CSLB General Building (B) — All Questions

Which is the correct order of the incident response process?

• a.Preparation, detection, containment, eradication, recovery, lessons learned✓
• b.Detection, preparation, recovery, containment, eradication
• c.Containment, detection, recovery, preparation, eradication
• d.Recovery, containment, detection, preparation, lessons learned

A standard incident response lifecycle proceeds through preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned. Preparation comes first so the team is ready before an incident. Lessons learned closes the loop to improve future response.

During incident response, which step focuses on limiting the damage and preventing the threat from spreading?

• a.Eradication
• b.Containment✓
• c.Recovery
• d.Preparation

Containment isolates affected systems to stop the incident from spreading while preserving evidence. It buys time to plan eradication without further loss. Short-term and long-term containment strategies balance disruption and safety.

Which system aggregates and correlates log data from many sources to detect security events in near real time?

• a.IDS
• b.DLP
• c.SIEM✓
• d.VPN

A security information and event management (SIEM) system centralizes logs from across the environment and correlates them to surface incidents. It supports alerting, dashboards, and investigation. Effective tuning reduces alert fatigue and false positives.

Which control monitors network traffic and actively blocks detected malicious activity inline?

• a.IDS
• b.SIEM
• c.Honeypot
• d.IPS✓

An intrusion prevention system (IPS) sits inline and can automatically block or drop malicious traffic it detects. Unlike an IDS, which only alerts, an IPS takes preventive action. Tuning is important to avoid blocking legitimate traffic.

Which technology inspects data in motion and at rest to prevent unauthorized exfiltration of sensitive information?

• a.Data loss prevention✓
• b.Firewall
• c.VPN
• d.Load balancer

Data loss prevention (DLP) detects and blocks sensitive data from leaving the organization through email, uploads, or removable media. It uses content inspection and policy rules. DLP helps enforce compliance and protect intellectual property.

Which process applies vendor updates to fix known software vulnerabilities?

• a.Hardening
• b.Patch management✓
• c.Baselining
• d.Tokenization

Patch management is the disciplined process of testing and deploying vendor updates to remediate vulnerabilities. Timely patching closes known exploit paths. A formal cycle balances speed with stability testing.

Reducing a system's attack surface by disabling unneeded services and applying secure configurations is called:

• a.Segmentation
• b.Failover
• c.Hardening✓
• d.Federation

Hardening strengthens a system by removing unnecessary services, closing ports, and applying secure settings and baselines. It reduces the attack surface before deployment. Configuration benchmarks guide consistent hardening.

Which practice ensures evidence remains admissible by documenting who handled it and when?

• a.Data retention
• b.Legal hold
• c.Nondisclosure
• d.Chain of custody✓

Chain of custody documents every person who handled evidence and each transfer, preserving integrity for legal proceedings. Gaps can render evidence inadmissible. It is essential in digital forensics and investigations.

During forensic acquisition, why is a cryptographic hash taken of a disk image?

• a.To prove the copy was not altered✓
• b.To compress the image
• c.To encrypt the evidence
• d.To speed up analysis

Hashing the original and the forensic image proves they are identical and that the evidence was not modified. Matching hashes demonstrate integrity throughout the investigation. Any change to the data would produce a different hash.

Which type of backup captures only the data changed since the last full backup and does not clear the archive bit each time?

• a.Incremental
• b.Differential✓
• c.Snapshot
• d.Full

A differential backup copies all data changed since the last full backup, growing larger each day until the next full. Restores require the last full plus the latest differential. Incremental backups, by contrast, capture changes since the last backup of any type.

Which metric defines the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time?

• a.MTTR
• b.RTO
• c.RPO✓
• d.MTBF

The recovery point objective (RPO) is the maximum tolerable data loss expressed as a time window, guiding backup frequency. An RPO of one hour means backups must occur at least hourly. It differs from RTO, which addresses restoration time.

Which metric defines the maximum acceptable time to restore a service after an outage?

• a.RPO
• b.MTBF
• c.MTTF
• d.RTO✓

The recovery time objective (RTO) is the target duration within which a service must be restored after disruption. It drives decisions about redundancy and recovery capability. Meeting the RTO limits business impact from downtime.

Which recovery site is fully equipped and can take over operations almost immediately?

