SSCP Exam Dump and Braindumps for ICS2 Systems Security Practitioner Certification

Which capability in Nova Fabric ensures that network flows are routed through designated security appliances before they reach their destination?

• ❏ A. VPC firewall rules

• ❏ B. Endpoint groups

• ❏ C. Service insertion policies

• ❏ D. Access control lists

A city clinic is comparing biometric entry methods and wants to know which anatomical feature a retinal scanner measures for identity verification?

• ❏ A. Pattern of photoreceptor cells on the retina

• ❏ B. Pattern of blood vessels on the retinal surface

• ❏ C. Amount of light reflected from the retina

• ❏ D. Iris surface texture

Which kind of malicious program is typically the hardest for endpoint defenses to discover?

• ❏ A. Trojan horse

• ❏ B. Cryptominer

• ❏ C. Rootkit

• ❏ D. Worm

In a criminal trial which legal doctrine determines whether physical or electronic evidence was seized in accordance with lawful search and seizure protections?

• ❏ A. Hearsay rule

• ❏ B. Exclusionary rule

• ❏ C. Best evidence rule

• ❏ D. Chain of custody rule

How do top down and bottom up approaches to developing risk scenarios differ in how they align with an organization’s strategic objectives?

• ❏ A. Top-down maps risks to strategic objectives and bottom-up catalogs operational risks

• ❏ B. Bottom-up catalogs operational risks and may not align with strategy

• ❏ C. Top-down emphasizes technical vulnerabilities and ignores business impact

Nimbus Logistics maintains a business continuity plan maintenance and recovery procedures and an incident response program. Which category of incident is it not prepared to address?

• ❏ A. System failures

• ❏ B. Accidental incidents

• ❏ C. Unauthorized intrusions

• ❏ D. Environmental causes

What does a higher CVSS rating suggest about a software vulnerability?

• ❏ A. Cloud Security Command Center

• ❏ B. It means the vulnerability is harder to attack

• ❏ C. It indicates the flaw is more easily exploited and more severe

• ❏ D. It signals the issue is less likely to be discovered by scanners

Which statement most accurately defines a Computer Security Incident Response Team as described in internet security references?

• ❏ A. Google Security Command Center

• ❏ B. An organization that provides a secure channel for reporting suspected security incidents

• ❏ C. An organization that coordinates and supports the response to security incidents that affect sites within a defined constituency

• ❏ D. An organization that distributes incident related information to its constituency and other involved parties

How many distinct TCP or UDP port numbers are available for assigning services on a single host?

• ❏ A. 1024

• ❏ B. 49152

• ❏ C. 65535

• ❏ D. 65536

Which 802.11 variant does not employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing?

• ❏ A. 802.11n

• ❏ B. 802.11b

• ❏ C. 802.11a

What technological advancement gives 5G networks substantially greater capacity and more efficient data transfer when compared to 4G LTE?

• ❏ A. Channel bonding

• ❏ B. Network slicing

• ❏ C. Packet switching

• ❏ D. Massive MIMO antenna arrays

A passphrase is an instance of a “something you know” authentication factor and it primarily emphasizes which characteristic of a secure password?

• ❏ A. Uniqueness

• ❏ B. Complexity

• ❏ C. Length

• ❏ D. Randomness

During the version control stage of the upkeep cycle for an application at a small fintech firm they ask which activity is least commonly part of change control for the product updates?

• ❏ A. Reproducing and analyzing the reported defect

• ❏ B. Prioritizing and categorizing incoming change requests

• ❏ C. Estimating the expenses associated with the requested modifications

• ❏ D. Defining the modified interface that end users will encounter

A fintech company is refreshing its user portal so employees sign in once and then access a range of internal and cloud services without repeated credential prompts. Which authentication approach best delivers that seamless access while preserving enterprise security?

• ❏ A. Federated identity using OAuth 2.0

• ❏ B. Passwordless authentication with WebAuthn

• ❏ C. Single sign on using Active Directory Federation Services ADFS

• ❏ D. Multi factor authentication

Which security control would be least effective at mitigating denial of service attacks against cloud object storage?

• ❏ A. Request throttling and bandwidth limits

• ❏ B. Content delivery network caching

• ❏ C. Encrypting objects at rest with strong cryptography

• ❏ D. Versioning and backups

A regional retailer named Solace Retail is reviewing the cloud vendor physical security measures and wants to confirm that entry is controlled with biometric gates mantraps and around the clock surveillance cameras. Under the cloud shared responsibility framework who is accountable for deploying these physical controls?

• ❏ A. Both the cloud vendor and the tenant

• ❏ B. The retailer using the cloud

• ❏ C. The colocation facility operator

• ❏ D. The cloud vendor

During a forensic investigation at a regional technology firm called NovaTek one analyst needs to confirm that seized files and drives have not been modified. Which forensic tool is primarily employed to determine whether evidence has remained unchanged?

• ❏ A. Google Cloud Audit Logs

• ❏ B. Cryptographic hashing utilities

• ❏ C. Write blocker devices

• ❏ D. Drive cloning utilities

A regional fintech startup needs a cryptographic approach where both participants use the same secret to encrypt and decrypt their messages. Which type of cryptography meets that requirement?

• ❏ A. Diffie Hellman key agreement

• ❏ B. Public Key Infrastructure

• ❏ C. Symmetric key encryption

• ❏ D. Asymmetric key cryptography

Which action best indicates a company’s organizational commitment to security and enterprise risk management?

• ❏ A. Google Cloud Security Command Center

• ❏ B. Obtaining and upholding certifications such as ISO 27001 and PCI DSS

• ❏ C. Publishing SOC audit reports for external stakeholders

• ❏ D. Performing only automated vulnerability scans every three months

How do TCP and UDP differ in how they establish connections and in the guarantees they provide for delivery?

