Defense against dark arts: Your multidisciplinary security quiz

Do you know enough arcane vocabulary to impress your party guests?

. What's this?

By

September 26, 2011 — CSO —

1. Barbican
a. Exterior walled passage at a castle entrance that forces intruders into a narrow space
b. Development project name for software on the first DEC VAX
c. Australian for "grill"


2. Blowback
a. Erroneous results from a ping that flood and disable the inquiring computer
b. Misinformation planted by spies from country A to mislead country B, that then filters back and misleads the government of country A
c. Clues in legitimate tax returns that lead to discovery of fraud


3. Chad Box
a. A variation on Nigerian or 411 scams
b. Non-shredding discard box for visitor badges
c. Receptacle for debris from '70s data-processing punchcards


4. Cobbler
a. Espionage agent who creates false documents
b. Infosec defender with capabilities equal to a script kiddie
c. Tasty dessert that makes fruit unhealthy to eat


5. Dry Cleaning
a. Vacuuming dust out of an old computer chassis
b. Methods used by a spy to figure out if he or she is being watched
c. Washing illicit funds through a series of businesses to confuse the audit trail


6. Innocent Postcard
a. Email to sysadmins attempting to explain porn surfing was "accidental"
b. High-volume, low-content email sent to slow down any subsequent e-discovery efforts
c. Meaningless message sent to an address in a neutral country, verifying that a covert operative is still safe


7. Kapelle
a. Top secret communications security device used by the KGB; operators were called pianists
b. A gable atop castle ramparts intended to deflect projectiles
c. '90s boy band with limited commercial success


8. Layering
a. Including slightly different misinformation in each of several versions of a story told to multiple mistrusted people
b. Washing illicit funds through a series of businesses to confuse the audit trail
c. Serving multiple types of cobbler in the same dish


9. Murder Hole
a. A small opening in the chad box
b. An apparently minor misconfiguration
c. A hole in a passage wall or ceiling that castle defenders used to shoot arrows at invaders


10. Starburst Maneuver
a. Cars in a convoy suddenly go in different directions to identify or shake anyone tailing them
b. Any very simple hacking technique (as in "candy from a baby")
c. Washing illicit funds through a series of businesses to confuse the audit trail



ANSWER KEY

1.a
2.b
3.c
4.a
5.b
6.c
7.a
8.b
9.c
10.a


HOW'D YOU DO?

0-4 points: Try to read more often
5-7 points: Well done
8-10 points: Try to get outside more often



Sources:
http://www.themasterofdisguise.com/glossary.html
http://www.spymuseum.org
http://www.eps.mcgill.ca/jargon/jargon.html



Read more about data protection in CSOonline's Data Protection section.

Other stories by Derek Slater

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