A security engineer at an offline government facility is concerned about the validity of an SSL certificate. The engineer wants to perform the fastest check with the least delay to determine if the certificate has been revoked. Which of the following would BEST meet these requirements?
In an offline environment, the fastest way to check the validity of an SSL certificate and determine if it has been revoked is by using a Certificate Revocation List (CRL). CRLs are periodically updated lists of revoked certificates maintained by Certificate Authorities. Once downloaded, these lists can be used locally to verify certificate statuses without requiring direct online access, making them suitable for offline scenarios.
Yes, the question says it's an offline government facility so it automatically eliminates OCSP which makes CRL the only viable choice. CRL is the correct answer.
Given the scenario of an offline government facility and the need to check the validity of an SSL certificate, the correct choice for determining if a certificate has been revoked is: C. CRL (Certificate Revocation List). Reasoning: In an offline environment, real-time online checks using OCSP are not feasible. CRLs provide a comprehensive list of all certificates that have been revoked by a Certificate Authority. This list can be manually downloaded and transferred to the offline facility periodically, allowing for local checks against the list to determine if a certificate has been revoked. This manual transfer and local validation make CRLs more suitable for strictly offline scenarios, ensuring that certificate validity can still be checked even without direct online access.
OFFLINE
Offline = CRL
"fastest check with the least delay" would certainly be OCSP. "Offsite" would indicate an offline list. In this case should we assume that the 'quickest" is CRL because OCSP is not possible?
CRL (Certificate Revocation List) is a periodically updated list of certificates that have been revoked by the Certificate Authority (CA). Even though the facility is offline, it can periodically download the latest CRL from the CA and use it to check the revocation status of certificates locally. While this method may not provide real-time revocation status like OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol), it allows for offline verification and can be updated periodically to ensure the most recent information is available.
OCSP supports a use case of low latency. When a certificate is revoked, it adds the certificate to a CRL. However, CRLs are cached so clients using the CRL won’t know the certificate is revoked until the CRL is refreshed. OCSP provides a real-time response eliminating this latency. -Security+ SY0-601 Get Certified Get Ahead by Darril Gibson
"offline government facility" how can OCSP ("Online" Certificate Status Protocol) work in this situation?
Alright, well how do you think one would get a CRL in that case? As far as I understand they still have to be downloaded, if you can prove otherwise I would appreciate it. Thanks.
100% agreed.
CRL (Certificate Revocation List) is a periodically updated list of certificates that have been revoked by the Certificate Authority (CA). Even though the facility is offline, it can periodically download the latest CRL from the CA and use it to check the revocation status of certificates locally. While this method may not provide real-time revocation status like OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol), it allows for offline verification and can be updated periodically to ensure the most recent information is available.
OCSP might be correct if the facility sets up an internal OCSP responder that stores the revocation status of certificates locally. This responder periodically receives updates on certificate revocations from the Certificate Authority (CA) and stores them locally.
True, but the question does not imply that. It's offline, and CRL is the only option. Fastest check with the least delay are N/A here.
C. CRL CRL is a list of certificates that have been revoked by the issuing Certificate Authority (CA). While it requires periodic updates and can introduce some delay due to the need to download the list, it can be stored locally and checked against certificates without requiring an online connection. Therefore, in an offline government facility, CRL would be the most feasible option for checking the validity of SSL certificates.
Just bc the assets or facility is offline doesn't mean that they cant access and request the OCSP say from a phone or another network? That would be the quickest method without a download still wouldn't it???
In real life scenarios, there are offline environments that are completely isolated/offline by desin.
This is such a dumb question. If the government facility is offline, why are there certificates involved? Shouldn't this building be solely paper based? Why have computers in the first place, if they are offline. Why have an I.T. guy? Offline because of power outage or not, I.T. guy has his own company laptop with battery power and VPN to headquarters, he would still be able to check certificates quickly using OCSP. I wouldn't get to hung up on the "Offline" thing because both OCSP and CRL requires Internet connection to pull up that info. OCSP just gives it to you faster and live which CRL can't
C no doubt
To quickly check the validity of an SSL certificate and determine if it has been revoked, the best option is: B. OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) OCSP allows for real-time checking of the status of a digital certificate. It provides a faster and more efficient method compared to Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs), which require periodic updates and may not reflect the most current certificate status. OCSP queries the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) to instantly verify if a certificate has been revoked or is still valid. This makes it the most suitable choice for the scenario described, where speed and minimal delay are important considerations.
You are correct when describing OCSP, but the question states the security engineer is at an "offline" gov't facility. So in this case, OCSP can't be used. In result, CRL is the next best option under the circumstances
For Offline options is Option B. For Online Options is Option C.
I think you might be a bit confused, the O in OCSP stand for Online So for offline C - CRL and for online, B - OSCP
Given the scenario of an offline government facility and the need to check the validity of an SSL certificate, the correct choice for determining if a certificate has been revoked is: C. CRL (Certificate Revocation List). Reasoning: In an offline environment, real-time online checks using OCSP are not feasible. CRLs provide a comprehensive list of all certificates that have been revoked by a Certificate Authority. This list can be manually downloaded and transferred to the offline facility periodically, allowing for local checks against the list to determine if a certificate has been revoked. This manual transfer and local validation make CRLs more suitable for strictly offline scenarios, ensuring that certificate validity can still be checked even without direct online access.
B. OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) - OCSP is an online protocol that allows for real-time checks of a certificate's status. This method involves querying an OCSP responder, which can quickly return the status of a certificate without needing to download a large list of all revoked certificates
They specify the facility is offline
if the security engineer is in a government offline facility with no connection or internet, they cannot use OCSP to check the certificate's revocation status. In this case, the engineer should use the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) method to find out the certificate's status. The CRL is a list of revoked certificates that is maintained by the Certificate Authority (CA).
It is in a offline environment, CRL