ISC2 CCSP Certification Exam Questions

Which storage model is most appropriate for long term retention of virtual machine images in a cloud environment given that it handles very large single files efficiently and does not rely on being attached to specific hosts?

• ❏ A. Unstructured storage

• ❏ B. Object storage

• ❏ C. Block volume storage

• ❏ D. Structured storage

Organizations such as ISACA and NIST publish guidance about cloud risks and threat trends, and many enterprises consult these sources for context. Within a company who is primarily responsible for addressing and reducing those cloud security risks?

• ❏ A. Executive leadership

• ❏ B. Cloud service provider

• ❏ C. Security operations team

• ❏ D. DevOps engineers

Which United States federal law targets corporate financial reporting and the accounting controls of publicly traded companies?

• ❏ A. HIPAA

• ❏ B. Sarbanes Oxley Act

• ❏ C. PCI DSS

• ❏ D. GLBA

Which component enables a cloud operator to manage every host across an infrastructure from a single centralized interface?

• ❏ A. Virtual management console

• ❏ B. Hypervisor

• ❏ C. Software defined networking

• ❏ D. Management plane

A regional online retailer runs web servers in several metropolitan areas and wants site visitors to download media and pages from servers that are physically nearer than the origin site. Which class of load balancing uses distributed edge servers to deliver content from the network edge?

• ❏ A. Software defined networking

• ❏ B. Cloud Load Balancing

• ❏ C. Content delivery network

• ❏ D. Software defined storage

A regional cloud provider called NimbusHosting runs several large server farms and managers are reviewing standards for fire protection and the substantial electrical demands of those sites. Which standards organization publishes fire protection codes relevant to data center buildings and their IT equipment?

• ❏ A. American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers

• ❏ B. National Fire Protection Association

• ❏ C. Telecommunications Industry Association

• ❏ D. Data Center Alliance

A security incident took place at a neighborhood health clinic where a patient’s diagnosis notes and treatment records were exfiltrated from the electronic chart. What type of data was compromised?

• ❏ A. PCI

• ❏ B. PII

• ❏ C. PHI

• ❏ D. PCD

After an organization like Meridian Cloud Services establishes the boundaries of its business continuity and disaster recovery plan what activity should be completed next?

• ❏ A. Conduct a risk assessment

• ❏ B. Execute a plan exercise

• ❏ C. Collect recovery requirements and objectives

• ❏ D. Issue reports and update documentation

A payments platform divides customer records into fragments and keeps them in multiple cloud regions for resilience and cost optimization. What disadvantage can result from scattering data fragments across different geographic locations?

• ❏ A. Erasure coding of stored objects

• ❏ B. Higher access latency for data reads

• ❏ C. Movement of data across legal jurisdictions

• ❏ D. Reconstruction of original data from fragments

As a cloud security specialist at Meridian Data you must improve protections for cloud hosted compute instances to reduce the risk of unauthorized data exposure. Which practice should be treated as the top priority to secure the information stored on those instances?

• ❏ A. Tighten user authentication requirements for instance access

• ❏ B. Apply network zoning to isolate the compute instances

• ❏ C. Deploy endpoint antivirus and malware protection on instances

• ❏ D. Encrypt all persistent storage on the compute instances

All ISC2 questions are from my ISC2 CCSP Udemy course and certificationexams.pro

A regional retailer named BlueOak is migrating several legacy applications to a public cloud and they hire a specialist to link their on-premises systems with cloud services. What job title best fits that specialist?

• ❏ A. Cloud compliance auditor

• ❏ B. Cloud systems integrator

• ❏ C. Cloud solutions architect

• ❏ D. Cloud operations manager

Within the OWASP Top Ten categories which vulnerability describes weak safeguards for user passwords session tokens and authentication secrets in cloud applications?

• ❏ A. Insufficient logging and monitoring

• ❏ B. Broken Authentication

• ❏ C. Cloud IAM misconfiguration

• ❏ D. Sensitive Data Exposure

In a data center what is the primary purpose of a KVM switch?

• ❏ A. Cloud VPN

• ❏ B. A method for backing up data in cloud environments

• ❏ C. To connect a keyboard mouse and monitor to a physical server

• ❏ D. Physical controls to prevent attackers from gaining hardware access to servers

A developer at Aurora Tech is seeking independent security certification for a web application hosted in a public cloud. What barrier commonly prevents the developer from obtaining such a certification?

• ❏ A. The cost to commission an independent audit for a cloud hosted application is significantly higher than auditing a private data center

• ❏ B. The cloud operator refuses to grant auditors the necessary access to examine the underlying infrastructure

• ❏ C. Most compliance standards require applications to run in company owned physical data centers to be eligible for certification

• ❏ D. Gathering forensic and audit evidence in a multi tenant public cloud environment is more complex than in an isolated on premises data center

When performing an audit which requirement or form of guidance should be given top priority for testing to ensure legal and regulatory compliance?

• ❏ A. Senior management directives

• ❏ B. Internal control policies

• ❏ C. Project stakeholders’ expectations

• ❏ D. Regulatory requirements

After examining the results of a cloud migration feasibility report to find where cloud services do not meet specified computing requirements what type of evaluation is this called?

• ❏ A. Vulnerability assessment

• ❏ B. Capacity planning

• ❏ C. Risk assessment

• ❏ D. Gap analysis

A global retail chain needs to store customer records in a cloud environment while complying with multiple national privacy laws. What should be the main consideration when selecting a cloud service provider?

• ❏ A. Choosing a provider that has local data centers in each country of operation

• ❏ B. Picking the provider with the lowest storage pricing

• ❏ C. Selecting a provider with strong encryption and customer managed keys

• ❏ D. Verifying the provider complies with applicable data protection and privacy regulations in each jurisdiction

Which United States statute specifically governs the handling of personally identifiable information by banks and other financial services firms?

• ❏ A. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

• ❏ B. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

• ❏ C. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

• ❏ D. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

Which organization would gain the greatest advantage by adopting a hybrid cloud approach?