• ❏ A. UDP establishes a connection and provides reliable delivery

• ❏ B. TCP establishes a connection and provides reliable delivery

• ❏ C. TCP is connectionless and does not guarantee delivery

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

A regional credit union is comparing intrusion detection approaches and needs a solution that matches incoming events against a stored catalog of past exploits and known vulnerabilities and then issues an alert when a match is found. Which intrusion detection type best fits that requirement?

• ❏ A. Anomaly based intrusion detection system

• ❏ B. Network based intrusion detection system

• ❏ C. Database driven signature intrusion detection system

• ❏ D. Host based intrusion detection system

A regional payment startup is defining which operational occurrences should generate security alerts. Which of the following would be considered an event that warrants security investigation? (Choose 2)

• ❏ A. Routine successful email transmission

• ❏ B. Unapproved modification of firewall rules

• ❏ C. Unexpected rise in server room temperature

• ❏ D. Unauthorized access to a customer database

• ❏ E. Sudden large volume of outbound data transfers

A regional carrier splits one optical connection into several variable rate data streams and grants capacity dynamically only to streams that have data ready to send. Which multiplexing technique matches this behavior?

• ❏ A. Wavelength division multiplexing

• ❏ B. Frequency division multiplexing

• ❏ C. Statistical multiplexing

• ❏ D. Fixed time division multiplexing

How does a SOC 3 report differ from a SOC 2 report in terms of who it is shared with and how much technical detail it contains?

• ❏ A. SOC 3 is mandated by law for publicly listed companies while SOC 2 is a voluntary attestation

• ❏ B. SOC 3 is intended for broad public distribution and provides a concise non technical summary while SOC 2 is restricted to designated users and contains detailed control testing

• ❏ C. SOC 3 concentrates only on financial control testing while SOC 2 evaluates security availability processing integrity and privacy

• ❏ D. SOC 3 commonly includes an AICPA trust services seal for public marketing while SOC 2 is typically not distributed with a public seal

Before allowing remote contractors and staff to access the corporate LAN over the Internet what should be evaluated first?

• ❏ A. Perimeter firewall rules

• ❏ B. Zero trust network design

• ❏ C. Authentication mechanisms

• ❏ D. Endpoint hardening

Which of the following represents a form of discretionary access control in an access management model?

• ❏ A. Rule based access control

• ❏ B. Mandatory access control

• ❏ C. Role based access control

• ❏ D. Identity based access control

Which of these items is not considered one of the three primary goals of accounting infrastructure in systems security?

• ❏ A. Information security monitoring analysis and incident characterization and response

• ❏ B. Individual accountability and audit trails

• ❏ C. Corporate financial stability and due diligence fraud prevention

• ❏ D. Resource usage tracking monitoring and internal chargeback

Which statement about packet sniffing on a corporate network is correct?

• ❏ A. Sending overlapping IP fragments to a host is an example of a malformed packet attack

• ❏ B. Packet sniffers can inject forged packets into sessions to manipulate communications

• ❏ C. Packet sniffers enable an attacker to capture and inspect traffic traversing a network

• ❏ D. Session hijacking tools are used to assume control of an existing network connection

What is a likely reason a firm would request a SOC 2 Type II examination rather than a Type I assessment?

• ❏ A. ISO 27001 certification

• ❏ B. SOC 2 Type II reports are published publicly for everyone to view

• ❏ C. SOC 2 Type II shows that controls were operating effectively over a sample period

• ❏ D. SOC 2 Type II focuses exclusively on privacy controls

Which wireless infrastructure mode connects an access point directly to the building Ethernet network to provide customer WiFi?

• ❏ A. Mesh

• ❏ B. Wired extension

• ❏ C. Standalone

SilverBridge, a fintech startup, is building a new transaction platform and wants to know when security practices should be introduced into the system development lifecycle?

• ❏ A. Monitored with Cloud Security Command Center

• ❏ B. Added only after the design and deployment are complete

• ❏ C. Addressed mainly during the implementation and coding phase

• ❏ D. Integrated into every phase of the development lifecycle

What is a likely disadvantage of expanding an IoT deployment to hundreds of thousands of sensors and endpoints?

• ❏ A. Cloud Pub/Sub

• ❏ B. Less complex network topology

• ❏ C. Rapid growth in telemetry that demands scalable infrastructure

• ❏ D. Stronger endpoint protection

A regional insurer uses a web proxy to manage employee browsing and record requests. What is the primary security capability that a proxy server provides?

• ❏ A. Cloud Armor

• ❏ B. Content filtering

• ❏ C. URL blocking

• ❏ D. Virus detection

A regional investment firm called Halcyon Capital is evaluating directory and authentication technologies and asks which of the listed technologies is a proprietary implementation rather than an open standard?

• ❏ A. Kerberos

• ❏ B. IEEE 802.1X

• ❏ C. X.500

• ❏ D. Active Directory

Which deployment option provides hardware level out of band management for servers?

• ❏ A. Bastion host inside production network

• ❏ B. Separate management network port per server connected to an independent switch

• ❏ C. Bluetooth links for administration

Service insertion policies is correct because it is the feature that explicitly steers network flows through designated security appliances or service chains before the traffic reaches its final destination.

Service insertion policies work by matching traffic and then redirecting or chaining that traffic to inline services such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, or other security appliances so that inspection or processing occurs along a defined path.

VPC firewall rules are incorrect because they are used to filter or allow traffic at the virtual network level and they do not by themselves steer flows through external security appliances.

Endpoint groups are incorrect because they are used to group workloads for policy application and segmentation and they do not implement service chaining to route traffic through appliances.

Access control lists are incorrect because they provide packet level filtering based on addresses and ports and they do not ensure that traffic is routed through designated security appliances for inspection.

When a question asks about routing flows through security appliances look for terms like service insertion or service chaining and eliminate options that describe simple filtering or grouping.

The correct option is Pattern of blood vessels on the retinal surface.

The Pattern of blood vessels on the retinal surface is what retinal scanners capture by projecting a safe low intensity light into the eye and mapping the vascular pattern at the back of the eye. The retinal vasculature is internal and highly distinctive and it remains stable over many years which makes it suitable for identity verification.

