ISC2 SSCP Certification Exam Questions

In practical biometric identity systems which parts of the body are most readily available for use in recognition?

• ❏ A. Feet and hair

• ❏ B. Hands face and eyes

• ❏ C. Voice and gait

• ❏ D. Neck and mouth

A retail payments company called TerraPay is reviewing the Clark-Wilson model for its ledger platform. The model defines three integrity objectives for commercial systems. Which of the following is not one of those integrity objectives?

• ❏ A. Prevention of modification of data by unauthorized users

• ❏ B. Prevention of modification of data by authorized users

• ❏ C. Prevention of unauthorized or inadvertent modification of data by authorized users

• ❏ D. Preservation of internal and external consistency

When an enterprise adopts role based access control how are access rights usually determined?

• ❏ A. Google Cloud IAM predefined roles

• ❏ B. The user’s own preference

• ❏ C. Permissions are assigned according to the organization’s defined roles and job responsibilities

• ❏ D. Based on the count of devices a user administers

Which assessment approach is most likely to be impacted by inaccuracies in the written technical documentation for an enterprise network and its security controls?

• ❏ A. Gray box testing

• ❏ B. Spectrum box testing

• ❏ C. Black box testing

• ❏ D. White box testing

What name is given to a security approach where resource permissions are decided individually based on a user’s role and additional contextual risk factors?

• ❏ A. Discretionary access control

• ❏ B. Need to know principle

• ❏ C. Zero trust access model

• ❏ D. Role based access control

Who should usually be granted access to operational logs in an enterprise cloud environment?

• ❏ A. Make operational logs available to every employee

• ❏ B. Grant access only to authorized personnel using role based permissions

• ❏ C. Cloud Audit Logs

• ❏ D. Allow individual users to view logs so they can verify their own actions

When a mid-sized consultancy implements monitoring of employee e-mail, which practice should be avoided?

• ❏ A. Publish an acceptable use policy that defines allowable e-mail activities

• ❏ B. Inform all personnel that their e-mail may be inspected

• ❏ C. State which roles may access mail and how long archives are kept

• ❏ D. Limit surveillance to a small set of employees while excluding the rest

A cybersecurity team at a regional chain called Lakeview Mercantile is collecting suspect disks for a compliance review. Which type of tool is intended to keep the stored data from being altered while it is being collected?

• ❏ A. Hashing utility

• ❏ B. Debugging tool

• ❏ C. Forensic write blocker

• ❏ D. Drive cloning utility

What is a likely security consequence if centralized authentication credentials are exposed to an attacker?

• ❏ A. Older on premises applications may not integrate with centralized authentication

• ❏ B. A single compromised login can grant entry to all linked services

• ❏ C. SSO forces users to maintain more complex passwords for each service

• ❏ D. Recovery operations can increase help desk workload

Which of the listed security services is not delivered by the Digital Signature Standard for signing electronic messages?

• ❏ A. Digital signature

• ❏ B. Integrity

• ❏ C. Authentication

• ❏ D. Encryption

A security architect at Meridian Labs is evaluating symmetric cipher options and needs to know which statement about block ciphers versus stream ciphers is accurate?

• ❏ A. Cloud KMS

• ❏ B. Block ciphers function without using any cryptographic keys

• ❏ C. Block ciphers encrypt data in fixed sized blocks while stream ciphers encrypt data one bit or one byte at a time

• ❏ D. Block ciphers are exclusively employed in public key cryptography

A systems engineer at Blueforge cannot reach a customer facing website and physical cabling and the data link layer have both been confirmed as operational. Following the OSI layer troubleshooting sequence what should be investigated next?

• ❏ A. Cloud Load Balancing configuration

• ❏ B. Presentation Layer data encoding

• ❏ C. Network Layer IP addressing and routing

• ❏ D. Session Layer connection state

Why does knowledge of the link layer matter for securing networks and improving local traffic handling?

• ❏ A. It supplies encryption across an entire communication path

• ❏ B. It decides end to end internet routing paths

• ❏ C. It manages MAC addresses and handles local frame transmission

• ❏ D. It obviates the need for the physical signaling layer

Where should a demilitarized zone be placed relative to an organization’s Internet facing firewall and internal network?

• ❏ A. Placed on the Internet side of the Internet facing firewall with direct public access

• ❏ B. Located immediately behind the Internet facing firewall and isolated from the internal LAN

• ❏ C. Situated directly behind the first internal active network firewall within the private LAN

• ❏ D. Placed behind a passive HTTP only edge filter rather than a full perimeter firewall

A security analyst at Aurora Systems wants to compile an inventory of active hosts on the corporate network and generate a network topology map. Which tool is most appropriate for performing this discovery task?

• ❏ A. OpenVAS

• ❏ B. Nessus

• ❏ C. sqlmap

• ❏ D. nmap

All ISC2 questions come from my SSCP Udemy course and certificactionexams.pro

What is the primary objective when a company assesses the risks it has discovered and quantified?

• ❏ A. Cloud Security Command Center

• ❏ B. To estimate the probable financial loss associated with a risk event

• ❏ C. To match calculated risk levels to the organization’s risk appetite to guide decision making

• ❏ D. To pinpoint new strategic opportunities that arise from identified risks

A regional accounting firm called Harborpoint is preparing for a legal review after a client dispute and the investigators ask which issue commonly complicates examinations of electronic evidence and records?

• ❏ A. Maintaining chain of custody in cloud environments is straightforward

• ❏ B. Digital information is always a physical tangible form

• ❏ C. Records produced by computer systems are frequently considered hearsay and may be inadmissible unless a proper business record foundation is shown

• ❏ D. Computer forensics rarely requires expert testimony

A financial services firm called Meridian Systems wants to implement security controls that reflect its reporting structure and job responsibilities. Which access control model allows security administrators to define and enforce firm specific policies that align naturally with roles and departments?

• ❏ A. Attribute based access control

• ❏ B. Access control list

• ❏ C. Role based access control

• ❏ D. Discretionary access control

A logistics firm enforces access by evaluating a mix of attributes such as employee job title and business division. Which access control model is most appropriate?

