Question

Which of the following is an example of data-link layer vulnerability?

(a) Physical Theft of Data

(b) VLAN circumvention

(c) Route spoofing

(d) Weak or non-existent authentication

I got this question in an interview for internship.

My question is from Network Models in section Understanding Network Models for Security of Cyber Security

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

(b) VLAN circumvention

VLAN circumvention is a data-link layer vulnerability. It involves bypassing or misconfiguring VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks) to gain unauthorized access to networks. Since VLANs operate at the data-link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model, this is considered a vulnerability in the data-link layer.

Here’s why the other options are not correct for the data-link layer:

• (a) Physical Theft of Data: This is more of a physical security issue, not a data-link layer vulnerability.
• (c) Route spoofing: This involves manipulating routing tables, which is related to Layer 3 (Network layer) of the OSI model.
• (d) Weak or non-existent authentication: This can apply to many layers, but it's not specific to the data-link layer. It could be related to application, transport, or network layers depending on the context.

VLAN circumvention is the only option that specifically involves Layer 2 vulnerabilities.