WGU COURSE C836 FUNDAMENTALS OF
INFORMATION SECURITY 596 EXAM SCRIPT
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ Parkerian hexad. Answer: Where the CIA triad consists of
confidentiality, integrity, and availability, the Parkerian hexad
consists of these three principles, as well as possession or control,
authenticity, and utility
◉ Confidentiality. Answer: Refers to our ability to protect our data
from those who are not authorized to view it.
Confidentiality can be compromised by the loss of a laptop
containing data, a person looking over our shoulder while we type a
password, an e-mail attachment being sent to the wrong person, an
attacker penetrating our systems, or similar issues.
◉ Integrity. Answer: Refers to the ability to prevent our data from
being changed in an unauthorized or undesirable manner. This could
mean the unauthorized change or deletion of our data or portions of
our data, or it could mean an authorized, but undesirable, change or
deletion of our data. To maintain integrity, we not only need to have
the means to prevent unauthorized changes to our data but also
,need the ability to reverse authorized changes that need to be
undone.
◉ Availability. Answer: refers to the ability to access our data when
we need it. Loss of availability can refer to a wide variety of breaks
anywhere in the chain that allows us access to our data. Such issues
can result from power loss, operating system or application
problems, network attacks, compromise of a system, or other
problems. When such issues are caused by an outside party, such as
an attacker, they are commonly referred to as a denial of service
(DoS) attack.
◉ Possession or Control. Answer: Refers to the physical disposition
of the media on which the data is stored. This enables us, without
involving other factors such as availability, to discuss our loss of the
data in its physical medium
An example is data store be on multiple devices and there could be
numerous versions.
◉ Authenticity. Answer: Attribution as to the owner or creator of the
data in question.
Authenticity can be enforced through the use of digital signatures.
,◉ Utility. Answer: Refers to how useful the data is to us.
◉ Interception. Answer: Interception attacks allow unauthorized
users to access our data, applications, or environments and are
primarily an attack against confidentiality. Interception might take
the form of unauthorized file viewing or copying, eavesdropping on
phone conversations, or reading e-mail, and can be conducted
against data at rest or in motion. Properly executed, interception
attacks can be very difficult to detect.
Affects Confidentiality
◉ Interruption. Answer: Interruption attacks cause our assets to
become unusable or unavailable for our use, on a temporary or
permanent basis. Interruption attacks often affect availability but
can be an attack on integrity as well. In the case of a DoS attack on a
mail server, we would classify this as an availability attack.
Affects Integrity and availability
◉ Modification. Answer: Modification attacks involve tampering
with our asset. If we access a file in an unauthorized manner and
alter the data it contains, we have affected the integrity of the data
contained in the file.
, ◉ Fabrication. Answer: Fabrication attacks involve generating data,
processes, communications, or other similar activities with a system.
Fabrication attacks primarily affect integrity but could be
considered an availability attack as well. If we generate spurious
information in a database, this would be considered to be a
fabrication attack.
Affects Integrity and Availability
◉ Threat. Answer: Something that has potential to cause harm
◉ Vulnerability. Answer: Weaknesses that can be used to harm us
◉ Risk. Answer: Likeliness that something bad will happen
◉ Impact. Answer: The value of the asset is used to assess if a risk is
present
◉ Something you know. Answer: Password or PIN
◉ Something you are. Answer: An authentication factor using
biometrics, such as a fingerprint scanner.
INFORMATION SECURITY 596 EXAM SCRIPT
2026 QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ Parkerian hexad. Answer: Where the CIA triad consists of
confidentiality, integrity, and availability, the Parkerian hexad
consists of these three principles, as well as possession or control,
authenticity, and utility
◉ Confidentiality. Answer: Refers to our ability to protect our data
from those who are not authorized to view it.
Confidentiality can be compromised by the loss of a laptop
containing data, a person looking over our shoulder while we type a
password, an e-mail attachment being sent to the wrong person, an
attacker penetrating our systems, or similar issues.
◉ Integrity. Answer: Refers to the ability to prevent our data from
being changed in an unauthorized or undesirable manner. This could
mean the unauthorized change or deletion of our data or portions of
our data, or it could mean an authorized, but undesirable, change or
deletion of our data. To maintain integrity, we not only need to have
the means to prevent unauthorized changes to our data but also
,need the ability to reverse authorized changes that need to be
undone.
◉ Availability. Answer: refers to the ability to access our data when
we need it. Loss of availability can refer to a wide variety of breaks
anywhere in the chain that allows us access to our data. Such issues
can result from power loss, operating system or application
problems, network attacks, compromise of a system, or other
problems. When such issues are caused by an outside party, such as
an attacker, they are commonly referred to as a denial of service
(DoS) attack.
◉ Possession or Control. Answer: Refers to the physical disposition
of the media on which the data is stored. This enables us, without
involving other factors such as availability, to discuss our loss of the
data in its physical medium
An example is data store be on multiple devices and there could be
numerous versions.
◉ Authenticity. Answer: Attribution as to the owner or creator of the
data in question.
Authenticity can be enforced through the use of digital signatures.
,◉ Utility. Answer: Refers to how useful the data is to us.
◉ Interception. Answer: Interception attacks allow unauthorized
users to access our data, applications, or environments and are
primarily an attack against confidentiality. Interception might take
the form of unauthorized file viewing or copying, eavesdropping on
phone conversations, or reading e-mail, and can be conducted
against data at rest or in motion. Properly executed, interception
attacks can be very difficult to detect.
Affects Confidentiality
◉ Interruption. Answer: Interruption attacks cause our assets to
become unusable or unavailable for our use, on a temporary or
permanent basis. Interruption attacks often affect availability but
can be an attack on integrity as well. In the case of a DoS attack on a
mail server, we would classify this as an availability attack.
Affects Integrity and availability
◉ Modification. Answer: Modification attacks involve tampering
with our asset. If we access a file in an unauthorized manner and
alter the data it contains, we have affected the integrity of the data
contained in the file.
, ◉ Fabrication. Answer: Fabrication attacks involve generating data,
processes, communications, or other similar activities with a system.
Fabrication attacks primarily affect integrity but could be
considered an availability attack as well. If we generate spurious
information in a database, this would be considered to be a
fabrication attack.
Affects Integrity and Availability
◉ Threat. Answer: Something that has potential to cause harm
◉ Vulnerability. Answer: Weaknesses that can be used to harm us
◉ Risk. Answer: Likeliness that something bad will happen
◉ Impact. Answer: The value of the asset is used to assess if a risk is
present
◉ Something you know. Answer: Password or PIN
◉ Something you are. Answer: An authentication factor using
biometrics, such as a fingerprint scanner.
