ISC² CCSP Cloud Security Sample Questions

Your security team at Meridian Financial is revising the cloud storage controls to improve confidentiality and regulatory compliance and you must identify the encryption approach that is specifically designed to protect information stored on disks and object stores so it cannot be read without keys?

• ❏ A. Cloud Key Management Service

• ❏ B. Tokenization

• ❏ C. SSL/TLS

• ❏ D. Advanced Encryption Standard AES

A cloud engineer at Northfield Bank has been asked by their manager to calculate how quickly each application must be restored after a disaster to meet business continuity and disaster recovery objectives. What has the engineer been asked to determine?

• ❏ A. Recovery point objective RPO

• ❏ B. Mean time to repair MTTR

• ❏ C. Recovery time objective RTO

• ❏ D. Service level agreement SLA

Besides Canada and the European Union which other major international forum has established data privacy protections?

• ❏ A. International Organization for Standardization ISO

• ❏ B. Cloud Security Alliance CSA

• ❏ C. Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development OECD

• ❏ D. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC

While negotiating a cloud services agreement for a regional insurance firm called MeridianRisk, what portion of the contract should be examined most closely to confirm compliance with applicable laws and regulatory obligations?

• ❏ A. Billing and invoicing arrangements

• ❏ B. Service level objectives and uptime guarantees

• ❏ C. Data protection and security controls

• ❏ D. Contract termination and data export procedures

A regional retail chain has established the boundaries for its continuity and disaster recovery program. What activity should the team undertake next to determine what must be recovered and the restoration priorities?

• ❏ A. Perform a risk and impact assessment

• ❏ B. Produce final reports and update documentation

• ❏ C. Collect recovery requirements and define RTO and RPO

• ❏ D. Execute plan testing exercises

Maya is responsible for selecting and deploying a security information and event management platform for her company and she is comparing several vendors. Which of the following is not a SIEM product?

• ❏ A. Splunk

• ❏ B. Google Chronicle

• ❏ C. OWASP

• ❏ D. ArcSight

A regional payments company runs its services on a managed cloud provider and the security group is assessing which single threat could most severely damage the platform controls and resource security. Which risk would pose the greatest danger to the cloud infrastructure and its overall security?

• ❏ A. Large scale Distributed Denial of Service attacks

• ❏ B. Targeted sabotage of regional power or network utility lines

• ❏ C. Tampering with or gaining control of the cloud management plane

• ❏ D. Escape of code or processes from virtual machine guest environments

Which underlying technology is essential for modern cloud platforms to operate?

• ❏ A. Object storage

• ❏ B. Virtualization

• ❏ C. Multitenancy

• ❏ D. Resource pooling

When hardening the administrative plane of a cloud deployment which of the following considerations is least critical to prioritize for protecting administrator functions and controls?

• ❏ A. Enforcing encrypted channels for management traffic

• ❏ B. Isolating management networks from production networks

• ❏ C. Maintaining system backups for management components

• ❏ D. Implementing strict role based access controls for administrators

You are designing the network topology for a payroll software provider that will host confidential applications in the cloud and you want to adopt a network principle from traditional data centers to improve segmentation and isolation of resources. Which principle should you emphasize to ensure effective network segmentation and isolation in the cloud?

• ❏ A. Establishing a demilitarized zone to separate internal systems from untrusted external traffic

• ❏ B. Applying VPC Service Controls to enforce service perimeters around cloud resources

• ❏ C. Implementing a zero trust network architecture that demands continuous verification of users and devices before access is granted

• ❏ D. Deploying virtual network functions to emulate hardware firewall and router capabilities in software

In the context of protecting sensitive information which category of data protection techniques includes obfuscation?

• ❏ A. Hashing

• ❏ B. Encryption

• ❏ C. Key management

• ❏ D. Data de-identification

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

A software provider runs its cloud environment so resources are available on demand and workload is distributed across servers to prevent any one server from becoming overloaded. What is the ongoing process called?

• ❏ A. Distributed resource scheduling

• ❏ B. Auto scaling

• ❏ C. Dynamic optimization

• ❏ D. High availability

Your engineering team at LumenSoft must deliver feature updates and resolve defects rapidly for an internal business application. Which software development approach would you choose to meet this need?

• ❏ A. Iterative

• ❏ B. Waterfall

• ❏ C. DevOps

• ❏ D. Agile

Which item is not regarded as one of the three primary components of a cloud environment management framework?

• ❏ A. Cloud Scheduler

• ❏ B. Maintenance

• ❏ C. Orchestration

• ❏ D. Elastic scaling capability

As a cloud security engineer at a payments startup which practice would not be sufficient to reliably and permanently remove sensitive data from cloud storage?

• ❏ A. Overwriting storage sectors with random patterns

• ❏ B. Cryptographic erasure by revoking or destroying encryption keys

• ❏ C. Removing files using the operating system delete command

• ❏ D. Performing a zero fill overwrite of the storage device

Which foundational technology acts as the primary enabler for modern cloud platforms and their capabilities?

• ❏ A. On demand scalability

• ❏ B. Pooled resource allocation

• ❏ C. Shared tenancy model

• ❏ D. Virtualization technology

You are a senior cloud adviser at Mariner Retail and you are outlining which duties remain the customer’s responsibility when using Infrastructure as a Service Platform as a Service or Software as a Service. Which responsibility does the cloud customer always retain?

• ❏ A. Operating system and server patching

• ❏ B. Network configuration and routing

• ❏ C. Data governance and lifecycle management

• ❏ D. Data center physical security

Under which cloud service model do the customer and the cloud vendor both share responsibility for protecting data privacy at the infrastructure layer?

• ❏ A. Software as a Service

• ❏ B. Platform as a Service

• ❏ C. Infrastructure as a Service model

• ❏ D. Desktop as a Service

For a mid sized software company which of the following areas is typically not a main concern for the internal audit team?

• ❏ A. Cost control and budgeting

• ❏ B. External certification attainment

• ❏ C. Control and process design

• ❏ D. Operational effectiveness and efficiency

Which statement most accurately defines tokenization as a data protection technique?