• ❏ A. Cloud IAM

• ❏ B. Discretionary access control

• ❏ C. Role based access control

• ❏ D. Rule based access control

A regional fintech called NovaPay needs to pick a protocol that is defined as a key distribution method which uses hybrid encryption to deliver session keys and which establishes a single long lived key so that future sessions require no prior handshake to exchange keys. Which protocol fits that description?

• ❏ A. Diffie-Hellman key exchange

• ❏ B. Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols

• ❏ C. Cloud Key Management Service

• ❏ D. Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol

In a regional retail chain what is the primary purpose of RFID technology in daily operations?

• ❏ A. Cloud IoT Core

• ❏ B. Contactless payment facilitation

• ❏ C. Asset tracking and inventory management

• ❏ D. Support for voice call communication

A regional payments platform plans to run a series of tests and evaluations to confirm its new service meets the documented design and security requirements. What term best describes the activity of executing tests to confirm compliance with those specifications?

• ❏ A. Security testing

• ❏ B. Assessment

• ❏ C. Verification

• ❏ D. Validation

Which protocol listed below operates at the transport layer rather than at the Internet layer of the TCP IP protocol model?

• ❏ A. Internet Group Management Protocol

• ❏ B. Internet Control Message Protocol

• ❏ C. User Datagram Protocol

• ❏ D. Internet Protocol

During a site security review with the on-site protection team at a cloud colocation facility which duties would a Systems Security Certified Practitioner typically perform? (Choose 2)

• ❏ A. Managing issuance of access credentials and visitor badges

• ❏ B. Auditing network firewall rules for protections against onsite tampering

• ❏ C. Performing a physical vulnerability assessment of the facility infrastructure

• ❏ D. Planning the server room architectural layout and rack placements

If a technology firm mishandles customers’ personal information can it face civil litigation for privacy violations in the same way it can be sued for a security breach?

• ❏ A. False

• ❏ B. True

Which incident most frequently disrupts an organization and prevents it from operating normally?

• ❏ A. Severe storm activity

• ❏ B. Loss of electrical service

• ❏ C. Water intrusion from leaks or flooding

• ❏ D. Labor workforce stoppage

Which of the following does not describe a limitation or common behavior of stateless packet filtering routers?

• ❏ A. They make permit or deny decisions using only packet header fields such as source and destination addresses protocols and ports

• ❏ B. They fail to prevent IP or DNS address spoofing

• ❏ C. They are suitable for moderate risk environments

• ❏ D. They cannot enforce robust user authentication

Where should a demilitarized zone be placed in relation to an organization’s primary Internet facing firewall?

• ❏ A. Directly in front of the organization’s external firewall on the Internet side

• ❏ B. Immediately behind the organization’s external firewall

• ❏ C. Behind the first internal active network firewall

• ❏ D. Behind a passive HTTP only perimeter filter

Which Bluetooth technique could be exploited to send attacker supplied content to a target device and potentially be used to deliver malicious payloads?

• ❏ A. Bluesnarfing

• ❏ B. Bluebugging

• ❏ C. Bluejacking

• ❏ D. Bluetracing

Which security control could push a system technician to conspire with staff in another department to gain unauthorized access to protected information?

• ❏ A. Periodic rotation of operations staff between teams

• ❏ B. Enforcing mandatory password expiration policies

• ❏ C. Ongoing review of Cloud Audit Logs

• ❏ D. Restricting local production access for operations personnel

During a public DNS lookup what is the main function of a top level domain name server?

• ❏ A. Cache DNS answers for commonly looked up hostnames

• ❏ B. Return the resolved IP address for the requested hostname

• ❏ C. Refer queries to the authoritative name servers for the specific domain suffix

• ❏ D. Hold and distribute the global root zone information

A regional software company wants to reduce how much data is written during each backup job. Which backup approach results in the smallest amount of data recorded for each backup operation?

• ❏ A. Differential backup

• ❏ B. Compute Engine snapshots

• ❏ C. Incremental backup

• ❏ D. Full backup

Why are automated security solutions essential for managing ephemeral container workloads in cloud native environments?

• ❏ A. They reduce the need for manual identity and access management tasks

• ❏ B. They increase container performance by optimizing resource usage

• ❏ C. They keep pace with the ephemeral nature of containers so security actions remain timely

• ❏ D. They enable continuous vulnerability scanning and policy enforcement across clusters

Which baseline documents the configurations for physical and virtual devices within an organization’s architecture?

• ❏ A. Data architecture baseline

• ❏ B. Security controls baseline

• ❏ C. Information systems architecture baseline

• ❏ D. Technology infrastructure architecture baseline

A software firm named Crestpoint is building a bespoke application and opts for a Platform as a Service approach to cut operational overhead and speed up releases. What is the primary benefit of selecting PaaS for this project?

• ❏ A. Google Kubernetes Engine

• ❏ B. Integrated autoscaling with preconfigured development stacks to accelerate application delivery

• ❏ C. Simplified transfer of data across multiple cloud vendors without extra migration tooling

• ❏ D. Complete administrative control of the underlying physical hardware and network configuration

The correct option is Hands face and eyes.

Hands face and eyes are most readily available because they cover widely used physiological traits such as fingerprints and hand geometry, facial features, and the eye structures used in iris or retina recognition. These traits are relatively easy to capture with standard sensors, they offer high distinctiveness and permanence, and they are supported by mature standards and large deployments which makes them the default choices in practical systems.

Feet and hair are not commonly used for general biometric recognition because hair style and coverage change frequently and hair is not inherently unique in the way fingerprints or irises are. Feet are also impractical for routine identification because capturing foot features reliably is difficult in most operational settings.

Voice and gait are behavioral biometrics and they can vary with health, emotion, background noise, footwear and environment. They are useful in some scenarios but they are less stable and less discriminating than fingerprints or iris scans which makes them less common as primary identifiers in many systems.

Neck and mouth are not standard biometric modalities for identity systems. These areas are often occluded by clothing or accessories and there are few established sensors and standards for reliable recognition of the neck or mouth alone which limits their practicality.

On exam questions prefer traits that are distinctive, stable, and easy to capture. That approach will usually point you to answers like hands, face, and eyes.

The correct option is Prevention of modification of data by authorized users.

