ISC Security Operations Practice Question
An organization is investigating a potential lateral movement incident in AWS. Which CloudTrail event field provides the most reliable indicator of the source IP address for an API call performed by an IAM role?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
sourceIPAddress
The 'sourceIPAddress' field in the CloudTrail log entry directly identifies the client IP that made the API request.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
recipientAccountId
Why it's wrong here
This is the AWS account ID receiving the call, not the source.
- ✓
sourceIPAddress
Why this is correct
This field records the IP address from which the API request originated.
- ✗
requestParameters
Why it's wrong here
These are the parameters of the API call, not the network origin.
- ✗
userIdentity.arn
Why it's wrong here
This identifies who performed the action, not where they performed it from.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official (ISC)² exam blueprint
This ISC practice question is part of Courseiva's free (ISC)² certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ISC exam.