(SEM III) THEORY EXAMINATION 2022-23 COMPUTER SYSTEM SECURITY

This question paper is designed to assess a student’s conceptual understanding, analytical skills, and practical knowledge in the domain of Computer Security. It covers the fundamental, intermediate, and applied aspects of cybersecurity, including system-level security, cryptography, network vulnerabilities, intrusion detection, and secure computing techniques. The paper is divided into three structured sections, ensuring balanced evaluation across definitions, theoretical explanations, and applied problem-solving.

SECTION A – Short & Fundamental Concepts (10 Marks)

This section contains ten concise, concept-based questions, each carrying 1 mark, aimed at testing the clarity of foundational understanding.
Topics include:

Basics of computer security, confidentiality, integrity

Malware such as ransomware, viruses, worms

Web security concepts like frame busting

Core cryptography terms: encryption, decryption, hash functions

System-level terms such as UNIX kernel functions, software fault isolation

SQL injection attack basics

Differences between cache memory and RAM

These questions evaluate how well the student understands essential cybersecurity terminology and principles.

SECTION B – Descriptive & Analytical Understanding (15 Marks)

This section consists of five detailed questions, out of which the student needs to attempt any three. Each question carries 5 marks, requiring deeper explanations, examples, diagrams, or structured descriptions.

Topics include:

Control Hijacking Attacks: buffer overflow, return-oriented programming, format string attacks

System Call Interposition: ptrace, systrace, and how OS monitors system calls

Browser Isolation Techniques: local isolation vs. remote browser isolation models

RSA Cryptography: key generation, encryption/decryption with examples

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): signature-based, anomaly-based, hybrid approaches

This section tests analytical thinking, the ability to break down concepts, and practical understanding of real-world security mechanisms.

SECTION C – Applied Scenarios & Advanced Understanding (20 Marks)

This section contains five clusters of questions, each cluster with two choices, and the student must attempt one from each cluster. Every answer carries 5 marks.
It examines application, deep explanation, and scenario-based reasoning.

Topics include:

Security threats and defense mechanisms

Control Hijacking protection techniques

Confinement principle and operating system–level security

Rootkits and their different categories (user-mode, kernel-mode, hypervisor-based)

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): working, examples, risk scenarios

Defenses against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Symmetric vs. Asymmetric key cryptography

Digital signatures and their creation process

Firewalls and packet-filtering rules

DNS and routing security basics

This section evaluates the ability to apply theoretical concepts to real-world security problems, explain technical steps, and explore system-level defenses.

Overall Purpose of the Question Paper

This exam is structured to:

Test core cybersecurity knowledge

Evaluate analytical and problem-solving abilities

Assess understanding of security vulnerabilities & defenses

Examine knowledge of cryptography & secure systems

Encourage students to think like security analysts and system designers

It provides a comprehensive review of the subject, ensuring students can not only recall definitions but also explain processes, analyze attacks, and describe real-world security solutions.