Prevention of modification of data by authorized users is not one of the Clark Wilson integrity objectives because the model is designed to allow authorized subjects to change data only through controlled and certified mechanisms. The model enforces integrity by requiring well formed transactions and separation of duties so that authorized users can perform legitimate updates while still preserving integrity.

Prevention of modification of data by unauthorized users is an integrity objective because Clark Wilson requires that only authorized subjects be able to initiate certified transformation procedures that modify data.

Prevention of unauthorized or inadvertent modification of data by authorized users is also an integrity objective because the model addresses both malicious and accidental corruption by imposing certified procedures, auditing, and separation of duties to limit what authorized users can do and to detect improper changes.

Preservation of internal and external consistency is part of the Clark Wilson objectives because the model requires that system state remain consistent with business rules and that internal consistency is verifiable against external records or constraints.

Pay attention to the exact wording such as authorized versus unauthorized and whether a statement would block legitimate, certified actions. Integrity models usually prevent improper changes while still allowing controlled, well formed transactions.

The correct option is Permissions are assigned according to the organization’s defined roles and job responsibilities.

Role based access control assigns permissions to roles that represent job functions and responsibilities, and then users are granted those roles so they obtain the permissions needed to perform their duties. This approach enforces the principle of least privilege and reduces administrative overhead because permissions are managed at the role level rather than being administered individually for each user.

Google Cloud IAM predefined roles is not correct because RBAC is a general model that relies on organization defined roles and responsibilities. Cloud providers may offer predefined roles for convenience, but the RBAC concept is about mapping permissions to job roles rather than depending solely on vendor presets.

The user’s own preference is not correct because access rights are determined by business needs and job responsibilities and not by what a user prefers. Letting users choose their own permissions would violate least privilege and undermine centralized control.

Based on the count of devices a user administers is not correct because RBAC does not base permissions on device counts. Device metrics do not define job roles and they are not the mechanism used to assign access under RBAC.

When you see RBAC think about roles and job duties and not individual preferences or device counts. Visualize who needs access to perform a job when you choose the correct answer.

The correct answer is White box testing.

White box testing relies on full knowledge of the internal network architecture, configurations, source code, and security control implementations to plan and execute tests. When written technical documentation is inaccurate or incomplete the tester can be misled about system boundaries and control placements which causes missed test cases and incorrect validation of protections.

Documentation such as network diagrams, asset inventories, firewall rule sets, access control lists, and configuration files directly affect White box testing. If those artifacts are wrong the assessment may skip critical hosts, exercise the wrong controls, or produce false negatives and false positives which reduces the usefulness of the engagement.

Gray box testing uses only partial internal knowledge or limited credentials and it combines internal and external techniques. Because it does not depend on complete documentation to the same degree inaccuracies in written technical documentation are less likely to cause major failures compared with white box testing.

Spectrum box testing is an ambiguous term and is not a standard assessment methodology. It is not the best choice because the question asks which approach is most impacted by documentation errors and a nonstandard term does not match that criterion.

Black box testing treats the target as an external attacker and does not rely on internal documentation. Testers perform reconnaissance and probing to discover assets and controls so errors in the written documentation have minimal direct impact on the conduct of the assessment.

Look for phrases that indicate full internal access such as source code or internal architecture when you need to choose the testing approach that depends most on documentation.

Zero trust access model is correct. The zero trust access model describes making access decisions per resource and per request by combining a user role with contextual risk factors instead of relying solely on network location or static permissions.

Zero trust access model evaluates signals such as device posture, location, time, authentication strength and user behavior to apply least privilege and to adapt access in real time.

Discretionary access control is incorrect because that model lets resource owners set permissions and it does not inherently perform dynamic, context based risk evaluations for each access attempt.

Need to know principle is incorrect because it is a general information sharing constraint that limits access to those who require information but it does not describe continuous risk based access decisions per request.

Role based access control is incorrect because RBAC assigns permissions based on static roles and it does not by itself factor in additional contextual risk signals unless combined with other controls.

When a question mentions continuous verification or per request decisions look for wording about dynamic, context driven checks and zero trust approaches.

Grant access only to authorized personnel using role based permissions is correct.

Grant access only to authorized personnel using role based permissions implements the principle of least privilege and lets you give log read rights only to the teams that need them for operations and incident response. Role based permissions also make it possible to audit who accessed logs and to remove access quickly when roles change.

Make operational logs available to every employee is wrong because broad access increases the chance of accidental exposure and makes it harder to track who viewed sensitive records. Logs often contain system and user activity that should be restricted to reduce risk.

Cloud Audit Logs is wrong because it names a logging service rather than an access policy. The question asks who should be granted access so a service name does not answer the access control requirement.

Allow individual users to view logs so they can verify their own actions is wrong because giving every user direct log access undermines least privilege and can expose sensitive operational details. Users who need verification should use controlled tools or request access through authorized channels.

When you see questions about log access pick the answer that enforces least privilege and mentions role based or role based access control. Avoid answers that suggest unrestricted access or that only name a logging service.

The correct answer is Limit surveillance to a small set of employees while excluding the rest. This option should be avoided because selectively surveilling only a subset of staff creates inconsistent treatment and significant legal and ethical risks.

Applying monitoring unevenly can be discriminatory and it undermines trust and morale. Consistent, documented practices help an organization show that monitoring is proportionate and lawful and they reduce the chance of complaints or litigation.

Good monitoring programs include clear notice to employees, defined access roles, and retention rules so that oversight is accountable and limited to business needs. These elements support privacy principles and help meet regulatory expectations.

Publish an acceptable use policy that defines allowable e-mail activities is not something to avoid because publishing an AUP sets expectations and provides a basis for lawful monitoring when it is communicated and enforced.

Inform all personnel that their e-mail may be inspected is not something to avoid because notice to employees is a key part of lawful and ethical monitoring and it promotes transparency.

State which roles may access mail and how long archives are kept is not something to avoid because defining access and retention limits risk and demonstrates accountability and data minimization.

When a question asks what to avoid pick the choice that introduces unequal or undocumented treatment. Focus on consistency and transparency as clues to the best answer.

The correct option is Forensic write blocker.

A Forensic write blocker is a hardware or software tool that allows read only access to a storage device while preventing any writes to that media. It preserves the original data and its metadata so the evidence remains forensically sound and admissible.

