SY0-701 Practice Exam 2 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A user receives an SMS from 'IT Service Desk' saying their MFA enrollment expires today and includes a shortened link. Five minutes later, the user gets a phone call from the same number asking them to read back the code shown in the authenticator app so the ticket can be closed. Which two attack channels are used in this campaign? Select two.

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Smishing is used because the first lure arrives by text message.. The initial attack vector is an SMS message containing a shortened link, which is the definition of smishing (SMS phishing). The attacker uses this to create urgency and lure the victim into engaging with the MFA enrollment scam.

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Email phishing is used because the attacker is requesting a login action.

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Baiting is used because the attacker offers a free reward or device.

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Tailgating is used because the attacker follows someone into a restricted area.

Question 2

Match each incident response action to its primary purpose during a suspected endpoint compromise.

Accepted Answer

Isolation: Preventing the spread of the incident to other systems.. Incident response actions are sequenced to contain, preserve, analyze, remove, and learn from the incident. Isolating prevents spread; volatile data capture is time-sensitive; imaging preserves evidence; log analysis reveals details; eradication cleans the system; lessons learned improve processes.

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Isolation: Removing malicious files from the system.

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Volatile Data Capture: Creating a forensic copy of the hard drive.

Question 3

A SIEM correlates the following: 17 failed logons against the same VPN account from one IP in 9 minutes, a successful login from that IP, creation of a new API token in the SaaS tenant, and a large export job started two minutes later. Which two interpretations are best supported? Select two.

Accepted Answer

The attacker is likely performing a brute-force password attack against a single account.. A is correct because 17 failed logons against a single VPN account from one IP in 9 minutes is a classic brute-force pattern—repeated authentication attempts targeting one username. The subsequent successful login, API token creation, and data export indicate the attacker gained access and then established persistence (via the token) to exfiltrate data, confirming the account was compromised.

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The pattern is most consistent with password spraying across many accounts.

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The events primarily indicate a volumetric denial-of-service attack.

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Token creation proves the account password was never exposed.

Question 4

Management wants to ensure a file server backed up every night can actually be restored within a 4-hour recovery time objective after an incident. Which two actions best improve recovery confidence? Select two.

Accepted Answer

Perform scheduled restore tests to an isolated environment.. Performing scheduled restore tests to an isolated environment validates that the backup data is both readable and usable without risking corruption of the production environment. This directly confirms the ability to meet the 4-hour RTO by measuring actual restore times and identifying any issues with the backup process or media before a real incident occurs.

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Increase retention to keep backups for two years without changing restore testing.

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Move the backup repository onto the same always-mounted file share as production data.

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Reduce the number of user permissions on the file server without changing backup design.

Question 5

Match each principle to the workplace scenario.

Accepted Answer

Least privilege: A user is granted only the permissions required for their job duties.. Least privilege restricts access to necessary functions; separation of duties prevents fraud; defense in depth layers security; need to know limits data access; accountability ties actions to individuals; fail safe maintains security during failures.

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Separation of duties: A user is granted only the permissions required for their job duties.

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Defense in depth: A security system that automatically fails open to allow egress.

Question 6

Based on the exhibit, which access design change best reduces fraud risk without stopping the payroll process?

Exhibit:
Payroll application roles:
- HR-Editor: can update employee records
- Payroll-Approver: can release payment batches
- Audit-Reader: can view reports only

Current assignment:
User Lisa has both HR-Editor and Payroll-Approver because she "handles payroll end to end."
Management wants to reduce the chance of one person creating and approving a fraudulent payment.

Accepted Answer

Split duties so record updates and payment approval require separate roles or separate accounts.. It enforces separation of duties (SoD) by ensuring that no single user can both create and approve a payment. Splitting the HR-Editor and Payroll-Approver roles into separate accounts or requiring separate users for record updates and payment approval directly mitigates the fraud risk of a single insider creating a fake employee record and then approving a fraudulent payment batch. This aligns with the principle of least privilege and the NIST SP 800-53 AC-5 control for separation of duties, without halting the payroll workflow.

Answer

Keep both roles assigned but require a manager to review the batch after payment completes.

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Remove the audit role and let payroll staff self-review their own work to save time.

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Use a single shared payroll account so the workflow never pauses for approvals.

Question 7

Administrators need to manage internal switches from home. Management traffic must be encrypted, MFA must be used, and no switch management interface should be exposed directly to the internet. Which design is best?

Accepted Answer

Use a VPN into the internal network, then administer the switches through a hardened jump host over SSH.. It uses a VPN to create an encrypted tunnel from the home user to the internal network, then requires SSH (which encrypts management traffic) through a hardened jump host. This design ensures MFA can be enforced at the VPN or jump host layer, and no switch management interface is directly exposed to the internet, satisfying all three requirements.

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Open SSH directly to each switch on a public IP address and restrict access by source IP only.

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Allow HTTPS management to each switch over the internet because the channel is encrypted.

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Use Telnet inside the office and route home users through a split-tunnel VPN.