• ❏ A. A program of policies and tools that ensures only authorized personnel can view sensitive information

• ❏ B. Converting input into a fixed length digest using a one way mathematical function

• ❏ C. Replacing sensitive data elements with a nonmeaningful or randomized token

• ❏ D. A practice for storing and protecting cryptographic keys

A digital payments firm named Meridian Apps is migrating services to the cloud and plans to use containers for deployment. What is the primary security advantage of using container technology in a cloud environment?

• ❏ A. Identity-Aware Proxy

• ❏ B. Isolation of application runtimes and dependencies

• ❏ C. Improved network isolation through VPC configurations

• ❏ D. Encrypted persistent storage

A cloud architect at a retail technology firm is drafting a business continuity and disaster recovery strategy. What is the correct sequence of activities to follow when assembling the plan?

• ❏ A. Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then design solutions then assess risks then implement then analyze then test then document and refine

• ❏ B. Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then design then assess risks then implement then analyze then test then document and update the plan

• ❏ C. Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then assess risks then design then implement then analyze then test then report and revise

• ❏ D. Define the plan boundaries then collect requirements then perform analysis then conduct a risk assessment then design solutions then deploy then execute tests then report findings and revise the plan

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

A cloud vendor secures the platform and infrastructure while a tenant is responsible for protecting the applications and data they deploy in that environment. What cloud security approach does this describe?

• ❏ A. Software defined storage

• ❏ B. Shared responsibility model

• ❏ C. Zero trust model

• ❏ D. Security by design

What is the primary disadvantage of colocating equipment in a third party facility instead of owning and managing your own data center?

• ❏ A. Potentially higher long term costs

• ❏ B. Complexity in maintaining compliance

• ❏ C. Reduced operational control

• ❏ D. Constraints on rapid scaling

Which cloud service models typically put the responsibility for applying software patches on the cloud customer rather than the provider?

• ❏ A. Platform as a Service only

• ❏ B. Google Cloud managed services

• ❏ C. Infrastructure as a Service only

• ❏ D. Software as a Service only

• ❏ E. Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service

A regional retail chain is migrating its infrastructure to a cloud provider and wants to secure data as it moves between stores and services. Which protocol is not typically used to protect data while it moves across networks?

• ❏ A. HTTPS

• ❏ B. DNSSEC

• ❏ C. IPSec

• ❏ D. VPN

A third-party document storage vendor joins forces with a major cloud platform so it can deliver services in regions where it has no data center presence. What functional cloud computing role does the document storage vendor perform in this situation?

• ❏ A. Cloud Service Broker

• ❏ B. Cloud Service Customer (CSC)

• ❏ C. Cloud Service Provider (CSP)

• ❏ D. Cloud Service Partner

A developer is migrating a web service from one public cloud vendor to another public cloud vendor. Which capability enables moving the application between those cloud platforms?

• ❏ A. Cloud data portability

• ❏ B. Multitenancy

• ❏ C. Application portability across cloud providers

• ❏ D. Rapid scalability

Within the Common Criteria evaluation framework what does an EAL2 rating indicate about a product or system’s assurance level?

• ❏ A. It has undergone functional testing

• ❏ B. It has been structurally tested

• ❏ C. It was methodically tested and checked

• ❏ D. It has a formally verified design and extensive proof through testing

A small firm called NovaWeb runs a customer portal that sometimes redirects visitors to external URLs based on input. If the application does not validate those destination links and attackers can send users to convincing but malicious pages what kind of vulnerability does this represent?

• ❏ A. Sensitive data exposure

• ❏ B. Broken access control

• ❏ C. Unvalidated redirects and forwards

• ❏ D. Security misconfiguration

A regional credit union has deployed a security information and event management system to gather logs from servers and network devices into a single repository. What is the primary security advantage of keeping logs centrally stored?

• ❏ A. To combine events from different systems for improved incident detection

• ❏ B. To ensure stored logs are encrypted to meet regulatory requirements

• ❏ C. To reduce the risk of log tampering by storing records outside the original hosts

• ❏ D. To feed alerts to enforcement systems for automated traffic blocking

Evaluating how well an organization’s security processes perform is essential and monitoring should begin with which foundational component?

• ❏ A. Vulnerability scanning

• ❏ B. Security operations center

• ❏ C. Security information and event management

• ❏ D. Control and process documentation

In a federated authentication exchange which participant listed below is not one of the three primary parties involved?

• ❏ A. Relying party

• ❏ B. User

• ❏ C. Proxy relay

• ❏ D. Identity provider

A regional payments startup named Aurora Finance needs third party web applications to confirm user identities by using an authentication protocol that is built on the OAuth 2.0 framework. Which protocol is intended to provide authentication on top of OAuth 2.0?

• ❏ A. SAML 2.0

• ❏ B. Google Cloud Identity

• ❏ C. OpenID Connect

• ❏ D. WS-Federation

Daniel must permanently remove sensitive records stored in a public cloud platform and he cannot access the underlying physical hardware. Which method can he execute remotely in the cloud to destroy the data?

• ❏ A. Deleting Compute Engine disks and snapshots

• ❏ B. Overwriting data

• ❏ C. Physical shredding

• ❏ D. Degaussing magnetic media

The correct option is Advanced Encryption Standard AES.

Advanced Encryption Standard AES is a symmetric block cipher standardized by NIST and it is the common choice to protect data at rest on disks and in object stores so that information cannot be read without the encryption keys.

AES provides confidentiality by transforming stored bytes with a cryptographic algorithm so the raw data are unreadable without the proper keys. Cloud storage and volume encryption implementations commonly use AES, often with 256-bit keys, to meet regulatory and compliance requirements while relying on separate key management services to control access to those keys.

Cloud Key Management Service is incorrect because it is a key management and orchestration service rather than the encryption algorithm itself. A key management service stores and protects keys and it enables services to perform encryption such as AES, but the service alone does not perform the block cipher that makes stored data unreadable.

Tokenization is incorrect because tokenization replaces sensitive values with tokens for use in applications and for scope reduction. Tokenization is not the same as encrypting raw storage blocks and it does not apply the AES block cipher to disks or object stores.

SSL/TLS is incorrect because it protects data in transit between systems rather than data at rest on disks or object stores. SSL and TLS secure network channels while AES or other encryption algorithms protect stored data.