Investigators attach a Forensic write blocker when collecting disks to stop the operating system or analysis tools from changing timestamps or other information. This preserves chain of custody and supports later verification with hashing.

Hashing utility is used to compute checksums for verifying integrity, but it does not prevent data from being altered during collection. Hashing is used to prove that data has not changed after acquisition, not to block writes while collecting.

Debugging tool is intended for troubleshooting software and inspecting program behavior, and it has no role in preventing writes to storage media during evidence collection.

Drive cloning utility can create a copy of a drive, but cloning alone does not guarantee the original will not be written to. Cloning processes should be performed with a Forensic write blocker attached to ensure the source remains unchanged.

When a question asks which tool prevents changing the original media pick a write blocker, and remember that hashing is used to verify integrity after collection.

A single compromised login can grant entry to all linked services is correct.

Centralized authentication creates a single point of authentication that many services trust. If an attacker obtains those credentials they can access every linked application and resource without needing separate usernames and passwords. This is the classic account takeover risk that follows from centralizing logins.

Because of that risk defenders focus on multi factor authentication strong monitoring and least privilege for accounts that have broad access. They also apply anomaly detection and rapid revocation to limit the blast radius if credentials are stolen.

Older on premises applications may not integrate with centralized authentication is incorrect because it describes an integration challenge rather than the direct security consequence of exposed centralized credentials. Integration limitations do not make credential exposure itself less dangerous.

SSO forces users to maintain more complex passwords for each service is incorrect because single sign on actually reduces the number of passwords a user must manage. It does not require separate complex passwords for each service and the security concern is that one password can unlock many services.

Recovery operations can increase help desk workload is incorrect as a primary security consequence. Recovery work may change with centralized authentication but the immediate security impact of exposed credentials is unauthorized access across linked services rather than administrative burden.

When you see questions about centralized authentication or SSO think about a single point of failure. Pay attention to options that describe a single credential granting access to many services and favor answers that describe account takeover risk and mitigation such as MFA and monitoring.

All ISC2 questions come from my SSCP Udemy course and certificactionexams.pro

Encryption is the correct answer because the Digital Signature Standard does not deliver encryption as a security service for signing electronic messages.

The Digital Signature Standard defines algorithms for creating and verifying digital signatures which provide message integrity, authentication and non repudiation. It therefore supplies those signature based services and it does not include mechanisms to encrypt message contents to provide confidentiality so Encryption is not delivered by the standard.

Digital signature is incorrect because producing and verifying digital signatures is the primary purpose of the standard. That is exactly what the standard defines and standardizes.

Integrity is incorrect because digital signatures detect any changes to a message and thus provide integrity. Providing integrity is a core security service of the standard.

Authentication is incorrect because signatures allow the receiver to confirm the origin of a message and therefore support authentication of the sender. The standard covers that service as well.

When a question contrasts signatures with encryption look for the service that provides confidentiality as the odd one out. Remember that digital signatures deliver integrity and authentication while encryption provides confidentiality.

The correct answer is Block ciphers encrypt data in fixed sized blocks while stream ciphers encrypt data one bit or one byte at a time.

Block ciphers operate on fixed sized blocks such as 64 or 128 bits and they transform each block with a symmetric key to produce ciphertext. When data is larger than a single block a mode of operation is used and padding or chaining is applied so the cipher can handle arbitrary length messages. Stream ciphers generate a keystream that is combined with the plaintext one bit or one byte at a time typically with an XOR operation and they are useful when low latency or bit level processing is required.

Cloud KMS is incorrect because it names a key management service rather than a classification of symmetric ciphers and the option does not describe the operational difference between cipher types.

Block ciphers function without using any cryptographic keys is incorrect because block ciphers are symmetric algorithms that require a secret key to encrypt and decrypt each block and without a key there is no meaningful encryption.

Block ciphers are exclusively employed in public key cryptography is incorrect because block ciphers are symmetric key algorithms and they are not part of public key cryptography which uses asymmetric algorithms like RSA or elliptic curve methods.

When distinguishing block and stream ciphers look for the phrases fixed sized blocks versus bit or byte at a time and remember that modes of operation let block ciphers handle data of arbitrary length.

The correct option is Network Layer IP addressing and routing. After confirming that the physical cabling and the data link layer are operational the next layer to investigate in the OSI troubleshooting sequence is the Network Layer.

At the Network Layer you should verify IP address configuration, subnet mask, default gateway, ARP entries, and routing tables. Checking whether the host can reach its gateway and whether routers have the correct routes will determine if packets can be forwarded between networks and to the customer facing site. Misconfigured IP settings or routing problems at this layer are a common cause of connectivity loss once lower layers are verified working.

The option Cloud Load Balancing configuration can affect access to a website but it is not the immediate next step in the OSI layer sequence. Load balancing and application delivery are typically investigated after basic IP connectivity and routing are confirmed at the Network Layer.

The option Presentation Layer data encoding relates to how data is formatted or encrypted for applications and it resides at layer 6. That is higher in the stack so it is not the next thing to check after the physical and data link layers.

The option Session Layer connection state concerns session management between applications and it sits above the network layer. You should verify addressing and routing first before moving on to session state issues.

When troubleshooting follow the OSI layers from the bottom up and verify physical, then data link, then IP addressing and routing before moving to higher layers.

The correct answer is It manages MAC addresses and handles local frame transmission.

The link layer is responsible for framing, MAC addressing, and the delivery of frames on a single network segment. Understanding the link layer helps you reason about how switches forward traffic, how ARP resolves layer 3 addresses to MAC addresses, and how VLANs and bridging affect local traffic patterns.

Knowing the link layer matters for security because many controls and attacks operate at this level. Defenses such as port security, MAC filtering, dynamic ARP inspection, and MACsec act on link layer concepts. Learning the link layer lets you design network segmentation and local traffic handling to limit broadcast domains and reduce attack surface.

It supplies encryption across an entire communication path is incorrect because link layer protections are generally hop by hop. There are link layer encryption technologies, but they protect the link between two devices and do not by themselves provide end to end encryption for an entire path.

