What process involves reading and recording data to establish a signature or baseline for files and system sectors?

• A. Baseline Monitoring
• B. Data Validation
• C. Signature Verification
• D. Integrity Checking

Answer: (D)

Integrity checking is the practice of creating a fingerprint of important data by reading and recording its contents to establish a signature or baseline for files and system sectors. This baseline, usually a cryptographic hash, is stored securely so you can compare future reads to the original fingerprint. When you later re-read the same data and recompute the hash, any mismatch signals that the data has changed, indicating tampering or corruption. This approach is foundational for detecting unauthorized modifications to files, binaries, and even critical areas like boot sectors.

Baseline Monitoring describes watching for changes after the baseline exists, rather than the act of creating that baseline itself. Data Validation focuses on ensuring input conforms to expected formats or rules. Signature Verification checks a provided signature against data to confirm authenticity but doesn’t describe the process of establishing an initial baseline or fingerprint for later integrity checks.