When a question asks about protecting data stored on disks or in object stores think of data at rest and choose an encryption algorithm such as AES rather than a transport protocol or a key management service.

Recovery time objective RTO is correct because it specifies how quickly an application or service must be restored after a disruption to meet business continuity and disaster recovery objectives.

Recovery time objective RTO defines the maximum acceptable downtime and is expressed as a time target. It drives the choice of recovery strategies and the resources that must be in place to meet the business requirement for restoration speed.

Recovery time objective RTO is different from Recovery point objective RPO. The RPO metric measures acceptable data loss in time since the last good backup and does not describe restoration speed.

Recovery point objective RPO is incorrect because it addresses allowable data loss rather than the time required to bring systems back online. It helps determine backup frequency and recovery points but not how fast recovery must occur.

Mean time to repair MTTR is incorrect because it describes the average time to repair a failed component in maintenance and reliability contexts. It is not the business continuity target for how quickly an application must be restored after a disaster.

Service level agreement SLA is incorrect because it is a contract that defines overall service expectations and obligations. An SLA may include a Recovery time objective RTO as a metric but the SLA itself is not the specific recovery time target asked for in the question.

When you see business continuity wording ask whether the question is about how long systems can be down or how much data can be lost. The speed target is RTO and the data loss target is RPO.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC is the correct option.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC has developed the APEC Privacy Framework and the Cross Border Privacy Rules system which member economies use to establish data protection practices for transborder flows. APEC is a multilateral economic forum for the Asia Pacific region and those instruments are explicitly intended to protect personal data while enabling legitimate cross border data transfers.

International Organization for Standardization ISO is incorrect because ISO is a standards organization that publishes privacy management standards such as ISO/IEC 27701 but it is not the regional economic forum that established a cross border privacy regime like APEC.

Cloud Security Alliance CSA is incorrect because the CSA is an industry group focused on cloud security best practices and research and it is not a governmental international forum that sets cross border privacy protections.

Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development OECD is incorrect for this question because although the OECD has issued influential privacy guidelines the question asks for the other major forum that established the Asia Pacific cross border privacy protections and the expected answer is APEC.

When a question asks about international privacy frameworks look for regional economic groups and remember that APEC created the Cross Border Privacy Rules system for the Asia Pacific region.

Data protection and security controls is the correct option to examine most closely when confirming compliance with applicable laws and regulatory obligations for MeridianRisk.

Examining Data protection and security controls focuses on how the cloud provider handles personal and sensitive information and whether their technical and organisational measures meet legal requirements. This includes data residency and cross border transfer rules, encryption and key management, access controls and identity management, logging and auditability, breach notification timelines, and the provider’s ability to support regulatory audits. It also covers contractual commitments such as data processing agreements and subcontractor obligations that demonstrate the provider will meet statutory duties.

Billing and invoicing arrangements are important for financial governance and cost management but they do not by themselves confirm compliance with privacy laws or industry regulations. Reviewing costs will not show whether data is protected or whether legal obligations are met.

Service level objectives and uptime guarantees define availability and performance expectations and they are essential for operational continuity. They do not address legal requirements such as data handling, breach reporting, or regulatory controls that determine compliance.

Contract termination and data export procedures are relevant because they touch on data return and deletion and on how data moves at the end of the relationship. They are still secondary to the broader Data protection and security controls which define ongoing compliance obligations and controls during the contract term.

When answering focus on clauses that show how data will be protected and how legal obligations will be met. Look for data processing agreements, breach notification, and data residency commitments first.

The correct option is Collect recovery requirements and define RTO and RPO.

Collecting recovery requirements identifies which business processes, supporting applications, data sets, and third party dependencies are essential to operations. Those requirements are the inputs needed to determine acceptable downtime and acceptable data loss levels. Setting recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives gives clear restoration priorities so planners can choose appropriate recovery strategies and resource commitments.

Perform a risk and impact assessment is not the immediate next step because that analysis normally supports establishing program boundaries and understanding threats and impacts. The question states the boundaries are already established so the team moves on to define what must be recovered and how quickly.

Produce final reports and update documentation is premature at this stage because documentation and final reports come after requirements are collected and plans are developed and validated.

Execute plan testing exercises comes later after the recovery requirements are defined and the recovery plans are created. Testing without defined RTO and RPO would not validate whether the plan meets business priorities.

Work the sequence in continuity questions. Confirm boundaries and risks first and then collect recovery requirements and set RTO and RPO before you design or test recovery plans.

The correct answer is OWASP.

OWASP is an open community that produces standards, tools, and educational resources for web and application security. It is not a commercial product that provides centralized log collection, event correlation, alerting, and incident management which are core functions of a SIEM.

Splunk is a commercial platform for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine data and it is commonly used as a SIEM or as a foundation for SIEM capabilities, so it is not the correct choice.

Google Chronicle is a cloud native security analytics platform from Google that provides large scale telemetry ingestion and threat detection, and it is marketed as a SIEM or SIEM-like solution, so it is not the correct choice.

ArcSight is an enterprise SIEM product originally from ArcSight and now offered by Micro Focus, and it provides event collection, correlation, and compliance reporting, so it is not the correct choice.

Carefully distinguish between community projects and commercial products. Look for vendor or product names when the question asks for a SIEM and flag organization names like OWASP as likely non products.

The correct option is Tampering with or gaining control of the cloud management plane.

Compromising the cloud management plane gives an attacker administrative authority over orchestration, identity and access controls, logging and monitoring, and resource lifecycles. With that level of control an attacker can create or delete resources across tenants, alter permissions to exfiltrate or destroy data, disable detection and remediation, and persist in ways that undermine the provider and customer security controls.

Because the cloud management plane is the central mechanism for configuring and enforcing security policies it is the single point where a breach can cascade across confidentiality, integrity, and availability for many customers and services. That systemic impact is why this threat poses the greatest danger to a managed cloud platform.

Large scale Distributed Denial of Service attacks mainly affect availability and are serious for operations. Providers and customers can deploy mitigations such as DDoS protection, traffic scrubbing, and scaling which limit the long term impact on platform security.

Targeted sabotage of regional power or network utility lines can cause significant regional outages, but it tends to affect availability rather than destroying platform controls or allowing wide administrative access. Cloud providers also design for redundancy and multi region failover which reduces the scope of permanent damage.