It decides end to end internet routing paths is incorrect because routing decisions that determine end to end paths are made at the network layer. Routers and routing protocols work with IP addresses and do the path selection that spans multiple links.

It obviates the need for the physical signaling layer is incorrect because the physical layer remains necessary. The physical layer carries the electrical or optical signals and defines the media and signaling that the link layer depends on to transmit frames.

When a question mentions MAC, frames, or switches think link layer. If the item mentions end to end routing or path selection think network layer, and if it mentions full path encryption think transport or application layer.

Located immediately behind the Internet facing firewall and isolated from the internal LAN is the correct placement for a demilitarized zone.

The DMZ should be placed directly behind the Internet facing firewall because this allows the edge firewall to control and inspect traffic entering the DMZ and to enforce restrictions on traffic from the DMZ to the internal network. Placing public services in a DMZ reduces exposure of the internal LAN by isolating externally accessible hosts and by enforcing strict access rules to the private network.

Many secure architectures use an edge firewall facing the Internet and then a second internal firewall to provide additional protection for the private LAN. This creates a buffer where the DMZ can host public servers while the internal network remains protected by tighter rules.

Placed on the Internet side of the Internet facing firewall with direct public access is wrong because hosts would be exposed to the Internet without the protection and stateful inspection that the edge firewall provides. A DMZ must receive protection from the edge firewall rather than being placed outside it.

Situated directly behind the first internal active network firewall within the private LAN is wrong because the DMZ must not reside inside the private LAN. Hosting DMZ services within the internal network defeats segregation and increases risk to internal assets.

Placed behind a passive HTTP only edge filter rather than a full perimeter firewall is wrong because a DMZ requires robust perimeter controls that handle multiple protocols and enforce stateful inspection and access policies. A passive HTTP only filter cannot adequately protect services or control traffic between the Internet and internal networks.

When you see DMZ placement questions choose the option that places public facing services behind the Internet firewall but outside the internal LAN so that access can be tightly controlled.

The correct answer is nmap.

nmap is purpose built for network discovery and mapping. It performs host discovery and port and service scans, it can fingerprint operating systems, and it exports results in formats that feed visualization tools so an analyst can build an accurate inventory of active hosts and a topology map.

OpenVAS is primarily a vulnerability scanner and it focuses on finding and reporting vulnerabilities rather than on broad host discovery and topology mapping. It may find hosts as part of vulnerability scans but it is not optimized for inventorying and mapping a network.

Nessus is also a vulnerability assessment tool and it is designed for identifying vulnerabilities and compliance issues. It is not the ideal choice when the main goal is to enumerate active hosts and produce a topology diagram.

sqlmap is an automated SQL injection testing tool for web applications and it does not provide general network host discovery or topology mapping capabilities. It is unrelated to the discovery task described in the question.

When a question asks about finding active hosts and building a network map think of nmap and highlight its host discovery, service detection, and export or visualization options when explaining your answer.

To match calculated risk levels to the organization’s risk appetite to guide decision making is correct.

This option is correct because the primary purpose of assessing and quantifying risks is to determine how those calculated risk levels compare to what the organization is willing to accept. The goal is to provide decision makers with a clear basis to prioritize responses and allocate resources according to the organization
nd its risk tolerance.

Quantification supports choices such as accepting, mitigating, transferring, or avoiding risk. Matching quantified risks to the risk appetite translates measurement into action and governance so the organization can make consistent and defensible decisions.

Cloud Security Command Center is incorrect because it names a security tool rather than stating the objective of a risk assessment. Tools can help discover and monitor risks but they do not define the primary aim of assessing and quantifying those risks.

To estimate the probable financial loss associated with a risk event is incorrect because estimating financial impact is only one part of analysis. Financial estimation informs the assessment but the overarching objective is to align risks to appetite and guide decision making, not solely to compute loss figures.

To pinpoint new strategic opportunities that arise from identified risks is incorrect because identifying opportunities can be a secondary benefit but it is not the primary objective. The main focus of risk assessment and quantification is to inform how to manage risks relative to the organization
nd its appetite.

When you answer risk management questions focus on how the assessment results will be used. The exam often expects you to choose alignment with the organization’s risk appetite as the primary purpose.

The correct option is Records produced by computer systems are frequently considered hearsay and may be inadmissible unless a proper business record foundation is shown.

This is correct because electronic records are typically out of court statements offered for the truth of the matter asserted and they therefore meet the definition of hearsay unless an exception applies. The common exception relied on is the business records rule which requires a proper foundation that shows the record was made in the regular course of business by a person with knowledge and at or near the time of the event described.

Courts will also look for authentication and evidence of integrity when admitting computer generated records. Demonstrating who created the record how it was generated and how it was maintained helps to establish the business record foundation and to counter hearsay objections.

Maintaining chain of custody in cloud environments is straightforward is incorrect because cloud systems often distribute data across multiple locations and involve third party providers. Those factors make preserving and documenting custody more complex rather than straightforward.

Digital information is always a physical tangible form is incorrect because while data resides on physical media the information itself is not a tangible physical object in the traditional sense. Legal and evidentiary treatment therefore focuses on authentication and reliability rather than assuming it is a simple physical exhibit.

Computer forensics rarely requires expert testimony is incorrect because examiners and courts commonly rely on expert witnesses to explain forensic processes interpret technical metadata and attest to the methods used to collect and preserve evidence. Expert testimony is often necessary to establish admissibility and reliability.

When you see questions about electronic records think first about hearsay and whether the business records exception and proper authentication are met before choosing an answer.

Role based access control is correct because it lets administrators define and enforce firm specific policies that map directly to roles and departments and therefore mirror reporting structure and job responsibilities.

With RBAC administrators create roles that reflect job titles and organizational units and then assign permissions to those roles. Users receive access by being placed into roles which centralizes policy management and simplifies enforcement of separation of duties and auditing.

Attribute based access control is powerful and flexible because it evaluates attributes of users resources and the environment, but it does not inherently mirror a company�s reporting structure and job hierarchy in the straightforward way that RBAC does.

Access control list attaches permissions directly to resources by listing which principals may perform which operations and it operates at the object level rather than by mapping organizational roles. That makes ACLs less suited for expressing firm wide policies organized around departments and job functions.