Pattern of photoreceptor cells on the retina is incorrect because photoreceptor distribution refers to microscopic rods and cones and is not the biometric pattern that retinal scanners use for matching. Scanners target the vascular pattern rather than cell layouts.

Amount of light reflected from the retina is incorrect because a simple measure of overall reflectance does not provide the unique spatial detail needed for identity verification. Retinal systems analyze the spatial vascular pattern rather than a single brightness value.

Iris surface texture is incorrect because iris recognition examines the external colored ring around the pupil and its surface features while retinal scanning probes the internal blood vessel pattern at the back of the eye. These are distinct biometric modalities.

Remember that retinal refers to the internal blood vessel pattern and iris refers to the external texture. Use the keyword retina to guide your choice when options mention vascular patterns versus iris features.

The correct answer is Rootkit.

Rootkit technology typically embeds at the kernel or firmware level and can hook system calls or modify boot components which lets it hide files processes and network activity from endpoint defenses. Because it operates below the normal visibility of the operating system signature and behavioral detection are frequently evaded. Detection often requires offline analysis memory forensics or hardware based integrity checks so it is usually the hardest for host based defenses to discover.

Rootkit variants that live in the bootloader firmware or hypervisor can persist across reboots and remain invisible to standard antivirus which generally inspects user space or relies on the operating system for visibility.

Trojan horse is typically user level malware that relies on social engineering to run and it leaves artifacts and behaviors that endpoint protection and reputation systems can detect.

Cryptominer commonly causes noticeable CPU GPU and network usage and it usually runs in user space so monitoring and heuristics make it easier to find than a rootkit.

Worm self propagates across networks and creates observable scanning and infection patterns which network and host sensors can detect more reliably than the stealth techniques used by rootkits.

When you are asked about the hardest to detect malware think about whether it modifies the kernel or firmware because stealth and persistence below the operating system are the strongest clues.

The correct answer is Exclusionary rule.

The Exclusionary rule prevents evidence that was obtained through unlawful searches and seizures from being admitted at trial. It applies to physical items and to electronic data when those items were seized in violation of Fourth Amendment protections. The purpose of the rule is to deter unconstitutional police conduct by removing the benefit of using illegally obtained evidence.

Hearsay rule deals with out of court statements that are offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. It governs the admissibility of testimony and statements and it does not decide whether evidence was lawfully seized.

Best evidence rule requires the original document or an acceptable duplicate when the content of a writing recording or photograph is at issue. It addresses proof of content and not the legality of how evidence was collected.

Chain of custody rule concerns the documented handling of physical or electronic evidence to show it was not altered or substituted. It is important for authenticity and reliability but it does not determine whether the initial search or seizure complied with constitutional protections.

When a question asks whether evidence was seized lawfully think about the Exclusionary rule. If the question focuses on statements or documents think about hearsay or the best evidence rule. If it focuses on handling and preservation think about the chain of custody.

Top-down maps risks to strategic objectives and bottom-up catalogs operational risks. Top-down begins with the organization or program objectives and identifies scenarios that could prevent those objectives from being met, while bottom-up starts with process and control failures and records operational risks that can be aggregated upward.

Top-down is used to ensure risk scenarios are directly tied to strategic goals and to prioritize responses by business impact. Bottom-up is useful for building a detailed inventory of operational exposures and for informing remediation at the control level, and it can be mapped to strategy after aggregation.

Bottom-up catalogs operational risks and may not align with strategy is incorrect because the phrase implies bottom-up cannot be aligned with strategy. In practice bottom-up catalogs can be aggregated and mapped to strategic objectives to demonstrate alignment and to inform enterprise risk decisions.

Top-down emphasizes technical vulnerabilities and ignores business impact is incorrect because a top-down approach focuses on business objectives and impacts. It intentionally looks beyond technical vulnerabilities to assess how risks affect business goals and decision making.

When a question mentions strategic objectives prefer a top-down framing. When it focuses on processes or controls prefer a bottom-up framing.

Accidental incidents is the correct answer.

Nimbus Logistics has a business continuity plan with maintenance and recovery procedures and an incident response program. These controls are focused on restoring services after disruptions and on detecting and responding to security breaches. Because Accidental incidents are typically caused by human error and require operational controls such as training, change management, and procedural safeguards they are not primarily addressed by BCP or IRP.

System failures is incorrect because continuity and recovery procedures are specifically intended to handle hardware and software outages and to restore operations after failures.

Unauthorized intrusions is incorrect because an incident response program is designed to detect, contain, and remediate security breaches and intrusion events.

Environmental causes is incorrect because business continuity and recovery plans cover natural disasters, power loss, and other environmental impacts that affect availability.

When you separate choices think about whether the event is intentional or accidental and who normally handles it. BCP and IRP typically cover outages and breaches while routine human error is handled by training and operational controls.

It indicates the flaw is more easily exploited and more severe is the correct option.

This option is correct because the Common Vulnerability Scoring System produces a numerical score that reflects both how exploitable a vulnerability is and the potential impact on confidentiality integrity and availability. A higher CVSS rating therefore signals greater exploitability and more severe potential consequences which helps organizations prioritize remediation.

Cloud Security Command Center is incorrect because that is a Google Cloud security management service and it does not define what a CVSS rating means.

It means the vulnerability is harder to attack is incorrect because a higher CVSS score indicates the opposite. A higher score denotes easier exploitation or greater impact not increased difficulty.

It signals the issue is less likely to be discovered by scanners is incorrect because CVSS measures severity and exploitability rather than the likelihood of discovery by scanning tools.

When a question mentions CVSS remember that a higher score means greater severity and exploitability rather than obscurity or discovery likelihood.

An organization that coordinates and supports the response to security incidents that affect sites within a defined constituency is the correct answer.

This wording matches standard internet security definitions of a Computer Security Incident Response Team or CSIRT. A CSIRT exists to coordinate incident handling across a defined group or constituency and to provide technical support, analysis, and operational assistance so that affected sites can contain, remediate, and recover from incidents.

