SY0-701 Practice Test 4 — 10 Questions

Question 1

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?

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

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 2

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.

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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.

Question 3

A company is building a public web app with three tiers. Internet users should reach only the web tier, and the app tier should never be reachable from the internet. Which two network design choices support this goal? Select two.

Accepted Answer

Place the web server in a DMZ or public-facing zone.. Placing the web server in a DMZ (demilitarized zone) or public-facing zone allows internet traffic to reach only the web tier while isolating the internal network. This is a standard security architecture where the DMZ acts as a buffer, and firewall rules permit inbound HTTP/HTTPS (ports 80/443) only to the web servers, not to the application or database tiers.

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Allow inbound traffic from the internet directly to the application servers.

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Put the database on the guest Wi-Fi VLAN.

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Use the same flat network for all three tiers.

Question 4

HR stores scanned government IDs collected during onboarding. The retention policy says the files may be kept for 90 days after employment verification, then destroyed. What should security require?

Accepted Answer

Store the files in an encrypted repository and securely dispose of them when retention expires. It aligns with the principle of data minimization and the retention policy: storing scanned government IDs in an encrypted repository ensures confidentiality and integrity, while secure disposal after the 90-day retention period meets compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and reduces risk of data breaches. Security must enforce both protection during storage and timely destruction to prevent unauthorized access or legal liability.

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Keep the files indefinitely in case a future audit asks for them

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Move the files to a shared folder so more HR staff can access them

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Print the scanned IDs and place them in a locked cabinet instead of keeping digital copies

Question 5

Based on the exhibit, which key management improvement best preserves recoverability if the primary backup server is lost?

Accepted Answer

Keep the private key in an HSM or secure escrow with tested recovery procedures.. Storing the private key in a Hardware Security Module (HSM) or secure escrow ensures it remains available even if the primary backup server is lost. HSMs provide tamper-resistant key storage and support tested recovery procedures, which is critical for decrypting backups and maintaining recoverability. This approach separates the key from the backup data, preventing a single point of failure.

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Store the private key on the same backup server so recovery is faster.

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Replace AES with hashing so the archive no longer needs a key.

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Send the private key to backup operators by email so they can restore data quickly.

Question 6

A security analyst is reviewing the organization’s security awareness program. Which three of the following are key metrics that demonstrate the effectiveness of the program? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Percentage of employees who complete annual security training. The percentage of employees who complete annual security training is a key metric because it measures participation in the foundational awareness activity. The number of phishing simulation clicks before and after training directly quantifies behavioral change, showing whether training reduces susceptibility to social engineering. The total count of security incidents reported by employees indicates whether the program has successfully fostered a culture of reporting, which is critical for early threat detection.

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Average time to patch critical vulnerabilities in production systems

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Number of firewall rule changes approved per quarter

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Percentage of servers with full disk encryption enabled

Question 7

A user receives a phone call from someone who claims to be a member of the company's IT support team. The caller states that the user's account has been compromised and requests the user's username, password, and the current multi-factor authentication (MFA) code to 'verify identity and secure the account.' Which type of social engineering attack is being attempted?

Accepted Answer

Vishing. B is correct because vishing (voice phishing) is a social engineering attack conducted over the phone, where the attacker impersonates a trusted entity (IT support) to trick the victim into revealing sensitive information such as credentials and MFA codes. The request for the current MFA code is a key indicator, as it would allow the attacker to bypass multi-factor authentication in real time.

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Spear phishing

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Pretexting

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Tailgating

Question 8

A security architect is designing a new data center network that will host public-facing web servers and internal application servers handling confidential employee data. The architect places the web servers in a DMZ and the internal application servers on a separate internal network segment. A stateful firewall is configured to allow inbound HTTP/HTTPS traffic from the internet to the web servers only. The firewall also permits only the web servers to initiate outbound connections to the internal application servers on a specific TCP port, and all such traffic is encrypted using TLS. Which security architecture principle is this design primarily intended to enforce?

Accepted Answer

Defense in depth. The design enforces defense in depth by layering multiple security controls: a DMZ isolates public-facing web servers from internal networks, a stateful firewall restricts inbound traffic to HTTP/HTTPS only, and outbound connections from web servers to internal application servers are limited to a specific TCP port with TLS encryption. This layered approach ensures that even if one control fails (e.g., a web server is compromised), the attacker still faces additional barriers to reach sensitive internal systems.

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Least privilege

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Separation of duties

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Zero trust

Question 9

A security analyst receives an alert from the intrusion detection system indicating that a workstation in the finance department has established an outbound connection to a known malicious IP address using an encrypted protocol. The analyst verifies the alert and checks the user's activity logs, which show no legitimate business reason for the connection. According to the incident response process, what should the analyst do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Isolate the workstation from the network to contain the threat.. According to the NIST SP 800-61 incident response process, containment is the immediate priority after verification to prevent further damage or data exfiltration. Since the workstation has an active encrypted outbound connection to a known malicious IP with no legitimate business reason, isolating the network interface (e.g., disabling the port, blocking the MAC address, or unplugging the cable) stops the threat from communicating while preserving the system state for later analysis. This aligns with the containment phase, which must precede eradication or full forensic analysis.

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Begin the eradication phase by immediately reimaging the workstation.

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Conduct a full forensic analysis of the workstation's hard drive.

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Update the firewall rule to block all outbound traffic to the malicious IP.

Question 10

Based on the exhibit, what is the best conclusion about the signed document?

Accepted Answer

The invoice was not changed after signing and the signer’s certificate chain validated correctly.. A valid digital signature provides both integrity (the document was not altered after signing) and authentication (the signer's certificate chain validates to a trusted root). The exhibit shows a successful signature validation, which cryptographically proves that the invoice has not been modified since signing and that the signing certificate is trusted.

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The invoice is confidential because the signature encrypts the document contents.

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The invoice can be edited if the timestamp is still within business hours.

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The sender’s private key is now public because the certificate verified successfully.