Discretionary access control allows resource owners to grant access at their own discretion and that model does not provide centralized enforcement that naturally aligns with reporting lines or corporate roles.

Look for wording that maps access to organizational titles departments or job functions because that usually points to Role based access control. If the question emphasizes dynamic attributes or owner granted rights then consider other models.

The correct option is Rule based access control.

Rule based access control enforces access by evaluating policies made of rules that reference user attributes resource attributes and environmental conditions. This makes it appropriate for a logistics firm that needs decisions based on a mix of attributes such as employee job title and business division because the rules can combine those attributes into allow or deny logic.

Cloud IAM is a vendor term for cloud identity and access management and not a single access control model. Implementations of cloud IAM often use RBAC ABAC or rule engines under the hood so the name alone does not guarantee the attribute based rule evaluation the scenario requires.

Discretionary access control relies on resource owners granting access and it is not aimed at centrally enforced policies that evaluate multiple organizational attributes. It would not be the best fit when access must be decided by rules combining job title and business division.

Role based access control assigns permissions to roles and then maps users to roles. It can reflect job titles but it does not naturally express fine grained decisions that must consider several attributes together without creating many specialized roles which harms manageability.

When a question mentions multiple attributes and conditional checks think of rule based or attribute based controls rather than pure role or owner based models.

Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols is correct because it describes a key distribution protocol that uses hybrid encryption to deliver session keys and it establishes a single long lived key so that future sessions require no prior handshake to exchange keys.

Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols was designed to distribute keys by encrypting session keys with public key material and by using a persistent shared key so that subsequent communications do not need a full key exchange handshake. This behavior matches the question because the protocol focuses on long lived keying material and hybrid encryption for session key delivery.

Diffie-Hellman key exchange is incorrect because it is an algorithm and a method for two parties to agree on a shared secret, and it normally involves a handshake to derive ephemeral or static keys rather than defining a hybrid key distribution protocol that establishes a single long lived key for future sessions.

Cloud Key Management Service is incorrect because it refers to a managed service offering for storing and managing cryptographic keys, and it is not a protocol that defines hybrid encryption based key distribution or a persistent single key mechanism for session key delivery.

Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol is incorrect because it is a framework for negotiating security associations and key management and it typically works with exchange protocols such as IKE, and it does not itself describe the single long lived hybrid key distribution method in the question. Also note that SKIP and older frameworks like ISAKMP are largely historical and are less commonly emphasized on newer exams which focus on modern protocols such as IKE and contemporary key management services.

Pay attention to wording such as hybrid encryption and single long lived key when selecting a protocol, and eliminate options that are algorithms or service offerings rather than key distribution protocols.

All ISC2 questions come from my SSCP Udemy course and certificactionexams.pro

The correct option is Asset tracking and inventory management.

RFID technology is used in retail to attach unique radio tags to items so that stores can automatically detect and count products without direct line of sight. This capability supports faster cycle counts, improved stock accuracy, reduced shrink, and automated replenishment when integrated with inventory and warehouse systems.

Cloud IoT Core is a cloud device management and telemetry service and not the primary purpose of RFID in daily store operations. It is also a deprecated Google service and so it is less likely to appear as the correct answer on newer exams.

Contactless payment facilitation is typically handled by NFC enabled payment terminals and secure payment networks and not by the passive RFID tags used for inventory tracking.

Support for voice call communication is unrelated to RFID because voice requires cellular or IP telephony systems and RFID does not provide two way voice capabilities.

When a question places RFID in a retail context focus on inventory visibility and asset tracking and rule out options about payments or voice unless the question explicitly links to those technologies.

The correct option is Verification.

Verification refers to the set of activities that confirm a product has been built according to its documented design and security requirements. It typically includes tests, inspections, and reviews that check conformance to specifications so executing tests to confirm compliance is a verification activity.

Security testing is focused specifically on finding security vulnerabilities and evaluating resistance to attack and it does not necessarily cover general conformance to all documented design requirements.

Assessment is a broader term that can mean an audit or evaluation of various aspects of a system and it does not specifically denote the execution of tests to prove compliance with detailed specifications.

Validation is about confirming the system meets the needs and intended use of stakeholders and end users and it is more concerned with “building the right system” rather than “building the system right” which is what verification covers.

When a question asks about proving conformance to documented specifications think verification and when it asks about meeting stakeholder needs think validation.

The correct answer is User Datagram Protocol.

The User Datagram Protocol operates at the transport layer because it provides end to end multiplexing with port numbers and it offers an unreliable datagram service on top of the Internet Protocol. It is assigned IP protocol number 17 and it relies on IP for addressing and routing so it sits above the Internet layer.

Internet Group Management Protocol is incorrect because it is an Internet layer protocol used to manage IPv4 multicast group membership and it is carried directly by IP rather than providing transport services.

Internet Control Message Protocol is incorrect because it provides diagnostic and control messages for IP such as echo request and destination unreachable and it is implemented as part of the Internet layer rather than the transport layer.

Internet Protocol is incorrect because it is the core Internet layer protocol that handles packet addressing and routing and transport protocols like UDP and TCP run on top of it.

When you are deciding whether a protocol is at the transport layer look for ports, end to end delivery, and whether the protocol depends on IP for addressing. Those clues will point you to TCP or UDP as transport layer protocols.

The correct options are Managing issuance of access credentials and visitor badges and Performing a physical vulnerability assessment of the facility infrastructure.

The task Managing issuance of access credentials and visitor badges fits an SSCP role because it involves enforcing physical access control policies, coordinating identity verification, and ensuring that only authorized people gain entry to secure areas. These responsibilities are core to on site protection and liaison work with facility security teams.

The task Performing a physical vulnerability assessment of the facility infrastructure is appropriate because an SSCP evaluates physical risks such as perimeter controls, locks, surveillance coverage, environmental hazards, and procedural weaknesses that could lead to unauthorized access or damage. A site security review commonly includes these assessments.

Auditing network firewall rules for protections against onsite tampering is incorrect because reviewing firewall rules is primarily a network security or operations activity and it does not require the kind of physical presence and coordination that a site security review focuses on.

Planning the server room architectural layout and rack placements is incorrect because detailed architectural and rack placement design is typically handled by facilities engineers or data center planners rather than by an SSCP performing a security review of the site.