Google Security Command Center is incorrect because it is a Google Cloud security product that helps detect and manage risks in cloud environments and it is not the general organizational definition of a CSIRT.

An organization that provides a secure channel for reporting suspected security incidents is incorrect because providing a reporting channel is only one service a CSIRT might offer. The definition of a CSIRT requires coordination and support across a constituency, which is broader than a single reporting mechanism.

An organization that distributes incident related information to its constituency and other involved parties is incorrect because information distribution is a typical CSIRT activity but it does not capture the full role. The essential aspect of a CSIRT is coordinating and supporting response efforts, not only sharing information.

Look for words like coordinate and constituency when the question asks for a CSIRT definition. Single services such as reporting channels or information distribution are usually components of CSIRT operations but not the complete definition.

The correct answer is 65535.

TCP and UDP use 16 bit port numbers so the numeric range runs from 0 through 65535. Because port 0 is reserved and not available for normal service assignment the usable port numbers for services are 1 through 65535 which yields 65535 distinct assignable ports on a single host.

The option 1024 is incorrect because that number marks the boundary between well known ports and higher ports. Well known ports occupy 0 through 1023 and 1024 is simply the first non privileged port rather than the total count of available ports.

The option 49152 is incorrect because that value is the conventional start of the dynamic or private port range assigned by IANA rather than the total number of ports available on a host.

The option 65536 is incorrect because port numbers are limited to 16 bit values so the maximum numeric port is 65535. The value 65536 is not a valid port number and when you exclude the reserved port 0 the assignable count is 65535.

On the exam remember that TCP and UDP ports are 16-bit numbers so the range runs from 0 to 65535 and port 0 is reserved which leaves usable ports 1 through 65535.

802.11b is correct because it does not use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

802.11b uses direct sequence spread spectrum and complementary code keying in the 2.4 gigahertz band and it is limited to 11 megabits per second. Those modulation techniques are distinct from OFDM which is why 802.11b does not use OFDM and is considered a legacy Wi Fi standard.

802.11b is an older standard and it is often less emphasized on newer exams because modern Wi Fi standards rely on OFDM and provide much higher throughput.

802.11n is incorrect because 802.11n uses OFDM as its primary physical layer and it adds MIMO to increase throughput, so it does not meet the question requirement.

802.11a is incorrect because 802.11a was defined to use OFDM in the 5 gigahertz band and it delivers up to 54 megabits per second using OFDM, so it is not the right choice.

When a question asks about modulation look for keywords like DSSS or OFDM in the prompt. Remember that 802.11b uses DSSS so it does not use OFDM.

Massive MIMO antenna arrays is the correct option.

Massive MIMO antenna arrays use a very large number of antennas at the base station which allows simultaneous spatial multiplexing of many users on the same time and frequency resources. This increases spectral efficiency and cell capacity and it enables narrow beamforming that improves link quality and energy efficiency. Those physical layer gains are the primary reason 5G delivers substantially greater capacity and more efficient data transfer compared to 4G.

Channel bonding can increase throughput by combining channels but it is not the defining 5G advancement that provides the large capacity and spectral efficiency improvements. Channel bonding is more common in Wi Fi and other link aggregation contexts and it does not deliver the same spatial multiplexing benefits as massive MIMO.

Network slicing is a 5G capability that creates multiple virtual networks on the same physical infrastructure to provide service isolation and custom performance. It improves flexibility and management but it does not directly increase radio spectral efficiency or raw physical layer capacity.

Packet switching is the fundamental method for carrying user data in modern networks and it was already used in 4G. It is not a new 5G technology that explains the substantial capacity gains between 4G and 5G.

When a question asks about increased capacity or spectral efficiency focus on physical layer advances such as Massive MIMO rather than higher level features like network slicing.

The correct answer is Length.

Passphrases are designed to be much longer than typical passwords and they emphasize length because each additional word or character dramatically increases the number of possible combinations and the effort required for brute force attacks. A long, memorable sequence of words yields high effective entropy while remaining easier for a user to recall than a short string of complex symbols.

Uniqueness is important for preventing credential reuse across accounts, but it is not the defining characteristic of a passphrase.

Complexity means mixing symbols, numbers, and varied case to meet policy rules, and passphrases generally achieve strength through length rather than forced symbol or case complexity.

Randomness can improve resistance to guessing, but many passphrases are constructed from memorable words and they rely primarily on increased length and combined entropy rather than purely random characters.

When a question mentions passphrase focus on length and memorability as the key advantage, and contrast that with short complex passwords when choosing the best answer.

The correct answer is Estimating the expenses associated with the requested modifications.

Change control at the version control stage is primarily about technical validation, risk assessment, traceability, and approval for code changes so that fixes and features can be merged and released in a controlled way. Estimating costs is normally a budgeting and project management activity and it is therefore least commonly handled inside the version control change control process, especially at a small fintech where cost decisions are often made by product or program management.

Reproducing and analyzing the reported defect is a typical change control activity because teams need to reproduce issues to determine root cause, scope, and an appropriate corrective change before approving commits.

Prioritizing and categorizing incoming change requests is central to change control since it drives which changes are approved, what risk mitigations are required, and the order in which work is performed.

Defining the modified interface that end users will encounter is often part of the change control record because user impact, acceptance criteria, and documentation of interface changes inform testing and approval decisions for the release.

When evaluating similar questions focus on whether an activity is technical and decision oriented for code changes or whether it is financial and planning oriented. If an option refers to budgeting or detailed cost estimation it is more likely the realm of project or product management than the version control change control process.

The correct answer is Single sign on using Active Directory Federation Services ADFS.

Single sign on using Active Directory Federation Services ADFS provides a true enterprise single sign on experience because it integrates with on premises Active Directory to authenticate employees once and then issue claims or tokens for access to internal and federated cloud applications. ADFS can broker trust with cloud services using standards such as SAML and WS‑Fed and it can enforce enterprise access policies and work with multi factor mechanisms to preserve security. Note that many organizations and exam objectives now favor Azure Active Directory for cloud first scenarios, but ADFS remains a supported on premises federation and SSO solution and is the best fit for the scenario as described.