Escape of code or processes from virtual machine guest environments is a high severity risk when it occurs because it can expose other tenants or the host. Such escapes are relatively rare due to hypervisor hardening and isolation controls, and a successful management plane compromise typically offers broader and easier control than a guest escape.

When asked for the single most damaging cloud threat focus on what gives an attacker administrative control across tenants and resources. That will usually point to compromise of the management or control plane.

The correct answer is Virtualization.

Virtualization provides the hardware and software abstraction layer that allows cloud providers to run many isolated environments on the same physical servers. This abstraction makes it possible to provision virtual machines and containers quickly, to isolate tenants and workloads, and to apply resource controls and live migration features that modern cloud platforms require.

Object storage is an important cloud service for storing unstructured data, but it is an application level capability and not the underlying technology that enables the creation of isolated compute instances.

Multitenancy is a design goal and outcome of cloud platforms because they serve multiple customers on shared infrastructure, but it is enabled by virtualization rather than being the foundational enabling technology itself.

Resource pooling describes how cloud providers share and allocate resources across customers, but it is a characteristic of cloud operations rather than the core technology that makes those operations possible.

When a question asks about what is essential for cloud platforms look for the fundamental enabling mechanism and focus on abstraction and isolation as key clues.

Maintaining system backups for management components is the correct choice because it is the least critical control to prioritize when hardening the administrative plane of a cloud deployment.

Maintaining system backups for management components is important for recovery and business continuity but it does not directly prevent unauthorized access or compromise of administrative functions and controls. Backups help restore state after an incident but they do not reduce the immediate risk of credential theft, interception, or privileged misuse.

The primary hardening priorities are controls that prevent compromise and limit blast radius. Those protections reduce attack surface and stop attackers from gaining or abusing administrator privileges, and they therefore deserve higher priority than recoverability measures alone.

Enforcing encrypted channels for management traffic is critical because encryption protects credentials and management data in transit and prevents eavesdropping and tampering of administrative sessions. This control directly stops common interception attacks and is therefore a high priority.

Isolating management networks from production networks is critical because network isolation reduces the attack surface and prevents lateral movement into management systems. Segmentation and dedicated management paths make it much harder for an attacker to reach administrative interfaces.

Implementing strict role based access controls for administrators is critical because RBAC enforces least privilege and limits what administrators can do. Proper role separation and privilege restrictions reduce the impact of compromised accounts and improve auditability.

When choosing the least critical control look for measures that address recovery rather than prevention. Prioritize controls that block or limit access first and then ensure backups and recovery processes are in place.

The correct option is Implementing a zero trust network architecture that demands continuous verification of users and devices before access is granted.

Implementing a zero trust network architecture that demands continuous verification of users and devices before access is granted is correct because it shifts the security model from trusting network location to continuously validating identity and device posture for every request. This approach supports fine grained segmentation, least privilege, and microsegmentation across cloud resources and it reduces reliance on a single network perimeter which is often absent or porous in cloud deployments.

Establishing a demilitarized zone to separate internal systems from untrusted external traffic is a traditional perimeter control that assumes a trusted internal network and strong network edges. That model can help in on premises data centers but it does not provide continuous identity and device verification and it is less effective for dynamic cloud workloads.

Applying VPC Service Controls to enforce service perimeters around cloud resources refers to a vendor specific feature that can help protect managed services and APIs. It is useful for limiting data exfiltration but it does not replace an identity centric, continuous verification model and it is not a general architectural principle for zero trust across users and devices.

Deploying virtual network functions to emulate hardware firewall and router capabilities in software can provide flexible networking features and policy enforcement, but those functions behave as network appliances and they do not by themselves implement the continuous verification of users and devices that a zero trust architecture requires.

When a question asks about cloud segmentation think identity first, verify devices continuously and prefer microsegmentation and least privilege over relying on a single network perimeter.

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

The correct option is Data de-identification.

Data de-identification is the category that includes obfuscation because it covers techniques that remove or alter personal identifiers to reduce the chance of re identification. This category includes masking, pseudonymization, anonymization and other obfuscation methods that aim to preserve data utility while protecting privacy.

Data de-identification focuses on breaking the link between data and the original identity so that records cannot be tied back to an individual without additional information. Obfuscation is a natural fit under this goal because it transforms or hides identifying elements rather than relying solely on cryptographic secrecy.

Hashing is incorrect because hashing is a one way cryptographic transformation used for integrity checks and creating fixed length fingerprints. It is not primarily an obfuscation technique for preserving analytic utility or reversible pseudonymization.

Encryption is incorrect because encryption protects confidentiality by converting data into ciphertext that is reversible with a key. That property makes encryption different from obfuscation methods used in de identification which are intended to mask or remove identifiers while allowing safe use of the data.

Key management is incorrect because it is an operational practice that supports cryptographic techniques rather than a category of data protection that includes obfuscation. Key management is about generating storing and protecting keys and it does not itself change data to remove identifiers.

When a question asks about obfuscation look for the choice that focuses on removing or masking identifiers such as data de-identification or pseudonymization rather than cryptographic primitives.

Dynamic optimization is correct because it names the continual process of monitoring and adjusting resource placement and allocations so workloads are balanced and resources are available on demand.

Dynamic optimization describes an ongoing feedback loop that observes utilization and performance and then shifts workloads or tweaks allocations automatically to prevent any single server from becoming overloaded. It is a continuous operational practice rather than a one time reaction.

Distributed resource scheduling is incorrect because it is a vendor specific feature name, often used for VMware DRS, and it names a particular implementation rather than the general continuous optimization process described in the question.

Auto scaling is incorrect because it primarily adds or removes instances to change capacity based on thresholds. It is focused on changing the number of resources rather than continuously redistributing workloads across existing servers.

High availability is incorrect because it focuses on keeping services running during failures and minimizing downtime rather than actively balancing or reoptimizing workload placement to avoid overload.

When a question uses words like ongoing or continuous think about processes that constantly monitor and adjust resources rather than single actions such as scaling or failover.

The correct option is Agile.

