CISSP-ISSAP: Information Systems Security Architecture Professional

Question

John is a professional ethical hacker assigned to test the security of www.we-are-secure.com. He observes that the We-are-secure network is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack because the key-exchange process of its cryptographic algorithm does not authenticate participants. Which cryptographic algorithm does the We-are-secure server use?

Explanation

Basic Diffie-Hellman key exchange does not authenticate the participants. Without an added authentication mechanism, an attacker can substitute key-exchange values and create separate shared secrets with each endpoint, enabling a man-in-the-middle attack.

Learn more

RFC 2786: Diffie-Hellman USM Key Management

CISSP-ISSAP: Information Systems Security Architecture Professional

AstroTutor

Notes

Readiness

QuestionQ43

Community Discussion