Federated identity using OAuth 2.0 is incorrect because OAuth 2.0 is primarily an authorization framework rather than an authentication or SSO protocol. Federated SSO implementations typically use SAML or OpenID Connect on top of OAuth flows to provide identity and single sign on, so the option as stated does not directly deliver the described enterprise SSO experience.

Passwordless authentication with WebAuthn is incorrect because WebAuthn describes a strong, phishing resistant authentication method for user sign in. It does not by itself provide the federation, token brokering, or application trust relationships required to implement single sign on across a range of internal and cloud services.

Multi factor authentication is incorrect because MFA is an important security control that strengthens sign in, but it is not a single sign on solution on its own. MFA complements SSO by adding verification factors, but it does not eliminate repeated credential prompts across disparate services without an identity federation or SSO broker.

Focus on whether the choice describes an identity provider or an SSO federation when the question asks for seamless access. Remember that OAuth is about authorization and that protocols like SAML or OpenID Connect are used for authentication and SSO.

The correct answer is Encrypting objects at rest with strong cryptography.

Encrypting objects at rest with strong cryptography protects the confidentiality and integrity of stored objects but it does not reduce incoming request volume or network bandwidth and therefore it does not mitigate denial of service attacks.

Request throttling and bandwidth limits are controls that directly limit the rate of requests and cap network usage so they help slow or block DoS traffic and are not the least likely to mitigate such attacks.

Content delivery network caching offloads requests to edge locations and serves cached copies which reduces load on the origin storage and helps absorb traffic spikes so it mitigates denial of service risks.

Versioning and backups provide recovery from data corruption and accidental deletion and they support resilience but they do not prevent or reduce a flood of requests and so they are not primary DoS mitigation controls.

When answering DoS mitigation questions ask whether the control reduces or absorbs traffic or limits request rates and not whether it protects data at rest such as encryption.

The cloud vendor is correct because the vendor is accountable for deploying and maintaining physical security controls at the data centers they operate such as biometric gates mantraps and around the clock surveillance cameras.

The cloud vendor is responsible under the shared responsibility model for the physical security of the facility that houses the infrastructure. Protecting the building perimeter access controls environmental safeguards and onsite cameras is a provider obligation so tenants do not install those controls for provider managed infrastructure.

Both the cloud vendor and the tenant are incorrect because tenants do not control the provider data center perimeter or install facility level physical controls. Tenants manage their data identity and access and configuration but not the vendor owned facility hardware and entry systems.

The retailer using the cloud is incorrect because the customer cannot deploy physical access controls inside a provider owned data center. The retailer is responsible for security of its own premises and its use of cloud services but not for the vendor operated facility physical security.

The colocation facility operator is incorrect for a typical public cloud scenario because the question targets the cloud vendor responsibility. While a colocation operator would handle physical controls in a colocation arrangement the modern public cloud providers usually own and operate their data centers and therefore take on that responsibility.

When a question asks about physical data center controls think about who owns the facility and remember that cloud providers handle physical infrastructure while tenants handle their data and configurations.

The correct option is Cryptographic hashing utilities.

Cryptographic hashing utilities are used to compute a fixed length digest from a file or disk image so that investigators can compare values taken at different times to confirm that the data has not changed. The hash value is reproducible for identical data and is therefore the standard method to demonstrate integrity during forensic handling and in court.

In practice an investigator will compute and record a hash when evidence is seized and then recompute the hash after imaging or analysis to show the values match. Common algorithms used include SHA variants and MD5 for legacy comparisons and forensic tools will record the hash alongside metadata to provide a chain of custody and integrity checks.

Google Cloud Audit Logs are logs of actions and events in Google Cloud and they are useful for tracking activity in cloud environments but they do not produce cryptographic digests of seized files or drives to prove that the evidence itself remained unchanged.

Write blocker devices are important because they prevent writing to a drive during acquisition and they reduce the chance of altering evidence. They do not by themselves prove that data has not changed. Investigators still use hashing utilities to create a verifiable integrity value for the original media and for the acquired image.

Drive cloning utilities make exact copies or images of storage media and they are used during acquisition to preserve the original device. Creating a clone does not by itself confirm integrity across time. A hash of the original and a hash of the clone are compared to demonstrate that the clone is identical to the source.

When asked which tool proves evidence was not modified think hash. Describe capturing an initial hash at seizure and verifying that same hash after imaging or analysis.

The correct option is Symmetric key encryption.

Symmetric key encryption uses a single shared secret key that both participants use to encrypt and decrypt messages. Common symmetric algorithms such as AES perform both encryption and decryption with the same key and are typically used for bulk confidentiality because they are efficient. To operate securely the shared key must first be established or distributed by a secure channel or by using a key agreement protocol.

Diffie Hellman key agreement is a method to derive a shared secret between parties over an insecure channel but it is a key agreement protocol rather than an encryption scheme. It is often used to produce the symmetric key that will then be used by a symmetric cipher, but it does not itself perform message encryption and decryption.

Public Key Infrastructure is a framework for issuing and managing certificates and public keys and it supports asymmetric cryptography for authentication and key distribution. It is not a method where both participants use the same secret to encrypt and decrypt messages.

Asymmetric key cryptography uses a pair of keys where the public key is different from the private key and the encrypting and decrypting keys are not the same. That property means it does not meet the requirement of using the same secret for both encryption and decryption.

When a question asks for using the same secret to encrypt and decrypt remember that symmetric means one shared key while asymmetric means a public and private key pair.

Obtaining and upholding certifications such as ISO 27001 and PCI DSS is the best indicator of a company’s organizational commitment to security and enterprise risk management.

These certifications require the organization to implement documented policies procedures and controls and to operate a formal management system that is subject to independent third party assessment.