When a question describes an on site security review choose duties related to physical access and environmental controls rather than network configuration or architectural planning. Watch for words like credentials and physical vulnerability which point to the correct answers.

The correct answer is True.

Mishandling customers’ personal information can lead to civil litigation for privacy violations because individuals and regulators can pursue claims under statutory and common law. Laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act create rights and remedies and those frameworks can support private lawsuits or representative actions when data is misused or improperly disclosed.

Civil suits may arise even without a technical security breach when data is collected, used, or shared contrary to privacy promises or legal obligations. Typical causes of action include negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of contract, and unfair business practices and these claims can lead to damages, injunctions, and regulatory penalties.

False is incorrect because asserting no civil liability exists ignores the numerous statutes and case law that allow plaintiffs and regulators to seek remedies for privacy violations arising from mishandled personal information.

When answering these questions look for whether statutes or tort law provide a private right of action or specific remedies and use that to decide between True and False.

Loss of electrical service is the incident that most frequently disrupts an organization and prevents it from operating normally.

Power is a foundational dependency for nearly all modern operations and information systems. When Loss of electrical service occurs servers stop, network devices fail, lighting and security systems go offline, and many business processes cannot continue without power even if staff are present.

Organizations may deploy backups like generators or uninterruptible power supplies but those controls are not universal or foolproof and outages still cause the most frequent and immediate operational impact.

Severe storm activity can cause major disruptions and it is often a root cause of outages but storms are a category of hazard. The question asks for the single incident that most frequently prevents normal operation and storms commonly cause power loss rather than replacing it as the direct daily disruptor.

Water intrusion from leaks or flooding can damage facilities and equipment and it can force evacuations. This is less frequent as a direct cause of organization wide operational stoppage than loss of electrical service in many environments.

Labor workforce stoppage can halt operations in specific sectors but it is not the most frequent cause across organizations and many businesses can continue with contingency staffing or remote work. It is therefore not the best choice for the most frequent disruptor.

When asked which incident most often prevents normal operations think about the most basic dependency that every system needs such as power. Choose the root dependency rather than a secondary effect.

They are suitable for moderate risk environments is the correct choice because it does not describe a limitation or common behavior of stateless packet filtering routers.

Stateless packet filters operate by examining packet header fields only and they do not track connection state. Because they are simple and fast they can be acceptable in low to moderate risk environments where application level inspection is not required and performance is important.

They make permit or deny decisions using only packet header fields such as source and destination addresses protocols and ports is not the correct answer because this statement actually describes a core behavior of stateless filters. This behavior is a limitation for complex threats because there is no session tracking or deep inspection.

They fail to prevent IP or DNS address spoofing is not the correct answer because this is a common limitation of stateless filtering. Without connection context or payload inspection a stateless router cannot reliably prevent spoofed source addresses or detect malicious DNS payloads.

They cannot enforce robust user authentication is not the correct answer because it describes another real limitation. Stateless filters cannot map packets to authenticated users or perform application layer authentication checks.

When you see questions about firewall types ask whether the statement describes how the device operates or whether it describes its suitability. Remember that stateless means no connection tracking and that points to limitations rather than suitability.

Immediately behind the organization’s external firewall is the correct option.

The DMZ hosts public facing services and it must be reachable from the Internet while still being isolated from the internal network. Placing the DMZ immediately behind the organization’s external firewall lets that firewall enforce access controls and logging for traffic to the DMZ and prevents direct, unfiltered Internet access to internal systems.

Directly in front of the organization’s external firewall on the Internet side is wrong because putting the DMZ on the public side would expose those systems without the protection of the external firewall. That placement defeats the purpose of isolating and filtering traffic to public services.

Behind the first internal active network firewall is wrong because locating the DMZ inside the internal firewall mixes public facing services with internal resources and reduces isolation. The DMZ must sit outside the internal network so that a compromise of DMZ hosts does not directly threaten internal systems.

Behind a passive HTTP only perimeter filter is wrong because a passive filter does not actively enforce access controls and an HTTP only filter only covers one protocol. A proper DMZ requires active firewalling and controls for all protocols used by the hosted services to provide adequate protection.

Visualize the network layers and remember that a DMZ sits on the protected side of the external firewall to provide isolation and active filtering for public services.

The correct option is Bluejacking.

Bluejacking involves sending unsolicited Bluetooth messages such as vCards or short text to nearby devices. An attacker can craft those messages with attacker supplied content and use social engineering to persuade a user to follow a link or take an action that might deliver a malicious payload.

Bluejacking normally does not grant direct access to files or device control, but it is effective for delivering content to a target device which can be the first step in a compromise.

Bluesnarfing is incorrect because it refers to unauthorized access to or theft of data from a Bluetooth device rather than sending unsolicited messages to deliver attacker supplied content.

Bluebugging is incorrect because it involves gaining unauthorized control of a device and creating a backdoor rather than the simple sending of messages that bluejacking describes.

Bluetracing is incorrect because it is not a standard, widely recognized Bluetooth attack technique and it does not describe sending attacker supplied messages to targets.

Focus on the action verb in the question. If it mentions sending or unsolicited messages think Bluejacking. If it mentions data theft or device control think Bluesnarfing or Bluebugging.

All ISC2 questions come from my SSCP Udemy course and certificactionexams.pro

The correct answer is Restricting local production access for operations personnel.

Restricting local production access for operations personnel can create an operational barrier that motivates a technician to seek unauthorized workarounds with staff in other departments. If an operations person cannot perform necessary production tasks they may ask a colleague with access to act on their behalf or share credentials, and those interactions can turn into collusion to gain access to protected information.

Restricting local production access for operations personnel is a legitimate security measure when implemented as part of least privilege, but it must be paired with approved access workflows, just in time privileged access, strong auditing, and clear escalation paths. Those compensating controls reduce the incentive for technicians to conspire.

Periodic rotation of operations staff between teams is designed to reduce fraud and knowledge hoarding. Rotating staff makes long term collusion harder and it does not create the specific access barrier that would push someone to conspire with another department.

Enforcing mandatory password expiration policies can be inconvenient and may encourage poor practices like written notes, but it does not directly prevent an operations person from performing production tasks and so it is not the control most likely to induce collusion to obtain access.

