SDSI Quick Quiz — 10 Questions

Question 1

You are automating the lifecycle of Cisco Secure Firewall policies. Which tool should be selected to integrate security policy as code (SaC) into a GitHub Actions pipeline?

Accepted Answer

HashiCorp Terraform. Terraform, specifically the 'cisco-fmc' provider, is the industry standard for managing Cisco security infrastructure as code.

Answer

Cisco DNA Center GUI

Answer

Python native sockets

Answer

Cisco Defense Orchestrator Portal

Question 2

In the context of AI-driven security, what does 'False Positive Reduction' primarily achieve?

Accepted Answer

Improved analyst efficiency. It minimizes unnecessary alerts, allowing security teams to focus on high-fidelity, real threats.

Answer

Increased hardware throughput

Answer

Lower bandwidth consumption

Answer

Faster packet forwarding

Question 3

Which of the following is a key requirement for implementing successful DevSecOps in a large organization?

Accepted Answer

Cultural alignment between teams. Cultural alignment between developers and security teams is the foundational requirement for successful DevSecOps.

Answer

Manual approval for every commit

Answer

Removing all open-source code

Answer

Restricting code access to security only

Question 4

Which THREE of the following are key AI/ML design considerations when selecting a security automation platform?

Accepted Answer

Explainability and transparency (XAI). Data quality, model transparency, and integration capabilities are critical for effective AI security.

Answer

Number of employees on the vendor's team

Answer

Local hardware GPU acceleration

Question 5

In a cloud-native environment, which Cisco solution provides visibility into vulnerabilities within the application code and runtime environment?

Accepted Answer

Cisco Secure Application for AppDynamics. Cisco Secure Application for AppDynamics provides full-stack security observability including code vulnerabilities and runtime threats.

Answer

Cisco Secure Endpoint

Answer

Cisco Stealthwatch

Answer

Cisco Secure Malware Analytics

Question 6

Which Cisco feature is specifically designed to prevent 'Credential Stuffing' in an automated application environment?

Accepted Answer

Adaptive Authentication. Cisco Secure Access (Duo) Adaptive Authentication uses risk-based policies to detect and block credential stuffing.

Answer

DNS Filtering

Answer

SSL Inspection

Answer

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)

Question 7

Which TWO of the following are benefits of using 'Infrastructure as Code' (IaC) with Cisco Secure Firewall?

Accepted Answer

Improved auditability of changes. Consistency and auditability are the primary benefits of treating infrastructure as code.

Answer

Reduction of network bandwidth usage

Answer

Elimination of the need for firewall policies

Answer

Automatic hardware repair

Question 8

What is the primary function of an 'API Gateway' in a secure automated environment?

Accepted Answer

Enforce security and rate limits on APIs. The gateway acts as an enforcement point for authentication, rate-limiting, and logging for API calls.

Answer

Host static websites

Answer

Store user data

Answer

Compile application code

Question 9

Which THREE of the following represent common challenges when implementing automated security in a legacy environment?

Accepted Answer

Cultural resistance to change. Lack of APIs, fragmented data, and organizational resistance are common barriers.

Answer

Too much documentation

Answer

Excessive API performance

Question 10

In the context of Cisco Cloudlock, what is a 'Shadow IT' application?

Accepted Answer

A SaaS application connected to the enterprise environment without official IT authorization. A Shadow IT application is a third-party app that users have connected to their enterprise SaaS account without IT approval.

Answer

An application that is blocked by the firewall

Answer

A backup tool for the data center

Answer

A malicious script running on an endpoint