ISO 27001 drives enterprise level governance through risk assessment and continual improvement and PCI DSS enforces specific controls for payment card data and regular assessments. Maintaining these certifications shows sustained management support documented processes and external validation rather than a single technical control.

Google Cloud Security Command Center is a valuable cloud security product that helps with monitoring and finding risks. It does not by itself demonstrate enterprise wide governance or a company level risk management program because it is a tool rather than an organizational certification or management system.

Publishing SOC audit reports for external stakeholders improves transparency and provides audit evidence for particular services or controls. SOC reports are not equivalent to an organization wide management system or mandatory certification and they may only cover specific services or timeframes.

Performing only automated vulnerability scans every three months is a limited technical activity that can help find weaknesses. It is insufficient as proof of organizational commitment because it is narrow in scope and infrequent and it lacks the policy people and continuous governance that certifications require.

When you see answer choices that mention organization wide programs third party validation or continual management processes they are more likely to indicate true enterprise commitment than choices that describe individual tools or isolated tasks.

TCP establishes a connection and provides reliable delivery is correct.

TCP is connection oriented and it uses a three way handshake to establish a session before data transfer begins. TCP ensures reliable delivery by using sequence numbers and acknowledgements and it retransmits lost segments while also providing flow control and congestion control so data arrives in order and intact.

UDP establishes a connection and provides reliable delivery is incorrect because UDP is connectionless and does not provide reliability. UDP sends independent datagrams without a handshake and it does not perform acknowledgements or automatic retransmission so it cannot guarantee delivery.

TCP is connectionless and does not guarantee delivery is incorrect because that description matches UDP rather than TCP. TCP is connection oriented and provides mechanisms to guarantee delivery so the statement about TCP being connectionless is false.

Look for the phrase establishes a connection and the idea of reliable delivery to pick TCP. If an option mentions connectionless or lack of acknowledgements it is describing UDP.

The correct answer is Database driven signature intrusion detection system.

Database driven signature intrusion detection system refers to a signature based IDS that compares incoming events against a maintained database of known exploit and vulnerability patterns and then raises alerts when a match is found. This description directly matches the requirement to match events against a stored catalog of past exploits and known vulnerabilities.

Anomaly based intrusion detection system is incorrect because anomaly based systems detect deviations from an established normal baseline rather than matching events to a catalog of known signatures. They are focused on behavior changes and not on stored exploit signatures.

Network based intrusion detection system is incorrect because that term indicates where monitoring occurs rather than the detection technique. A network based IDS can employ signature matching but the option does not specify the database driven signature method that the question requires.

Host based intrusion detection system is incorrect because it denotes an IDS that runs on individual hosts and monitors host activity. While a host based system may use signatures, the option does not explicitly describe the database driven signature matching approach asked for in the question.

When a question mentions matching events to a catalog of known exploits think signature based detection and distinguish the detection method from where it is deployed such as network based or host based.

Unapproved modification of firewall rules and Unauthorized access to a customer database are correct answers.

Unapproved modification of firewall rules should generate a security alert because firewall rules enforce network access boundaries. Changes made outside of approved change control can open attack paths or indicate compromised credentials or malicious insiders and therefore require immediate validation and remediation.

Unauthorized access to a customer database is a clear security incident because it involves potential exposure or tampering of sensitive customer data. This kind of event must be contained investigated and reported as appropriate given the regulatory and business impact for a payments company.

Routine successful email transmission is not a security event in this context because it describes normal, expected operation. It does not by itself indicate compromise unless it is anomalous or tied to other suspicious indicators.

Unexpected rise in server room temperature is primarily an environmental or facilities alert rather than a direct security event. It can cause outages and should be addressed quickly by facilities teams but it does not alone signal malicious activity unless correlated with other security signals.

Sudden large volume of outbound data transfers can be noisy and often has legitimate causes such as backups or scheduled uploads. It is an indicator to monitor and correlate with access patterns before escalating to a full security investigation to avoid excessive false positives.

Focus alerts on events that change security controls or directly access sensitive data and use correlation to filter operational or environmental noise. Prioritize changes to controls and unauthorized data access.

The correct option is Statistical multiplexing.

Statistical multiplexing dynamically allocates link capacity to active data streams so that only streams with data ready to send receive bandwidth. This behavior matches the scenario where a single optical connection is split into several variable rate streams and capacity is granted on demand rather than being preassigned.

Wavelength division multiplexing is incorrect because it separates channels by optical wavelengths so each channel occupies a fixed wavelength on the fiber. That method provides parallel channels but it does not dynamically grant capacity to streams only when they have data to send.

Frequency division multiplexing is incorrect because it assigns fixed frequency bands to channels so they transmit simultaneously in separate spectral slices. It provides continuous spectral allocation rather than on demand, variable rate sharing.

Fixed time division multiplexing is incorrect because it gives each stream a reserved time slot at regular intervals even if the stream has no data. That is the opposite of granting capacity only to streams that currently have data ready to send.

When the question mentions dynamic allocation or variable rate streams and says capacity is granted only when data is ready, choose statistical multiplexing because it shares bandwidth on demand.

The correct answer is SOC 3 is intended for broad public distribution and provides a concise non technical summary while SOC 2 is restricted to designated users and contains detailed control testing.

SOC 3 is a general use report that is written for broad public distribution and it summarizes whether the service organization meets the AICPA trust services criteria without exposing the detailed control testing. SOC 2 is intended for specified or trusted users and it contains detailed descriptions of controls and the auditor’s testing results so that customers and stakeholders can perform their own risk assessments.

SOC 3 is mandated by law for publicly listed companies while SOC 2 is a voluntary attestation is incorrect because SOC reports are attestation engagements by CPAs and are generally voluntary. They are not a statutory filing required of publicly listed companies under securities law.

SOC 3 concentrates only on financial control testing while SOC 2 evaluates security availability processing integrity and privacy is incorrect because financial control testing is the focus of SOC 1, not SOC 3. SOC 2 and SOC 3 map to the trust services criteria such as security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, and SOC 3 simply provides a higher level summary of those criteria.