Agile emphasizes short iterations and frequent releases so teams can deliver new features and fix defects quickly. It relies on close collaboration with stakeholders and regular feedback loops which let priorities shift and improvements be delivered rapidly. Continuous integration and automated testing commonly accompany this approach which reduces the time between finding and resolving defects.

Iterative uses repeated cycles of development, but it does not necessarily include the full set of practices such as continuous stakeholder collaboration and rapid release cadences that characterize Agile.

Waterfall is a linear, sequential model with requirements defined up front and final delivery at the end which makes it unsuitable for fast, frequent updates or rapid defect resolution.

DevOps focuses on automating deployment pipelines and improving collaboration between development and operations. It complements Agile by speeding delivery and operations, but it is not itself the core software development methodology that specifies iterative planning, sprinting, and stakeholder feedback which are the hallmarks of Agile.

When a question stresses rapid delivery and frequent feedback look for the option that explicitly describes short iterations and continuous stakeholder involvement.

The correct option is Elastic scaling capability.

Elastic scaling capability is a feature or characteristic of cloud platforms that describes the ability to grow and shrink resources with demand and it is implemented by the management components rather than being a separate primary component itself. Management frameworks typically define core functional components such as Orchestration, Cloud Scheduler, and Maintenance, and elasticity is achieved by those components working together.

Cloud Scheduler is incorrect because scheduling and allocation of tasks and resources is a distinct management component in cloud frameworks. A scheduler coordinates when and where workloads run and it is considered one of the primary framework parts.

Maintenance is incorrect because ongoing operational tasks like patching monitoring and lifecycle management form a core component of cloud management. Maintenance ensures health and continuity and it is therefore part of the primary framework.

Orchestration is incorrect because orchestration automates provisioning and coordinates multiple services and workflows and it is widely recognized as a central component of cloud management frameworks. Orchestration helps enable elasticity but it is not the same as the elasticity capability itself.

Focus on whether an option names a component or a capability. Elasticity is typically a capability enabled by components like orchestration, scheduling, and maintenance. Choose component names when the question asks for primary framework parts.

Removing files using the operating system delete command is the correct choice because it would not be sufficient to reliably and permanently remove sensitive data from cloud storage.

The operating system delete command typically removes directory entries and marks space as available while leaving the underlying data intact until it is overwritten. In cloud environments there are additional copies and layers to consider such as backups snapshots replication and object versioning that can retain the data long after a file is deleted. Because you usually do not control physical media in the cloud a simple delete cannot guarantee permanent sanitization.

Overwriting storage sectors with random patterns is not the correct answer to this question because when you have low level access to the storage device overwriting sectors is an accepted sanitization method for magnetic disks. It is far more likely to prevent recovery than a simple OS delete, although SSDs require special handling due to wear leveling.

Cryptographic erasure by revoking or destroying encryption keys is not the correct answer because cryptographic erasure is a reliable cloud friendly technique. If data is encrypted with strong keys and the keys are securely destroyed or revoked the ciphertext becomes unreadable and that effectively renders the data unrecoverable.

Performing a zero fill overwrite of the storage device is not the correct answer because a full zero fill is a common sanitization process that can remove residual data when you control the device. Like random overwrites it is stronger than an OS level delete, though some storage types and cloud scenarios may require additional or different methods.

When the question asks which practice is not sufficient think about whether the method only removes pointers or whether it actually destroys the underlying data. OS deletes typically only remove pointers while cryptographic erasure and proper overwrites target the data itself.

The correct answer is Virtualization technology.

Virtualization technology provides an abstraction layer between physical hardware and the software that runs on it. It allows multiple isolated virtual machines or containers to run on the same host and that isolation and abstraction enable rapid provisioning efficient use of hardware and flexible allocation of CPU memory storage and networking.

Virtualization technology is what enables resource pooling on demand scaling and secure shared tenancy when combined with orchestration automation and security controls. Cloud platforms build higher level services on top of this foundation.

On demand scalability is an important cloud capability but it is a consequence of technologies and processes such as Virtualization technology plus orchestration automation and elastic resource management rather than being the foundational technology itself.

Pooled resource allocation describes the outcome of abstracting hardware and managing resources. That outcome depends on Virtualization technology and management layers to make pooling possible.

Shared tenancy model refers to how multiple customers can share infrastructure while remaining isolated. That model is enabled by Virtualization technology and associated security and isolation mechanisms rather than being the primary enabling technology.

When you must choose the primary enabler pick the core technology that provides abstraction and isolation rather than a feature. Remember virtualization underpins pooling scaling and multi tenancy in cloud platforms.

Data governance and lifecycle management is the responsibility the cloud customer always retains.

Data governance and lifecycle management includes decisions about data classification access control retention policies encryption keys and deletion. Cloud providers can offer tools for storage backup encryption and key management but they do not determine your business rules compliance obligations or the retention and disposal of your data so the customer remains accountable across IaaS PaaS and SaaS.

Operating system and server patching is not always the customer responsibility because in PaaS and SaaS the provider manages the operating system and server maintenance. It is a customer task in IaaS but that variability means it is not a duty the customer always retains.

Network configuration and routing can be the customer responsibility in IaaS and in some PaaS offerings where virtual networks are under customer control. Managed SaaS offerings shift network management to the provider so this is not universally the customer responsibility.

Data center physical security is managed by the cloud provider and their hosting partners. Customers rely on provider controls for facility access environmental protections and hardware security so physical security of the data center is not a customer retained duty.

When you see shared responsibility questions focus on who controls the data and its lifecycle. Look for answers that mention data governance retention or deletion since those responsibilities remain with the customer across IaaS PaaS and SaaS.

Infrastructure as a Service model is correct.

Infrastructure as a Service model follows a shared responsibility model at the infrastructure layer because the cloud provider is responsible for the physical datacenter, physical hosts, networking, and the virtualization layer while the customer is responsible for the guest operating system, applications, data, and access controls. These overlapping duties mean both parties share responsibility for protecting data privacy related to the infrastructure.

Software as a Service is incorrect because the provider manages the application stack and most of the infrastructure and data handling responsibilities, which leaves the customer with far less responsibility at the infrastructure layer.

Platform as a Service is incorrect because the vendor controls the platform runtime and much of the underlying infrastructure, and the customer focuses on code and data, so the division of responsibility at the infrastructure layer is different from IaaS.