• ❏ A. A consortium of firms aiming to operate a shared customer platform for all their users

• ❏ B. A small neighborhood shop with minimal sensitive data that only wants to migrate its email to the cloud

• ❏ C. A company that must keep only a subset of workloads in a highly secure private environment but cannot afford a fully private cloud

• ❏ D. A regional hospital network that insists all patient records remain in the most secure environment regardless of cost

A regional fintech company called Solstice Finance operates services in the cloud and seeks a solution that inspects network traffic and issues alerts when suspicious activity is found, which technology is primarily used to monitor network traffic and produce such alerts?

• ❏ A. Firewall

• ❏ B. Web Application Firewall

• ❏ C. Intrusion Prevention System

• ❏ D. Network Intrusion Detection System

All ISC2 questions are from my ISC2 CCSP Udemy course and certificationexams.pro

At a high level of shared security responsibilities who bears the larger security obligation when operating an IaaS deployment and the smaller obligation when using a SaaS deployment?

• ❏ A. Managed Service Partner

• ❏ B. Cloud Service Customer (CSC)

• ❏ C. Cloud Intermediation Broker

• ❏ D. Cloud Infrastructure Provider (CIP)

Within a cloud environment an organization selects storage media based on the sensitivity of the information and its classification rules. Which portion of a data retention policy details the storage media and associated handling procedures?

• ❏ A. Archiving and retrieval

• ❏ B. Retention formats

• ❏ C. Data classification

• ❏ D. Retention periods

Which capability of a centralized SIEM can streamline an enterprise’s compliance for retaining logs?

• ❏ A. Reporting

• ❏ B. Alerting

• ❏ C. Event correlation

• ❏ D. Consolidated log aggregation

Within an Infrastructure as a Service environment which responsibility is handled by the cloud vendor rather than the tenant?

• ❏ A. Applying corporate governance and security policies

• ❏ B. Provisioning the underlying infrastructure

• ❏ C. Installing and tuning virtual machines and networks

• ❏ D. Controlling which applications and users have access

When an enterprise links several storage servers so they operate as a single system to increase throughput capacity and resilience what is this approach called?

• ❏ A. Software defined storage

• ❏ B. Clustered storage

• ❏ C. Distributed file system

• ❏ D. Storage area network

A regional retailer named Harbor Retail is documenting its business continuity planning and executive leadership has set a limit for how long critical systems may remain unavailable before essential operations must be restored. Which metric specifies that allowable downtime?

• ❏ A. SLA

• ❏ B. MTTR

• ❏ C. RPO

• ❏ D. RTO

A retail chain that operates across the European Economic Area discovered that threat actors exfiltrated customers’ personal information during a security incident. Which regulation requires the company to report the breach to the appropriate supervisory authorities within 72 hours?

• ❏ A. Sarbanes Oxley Act

• ❏ B. EU General Data Protection Regulation

• ❏ C. Gramm Leach Bliley Act

• ❏ D. APEC Privacy Framework

A software platform hosted in the cloud suffered an unauthorized access incident and the provider runs many customers on the same underlying systems. Which cloud characteristic makes other tenants vulnerable to compromise?

• ❏ A. Rapid elasticity

• ❏ B. On demand self service

• ❏ C. Reversibility

• ❏ D. Multitenancy

A regional payroll vendor named Meridian Payroll is evaluating WS-Security for its service interfaces. Which of the following standards is not one of the core standards that WS-Security is built upon?

• ❏ A. XML

• ❏ B. WSDL

• ❏ C. SAML

• ❏ D. SOAP

While validating their business continuity plan a cloud operations team brought a standby facility online until it reached operational readiness while the primary data center remained fully operational and handling production traffic. What kind of test was performed?

• ❏ A. Walkthrough review

• ❏ B. Parallel run

• ❏ C. Complete failover exercise

• ❏ D. Tabletop exercise

A finance team uses a SQL database where each column enforces specific data types and allowed values so reporting and searches are straightforward. What is this type of data called?

• ❏ A. Semi structured data

• ❏ B. Sensitive data

• ❏ C. Structured data

• ❏ D. Unstructured data

As the privacy lead at Summit Financial Group which is preparing to transfer large confidential datasets to a cloud environment under tight privacy obligations what should be your primary concern when evaluating potential cloud providers?

• ❏ A. The ability of the cloud platform to scale storage and compute to meet growing workloads

• ❏ B. Use of VPC Service Controls and network perimeter features offered by the provider

• ❏ C. Compliance with applicable data protection laws and standards such as GDPR and local privacy regulations

• ❏ D. Low latency and high throughput capabilities for processing large datasets

Which statement most accurately describes modern cloud platforms?

• ❏ A. They still rely on the same foundational components as traditional data centers even when those components are virtualized

• ❏ B. They shift primary operational responsibility from the cloud customer to the service provider

• ❏ C. They typically require far fewer physical servers and systems than comparable on-premises deployments

• ❏ D. They are commonly operated from a single physical site rather than across multiple locations

Which cloud storage model arranges records into fields that reflect the attributes of each data element?

• ❏ A. Google Cloud Bigtable

• ❏ B. Object storage

• ❏ C. Relational database model

• ❏ D. Raw block storage

A regional fintech firm named Northbridge Analytics is reviewing customer attributes for a privacy audit and needs to know which data element identifies a single person. Which of the following is an example of a direct identifier?

• ❏ A. IP address

• ❏ B. Full legal name

• ❏ C. Home address

• ❏ D. Religious affiliation

The correct answer is Object storage.

Object storage stores data as discrete objects with metadata and unique identifiers which makes it well suited to handle very large single files such as virtual machine images. It scales horizontally and is accessed via HTTP APIs so objects do not need to be attached to a specific host which makes it a cost effective and durable choice for long term retention of VM images.

Unstructured storage is a vague term that describes the nature of data rather than a specific cloud storage model. It does not guarantee the API semantics durability and host independence that Object storage provides so it is not the best answer.

Block volume storage offers low latency block level access and is typically attached to a host for boot disks and databases. That attachment model and its performance orientation make it unsuitable for cost effective long term archival and distribution of large VM image files compared with Object storage.

Structured storage usually refers to databases and systems optimized for records and queries rather than large binary blobs. It is not designed to store and serve very large single files like VM images efficiently so it is not appropriate for this use case.

When a question mentions very large single files and that data does not need to be attached to a host favor Object storage. Keep in mind that Block storage is for attached volumes and Structured storage is for records and queries.