SOC 3 commonly includes an AICPA trust services seal for public marketing while SOC 2 is typically not distributed with a public seal is misleading and therefore incorrect as the distinguishing factors are distribution and level of technical detail rather than the presence of a seal. SOC 3 is suitable for public marketing and may accompany a seal or summary, while SOC 2 is restricted and is not usually published widely, but the presence or absence of a seal is not the primary difference.

When you see choices contrasting public distribution with restricted users and referencing detailed testing versus a high level summary you can confidently pick SOC 3 for public summaries and SOC 2 for detailed, restricted reports.

The correct option is Authentication mechanisms.

Authentication mechanisms must be evaluated first because they determine how remote contractors and staff prove their identity before any connection to the corporate LAN is permitted. Strong authentication is the foundation for access decisions and enables controls such as multifactor authentication, conditional access, and identity federation that reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

Perimeter firewall rules are important for controlling network traffic but they do not validate who the user is and therefore should be considered after ensuring robust authentication and identity controls are in place.

Zero trust network design is a valuable architectural approach that emphasizes continuous verification and least privilege but it depends on strong authentication as a prerequisite and is not the single first item to evaluate for enabling Internet access.

Endpoint hardening reduces the risk from compromised devices and should be part of a comprehensive remote access strategy but it complements rather than replaces the need to verify user identity before granting network access.

When deciding what to evaluate first think about identity and who can access resources. Confirm that strong authentication such as multifactor methods and centralized identity controls are in place before opening network access.

The correct option is Identity based access control.

Identity based access control grants permissions to specific users or accounts and lets the owner of the resource decide who gets access. This owner driven assignment of rights matches the definition of discretionary access control because control over permissions is left to the resource owner rather than imposed by a central policy.

Rule based access control is incorrect because it enforces access through system rules or conditions such as time or network location and does not rely on the resource owner granting access at their discretion.

Mandatory access control is incorrect because it uses centrally managed labels and policies to enforce access and it prevents owners from making discretionary changes to permissions.

Role based access control is incorrect because it assigns permissions to roles that are managed by administrators and organizations and it does not provide the same owner level discretion that defines discretionary access control.

When a question asks about discretionary control ask if the resource owner can directly grant or revoke access. If the owner controls permissions the model is likely identity based.

The correct answer is Corporate financial stability and due diligence fraud prevention. This choice is not considered one of the three primary goals of accounting infrastructure in systems security.

Accounting infrastructure in systems security is focused on providing reliable records that enable accountability auditing and operational security functions. It supports verification of actions on systems and supplies the logs and records needed for monitoring incident response and resource management. Those technical and operational objectives are distinct from broad corporate financial goals and legal due diligence.

Information security monitoring analysis and incident characterization and response is a primary goal because accounting systems collect and retain event data that analysts use to detect incidents characterize attacks and drive response efforts. Logs and records are fundamental inputs to monitoring and incident handling.

Individual accountability and audit trails is a primary goal because accounting infrastructure ensures actions are attributable to specific users and provides audit trails for investigations compliance and nonrepudiation. Without this capability it is difficult to hold individuals accountable or to conduct meaningful audits.

Resource usage tracking monitoring and internal chargeback is a primary goal because accounting data is used to measure resource consumption for capacity planning cost allocation and to detect anomalies in usage that may indicate misuse or compromise. Tracking usage is an operational function served by accounting systems.

Focus on the difference between technical operational goals and broad business objectives. Emphasize words like accountability and monitoring when you read the choices and rule out answers that describe general corporate finance aims.

Packet sniffers enable an attacker to capture and inspect traffic traversing a network is the correct statement.

Packet sniffers operate by passively copying frames or packets that pass through a network interface and then decoding protocol headers and payloads for inspection. This allows an attacker or analyst to observe unencrypted credentials, session tokens, and other sensitive information without altering the traffic, which is why Packet sniffers enable an attacker to capture and inspect traffic traversing a network accurately describes their primary function.

Sending overlapping IP fragments to a host is an example of a malformed packet attack is incorrect. That option describes an active malformed fragmentation attack that targets reassembly logic and can crash or confuse hosts, and it is not the same as passive packet capture.

Packet sniffers can inject forged packets into sessions to manipulate communications is incorrect. Sniffers are primarily passive tools that capture traffic, and injecting forged packets is an active capability that requires packet crafting or transmission tools and appropriate network access. Some toolkits can both capture and send packets, but injection is not a defining property of sniffing.

Session hijacking tools are used to assume control of an existing network connection is incorrect. That option describes session hijacking which is an active attack that may use information gathered by sniffers but it is a distinct technique from passive packet capture.

When answering these questions distinguish between passive actions like sniffing and active actions like injection or hijacking. Focus on the primary capability described by the term in the option.

The correct answer is SOC 2 Type II shows that controls were operating effectively over a sample period.

A SOC 2 Type II shows that controls were operating effectively over a sample period report demonstrates that an organization not only designed controls but also tested them over time to show they operated effectively. The testing period is sampled over weeks or months which provides evidence of sustained operation rather than a snapshot.

ISO 27001 certification is incorrect because ISO 27001 is a separate international standard for an information security management system and not a SOC 2 report. Organizations may hold both certifications or reports but ISO 27001 follows its own audit and certification process.

SOC 2 Type II reports are published publicly for everyone to view is incorrect because SOC 2 reports are typically restricted. Service organizations generally share them with customers or regulators and often under confidentiality agreements rather than posting them for the public.

SOC 2 Type II focuses exclusively on privacy controls is incorrect because SOC 2 evaluates one or more trust service criteria which include security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. A SOC 2 report is not limited to privacy alone.

When comparing Type I and Type II focus on the timeframe and whether the exam includes testing of operating effectiveness over a period rather than just the design at a single point.

The correct answer is Wired extension.

Wired extension refers to an access point that uses a wired Ethernet uplink to join the building LAN and deliver customer WiFi. This mode places the AP on the existing wired network so the access point carries client traffic over Ethernet to switches and routers on the premises.