Desktop as a Service is incorrect because it is a managed desktop offering in which the provider typically manages the underlying infrastructure and desktop images, and it does not represent the standard IaaS shared responsibility split at the infrastructure layer.

Ask which layers the provider manages and which layers the customer manages, and remember that in IaaS the customer controls the guest OS and data while the provider controls the physical infrastructure.

The correct option is External certification attainment.

External certification attainment is generally not a main concern for the internal audit team in a mid sized software company. Internal audit provides independent assurance over governance risk and controls and it may review readiness for certifications or assess controls that support compliance, but managing or achieving external certifications is typically owned by management compliance or a dedicated quality function rather than by internal audit.

Cost control and budgeting is not correct because internal audit often evaluates financial controls and budgetary processes to ensure risks are managed and controls are operating as intended. Reviewing cost controls is a common part of financial and operational audits.

Control and process design is not correct because assessing the design of controls and processes is a core activity for internal audit. Auditors test whether controls are suitably designed to mitigate risks and they recommend improvements when gaps are found.

Operational effectiveness and efficiency is not correct because internal audit conducts operational audits to determine whether business processes are efficient effective and aligned with organizational objectives. Improving operational performance is a frequent audit objective.

When deciding which functions internal audit is responsible for focus on independent assurance and risk based review. If a task is about executing or owning a program rather than assuring it then it is less likely to be an internal audit responsibility.

The correct answer is Replacing sensitive data elements with a nonmeaningful or randomized token.

Tokenization replaces an original sensitive value with a surrogate value that has no intrinsic meaning. The mapping between the token and the original data is kept in a secure token vault or mapping system and it is required to reverse the token back to the original value. This approach reduces exposure of the sensitive data and limits the systems that need strong protections.

A program of policies and tools that ensures only authorized personnel can view sensitive information is describing access control or data governance and not the specific technique of substituting data values. That answer is therefore incorrect.

Converting input into a fixed length digest using a one way mathematical function describes hashing. Hashing is typically one way and cannot be reversed without brute force or a lookup table, so it differs from tokenization which relies on a reversible mapping under controlled conditions.

A practice for storing and protecting cryptographic keys describes key management and is not tokenization. Tokenization does not primarily refer to key storage and management.

When you see choices about replacing data versus transforming data remember that tokenization substitutes a surrogate value and stores a mapping, while hashing is one way and encryption relies on keys.

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

Isolation of application runtimes and dependencies is the correct option because containers package an application with its libraries and runtime so each service runs in a separate, consistent environment which reduces conflicts and the risk that a compromise of one service will directly affect others.

Containers provide process and resource isolation through kernel features such as namespaces and cgroups which helps limit the blast radius of an attack and enforces separation of application runtimes and dependencies. This isolation is the primary security benefit when moving workloads to containers in the cloud, and it also makes builds reproducible and easier to scan for vulnerabilities.

That said containers share the host kernel so isolation is not identical to full virtual machines and you still need runtime hardening, least privilege, image signing, and patching to maintain a strong security posture.

Identity-Aware Proxy is incorrect because it is an access control and identity based gateway for protecting application access and it does not describe a property of container technology itself.

Improved network isolation through VPC configurations is incorrect because VPCs and cloud network controls relate to cloud networking design rather than the intrinsic security property of containers which is runtime and dependency isolation.

Encrypted persistent storage is incorrect because encryption of storage protects data at rest and is independent of containerization and can be applied to virtual machines and other compute models as well.

When asked about the primary security advantage of containers focus on their ability to provide isolated runtimes and bundled dependencies rather than on network or storage features which are separate controls.

The correct answer is Define the plan boundaries then collect requirements then perform analysis then conduct a risk assessment then design solutions then deploy then execute tests then report findings and revise the plan.

This sequence is correct because defining plan boundaries first establishes scope and priorities and it focuses the requirements collection on the most critical systems. Gathering requirements after boundaries are clear produces usable inputs for the analysis phase.

Performing analysis and then a formal risk assessment before design ensures that threats, impacts, and acceptable recovery objectives drive the architecture of the solution. Designing and deploying after risk decisions are made reduces the chance of rework. Executing tests and then reporting findings allows the team to revise the plan based on observed gaps and lessons learned.

Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then design solutions then assess risks then implement then analyze then test then document and refine is incorrect because it delays defining scope until after requirements are collected and it places design before the risk assessment and analysis. Designing before assessing risks can lead to solutions that do not address the true threats or recovery objectives.

Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then design then assess risks then implement then analyze then test then document and update the plan is incorrect for the same reasons. This order still has design occurring before a proper risk assessment and analysis and it proceeds to implementation before those validation steps are complete. That increases the chance of deploying ineffective or unnecessary controls.

Collect requirements then define the plan boundaries then assess risks then design then implement then analyze then test then report and revise is incorrect because it puts requirements collection before scope definition which can dilute focus. It also delays analysis until after implementation which prevents early validation of assumptions and can require costly changes after deployment.

When answering sequence questions, look for steps that establish scope and identify risk before design or implementation. The correct order usually defines boundaries then gathers requirements then analyzes and assesses risk before designing or deploying.

The correct option is Shared responsibility model.

Shared responsibility model describes the division of security duties between the cloud provider and the tenant where the vendor secures the platform and infrastructure and the tenant secures the applications and data they deploy. The provider is responsible for elements like physical datacenter security, host and network infrastructure, and managed services. The tenant is responsible for things such as identity and access management, application configuration, and data protection including encryption and backups.

Software defined storage is a storage architecture that abstracts storage management from hardware and it does not define which party secures the cloud platform versus customer data.

Zero trust model is a security posture that requires continuous verification of users and devices and strict access controls. It is about how access is granted and enforced and not about the split of responsibilities between provider and tenant.

Security by design is a development principle that promotes building security into systems from the start. It is a design approach and not a model that assigns operational security responsibilities between a cloud vendor and a tenant.

When a question contrasts what the cloud provider secures with what the customer secures think of the Shared responsibility model and then map provider duties to infrastructure and tenant duties to applications and data.

The correct answer is Reduced operational control.