Question 8

During a workstation review, analysts find a process injecting into explorer.exe and reading keyboard and clipboard events. They also see repeated outbound HTTPS beacons to a domain registered two days ago. The host is not renaming files or displaying a ransom note. Which two findings are most consistent with spyware? Select two.

Accepted Answer

A process injects into explorer.exe and monitors keyboard and clipboard activity.. Process injection into a trusted system process like explorer.exe, combined with monitoring keyboard and clipboard events, is a classic spyware technique. Spyware aims to covertly capture sensitive user input (keystrokes and clipboard data) for exfiltration, without causing immediate system damage or displaying a ransom note.

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User files are renamed with a new extension and a ransom note appears.

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CPU usage spikes only during a scheduled operating system update.

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The browser certificate store was refreshed after applying a patch.

Question 9

A security analyst at a financial firm detects an unusual spike in outbound network traffic from a database server that normally only communicates with internal web servers. The traffic is directed to numerous external IP addresses in various countries. According to established incident response procedures, what should be the analyst's immediate next step?

Accepted Answer

Disconnect the server from the network at the switch level.. Disconnecting the server at the switch level (e.g., shutting down the switch port or placing it in a quarantine VLAN) is the immediate containment step per incident response procedures. This stops the outbound data exfiltration without risking data loss or corruption that could occur from a hard power-off, and it preserves volatile memory evidence for forensic analysis.

Answer

Run a comprehensive antivirus scan on the server.

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Notify the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the incident.

Answer

Power off the server to prevent further damage.

Question 10

A SIEM alert shows a payroll administrator account signed in at 02:10 from a country the employee has never visited. The employee says they are on vacation at home and did not travel. What should the analyst do first?

Accepted Answer

Verify the login context with the user or manager and review recent authentication history.. The first step in incident response is to verify the alert's validity and gather context before taking action. The analyst should review the SIEM logs for authentication details (e.g., source IP, geolocation, timestamp) and confirm with the user or manager whether the login was expected. This aligns with the NIST SP 800-61 incident response process, which emphasizes triage and validation before containment.

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Immediately disable the account and wait for the employee to return.

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Close the alert as a false positive because the user is on vacation.

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Reimage the user’s workstation before checking any logs.

Question 11

A web service begins experiencing severe latency. Netflow shows thousands of short DNS queries leaving the attacker network, while a much larger volume of DNS responses is arriving at the victim’s public IP address from many open resolvers. Which attack is most likely occurring?

Accepted Answer

DNS reflection and amplification denial-of-service attack. The attack described is a DNS reflection and amplification denial-of-service attack. The attacker sends thousands of short DNS queries with a spoofed source IP (the victim's IP) to many open resolvers, which then send large DNS responses to the victim, overwhelming its bandwidth. NetFlow shows a small volume of queries leaving the attacker and a much larger volume of responses arriving at the victim, which is the hallmark of amplification (small request, large response) combined with reflection (responses from third-party resolvers).

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Replay attack using previously captured packets

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ARP poisoning that redirects local traffic on a LAN

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Session hijacking through stolen authentication cookies

Question 12

A firewall analyst reviews logs and sees one external IP address sending connection attempts to TCP ports 22, 80, 139, 445, and 3389 on dozens of internal hosts every few seconds. No payloads are delivered and no sessions are established. What is the most likely activity?

Accepted Answer

Port scanning, because the source is systematically probing many ports and hosts for exposed services.. The observed behavior—a single external IP sending connection attempts to multiple TCP ports (22, 80, 139, 445, 3389) across many internal hosts at regular intervals—is the hallmark of a port scan. The absence of payload delivery or session establishment confirms the attacker is only probing for open services, not attempting exploitation or data transfer. This matches the definition of a reconnaissance activity, specifically a horizontal port scan targeting common service ports.

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Reflection-based denial-of-service, because the attacker is using third-party systems to amplify traffic.

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Man-in-the-middle, because the attacker is intercepting communications between internal hosts.

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Protocol abuse, because the attacker is sending malformed traffic to crash services.

Question 13

A security analyst is reviewing authentication logs and observes multiple failed login attempts for a single user account occurring within a short timeframe, followed by a successful login from an IP address located in a country where the user has never traveled. The failed attempts originate from various IP addresses and use different passwords. Which type of attack has most likely occurred?

Accepted Answer

Brute-force attack. (Brute-force attack) because the log shows multiple failed login attempts from various IP addresses using different passwords, followed by a successful login from an unfamiliar country. This pattern indicates a distributed brute-force attack where the attacker systematically tries many passwords against a single account, often using a botnet or proxy rotation to evade IP-based rate limiting. The successful login from a foreign IP confirms the attacker eventually guessed the correct password.

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Credential stuffing

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Password spraying

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Dictionary attack

Question 14

After several employees clicked on a realistic phishing email, management wants a control that both improves user behavior and gives the security team a way to measure improvement over time. Which approach is best?