Mesh is incorrect because mesh APs form a wireless backhaul among themselves and forward traffic over multiple wireless hops rather than using a direct wired Ethernet connection to the building network. Mesh is used when a wired uplink is not available or to extend coverage without new cabling.

Standalone is incorrect because a standalone access point operates independently and may not be integrated into the building Ethernet as a dedicated extension point for customer WiFi. The term standalone usually means the AP handles client services locally rather than acting as a wired extension of the building network.

When a question asks which mode connects an AP to the building Ethernet look for wording that indicates a wired uplink or wired extension and rule out mesh and standalone options that emphasize wireless backhaul or independence.

The correct option is Integrated into every phase of the development lifecycle.

Integrated into every phase of the development lifecycle means that security activities are applied from requirements and architecture through design, implementation, testing, deployment, and operations. When security is applied continuously teams can perform threat modeling early, enforce secure design decisions, run static and dynamic analysis during implementation, and automate security tests in CI pipelines so that issues are detected and remediated sooner and at lower cost.

Integrated into every phase of the development lifecycle also supports compliance, secure configuration management, and effective incident response because security responsibilities and controls are defined for each stage rather than being left to a single phase or tool.

Monitored with Cloud Security Command Center is incorrect because that describes a runtime monitoring and asset discovery tool rather than a development lifecycle approach. Monitoring is valuable in production but it does not replace the need to build security into requirements, design, coding, and testing.

Added only after the design and deployment are complete is incorrect because adding security after deployment leads to expensive fixes and missed design flaws. Late integration increases risk and often requires major rework to address architectural vulnerabilities.

Addressed mainly during the implementation and coding phase is incorrect because focusing almost exclusively on coding misses opportunities to reduce risk earlier and later in the lifecycle. Requirements and design activities such as threat modeling and secure architecture reviews are necessary, and testing and operational controls are also required after implementation.

On SDLC questions pick the answer that embeds security early and continuously across the process rather than as a single phase or a single monitoring tool.

Rapid growth in telemetry that demands scalable infrastructure is the correct option because adding hundreds of thousands of sensors typically creates a large and sustained increase in data volume that must be ingested, stored, processed, and analyzed.

Rapid growth in telemetry that demands scalable infrastructure forces architects to plan for high ingest rates, greater message throughput, horizontal scaling of brokers and stream processors, cost implications for storage and egress, and operational challenges for monitoring and alerting.

Cloud Pub/Sub is not a disadvantage by itself because it is a messaging service that can help buffer and route telemetry. The option names a product rather than a drawback and it therefore does not describe a likely disadvantage of scaling an IoT deployment.

Less complex network topology is incorrect because scaling to hundreds of thousands of endpoints usually increases network complexity. Larger fleets require more routing, segmentation, and management, so the topology tends to become more complex not less.

Stronger endpoint protection is wrong because adding many devices normally increases the attack surface and makes consistent endpoint hardening more difficult. Large scale deployments require more effort to maintain and verify security rather than automatically producing stronger protection.

When you see questions about massively scaled IoT deployments focus on challenges such as data volume, ingestion and processing capacity, and operational and cost impacts rather than on a single product or a simplistic benefit.

The correct answer is Content filtering.

A web proxy sits between users and the internet so it can inspect web requests and responses and then enforce policy. This inspection allows the proxy to block categories of sites, remove or alter content, and log activity for auditing which is why Content filtering is the primary security capability in this scenario.

URL blocking is not the best answer because it describes only a specific action that falls under the broader practice of content filtering. A proxy can and often does block URLs but the full capability includes category filtering, pattern matching, and policy enforcement which is captured by Content filtering.

Cloud Armor is a named cloud service that provides DDoS protection and web application firewall features for cloud applications. It is not the general proxy function of managing employee browsing and recording requests.

Virus detection is generally performed by endpoint AV or dedicated scanning gateways. Proxies focus on inspecting and filtering web content and logging requests and they do not primarily act as full antivirus engines.

When a question mentions a proxy think about traffic interception and policy enforcement and choose answers that describe filtering and logging rather than antivirus scanning or a specific cloud product.

Active Directory is correct because it is a Microsoft product and therefore a proprietary implementation rather than an open standard.

Active Directory builds on and interoperates with open protocols such as LDAP and Kerberos but Microsoft defines product specific extensions, the AD schema and the replication and management features. Those vendor controlled extensions and the product packaging are what make it a proprietary directory and identity implementation.

Kerberos is not correct because it is an open authentication protocol that originated at MIT and is standardized in RFC 4120 and it is implemented by many vendors and platforms.

IEEE 802.1X is not correct because it is an IEEE standard for port based network access control and it is an open standard used for network authentication.

X.500 is not correct because it is an ITU and ISO directory standard that defines an open directory model and protocols and it was the basis for LDAP.

Proprietary answers usually name vendor products while standards are identified by RFC ITU or IEEE. Look for vendor ownership if the question asks which technology is proprietary.

The correct option is Separate management network port per server connected to an independent switch.

This option describes using a dedicated management interface that connects to an isolated management switch and to the server’s baseboard management controller. That setup gives true hardware level out of band access because the management path is independent of the server’s operating system and the production network.

Using a separate management switch keeps management traffic isolated and reachable even when the host OS is down or the production network is unavailable. It also enables use of standard server management facilities such as iLO, iDRAC, IPMI, or Redfish which operate at the hardware level.

Bastion host inside production network is incorrect because a bastion host sits on the production network and therefore depends on the same network and often the host’s services. It provides controlled access but it is an in band solution and it does not give a hardware level path independent of the server’s OS or the production network.

Bluetooth links for administration is incorrect because Bluetooth is not a standard or secure method for server hardware out of band management. Bluetooth has limited range and functionality and it cannot provide the reliable isolated hardware management interface that a dedicated management port and switch provide.

Look for answers that describe a physically separate management path or a dedicated interface that connects to an independent switch because that signals true out of band hardware management and access when the production network or OS fails.