ISC CISSP Practice Test 71
Question 700
A forensics examiner wants to analyze a seized laptop but a normal boot could alter timestamps and deleted file records. The organization has now implemented this response: Acquire a verified forensic image with write-blocking and documented custody before analysis. Which observation would MOST directly demonstrate that the security objective was met?
- An auditable evidence register explains custody gaps and verified current hashes.
- Asset records and fresh validation demonstrate the host has been securely retired.
- An approved change ticket for Acquire a verified forensic image with write-blocking and documented custody before analysis. without a completed verification result.
- Acquisition documentation records device identity, hash comparisons and each custodian transfer.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Acquisition documentation records device identity, hash comparisons and each custodian transfer. This validates that forensic integrity depends on preserving the original state and provable evidence handling.
Incorrect Answers
A:This demonstrates controls in another circumstance: A fraud investigator discovers that log exports were transferred between departments without receipts or custodian names.
B:This other observation is relevant to: A vulnerability scanner reports a critical library on a decommissioned host whose management interface no longer exists.
C:An approved change without an executed test cannot prove operating effectiveness. The needed evidence is Acquisition documentation records device identity, hash comparisons and each custodian transfer.
Question 701
A previous security situation was: A forensics examiner wants to analyze a seized laptop but a normal boot could alter timestamps and deleted file records. Now the requirement changes: Another suspected device remains powered on with volatile encryption keys in RAM. Which NEW action BEST answers the changed need?
- Acquire a verified forensic image with write-blocking and documented custody before analysis.
- Browse and edit files on the seized disk before any image or hash is captured.
- Acquisition documentation records device identity, hash comparisons and each custodian transfer.
- Preserve volatile memory safely under an authorized acquisition order.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Volatile evidence may require acquisition before shutdown, unlike an already powered-off disk. The revised action is Preserve volatile memory safely under an authorized acquisition order.
Incorrect Answers
A:This is the appropriate response to the original situation: Forensic integrity depends on preserving the original state and provable evidence handling. It does not directly meet the new condition.
B:This remains inappropriate: Uncontrolled writes can change evidence and weaken a legal chain of custody.
C:This is a record of how the initial safeguard would be checked, not an action implementing the newly requested condition: Acquisition documentation records device identity, hash comparisons and each custodian transfer.
Question 702
A fraud investigator discovers that log exports were transferred between departments without receipts or custodian names. What should the security manager recommend as the MOST appropriate response to the current requirement?
- Produce an authenticated read-only duplicate with transfer records and cryptographic digest.
- Acquire a verified forensic image with write-blocking and documented custody before analysis.
- Reconstruct and document evidence custody gaps, preserve remaining originals and use controlled future transfers.
- Backdate custody forms to hide the periods when evidence was uncontrolled.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Traceable custody is essential to defend evidence integrity and authenticity. This directly addresses the stated situation.
Incorrect Answers
A:This is appropriate for a later condition (A prosecutor requests an exact defensible copy for an independent laboratory.), but it does not directly resolve the initial need. Controlled evidence release is distinct from repairing historical custody weaknesses.
B:This response addresses a different condition: A forensics examiner wants to analyze a seized laptop but a normal boot could alter timestamps and deleted file records. The present case requires the measure described by Reconstruct and document evidence custody gaps, preserve remaining originals and use controlled future transfers.
D:Fabricated chain-of-custody records further undermine defensibility and ethics. The proposal would not be defensible for this case.
Question 703
Security logs from cloud accounts and on-premises servers cannot be correlated because clocks drift and administrators can alter local archives. Which recommendation should the security leader make FIRST to address the stated objective?
- Depend solely on editable local logs with unsynchronized timestamps.
- A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency.
- Tune correlation rules against baselines and test detection precision while keeping essential coverage.
- Centralize time-synchronized, access-controlled tamper-evident logs with coverage monitoring.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Reliable correlation and protected records support detection, investigation and accountability. The scenario is: Security logs from cloud accounts and on-premises servers cannot be correlated because clocks drift and administrators can alter local archives.