The correct answer is Security operations team.

The Security operations team is primarily responsible for addressing and reducing cloud security risks because they run continuous monitoring and detection, triage and respond to incidents, and coordinate remediation and vulnerability management. They also ingest threat intelligence and apply security controls and tuning to cloud environments to reduce risk over time.

Executive leadership sets risk appetite, allocates budget, and defines policy but they do not perform the day to day monitoring and incident response that reduces operational cloud risk. Leadership provides direction and governance while the operations team executes.

Cloud service provider secures the underlying infrastructure and manages some platform services, but the shared responsibility model means the customer must secure data, identities, configurations, and access. Providers reduce certain burdens but they do not replace the customer teams that operate security monitoring and response.

DevOps engineers build, deploy, and automate applications and they can implement secure design and infrastructure as code. They typically work with the security operations team and implement fixes, but they are not the primary owners of continuous detection, incident response, and enterprise wide security monitoring.

When the question asks who will “address and reduce” risks think about who performs continuous monitoring and incident response. The security operations team usually carries that responsibility while leadership defines policy and providers secure their service boundary.

The correct answer is Sarbanes Oxley Act.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in 2002 to strengthen corporate governance and restore investor confidence after major accounting scandals. It specifically targets the accuracy of corporate financial reporting and requires management and external auditors to establish, document, and report on internal accounting controls for publicly traded companies. The law also created criminal penalties for fraudulent financial activity and established oversight of auditors through the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

HIPAA is incorrect because it governs the privacy and security of protected health information for healthcare providers and related entities. It does not address corporate financial reporting or accounting controls for publicly traded companies.

PCI DSS is incorrect because it is a set of industry security standards managed by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council to protect cardholder data. It is not a United States federal law and it does not target corporate financial reporting or accounting controls.

GLBA is incorrect because the Gramm Leach Bliley Act focuses on financial institutions and consumer financial privacy and it requires safeguards for customer financial data. It does not primarily govern the financial reporting controls of publicly traded corporations in the way that the Sarbanes Oxley Act does.

Look for keywords such as publicly traded and financial reporting in the question and match them to laws about corporate governance like Sarbanes Oxley.

Management plane is correct because it is the architectural component that gives operators a centralized interface to manage every host across the infrastructure from a single point.

The Management plane provides orchestration, provisioning, configuration, monitoring and policy enforcement across physical and virtual hosts. It aggregates inventory and telemetry and it implements lifecycle management so administrators can control the entire environment without interacting with each host individually.

Virtual management console is incorrect because that phrase usually describes a specific interface or tool rather than the underlying architectural plane. A virtual management console can be part of the Management plane but it is not the plane itself.

Hypervisor is incorrect because a hypervisor manages virtual machines on a single host or node level and handles resource isolation and scheduling. A hypervisor does not provide the centralized, cross host management and orchestration that the Management plane provides.

Software defined networking is incorrect because SDN focuses on abstracting and controlling network forwarding and policies. Software defined networking can be controlled by the management or control plane but it does not by itself serve as the centralized management component for every host.

When a question asks about centrally managing hosts look for terms like management plane, orchestration or lifecycle management rather than host level technologies such as hypervisors or specific network solutions.

The correct answer is Content delivery network.

A Content delivery network uses a network of distributed edge servers to cache and deliver web pages, media, and other assets from locations that are physically closer to site visitors. This reduces latency and bandwidth use and it offloads the origin servers by serving cached content from edge nodes located in multiple metropolitan areas.

The Software defined networking approach centralizes control of network devices and separates the control plane from the data plane to enable programmability and flexible routing, but it does not provide the distributed edge caching and content delivery function that a CDN provides.

The Cloud Load Balancing option distributes incoming requests across backend servers and can provide global routing and failover, but it generally routes traffic to origins or backend pools rather than caching and serving content from geographically distributed edge caches. Many cloud providers offer a separate CDN product for edge delivery.

The Software defined storage option is focused on abstracting and pooling storage resources across hardware and locations and it is not intended to deliver cached content from edge servers to reduce user latency.

When a question mentions distributed edge or delivering content from the network edge think CDN because CDNs are designed to cache and serve content from locations close to users rather than merely routing traffic.

The correct answer is National Fire Protection Association.

National Fire Protection Association publishes consensus fire protection codes and standards that specifically address the protection of data center buildings and information technology equipment. The organization issues standards such as NFPA 75 for the fire protection of information technology equipment and NFPA 70 for electrical installations that affect fire safety.

National Fire Protection Association codes are commonly adopted into building regulations and are referenced by insurers and designers to manage fire risk in high density server facilities. Following these standards helps ensure appropriate fire detection suppression and electrical safety for the IT load.

American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers develops environmental and cooling standards for data centers and it focuses on thermal and humidity guidance rather than primary fire protection codes.

Telecommunications Industry Association publishes standards for cabling and telecommunications infrastructure and it does not produce the fire protection codes that regulate building fire safety for data centers.

Data Center Alliance may provide industry best practices and guidance documents but it is not an authoritative publisher of the fire protection codes used by regulators and insurers.

When a question asks about fire protection codes think of organizations that publish building and fire standards and remember that NFPA and specific standards like NFPA 75 are the expected answers rather than HVAC or cabling bodies.

The correct option is PHI.

PHI stands for Protected Health Information and it includes diagnosis notes and treatment records when those records are linked to an identifiable patient. This category of data is explicitly covered by HIPAA and describes health information created or maintained by a healthcare provider about a person and their treatment.

PCI is incorrect because that term refers to payment card data and credit card information rather than medical diagnoses or treatment records.

PII is incorrect because it refers to personally identifiable information in a general sense and although health records may contain PII the specific legal and regulatory classification for medical records is PHI under HIPAA.

PCD is incorrect because it is not a standard designation for protected medical records in privacy regulations and it does not describe protected health information.

When a question mentions medical diagnoses or treatment linked to an individual identify it as PHI for HIPAA related scenarios. If the data is payment card information look for PCI and if the focus is on general identity details think PII.

Collect recovery requirements and objectives is correct. After an organization sets the boundaries of its business continuity and disaster recovery plan the natural next step is to determine what must be recovered and how quickly so that strategies and priorities can be defined.