• a.Hot site✓
• b.Warm site
• c.Cold site
• d.Mobile site

A hot site is fully provisioned with hardware, data, and connectivity so it can assume operations quickly. It offers the fastest recovery but the highest cost. Cold sites are cheaper but require significant setup time.

Which scan identifies known weaknesses in systems without actively exploiting them?

• a.Penetration test
• b.Vulnerability scan✓
• c.Fuzzing
• d.Red team exercise

A vulnerability scan enumerates known weaknesses using signatures and checks without exploiting them. It is broad and repeatable for routine assessment. A penetration test goes further by attempting actual exploitation.

An authorized simulated attack that attempts to exploit vulnerabilities to test defenses is a:

• a.Vulnerability scan
• b.Compliance audit
• c.Penetration test✓
• d.Tabletop exercise

A penetration test authorizes ethical hackers to actively exploit weaknesses to demonstrate real-world risk. It validates whether vulnerabilities are truly exploitable and how far an attacker could get. Rules of engagement define scope and limits.

Which detection method flags activity that deviates from an established normal pattern?

• a.Signature-based
• b.Rule-based
• c.Whitelist-based
• d.Anomaly-based✓

Anomaly-based detection builds a baseline of normal behavior and alerts on deviations, enabling detection of novel attacks. It can catch previously unseen threats but may produce more false positives. Signature-based detection, by contrast, matches known patterns.

Which endpoint solution continuously records activity and enables investigation and automated response to threats on hosts?

• a.EDR✓
• b.Antivirus signature file
• c.Host firewall
• d.Screen lock policy

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) continuously monitors endpoint behavior, records telemetry, and supports rapid investigation and automated containment. It goes beyond signature antivirus by detecting suspicious behavior. It is central to modern threat hunting and response.

Which practice ensures logs cannot be tampered with by centralizing them on a protected, write-once server?

• a.Log rotation
• b.Log integrity and centralization✓
• c.Log compression
• d.Log sampling

Centralizing logs on a hardened, tamper-resistant server preserves their integrity for investigations. Attackers often try to delete local logs to hide activity, so protected central storage defeats this. Techniques like write-once media and hashing further ensure integrity.

A discussion-based session where a team walks through their response to a hypothetical incident is called a:

• a.Penetration test
• b.Full interruption test
• c.Tabletop exercise✓
• d.Vulnerability assessment

A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based walkthrough of a scenario to validate plans and roles without touching production. It reveals gaps in the incident response or continuity plan at low cost. It complements more disruptive technical tests.

Which automation approach uses playbooks to coordinate tools and streamline security operations tasks?

• a.EDR
• b.SIEM
• c.DLP
• d.SOAR✓

Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) uses playbooks to automate and coordinate actions across security tools. It accelerates repetitive response tasks and reduces analyst workload. It often works alongside a SIEM to act on alerts.

Which principle requires that two people perform a sensitive action together to prevent fraud?

• a.Separation of duties✓
• b.Least privilege
• c.Job rotation
• d.Mandatory vacation

Separation of duties splits a critical task so no single person controls it end to end, reducing fraud and error. For example, one person requests a payment and another approves it. It is a key internal control in security and finance.

Rotating employees through different roles helps detect fraud and reduce dependence on any one person. This control is:

• a.Least privilege
• b.Job rotation✓
• c.Separation of duties
• d.Onboarding

Job rotation moves staff through different duties, which can expose irregularities hidden by a single long-tenured employee. It also reduces single points of knowledge. Mandatory vacations serve a similar detective purpose.

Which secure disposal method makes data on a drive unrecoverable by destroying the media physically?

• a.Formatting
• b.Deletion
• c.Physical destruction✓
• d.Defragmentation

Physical destruction, such as shredding or degaussing, renders storage media and its data unrecoverable. Simple formatting or deletion can leave data recoverable. Destruction is preferred for highly sensitive media at end of life.

Which threat intelligence source consists of shared indicators of compromise that defenders can ingest to detect attacks?

• a.Marketing feed
• b.Firmware feed
• c.Social media feed
• d.Threat feed✓

A threat intelligence feed supplies indicators of compromise such as malicious IPs, domains, and file hashes. Ingesting these into detection tools helps identify known threats quickly. Feeds should be evaluated for relevance and timeliness to be useful.