When you colocate equipment you physically own the servers but you place them inside a third party facility. That arrangement means the facility operator controls physical access, maintenance windows, environmental systems, power infrastructure, and many of the on site operational procedures. Those factors lead to Reduced operational control because you cannot directly manage many day to day activities the way you would in your own data center.

Potentially higher long term costs is not the primary disadvantage because colocation often reduces capital expenditure and can be cost effective compared with building and operating your own facility. Costs vary by provider and needs so it is not the defining trade off.

Complexity in maintaining compliance can be a concern but it is usually a shared responsibility. Many colocation providers offer certifications and controls that help with compliance, so the main drawback remains the loss of hands on operational control rather than compliance complexity alone.

Constraints on rapid scaling can occur if rack space or power is limited and procurement lead times exist. However scaling in a colo is often faster than building a new owned facility, so this is not the primary disadvantage when compared to reduced operational control.

Focus on who keeps hands on control when comparing colocation and owning a data center. Look for terms like control over physical access or operational procedures because those point to the main disadvantage.

Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service is correct because both service models commonly place responsibility for applying software patches on the cloud customer for the software they install and manage.

With IaaS the provider supplies virtualized compute, storage, and networking while the customer installs and maintains guest operating systems, middleware, and applications. The customer therefore must patch the OS and application software running on IaaS virtual machines.

With PaaS the provider manages the underlying host OS and runtime platform but the customer is responsible for their application code and any frameworks or libraries they add. That means the customer must apply patches for their applications and components that the platform does not fully manage.

Platform as a Service only is incorrect because the expectation to patch customer-managed software also exists for IaaS so selecting PaaS alone is incomplete.

Google Cloud managed services is incorrect because managed services are an implementation detail and responsibilities vary by service. Many managed services include provider patching so this option is not a general cloud service model to use for the exam question.

Infrastructure as a Service only is incorrect because although IaaS customers do handle OS and application patching the same customer responsibility also applies to PaaS for application level patches so the correct answer must include both models.

Software as a Service only is incorrect because SaaS providers deliver and manage the full application stack and they are typically responsible for applying patches to the software and the underlying infrastructure.

When you get shared responsibility questions identify which layers the provider controls and which layers the customer controls. Customer responsibility usually begins where the customer installs a guest OS or application code.

The correct answer is DNSSEC.

DNSSEC provides signatures that ensure the authenticity and integrity of DNS responses, and it does not encrypt the payload of general network traffic. Because it is focused on validating DNS records rather than encrypting application or service data, it is not typically used to protect data as it moves between stores and services.

HTTPS is incorrect because it uses TLS to encrypt HTTP traffic between clients and servers and therefore protects data in transit across networks.

IPSec is incorrect because it operates at the IP layer and can provide confidentiality and integrity for IP packets, and it is commonly used to secure traffic between hosts or sites.

VPN is incorrect because a virtual private network creates an encrypted tunnel between endpoints and secures all traffic that traverses that tunnel, and VPNs are commonly used to protect data moving between locations and cloud services.

Focus on whether the protocol provides encryption of payload data or only authenticity and integrity. DNSSEC signs DNS records but does not encrypt application data.

Cloud Service Partner is correct because the third party document storage vendor is collaborating with a major cloud platform to deliver services in regions where it lacks its own data centers.

A Cloud Service Partner typically extends a cloud platform’s reach by providing software, delivery, regional presence, or channel services that complement the platform. The partner works with the platform to deliver solutions in locations where the partner or the platform alone might not have presence, and the relationship focuses on joint delivery and go to market activities.

Cloud Service Broker is incorrect. A broker intermediates between providers and customers to aggregate, integrate, or manage services and it does not usually describe a vendor teaming with a platform to extend regional delivery in the way a partner does.

Cloud Service Customer (CSC) is incorrect. A customer consumes and pays for cloud services rather than forming a collaborative arrangement to deliver services on the provider’s regional footprint.

Cloud Service Provider (CSP) is incorrect. A provider owns or operates the underlying cloud infrastructure and offers it as a service. In this scenario the document storage vendor is leveraging the platform rather than operating the global infrastructure itself, so the vendor is a partner rather than the provider.

When a vendor teams with a cloud platform to reach new regions think partner or channel rather than broker, customer, or primary provider. Focus on who owns the infrastructure and who is extending delivery.

The correct option is Application portability across cloud providers.

This capability means the application is designed and packaged so it can run on different cloud platforms with minimal rework. Portability is achieved by using platform neutral runtimes and packaging such as containers, relying on open standards and orchestration, and by keeping infrastructure as code and configuration portable. When those practices are followed the application and its supporting components can be migrated from one vendor to another.

Cloud data portability is focused on moving data between environments and does not by itself address runtime dependencies, configuration, or service bindings that an application needs to run on a new cloud platform.

Multitenancy describes sharing resources among multiple customers or tenants and it does not enable moving an application between different cloud vendors. It is an architectural model rather than a migration capability.

Rapid scalability refers to the ability to scale resources up or down quickly on a given platform and it does not provide the portability or independence needed to transfer an application between cloud providers.

When a question asks about moving an entire application between vendors look for wording about portability across cloud providers. Think about containerization and avoiding proprietary managed services to improve portability.

The correct option is It has been structurally tested.

It has been structurally tested reflects the Common Criteria definition of EAL2. This level requires that the evaluator examine the design and perform structured testing and analysis to confirm that the specified security functions are implemented correctly. EAL2 gives more assurance than basic functional testing but it does not reach the design rigor of higher EALs.

It has undergone functional testing describes EAL1, which is limited to basic functional testing and offers the lowest assurance level. That makes this option incorrect for EAL2.

It was methodically tested and checked corresponds to EAL3, which requires a more thorough, methodical assessment and more design documentation than EAL2. Therefore this option is not correct for EAL2.

It has a formally verified design and extensive proof through testing describes the very high assurance levels such as EAL7 where formal verification and proofs are required. This is far beyond the scope of EAL2 and so it is incorrect.

When you see EAL numbers match the keyword in the option to the label. Pay attention to functionally, structurally, methodically, and formally to quickly map EAL1 through EAL7.

The correct option is Unvalidated redirects and forwards.