The reason Collect recovery requirements and objectives is correct is that boundaries tell you what is in scope and out of scope and the requirements and objectives translate that scope into measurable targets. These targets include recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives and critical system and process dependencies. Defining requirements and objectives guides later choices about recovery strategies resource allocation and testing.

Conduct a risk assessment is not the best answer here because risk assessments are typically performed earlier or in parallel to boundary definition to identify threats and impacts. By the time boundaries are set you need to use that context to capture recovery needs rather than start basic risk identification.

Execute a plan exercise is incorrect because exercises and testing occur after requirements are collected and the recovery plan is developed and implemented. You cannot effectively exercise a plan until you know the objectives and have built the procedures to meet them.

Issue reports and update documentation is wrong as the immediate next step because reporting and documentation updates follow analysis development and testing. Those activities come after requirements gathering and plan creation so reporting is a later maintenance task.

On questions about process order focus on whether the step produces inputs for the next activity. Requirements and objectives are usually collected after scoping and before testing and reporting.

Movement of data across legal jurisdictions is correct.

Movement of data across legal jurisdictions can create legal and regulatory complications because different countries and regions impose different rules on financial and personal data. When fragments are stored in multiple jurisdictions a payments platform may be subject to cross border transfer restrictions data residency requirements or conflicting law enforcement requests which increases compliance risk and operational complexity.

Erasure coding of stored objects is not a disadvantage in this context because erasure coding is the technique used to split data into fragments for resilience and cost efficiency rather than a problem caused by geographic distribution.

Higher access latency for data reads is not the best answer here because latency depends on retrieval design and can be mitigated with caching local copies or selective replication. The question emphasizes the legal and jurisdictional downside of scattering fragments rather than inevitable performance degradation.

Reconstruction of original data from fragments is also not a disadvantage because reconstruction is the intended behavior that allows the system to reassemble data when needed and it is part of normal operation rather than a negative consequence of geographic scattering.

When answers mention distribution across countries focus on legal and jurisdiction implications first and treat latency or storage techniques as technical trade offs.

The correct answer is Encrypt all persistent storage on the compute instances.

Encrypt all persistent storage on the compute instances is the top priority because encryption protects data at rest even if an instance is compromised or disks and snapshots are copied or stolen. Strong encryption ensures that attackers cannot read stored data without the keys and it provides protection independent of perimeter controls and user credentials. Proper key management and the use of cloud provider managed or customer managed keys make this control effective and practical at scale.

Tighten user authentication requirements for instance access is important but it focuses on preventing unauthorized access rather than protecting the stored data if access controls fail or if storage media are exfiltrated. Authentication does not render stolen volumes unreadable.

Apply network zoning to isolate the compute instances reduces attack surface and limits lateral movement, but it does not protect data on disks or snapshots that may be accessed or copied by an attacker who gains privileges or by a misconfigured backup process.

Deploy endpoint antivirus and malware protection on instances can detect and reduce some threats, but it does not guarantee protection of data at rest and it may not stop sophisticated attacks or avoid exposure from stolen or misconfigured storage. Antivirus should be one layer in a defense in depth strategy rather than the single highest priority for preventing data exposure.

When asked to pick the single top control for reducing data exposure think about what protects the data even if all access controls fail and prioritize data at rest encryption along with strong key management.

All ISC2 questions are from my ISC2 CCSP Udemy course and certificationexams.pro

The correct answer is Cloud systems integrator.

A Cloud systems integrator is the specialist who links on premises systems with cloud services and who executes migrations for legacy applications. This role focuses on hands on work such as connecting networks, moving and transforming data, implementing integration middleware, and validating interoperability between the old and new environments.

Cloud compliance auditor is incorrect because that role focuses on assessing policies and controls and on verifying regulatory and security compliance rather than on performing system integration and migration work.

Cloud solutions architect is incorrect because architects typically produce high level designs, choose patterns, and provide guidance rather than doing the detailed, hands on integration tasks required to connect on premises systems to cloud services.

Cloud operations manager is incorrect because that role is oriented to running and overseeing ongoing operations and support after deployment rather than executing the migration and integration tasks needed during the move to the cloud.

Pay attention to the action words in the question such as link, migrate, and integrate and match them to the role that performs the hands on work.

Broken Authentication is correct because it specifically describes weak safeguards for user passwords session tokens and other authentication secrets in cloud applications.

Broken Authentication covers flaws such as weak or missing password policies insecure session management predictable or exposed session tokens and poor secrets handling. In cloud applications these weaknesses let attackers hijack accounts impersonate users or reuse leaked tokens to access resources, so the OWASP category points to failures in authentication design and implementation.

Insufficient logging and monitoring is incorrect because that category is about the detection and response to attacks and system events and not about protecting passwords tokens or authentication secrets.

Cloud IAM misconfiguration is incorrect because this phrase refers to cloud provider or policy configuration issues and not to the specific OWASP Top Ten category that describes application level authentication failures.

Sensitive Data Exposure is incorrect because that category focuses on improper protection of stored or transmitted sensitive information and while it can include leaked credentials the distinct problem of authentication and session management is classified under Broken Authentication.

Look for keywords such as passwords tokens credentials or authentication when choosing between authentication failures and other categories.

The correct option is To connect a keyboard mouse and monitor to a physical server.

A KVM switch lets an administrator use one keyboard one mouse and one monitor to access and control multiple physical servers. This reduces the need for separate input devices at each rack and it simplifies direct console access for configuration troubleshooting and maintenance.

Many modern KVM units also provide IP based remote access so technicians can reach a server console remotely while the fundamental role remains to connect keyboard video and mouse to a server for local or remote console work.

Cloud VPN is incorrect because that term refers to an encrypted network tunnel service for connecting sites or users to cloud networks and it does not provide local console or input device switching.

A method for backing up data in cloud environments is incorrect because backup systems handle data protection and storage and they do not deal with connecting keyboards mice or monitors to physical servers.

Physical controls to prevent attackers from gaining hardware access to servers is incorrect because physical security measures such as locks cages or biometric readers protect hardware access but they do not provide the input output switching functionality that a KVM offers.