Incorrect Answers
A:Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence. The rejected action is: Depend solely on editable local logs with unsynchronized timestamps.
B:This is useful evidence after implementation, rather than the FIRST recommended decision for this objective. A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency.
C:This addresses a distinct subsequent requirement: A new detection flood creates thousands of low-quality alerts and hides real incidents. Alert quality requires measured tuning; collecting more raw logs alone does not resolve alert fatigue.
Question 704
Security logs from cloud accounts and on-premises servers cannot be correlated because clocks drift and administrators can alter local archives. A colleague instead proposes: "Depend solely on editable local logs with unsynchronized timestamps." Which finding BEST explains why the proposal should be rejected?
- Its only deficiency is a missing executive signature, even if the design still fails the stated requirement.
- It is inadequate only because of a different later condition: A new detection flood creates thousands of low-quality alerts and hides real incidents.
- No evidence or governance records should be retained when evaluating this 7.2 decision.
- Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence. This directly invalidates the proposed action: Depend solely on editable local logs with unsynchronized timestamps.
Incorrect Answers
A:Approval alone cannot fix the specific weakness: Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence.
B:The subsequent circumstance is separate and does not explain why this proposed action fails the initial case. Alert quality requires measured tuning; collecting more raw logs alone does not resolve alert fatigue.
C:Destroying records would weaken oversight and cannot remedy the immediate technical or governance flaw: Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence.
Question 705
A security operations center observes a burst of authentication failures followed by privileged success but lacks coherent alert correlation. The team must implement a defensible safeguard AND demonstrate that it works. Which TWO entries form that control-and-evidence pair? (Select TWO.)
- Correlate identity, network and host logs with synchronized time and defined detection logic.
- A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.
- Ignore correlated events because each individual log line might look ordinary.
- Tune correlation thresholds and enrichment against measured true/false-positive outcomes.
- Combine destination context, user identity and classification-aware egress monitoring.
Explanation
Correct Answers
A:Correct control. Cross-source context helps distinguish credential guessing from normal user error.
B:Correct verification. The specific evidence is: A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.
Incorrect Answers
C:Single-event review can miss attacks whose signal appears only in sequences.
D:This concerns a later and different need: Analysts begin receiving excessive low-confidence login anomaly alerts. Alert precision becomes a new detection engineering requirement.
E:The proposed control fits another scenario: A data transfer monitor collects only total outbound bytes and fails to identify unusual uploads to personal storage tenants. It does not directly address this scenario's primary requirement.
Question 706
Security logs from cloud accounts and on-premises servers cannot be correlated because clocks drift and administrators can alter local archives. After implementing "Centralize time-synchronized, access-controlled tamper-evident logs with coverage monitoring.", what evidence BEST demonstrates that the intended security outcome is functioning?
- A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency.
- A note proposing to test this exact 7.2 measure in a future quarter.
- A declaration that no incident has been reported, without exercising the relevant control.
- A meeting record that the alternate design "Tune correlation rules against baselines and test detection precision while keeping essential coverage." was discussed but never tested.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency. This verifies the original requirement because reliable correlation and protected records support detection, investigation and accountability.
Incorrect Answers
B:An unexecuted future plan does not prove current effectiveness for the stated 7.2 objective. The evidence should include: A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency.
C:Absence of reported incidents is not a controlled validation of the requirement. A stronger proof is: A test event appears across sources with aligned time, protected retention and documented detection latency.
D:Discussion of a different design does not demonstrate the deployed control. Alert quality requires measured tuning; collecting more raw logs alone does not resolve alert fatigue.
Question 707
The organization previously faced this problem: Security logs from cloud accounts and on-premises servers cannot be correlated because clocks drift and administrators can alter local archives. Its requirement then changes: A new detection flood creates thousands of low-quality alerts and hides real incidents. Which revised action BEST meets the new requirement?
- Tune correlation rules against baselines and test detection precision while keeping essential coverage.