This situation occurs when an application sends users to external destinations based on input that is not checked. An attacker can craft a link that looks legitimate but sends a user to a malicious site to phish credentials or host malware. The core problem is lack of validation of the destination URL which is exactly what unvalidated redirects and forwards describe.

Sensitive data exposure is incorrect because that category deals with failures to protect confidential information in storage or transit and not with redirecting users to malicious pages.

Broken access control is incorrect because that refers to users gaining actions or resources they are not authorized to access and not to being redirected to an attacker controlled site.

Security misconfiguration is incorrect because that covers incorrect server or framework settings that expose systems and not the specific issue of accepting attacker controlled redirect destinations without validation.

When a question mentions user supplied URLs or redirection think of unvalidated redirects and forwards and look for mitigations like allowlists and strict validation of destination hosts.

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

The correct answer is To reduce the risk of log tampering by storing records outside the original hosts.

Keeping logs in a central, protected repository reduces the chance that an attacker who compromises a server can modify or delete the original audit trail. Central storage enables separate access controls, immutable write once or append only settings, and independent backup procedures which preserve the integrity of records for investigations and compliance.

To combine events from different systems for improved incident detection is not the primary security advantage. Central collection does improve detection through correlation and context but that is a detection benefit rather than the core security control against tampering. The principal security gain is preventing adversaries from altering logs by keeping copies outside the original hosts.

To ensure stored logs are encrypted to meet regulatory requirements is incorrect because centralizing logs does not automatically provide encryption. Encryption must be implemented as a separate technical control in transit and at rest to satisfy regulatory requirements and it can be applied whether logs are stored locally or centrally.

To feed alerts to enforcement systems for automated traffic blocking is incorrect because routing alerts to enforcement tools is an operational capability built on top of monitoring. Central storage supports alerting and automation but feeding enforcement systems is a response function and not the primary security advantage of storing logs off their original hosts.

Focus on the word primary in the question. Centralized logging mainly provides protection of evidence and resilience against tampering by keeping records off the original hosts.

The correct answer is Control and process documentation.

This foundational component establishes the baseline of what must be protected and how it should be protected. It defines responsibilities, control objectives, acceptable behavior, logging requirements, and metrics that tell you what to monitor and why. Monitoring activities and technologies follow from the documented controls so they align with risk priorities and operational procedures.

Vulnerability scanning is an important technical activity but it is not the starting point. Scanning finds technical weaknesses, but it requires an inventory of assets and an understanding of which vulnerabilities map to documented controls and risks.

Security operations center describes an organizational function and not the documentation that must exist first. A SOC depends on policies and process definitions to set priorities, escalation paths, and responsibilities for handling alerts.

Security information and event management is a toolset for aggregating and analyzing logs. It is highly useful for monitoring but it must be configured based on documented controls and logging requirements so it monitors the right events and produces actionable alerts.

When a question asks where monitoring should begin look for the answer that creates a baseline first. Policies, documented controls, and process ownership come before tools like SIEMs and teams like SOCs.

The correct answer is Proxy relay. In a federated authentication exchange that role is not one of the three primary parties which are the User the Identity provider and the Relying party.

Proxy relay is not a standard participant in SAML or OpenID Connect. A proxy or relay may appear as an intermediary component that forwards messages or manages network traffic but it is not counted as one of the three principal parties that perform authentication and token or assertion exchange.

Relying party is incorrect because the relying party is a primary participant that consumes assertions or tokens and relies on the identity provider to authenticate the user. It is often called the service provider in SAML and the client in OAuth and OpenID Connect.

User is incorrect because the user or principal initiates the authentication and is one of the three core parties in any federated authentication flow.

Identity provider is incorrect because the identity provider issues authentication assertions or tokens and vouches for the user, making it a primary participant in federated exchange.

Remember the three primary roles the user the identity provider and the relying party. If an option sounds like infrastructure it is usually not one of the main parties.

The correct answer is OpenID Connect.

OpenID Connect is an identity layer that builds on the OAuth 2.0 authorization framework and it is specifically designed to provide user authentication for web and mobile applications. It issues an ID token typically as a JSON Web Token and it uses OAuth 2.0 flows for consent and token exchange so third party web applications can verify user identity securely.

SAML 2.0 is an XML based federation protocol that provides single sign on and authentication assertions but it is not built on top of OAuth 2.0 and it does not use the OAuth ID token model, so it does not match the requirement in this question.

Google Cloud Identity is a cloud identity management service and product rather than an authentication protocol built on OAuth 2.0, so it is not the protocol asked for here.

WS-Federation is a Microsoft claims based federation protocol used in some legacy enterprise scenarios and it is not implemented on top of OAuth 2.0. It is increasingly superseded by modern standards like OpenID Connect and it is less likely to be the intended answer on newer exams.

Remember that OAuth 2.0 is an authorization framework and that OpenID Connect adds authentication on top of it. When a question asks for authentication built on OAuth look for the protocol name rather than a product or service.

The correct option is Overwriting data.

Overwriting data is a method you can execute remotely in a cloud environment because it works at the logical block level and does not require physical access to the underlying hardware. Overwriting writes new patterns over the storage blocks that held the sensitive records so the previous contents become unrecoverable by normal means and this is the practical approach available to tenants of public cloud platforms.

Overwriting data aligns with common cloud provider practices where logical wipes or secure erase operations are performed when disks are reprovisioned or explicitly sanitized. In many cloud architectures you can also combine overwriting with cryptographic erase by destroying encryption keys to achieve rapid and verifiable data sanitization when physical access is not possible.

Deleting Compute Engine disks and snapshots is incorrect because simple deletion typically removes logical pointers but does not guarantee that the underlying storage blocks have been overwritten. Snapshots may persist or be retained by the provider and deleted objects can remain on physical media until they are sanitized.

Physical shredding is incorrect because it requires physical access to hardware and destructive handling of media. A cloud tenant cannot perform shredding on provider hardware and the provider must handle any such physical destruction.

Degaussing magnetic media is incorrect because it also requires physical access and it is not effective for many modern storage types such as solid state drives. Degaussing is not an option a remote cloud tenant can execute to sanitize data.

When you cannot reach the hardware think about actions you can take at the logical or cryptographic level. Overwriting or destroying encryption keys are the remote methods that typically satisfy secure deletion requirements.