When a question mentions keyboard video and mouse or local console access think of KVM devices and rule out network or backup services.

The correct option is The cloud operator refuses to grant auditors the necessary access to examine the underlying infrastructure.

This is the common barrier because cloud providers control the physical hosts and hypervisor layer and they normally do not allow external auditors to inspect that level of the stack. Independent certification often requires direct access to host configurations, low level logs, and hardware artifacts and the provider’s contractual and security constraints usually prevent that kind of access. In practice developers and auditors rely on the cloud provider’s own third party attestations and reports when direct inspection is not possible.

The cost to commission an independent audit for a cloud hosted application is significantly higher than auditing a private data center is incorrect because audit cost alone is not the typical blocking factor. Many audits can be performed remotely and providers publish compliance evidence that reduces the need for costly direct inspection.

Most compliance standards require applications to run in company owned physical data centers to be eligible for certification is incorrect because most modern standards allow cloud deployments when appropriate controls are in place. Cloud providers frequently hold certifications such as SOC and ISO that enable their customers to achieve compliance.

Gathering forensic and audit evidence in a multi tenant public cloud environment is more complex than in an isolated on premises data center is incorrect as an answer because complexity alone does not usually prevent certification. While evidence collection can be more complex in the cloud there are logging services, APIs, and provider attestations that auditors use to obtain the necessary evidence.

When evaluating cloud audit questions think about the shared responsibility model and whether auditors can obtain direct access to the underlying infrastructure.

The correct option is Regulatory requirements.

Regulatory requirements must be given top priority during testing because they represent legal obligations that the organization must satisfy. Regulators can impose fines, sanctions, or other legal penalties for noncompliance so demonstrating adherence to laws and regulations is the primary goal of compliance testing. Regulatory requirements also often dictate specific controls and reporting needs so they take precedence over internal preferences when planning audit tests.

Senior management directives are important for governance and for aligning audit work with business objectives but they are internal instructions and they do not replace the need to test legal and regulatory obligations.

Internal control policies provide the framework for consistent operations and they should be tested to assess control effectiveness but they are typically internal standards and they do not by themselves ensure compliance with external legal or regulatory mandates.

Project stakeholders’ expectations reflect business goals and desired outcomes and they can guide audit scope for project assurance but they are not a substitute for verifying compliance with laws and regulations.

When an answer mentions laws, regulations, or statutory requirements give it priority on compliance questions because legal obligations supersede internal policies and preferences.

The correct option is Gap analysis.

A Gap analysis compares the current environment to the required computing requirements and identifies where cloud services do not meet those requirements. This evaluation highlights functional shortfalls performance or compliance gaps and guides decisions about remediation changes or alternative solutions during a cloud migration feasibility study.

Vulnerability assessment is focused on finding security weaknesses and exploitable flaws in systems and software. It does not systematically compare current capabilities to required computing specifications so it is not the correct evaluation for this question.

Capacity planning deals with forecasting resource needs and ensuring adequate compute storage and network capacity for future demand. It is concerned with sizing and scaling rather than identifying mismatches between required features and available services so it does not match the described evaluation.

Risk assessment evaluates threats likelihood and potential impacts to systems and it informs mitigation strategies. While risk assessments are important for migration planning they do not specifically map current capabilities against stated requirements and therefore are not the correct choice here.

When a question asks about finding where requirements are not being met look for the term gap analysis because it implies a direct comparison between current and desired states. Other options may sound related but focus on sizing capacity or security vulnerabilities.

The correct answer is Verifying the provider complies with applicable data protection and privacy regulations in each jurisdiction.

This is the primary consideration because legal and regulatory obligations determine what you must do with customer data in each country. A provider that demonstrates compliance can provide the necessary contractual commitments and technical and organizational measures to meet local requirements. Compliance covers lawful bases for processing data cross border, approved data transfer mechanisms, data processing agreements, breach notification processes, and local regulatory support, and these aspects cannot be addressed by infrastructure presence or price alone.

Choosing a provider that has local data centers in each country of operation is not sufficient on its own because physical presence does not guarantee that the provider meets local legal obligations or that contractual and procedural controls are in place. A local data center can help with latency and residency but it does not replace compliance assessments and agreements.

Picking the provider with the lowest storage pricing is not correct because cost does not ensure compliance. Low price may come at the expense of missing contractual protections, audits, certifications, or features required by law, and noncompliance can lead to significant fines and reputational damage.

Selecting a provider with strong encryption and customer managed keys is important for security but it is not the main consideration for legal compliance in multiple jurisdictions. Encryption helps protect data at rest and in transit but does not by itself address data transfer rules, local regulatory obligations, or required contractual terms and documentation.

When you see questions about storing data across countries focus first on legal and regulatory compliance and on whether the provider can provide appropriate contracts and transfer mechanisms rather than on price or only technical controls.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) is the correct option.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) is a United States federal law that specifically governs how financial institutions handle customers� personally identifiable information. The law includes the Financial Privacy Rule and the Safeguards Rule and it requires firms to provide privacy notices to customers and to implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect nonpublic personal information.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is not a United States statute. It is an industry security standard managed by the PCI Security Standards Council and it focuses on protecting payment card data rather than establishing statutory obligations for banks.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an EU regulation and not a US law. It governs personal data processing in the European Union and does not serve as the United States statute that controls how banks handle customer PII.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a United States law but it applies to protected health information for covered entities and their business associates. It does not generally govern how banks handle financial customer information unless a bank is acting in a role that brings it under HIPAA rules, which is uncommon.

Focus on whether the option is a United States statute and whether it names or targets financial institutions. GLBA is the law that applies to banks and other financial services firms.

A company that must keep only a subset of workloads in a highly secure private environment but cannot afford a fully private cloud is correct.

This option maps directly to the hybrid cloud model because hybrid cloud allows an organization to run sensitive or regulated workloads in a private environment while placing less sensitive workloads on public cloud infrastructure to save cost and gain elasticity. The hybrid approach provides the control and isolation needed for the small set of critical workloads and it also enables the company to avoid the capital and operational expense of a fully private cloud by using public cloud services for the remainder.