- Centralize time-synchronized, access-controlled tamper-evident logs with coverage monitoring.
- Depend solely on editable local logs with unsynchronized timestamps.
- Keep the original 7.2 policy unchanged, and defer the newly identified requirement without a risk decision.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Alert quality requires measured tuning; collecting more raw logs alone does not resolve alert fatigue. The appropriate revised action is: Tune correlation rules against baselines and test detection precision while keeping essential coverage.
Incorrect Answers
B:This addresses the original situation: Reliable correlation and protected records support detection, investigation and accountability. It does not directly meet the changed requirement: A new detection flood creates thousands of low-quality alerts and hides real incidents.
C:The earlier rejected approach remains inappropriate. Editable isolated records can be altered and cannot reliably establish cross-system sequence.
D:The new requirement needs an accountable response, not automatic deferral. Alert quality requires measured tuning; collecting more raw logs alone does not resolve alert fatigue.
Question 708
A security operations center observes a burst of authentication failures followed by privileged success but lacks coherent alert correlation. A designer proposes: Ignore correlated events because each individual log line might look ordinary. What is the MOST significant security deficiency in this proposal?
- Single-event review can miss attacks whose signal appears only in sequences.
- High volume may represent normal approved operations; poor context creates false positives.
- Alert precision becomes a new detection engineering requirement.
- Volume alone cannot distinguish approved backup traffic from unauthorized sensitive exfiltration.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Single-event review can miss attacks whose signal appears only in sequences. This is the direct weakness in the proposed action.
Incorrect Answers
B:This is a limitation elsewhere: A data transfer monitor collects only total outbound bytes and fails to identify unusual uploads to personal storage tenants. It does not explain the deficiency of the specified proposed approach.
C:This explains a later shift in requirements (Analysts begin receiving excessive low-confidence login anomaly alerts.), not the failure of the current proposal.
D:This is an advantage of another design (Combine destination context, user identity and classification-aware egress monitoring.), not the particular flaw of Ignore correlated events because each individual log line might look ordinary.
Question 709
A security operations center observes a burst of authentication failures followed by privileged success but lacks coherent alert correlation. The organization has now implemented this response: Correlate identity, network and host logs with synchronized time and defined detection logic. Which observation would MOST directly demonstrate that the security objective was met?
- A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.
- Test restricted-file transfers to unapproved destinations are attributed and alerted.
- Change records and traffic tests confirm the required service with no forbidden paths.
- An approved change ticket for Correlate identity, network and host logs with synchronized time and defined detection logic. without a completed verification result.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline. This validates that cross-source context helps distinguish credential guessing from normal user error.
Incorrect Answers
B:This demonstrates controls in another circumstance: A data transfer monitor collects only total outbound bytes and fails to identify unusual uploads to personal storage tenants.
C:This other observation is relevant to: A firewall engineer must deploy an urgent ACL change to restore a failing emergency service.
D:An approved change without an executed test cannot prove operating effectiveness. The needed evidence is A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.
Question 710
A previous security situation was: A security operations center observes a burst of authentication failures followed by privileged success but lacks coherent alert correlation. Now the requirement changes: Analysts begin receiving excessive low-confidence login anomaly alerts. Which NEW action BEST answers the changed need?
- Tune correlation thresholds and enrichment against measured true/false-positive outcomes.
- Correlate identity, network and host logs with synchronized time and defined detection logic.
- Ignore correlated events because each individual log line might look ordinary.
- A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Alert precision becomes a new detection engineering requirement. The revised action is Tune correlation thresholds and enrichment against measured true/false-positive outcomes.
Incorrect Answers
B:This is the appropriate response to the original situation: Cross-source context helps distinguish credential guessing from normal user error. It does not directly meet the new condition.
C:This remains inappropriate: Single-event review can miss attacks whose signal appears only in sequences.
D:This is a record of how the initial safeguard would be checked, not an action implementing the newly requested condition: A controlled attack emulation produces a correlated alert with source, target and response timeline.