Ongoing review of Cloud Audit Logs is a detective and deterrent control because it increases the likelihood of detection and accountability. Regular log review discourages collusion rather than encouraging it.

When answering these questions look for controls that block legitimate job performance without providing auditable alternatives. Controls that create barriers are more likely to motivate workarounds and potential collusion.

Refer queries to the authoritative name servers for the specific domain suffix is correct. Top level domain name servers do not hold the final host records for individual hosts and their main role is to provide delegation information that points resolvers to the authoritative name servers responsible for a given domain suffix.

TLD servers contain the NS records and any necessary glue for domains under that TLD and they return referrals to those authoritative servers when asked about names in their zone. This delegation model lets the resolver then query the authoritative server to obtain the final A or AAAA record for the hostname.

Cache DNS answers for commonly looked up hostnames is wrong because caching is normally performed by recursive resolvers and caching name servers. TLD servers are authoritative for the TLD zone and they do not serve as the global caching layer for frequently requested hostnames.

Return the resolved IP address for the requested hostname is wrong because TLD servers typically do not hold the end host A or AAAA records. Instead they provide referrals to the authoritative name servers that actually store and return the resolved IP address.

Hold and distribute the global root zone information is wrong because the global root zone is managed by the root name servers and IANA. Root servers sit above TLD servers in the DNS hierarchy and they direct queries to the appropriate TLD servers rather than functioning as those TLD servers themselves.

When a question mentions delegation or authority look for the server that issues referrals not the one that provides the final address. Also remember that caching is usually a resolver function and that the root servers are separate from TLD servers.

The correct option is Incremental backup.

Incremental backup copies only the data that has changed since the last backup operation. This means each incremental job records only new or modified files or blocks and therefore uses the smallest amount of data per run when compared with full or differential methods.

Differential backup is not correct because a differential copies all changes since the last full backup. Each differential backup therefore grows larger over time until another full backup is taken which makes it larger than an incremental job in most cases.

Full backup is not correct because a full backup records the entire dataset every time. That produces the largest amount of data for each backup operation even though full backups simplify restore processes.

Compute Engine snapshots is not selected because snapshots are image level captures and their behavior depends on the implementation. Some snapshot systems store only changed blocks after the initial snapshot which can be efficient. However snapshots are not the standard answer when the question asks which backup approach records the smallest amount of data per backup job and exams typically expect the term incremental backup for this characteristic.

When the question asks which method writes the least data per run look for wording that says only changed data or changed blocks and favor incremental over differential or full.

The correct answer is They keep pace with the ephemeral nature of containers so security actions remain timely.

Containers in cloud native environments are often created and destroyed in seconds or minutes so security controls must act as quickly as workloads appear. Manual processes and human approvals cannot reliably detect and remediate risks within those short lifecycles and they will miss many short lived instances.

Automated security solutions integrate with the orchestration platform and the CI CD pipeline to provide near real time detection and enforcement. This allows policies to be applied at creation time and for runtime actions to be taken immediately when an issue is detected so the environment remains protected as pods and containers rapidly change.

They reduce the need for manual identity and access management tasks is incorrect because reducing manual IAM work is only one benefit and it does not address the core problem of containers disappearing quickly. IAM automation helps administrative overhead but it does not by itself ensure timely responses to short lived workloads.

They increase container performance by optimizing resource usage is incorrect because performance optimization is primarily an orchestration and resource management concern. Security automation focuses on detection, policy enforcement, and remediation rather than improving runtime performance.

They enable continuous vulnerability scanning and policy enforcement across clusters is incorrect in this question because although continuous scanning and enforcement are valuable benefits they do not directly explain why automation is essential for ephemeral workloads. The key reason is that automation keeps security actions timely as containers come and go.

Focus on the specific property mentioned in the question and pick the option that addresses that property. For ephemeral workloads the important words are ephemeral and timeliness.

The correct answer is Technology infrastructure architecture baseline.

The Technology infrastructure architecture baseline documents the current configuration and topology of the organization’s infrastructure. It records physical and virtual devices such as servers, storage, network equipment, hypervisors, firmware and platform versions, and network topologies so that administrators have a point in time reference for change control, capacity planning and operational management.

This baseline is the proper source for device level settings and infrastructure standards and it is used when planning upgrades, migrations and configuration management activities. It captures low level implementation details that other architecture baselines do not.

Data architecture baseline is focused on data models, schemas and data flows and it does not specify device configurations. That is why it is not correct for documenting physical or virtual device settings.

Security controls baseline defines the set of security controls and their implementation or compliance status. It concentrates on control requirements and effectiveness rather than detailed hardware and virtualization configurations.

Information systems architecture baseline describes applications, services and system interactions and it may note where systems run. It typically does not include the detailed device configurations and infrastructure topology that the technology infrastructure baseline captures.

When a question asks about configurations for hardware or virtual hosts pick the option that mentions technology or infrastructure. Eliminate choices that emphasize data or application layers instead.

Integrated autoscaling with preconfigured development stacks to accelerate application delivery is correct because it describes the core PaaS value proposition of reducing operational burden and speeding deployments.

PaaS solutions provide managed runtimes and platform services so developers can focus on code and features rather than operating system updates or runtime configuration. They often include built in autoscaling and preconfigured development stacks which accelerate application delivery by removing the need to provision and maintain the underlying platform.

Google Kubernetes Engine is incorrect because it is a managed Kubernetes service that focuses on container orchestration and cluster control. That requires more infrastructure and operational management than a typical PaaS and is closer to a container platform than a pure PaaS.

Simplified transfer of data across multiple cloud vendors without extra migration tooling is incorrect because PaaS does not inherently solve cross cloud data migration. Portability and data transfer often require specific design and tooling and are not the primary benefit of choosing a PaaS.

Complete administrative control of the underlying physical hardware and network configuration is incorrect because PaaS removes that level of low level control from the customer. The provider manages the hardware and networking so teams trade that control for reduced operational overhead and faster delivery.

When an answer mentions managed runtimes, preconfigured stacks, or built in autoscaling think PaaS. If an option names Kubernetes or emphasizes hardware control it is likely not a PaaS choice.