Hybrid clouds also support secure connectivity and data flows between private and public environments which helps with compliance and workload placement decisions. For an organization that only needs high security for a subset of services and that has budget constraints, hybrid cloud gives the best balance of security, flexibility, and cost.

A consortium of firms aiming to operate a shared customer platform for all their users is not the best fit for hybrid cloud. A consortium that wants a single shared platform is more likely to gain from a community or multi-tenant public cloud model that maximizes shared governance and economies of scale rather than the split private/public model that hybrid offers.

A small neighborhood shop with minimal sensitive data that only wants to migrate its email to the cloud does not need hybrid cloud. This scenario is better served by simple public SaaS or hosted email services which are easier and cheaper to manage than a hybrid deployment.

A regional hospital network that insists all patient records remain in the most secure environment regardless of cost would not gain the greatest advantage from hybrid cloud. If every record must stay in the most secure environment and cost is not a concern then a fully private or on premises solution is the appropriate choice rather than splitting workloads between private and public clouds.

When you see an option that requires only some workloads to be isolated for security and the organization has budget limits, favor the hybrid cloud choice. Match the stated constraint to the cloud model benefits rather than the technology buzzwords.

All ISC2 questions are from my ISC2 CCSP Udemy course and certificationexams.pro

The correct answer is Network Intrusion Detection System.

A Network Intrusion Detection System passively monitors network traffic to identify suspicious patterns and it generates alerts when it detects signatures or anomalies. It is typically deployed on a network segment or using a span or tap so it can inspect copies of traffic without interfering with normal flow. Because it focuses on detection and alerting rather than active blocking it directly matches the requirement to monitor traffic and produce alerts.

A Network Intrusion Detection System often combines signature based detection and behavioral analysis and it can forward alerts and context to a SIEM or security operations team for investigation and response. This makes it suitable for continuous monitoring across a network and for notifying analysts about potential intrusions.

Firewall enforces access control between networks by allowing or denying traffic based on configured rules and it is not primarily used as a detailed monitoring and alerting system for suspicious activity. Traditional firewalls focus on permitting or blocking flows rather than producing investigative alerts.

Web Application Firewall protects web applications by inspecting HTTP and HTTPS traffic for application layer attacks such as SQL injection and cross site scripting. It is specialized for web traffic and it does not provide the broad network traffic monitoring and alerting described in the question.

Intrusion Prevention System can detect malicious activity but it is designed to take active measures to block or prevent traffic and it typically operates inline. Since the question emphasizes monitoring and producing alerts the passive detection and alerting role of a network intrusion detection system is a better fit than an IPS which focuses on prevention.

When a question emphasizes monitoring and alerting choose IDS. If the question emphasizes blocking or inline action then IPS is the correct pick.

The correct answer is Cloud Service Customer (CSC). Cloud Service Customer (CSC) bears the larger security obligation when operating an IaaS deployment and bears the smaller obligation when using a SaaS deployment.

In an IaaS model the customer is responsible for everything they install and manage on the virtual machines and networks. This includes the guest operating system, middleware, runtimes, applications, data, and identity and access configurations. Because those layers are controlled by the customer the Cloud Service Customer (CSC) holds the larger security obligation in IaaS.

In a SaaS model the provider delivers and secures the application and the underlying infrastructure while the customer typically manages only their data and user access. That means the Cloud Service Customer (CSC) has a much smaller operational security burden when using SaaS.

Managed Service Partner is incorrect because a managed service partner is an external operator or vendor that may perform tasks on behalf of the customer or provider and does not define the baseline shared responsibility boundary between provider and customer.

Cloud Intermediation Broker is incorrect because a broker is an intermediary that facilitates or enhances cloud services and does not inherently assume the primary security obligations that the shared responsibility model assigns to the customer.

Cloud Infrastructure Provider (CIP) is incorrect because the infrastructure provider is responsible for the physical hosts, network, and hypervisor. The provider does not take on the customer duties for guest OS and application security in IaaS and so it is not the party that bears the larger obligation in that model.

When you see shared responsibility questions think about which stack layers the customer controls. Focus on whether the customer manages the operating system, applications, and data for IaaS versus mainly data and user access for SaaS.

Retention formats is correct because that portion of a data retention policy specifies the storage media and the handling procedures associated with each type of media.

The Retention formats section typically lists the physical and logical media options such as tape, disk, cloud object storage, removable media, or encrypted containers. It also defines handling procedures like required encryption, labeling, access controls, transfer and migration methods, and sanitization or destruction requirements at end of life. These details directly govern how classified or sensitive information must be stored and protected while it is retained.

Archiving and retrieval is focused on the processes for moving data into long term storage and for locating and restoring it when needed. That section covers indexing, cataloging, retrieval SLAs, and access workflows rather than the specific media types and handling rules that belong in the retention formats section.

Data classification defines sensitivity levels and labeling rules that determine protections and retention obligations. It informs what protections are required but it does not itself prescribe the exact storage media or the handling procedures for each media type.

Retention periods state how long each class of data must be preserved to satisfy legal, regulatory, or business needs. They describe duration and disposal timing and do not specify which storage media to use or the handling procedures for those media. Retention periods work together with the Retention formats section to form a complete retention policy.

Read each option and separate the what from the how long. Focus on whether the choice describes media and handling or only processes or durations. The phrase Retention formats indicates the media and handling details.

The correct option is Consolidated log aggregation.

Consolidated log aggregation centralizes the collection and storage of logs from across an enterprise and that makes it straightforward to apply consistent retention policies and to meet regulatory timeframes. Centralized aggregation enables controlled archiving, indexing, access controls, and search which are essential for proving compliance and for retrieving logs during audits.

Reporting is useful for producing compliance summaries and demonstrating retained data but it does not by itself ensure the long term collection or secure storage of raw logs that retention requirements demand.

Alerting notifies analysts about events in near real time and supports incident response but it does not centralize or retain logs for compliance purposes.

Event correlation links related events to detect incidents and reduce noise but it focuses on analysis rather than storing and retaining logs across the enterprise for regulatory retention.

When a question asks about retaining logs think about centralized collection and storage. Remember that consolidated log aggregation is the capability that directly supports consistent retention and retrieval for compliance.

The correct option is Provisioning the underlying infrastructure.

