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A1 Teacher Answer Key: Running an Assessment

Teacher Answer Key (about 20 minutes, Applied level)

Name: ______________________ Class: __________ Date: __________

Read first: F2, F3

Learning Objectives

• [ ] Plan a safe assessment of your own machine.
• [ ] Preview every action before scanning.
• [ ] Triage findings by severity and context.

Key Terms

Write each definition in your own words.

• Triage: Sorting findings by importance and validity to decide what to handle first.
• Dry Run: Previewing what an operation would do without performing it.
• Evidence: The observed data, such as a configuration line, that supports a finding.

Lab Tasks

Use only the simulated lab or a machine your teacher has authorised.

1. Run: openvapt scan --dry-run | less
2. Run: openvapt demo --out a1 and triage the top five findings in a short table: finding, real or not, reachable or not, impact.

Self-Check Questions

1. What does openvapt scan --dry-run do?

• [ ] a) Scans faster
• [x] b) Lists every operation without performing any
• [ ] c) Scans other servers
• [ ] d) Fixes findings automatically
• Answer: b. It is a preview: it lists every file, command and request a real scan would use, without doing any of it.

1. Which findings should you look at first?

• [ ] a) Low
• [x] b) Critical and High
• [ ] c) Passed checks
• [ ] d) Informational
• Answer: b. Prioritise by severity first, then by context.

1. During triage, how do you decide whether a finding is real?

• [x] a) Check the evidence
• [ ] b) Trust the severity alone
• [ ] c) Re-run the scan without reading it
• [ ] d) Assume every finding is real
• Answer: a. The evidence shows what the check actually saw. It is how you spot false positives.

1. What should you do before scanning a production server?

• [ ] a) Nothing, because the scan is read-only
• [x] b) Confirm you own or control it, take a backup and prefer a test copy
• [ ] c) Turn off the firewall
• [ ] d) Turn off logging
• Answer: b. Planning comes first: authority over the machine, a backup and, ideally, a test copy.

1. You find a false positive. What should you do?

• [ ] a) Delete it from the report
• [x] b) Record it honestly as a false positive
• [ ] c) Mark it as fixed
• [ ] d) Raise its severity
• Answer: b. Honest records keep the report trustworthy and help improve the check.

Reflection

Which finding from this module would matter most on a server you are responsible for, and why?

________________________________________________________________

Sources

• NIST SP 800-115, Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment: https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/115/final

Adapted from the OpenVAPT Academy (openvapt.com), built by AI Cybersecurity Engineers, used under the OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3. Free teaching use under TEACHING.md. Please cite OpenVAPT: see CITING.md or openvapt.com/cite.html. OpenVAPT is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, this institution or any third party named in this material. Pre-release versions may be wrong or unstable. Use at your own risk. If you adapt this material, say where you changed it.