Free GSEC: GIAC Security Essentials Exam Questions and Answers

Last updated: September 12, 2026

Exam code

GSEC

Provider

GIAC

Questions in our bank

1000+

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First 10, with answers

Official page

Official Exam website

Our test mode duration & pass mark

130 mins · 70%

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1. Question #1

   You work as a Linux technician for Tech Perfect Inc. You have lost the password of the root. You want to provide a new password. Which of the following steps will you take to accomplish the task?

   • A. The password of the root user cannot be change
   • B. Use the PASSWD root comman
   • C. Reboot the compute
   • D. Reboot the computer in run level 0. Use INIT=/bin/sh as a boot optio
   Reveal Answer

2. Question #2

   Which Defense-in-Depth model involves identifying various means by which threats can become manifest and providing security mechanisms to shut them down?

   • A. Vector-oriented
   • B. Uniform protection
   • C. Information centric defense
   • D. Protected enclaves
   Reveal Answer

3. Question #3

   Which of the following protocols implements VPN using IPSec?

   • A. SLIP
   • B. PPP
   • C. L2TP
   • D. PPTP
   Reveal Answer

4. Question #4

   An employee is currently logged into the corporate web server, without permission. You log into the web server as 'admin" and look for the employee's username: "dmaul" using the "who" command. This is what you get back:

   • A. The contents of the /var/log/messages file has been altered
   • B. The contents of the bash history file has been altered
   • C. The contents of the utmp file has been altered
   • D. The contents of the http logs have been altered
   Reveal Answer

5. Question #5

   What is the key difference between Electronic Codebook mode and other block cipher modes like Cipher Block Chaining, Cipher-Feedback and Output-Feedback?

   • A. Plaintext patterns are concealed by XO Ring with previous cipher text block but input to the block cipher is not randomize
   • B. Plaintext patterns are concealed and input to the block cipher is randomized by XO Ring with previous cipher text bloc
   • C. Plaintext patterns encrypted with the same key will always generate the same Cipher text pattern
   • D. Plaintext patterns are not concealed but input to the block cipher is randomized by XO Ring with previous cipher text bloc
   Reveal Answer

6. Question #6

   Which of the following Linux commands can change both the username and group name a file belongs to?

   • A. chown
   • B. chgrp
   • C. chmod
   • D. newgrp
   Reveal Answer

7. Question #7

   Analyze the screenshot below. What is the purpose of this message?

   • A. To gather non-specific vulnerability information
   • B. To get the user to download malicious software
   • C. To test the browser plugins for compatibility
   • D. To alert the user to infected software on the compute
   Reveal Answer

8. Question #8

   The Linux command to make the /etc/shadow file, already owned by root, readable only by root is which of the following?

   • A. chmod 444/etc/shadow
   • B. chown root: root/etc/shadow
   • C. chmod 400/etc/shadow
   • D. chown 400 /etc/shadow
   Reveal Answer

9. Question #9

   The previous system administrator at your company used to rely heavily on email lists, such as vendor lists and Bug Traq to get information about updates and patches. While a useful means of acquiring data, this requires time and effort to read through. In an effort to speed things up, you decide to switch to completely automated updates and patching. You set up your systems to automatically patch your production servers using a cron job and a scripted apt-get upgrade command. Of the following reasons, which explains why you may want to avoid this plan?

   • A. The apt-get upgrade command doesn't work with the cron command because of incompatibility
   • B. Relying on vendor and 3rd party email lists enables updates via email, for even faster patching
   • C. Automated patching of production servers without prior testing may result in unexpected behavior or failures
   • D. The command apt-get upgrade is incorrect, you need to run the apt-get update command
   Reveal Answer

10. Question #10

    What is the maximum passphrase length in Windows 2000/XP/2003?

    • A. 255 characters
    • B. 127 characters
    • C. 95 characters
    • D. 63 characters
    Reveal Answer