Accepted Answer

Run simulated phishing campaigns with immediate feedback and follow-up training. Simulated phishing campaigns with immediate feedback and follow-up training directly address user behavior by providing a safe, controlled environment where employees can learn to recognize phishing attempts. This approach also gives the security team measurable metrics (e.g., click rates over time) to track improvement, aligning with the goal of both behavioral change and quantifiable assessment.

Answer

Send a company-wide reminder not to open suspicious emails

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Block all external email messages at the gateway

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Require employees to change passwords every week

Question 15

After several password-reset incidents, the security team wants one document that sets mandatory minimum controls for privileged accounts and another that tells the help desk the exact steps to verify identity and reset access. Which two document types should they use? Select two.

Accepted Answer

Standard, because it defines the mandatory minimum requirements that everyone must follow.. A standard defines mandatory minimum requirements that must be followed, such as password length, complexity, and MFA enforcement for privileged accounts. This ensures consistent security controls across the organization without ambiguity, unlike a policy which is high-level intent.

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Policy, because it explains the organization's overall security intent in broad terms.

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Guideline, because it provides recommended practices that staff may ignore if needed.

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Baseline, because it is mainly used as a casual reference document for analysts.

Question 16

An employee gets a text message saying their mobile carrier will suspend service unless they tap a link and verify their account details. What type of attack is this?

Accepted Answer

Smishing, because the attacker is using SMS messages to trick the user. This is smishing because the attacker uses SMS (Short Message Service) as the delivery vector to send a fraudulent message that tricks the recipient into clicking a malicious link. Smishing is a form of social engineering that exploits the trust users place in text-based communications from known entities like mobile carriers, often leading to credential theft or malware installation.

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Vishing, because the attacker is using a voice call to pressure the user

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Baiting, because the attacker is offering a free service upgrade

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Tailgating, because the attacker is trying to enter a building behind someone else

Question 17

A security analyst is reviewing network flow logs and notices a series of outbound connections from a single internal workstation to an external IP address on TCP port 443. The connections occur every 5 minutes, each lasting about 2 seconds, and the amount of data transferred per connection is consistently around 1 KB. The workstation's user reports no unusual activity. The analyst checks the host's EDR logs and sees no malicious processes or known indicators. Which type of activity is this pattern most consistent with?

Accepted Answer

Beaconing to a command-and-control server. This pattern is most consistent with beaconing to a command-and-control (C2) server because the connections are periodic (every 5 minutes), short-lived (2 seconds), and consistently transfer a small amount of data (~1 KB) over HTTPS (TCP 443). These characteristics—regular intervals, low data volume, and stealthy use of encrypted channels—are hallmarks of C2 beaconing used by malware to maintain persistence and receive instructions without raising immediate suspicion.

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Normal software update check

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DNS tunneling

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Data exfiltration via HTTPS

Question 18

A security analyst is reviewing logs after a successful phishing attack. The attacker used a fake login page that mimicked the company's single sign-on portal to harvest usernames and passwords. The attacker then used the stolen credentials to access the corporate email system. Which type of attack best describes the initial compromise?

Accepted Answer

Credential harvesting via phishing. The initial compromise was achieved by luring the victim to a fake login page that mimicked the company's single sign-on portal, which is a classic phishing technique. The attacker harvested the credentials directly from the user's submission, making this a credential harvesting attack via phishing. This aligns with the definition of phishing as a social engineering attack that uses deception to obtain sensitive information, distinct from brute-force or password spraying which rely on guessing or trying multiple passwords.

Answer

On-path attack

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Brute-force attack

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Password spraying

Question 19

Leadership is deciding between two security controls for a customer portal outage risk. Finance wants to compare the options in dollars, using expected loss, not just a high/medium/low rating. Which approach should the analyst use?

Accepted Answer

Quantitative risk analysis, because it expresses likelihood and impact in monetary terms.. Quantitative risk analysis (A) is correct because it assigns monetary values to both the likelihood and impact of a risk, enabling a direct dollar-based comparison of expected loss. The Finance team's requirement for a dollar comparison rules out qualitative ratings, making quantitative analysis the only approach that meets their needs.

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Qualitative risk analysis, because it uses categories like critical, medium, and low.

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Business impact analysis, because it identifies which business processes are important.

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Risk avoidance, because eliminating the activity removes the threat completely.

Question 20

Based on the exhibit, which principle should the organization enforce to reduce fraud risk while keeping the business process functional?

Accepted Answer

Separation of duties, because no single user should be able to complete every high-risk finance step alone.. Separation of duties (SoD) is the correct principle because it prevents any single employee from completing all steps in a high-risk financial transaction alone. By requiring at least two people to authorize and execute critical actions—such as initiating a payment and approving it—the organization reduces the risk of internal fraud without blocking the business workflow. This directly addresses the scenario where a single user could otherwise create, approve, and release a fraudulent payment.

Answer

Least privilege, because each employee should only have the fewest permissions needed for the shared account.

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Need-to-know, because only employees with confidential financial data should see the workflow details.

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Defense in depth, because the organization should add more security layers around the finance process.