The cloud vendor provisions the physical servers storage networking and virtualization layer in an IaaS model. They operate data centers maintain the hardware and provide the hypervisor and base networking so tenants get compute and storage resources without owning the underlying infrastructure.

The tenant is responsible for the guest operating system middleware applications and data and for configuring and securing the virtual machines and networks that run on the provided infrastructure.

Applying corporate governance and security policies is incorrect because applying an organization specific governance framework and security policies is the tenant responsibility. The provider supplies the platform but does not enforce a customer’s internal governance rules.

Installing and tuning virtual machines and networks is incorrect because installing the OS tuning the guest and configuring network settings for applications is performed by the tenant. The vendor supplies the virtual hardware and connectivity but not the guest level configuration work.

Controlling which applications and users have access is incorrect because controlling identities roles and application access belongs to the tenant. Providers may offer identity tools but the tenant configures who can access their workloads and data.

Remember that IaaS vendors handle the physical and virtualization layers while tenants handle the operating system and everything above. Use that split to decide who is responsible for a given task.

The correct answer is Clustered storage.

Clustered storage describes linking multiple storage servers so they operate as a single system to increase throughput capacity and resilience. Clustered storage implementations pool capacity and distribute data and metadata across nodes so clients see a unified storage service and the cluster can provide scalability and failover.

Software defined storage is an architectural approach that separates storage control from hardware and applies policy and automation across pooled resources. Software defined storage can enable clustered solutions but the term refers to the management model rather than the specific pattern of linking servers to behave as one clustered system.

Distributed file system refers to presenting a shared file namespace across multiple machines and it emphasizes file access and replication. A distributed file system may span many nodes but the phrase does not specifically denote the pooled block or object storage cluster that is described by Clustered storage.

Storage area network is a network architecture that connects hosts to centralized storage over a dedicated fabric. Storage area network describes connectivity and storage networking rather than the practice of linking storage servers themselves to form a single resilient and high throughput storage system.

Look for keywords such as single system throughput and resilience to indicate the answer is about a pooled cluster of storage nodes rather than a networking model or a control plane abstraction.

The correct option is RTO.

RTO stands for Recovery Time Objective and it specifies the maximum acceptable length of time that a critical system may remain unavailable before essential operations must be restored. Organizations use the RTO to set recovery targets and to design recovery strategies such as failover, alternate sites, or prioritized restoration sequencing.

RPO is incorrect because the Recovery Point Objective defines the acceptable amount of data loss measured in time and not the allowable downtime. It answers how much data the business can afford to lose rather than how long systems can be down.

SLA is incorrect because a Service Level Agreement is a contract that defines expected service levels and obligations between a provider and a customer. An SLA may reference objectives like uptime but it is not the internal business continuity metric that sets the allowable downtime limit.

MTTR is incorrect because Mean Time To Repair measures the average time to repair a failed component or system and is an operational reliability metric. It does not express the business tolerance for downtime in the same way that the RTO does.

When a question asks about allowable downtime think RTO and when it asks about acceptable data loss think RPO</i

The correct option is EU General Data Protection Regulation.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation requires that the data controller notify the competent supervisory authority of a personal data breach without undue delay and where feasible within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. This obligation applies to organizations processing personal data of individuals in the European Economic Area and it is the specific legal basis for the 72 hour reporting window.

The notification under the EU General Data Protection Regulation must include details such as the nature of the breach, categories of personal data affected, likely consequences, and measures taken or proposed to address the breach. If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals the controller must also communicate the breach to the affected data subjects.

Sarbanes Oxley Act is a United States law that focuses on corporate financial reporting and auditor responsibilities and it does not set an EEA personal data breach notification requirement.

Gramm Leach Bliley Act governs the protection of consumers financial information for certain US financial institutions and it does not impose the GDPR style 72 hour supervisory notification for EEA personal data breaches.

APEC Privacy Framework is a non binding set of principles for Asia Pacific economies to promote cross border privacy and it is not an EU regulation and it does not create the 72 hour reporting duty required by the GDPR.

When a scenario mentions personal data and the EEA think of the GDPR and its 72 hour breach notification rule and rule out laws that are US only or non binding frameworks.

The correct answer is Multitenancy.

Multitenancy means that multiple customers share the same physical or virtual infrastructure and that shared nature can allow an attacker who gains access to underlying systems to impact other tenants. This characteristic creates risks from insufficient isolation, noisy neighbor effects, side channel attacks, and lateral movement across tenants when controls fail.

Rapid elasticity refers to the ability to scale resources quickly to meet demand and it does not inherently cause other tenants to be compromised. Scalability affects how resources are provisioned and released rather than how they are isolated.

On demand self service describes the ability of customers to provision and manage resources without provider intervention and it addresses convenience and agility rather than shared-host security risks between tenants.

Reversibility is about the ability to migrate data and services away from a provider or to restore a prior state and it relates to portability and exit strategies rather than cross-tenant compromise.

When a question mentions many customers sharing the same systems look for words about shared resources or isolation. The term multitenancy is commonly the correct choice.

SAML is the correct answer because it is not one of the core standards that WS-Security is built upon.

WS-Security is primarily concerned with securing SOAP messages and it relies on the XML processing model and on XML security specifications such as XML Signature and XML Encryption. In exam language the web services stack that WS-Security operates within commonly includes XML, WSDL, and SOAP, so those are considered part of the underlying technologies rather than the odd one out.

SAML is an assertion and token format defined by OASIS for exchanging authentication and authorization statements. It can be carried inside WS-Security tokens when needed, but it is an independent specification and not one of the foundational specs that WS-Security is defined on.

XML is incorrect because WS-Security depends on XML for message structure and for the XML Signature and XML Encryption standards that implement message protection.

WSDL is incorrect because WSDL defines service interfaces and message formats and it sits with SOAP and XML in the core web services stack that WS-Security secures.

SOAP is incorrect because WS-Security was designed to protect SOAP envelopes and to add security headers and processing rules to SOAP messages.

When you see WS-Security think about securing SOAP messages using XML security specs rather than about token formats such as SAML.

Parallel run is correct because the standby facility was started and operated alongside the primary while the primary remained fully active and continued to handle production traffic.

