the target system, similar to a regular user?
a) White-box testing
b) Black-box testing
c) Gray-box testing
d) Blue-box testing
Answer: c) Gray-box testing
43. What is the primary purpose of using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) in ethical hacking?
a) To gain unauthorized access to a system
b) To bypass firewalls and access restricted content
c) To encrypt data during transmission
d) To simulate DDoS attacks
Answer: c) To encrypt data during transmission
44. A security analyst finds a vulnerable system during penetration testing but decides not to exploit it due to potential damage. What ethical principle is being followed?
a) Integrity
b) Confidentiality
c) Availability
d) Non-maleficence
Answer: d) Non-maleficence
45. What is the primary purpose of using a “sandbox” in ethical hacking?
a) To simulate a secure network for testing purposes
b) To store sensitive data securely
c) To monitor network traffic in real-time
d) To execute potentially malicious code in an isolated environment
Answer: d) To execute potentially malicious code in an isolated environment
46. What is the main objective of “footprinting” in the ethical hacking process?
a) To actively exploit vulnerabilities in a system
b) To gather information about the target system and its environment
c) To simulate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
d) To encrypt data during transmission
Answer: b) To gather information about the target system and its environment
47. Which of the following statements best describes “spoofing” in ethical hacking?
a) Sending unsolicited emails to a large number of recipients
b) Manipulating network packets to appear as if they come from a trusted source
c) Attempting to access a system using all possible combinations of characters
d) Executing unauthorized code on a target system
Answer: b) Manipulating network packets to appear as if they come from a trusted source
48. Which type of ethical hacker is typically motivated by financial gain and does not adhere to ethical principles?
a) White-hat hacker
b) Gray-hat hacker
c) Script kiddie
d) Black-hat hacker
Answer: d) Black-hat hacker
49. What is the main purpose of using “packet sniffing” in ethical hacking?
a) To simulate a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
b) To gain unauthorized access to a system
c) To analyze and capture network traffic for security analysis
d) To encrypt data during transmission
Answer: c) To analyze and capture network traffic for security analysis
50. Which type of ethical hacking testing approach involves having no prior knowledge of the target system before starting the test?
a) White-box testing
b) Black-box testing
c) Gray-box testing
d) Blue-box testing
Answer: b) Black-box testing
Conclusion
We have discussed 50 mcq on ethical hacking and their answers in this particular article. This remarkable set will help you understand, and solve the details of ethical hacking. With this comprehensive set, you can accomplish your passion for ethical hacking and this set of 50 mcq on ethical hacking will continue to render the difficulties of this vast field.
