ISC2 Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) Practice Question

Calculating a cryptographic hash (such as SHA-256) of the approved master file and securely storing that reference value provides a baseline of the file's correct state. Scheduling each server to recompute the hash of its local copy and compare it to the stored reference will immediately reveal any unauthorized modification, enabling an alert to operations staff. AES encryption focuses on confidentiality, not detection of tampering once the file is decrypted on the host. RAID-1 protects availability against disk failure but does not indicate file alteration. File permissions are preventive controls that limit access, yet they cannot confirm whether a file has been changed after deployment.