A parallel run is an exercise where a secondary environment is brought online and run in parallel with the live environment to validate systems, data synchronization, and operational procedures without switching production traffic. This lets the team confirm readiness and resolve issues under realistic load while users are not impacted by a failover.

Walkthrough review is incorrect. A walkthrough review is a step through of plans and procedures in a meeting format to confirm understanding and identify gaps. It does not involve bringing systems or a standby facility online for operational testing.

Complete failover exercise is incorrect. A complete failover exercise would involve cutting over production to the standby facility and making it the active site. In this scenario the primary stayed live and production traffic was not moved, so it was not a failover.

Tabletop exercise is incorrect. A tabletop exercise is a discussion based simulation where participants talk through responses to an incident using scenarios and checklists. It does not require starting actual systems or validating an operational standby.

Focus on whether systems are actually started and operated in parallel with production or if the activity is discussion only. If the standby site runs alongside the live site then the exercise is a parallel run.

All ISC2 questions are from my ISC2 CCSP Udemy course and certificationexams.pro

Structured data is correct.

Structured data refers to information organized into a fixed schema such as tables with columns that enforce data types and allowed values. A relational SQL database uses this model so reporting and searching are straightforward because queries can rely on predictable fields and constraints.

Semi structured data is incorrect because it uses flexible or self describing formats such as JSON or XML where fields can vary between records and strict column types and constraints are not enforced.

Sensitive data is incorrect because that term describes the confidentiality or risk classification of information rather than its format or schema. A table can contain sensitive data but the question asks about the data structure.

Unstructured data is incorrect because it denotes free form content like text documents, images, or audio that lack a predefined schema and therefore do not use typed, column based organization.

Look for clue words such as columns, data types, and allowed values because they point to a fixed schema and thus to structured data.

Compliance with applicable data protection laws and standards such as GDPR and local privacy regulations is the primary concern when transferring large confidential datasets to a cloud environment under tight privacy obligations.

You should prioritize this because legal and regulatory obligations determine where data may be stored and how it must be processed and protected. Evidence of compliance with applicable data protection laws and standards such as GDPR and local privacy regulations comes from vendor contractual commitments, a clear data processing agreement, standard contractual clauses or other transfer mechanisms, documented breach notification procedures, and independent audit reports and certifications.

Picking a provider that demonstrably meets those legal requirements reduces the risk of regulatory fines and contractual breaches and it ensures you can lawfully move and process the data. Technical capabilities are important but they do not replace the need for written legal assurances and demonstrable controls that satisfy privacy law.

The ability of the cloud platform to scale storage and compute to meet growing workloads is useful for handling large datasets but it is not the primary concern for privacy. Scalability addresses performance and cost management but it does not ensure lawful processing or adequate legal protections for personal data.

Use of VPC Service Controls and network perimeter features offered by the provider can help reduce exposure and limit network attack surface but these network controls are only one part of a privacy program. They do not by themselves address contractual obligations, cross border transfer rules, or data processing agreements required by privacy laws.

Low latency and high throughput capabilities for processing large datasets are important for operational performance and analytics but they do not satisfy privacy or legal requirements. Performance optimizations do not provide the contractual and compliance assurances needed when handling confidential personal data.

When the question frames a privacy or legal obligation focus your answer on legal and contractual compliance first and then consider technical features as secondary safeguards.

They shift primary operational responsibility from the cloud customer to the service provider is the correct option.

The statement is correct because modern cloud platforms implement a shared responsibility model and the provider assumes primary responsibility for operating and securing the underlying infrastructure while the customer focuses on their data and applications. The exact split of duties changes between IaaS PaaS and SaaS, but in all cases the provider manages physical hardware networking and many platform services so operational burden shifts away from the customer.

They still rely on the same foundational components as traditional data centers even when those components are virtualized is not accurate because although cloud providers use similar low level hardware, they add strong abstraction automation and managed services that change how those components are deployed operated and secured.

They typically require far fewer physical servers and systems than comparable on-premises deployments is misleading because while customers can avoid running their own physical servers the cloud platform itself is built on very large scale physical infrastructure and the statement is not generally true as written.

They are commonly operated from a single physical site rather than across multiple locations is false because cloud providers purposely distribute services across regions and availability zones to provide resilience scalability and lower latency so single site operation would be contrary to normal cloud design.

When you see cloud questions think about the shared responsibility model and ask who manages the infrastructure and who manages the data.

The correct answer is Relational database model.

The Relational database model arranges data into tables made up of rows and columns and each column represents an attribute or field of the data element. This model enforces a schema and typed fields so records are explicitly organized into fields that reflect the attributes of each element and the model is the clear match for the description in the question.

Google Cloud Bigtable is a wide column NoSQL store that uses sparse, distributed tables and flexible column families rather than a fixed set of fields per record, so it does not follow the classic relational fields and schema model.

Object storage stores whole objects with metadata and is optimized for unstructured or binary data, so it does not organize records into fields and columns like a relational database does.

Raw block storage provides raw block devices without any inherent data schema and it is used as a low level volume for filesystems or databases, so it does not itself arrange records into attribute fields.

When a question mentions fields, attributes, columns, or an enforced schema you should think of the relational model. If it mentions objects, blobs, wide columns, or raw blocks then another storage model is likely.

The correct answer is Full legal name.

A direct identifier is an attribute that can uniquely point to a single individual on its own. A Full legal name is treated as a primary direct identifier because it is intended to uniquely identify a person in legal and administrative contexts and therefore is handled as personally identifiable information that requires protection.

IP address is not a direct identifier in this context because it typically identifies a device or a network endpoint rather than a specific person by itself. It can become identifying when combined with provider logs or other records, so it is often treated as an indirect or linkable identifier.

Home address is not listed as the direct identifier here because an address refers to a location and may describe a household rather than uniquely naming a specific individual without additional information. An address is commonly considered linkable data that can identify someone when combined with other identifiers.

Religious affiliation is not a direct identifier because it describes a sensitive characteristic rather than a unique identity marker. Religious affiliation can reveal personal information and is protected as sensitive data, but it does not by itself uniquely identify a single person.

When deciding if an attribute is a direct identifier ask whether the data can identify someone by itself or whether it must be linked to other records. Focus on whether the value names the person uniquely.