hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
350-701 Practice Question: A university is using Cisco WSA to filter web…
A university is using Cisco WSA to filter web traffic for its students and staff. The WSA is configured with transparent proxy mode and uses Active Directory for authentication. Recently, the IT department received complaints that some users cannot access certain educational websites that are correctly categorized as 'Education'. The WSA policy has a default rule that blocks all categories except those explicitly allowed. The 'Education' category is set to 'Allow'. However, affected users are shown a block page with the reason 'Web Reputation: Low Reputation'. The Web Reputation threshold is set to -5.0. The IT team checked the reputation scores of the blocked sites and found they are around -4.5. What is the most likely reason for the block?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the concept that Web Reputation actions can override URL category allow rules, leading candidates to mistakenly focus on category misconfiguration or authentication issues when the block page explicitly indicates reputation as the reason.
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
✓
The Web Reputation action is set to 'Block' for scores below 0, overriding the URL filtering allow
The Web Reputation action configured in the WSA policy overrides the URL category-based allow rule. Even though the 'Education' category is set to 'Allow', the Web Reputation threshold is set to -5.0, and the blocked sites have a reputation score of -4.5 (which is below the threshold, meaning worse reputation). The WSA applies the most restrictive action: if Web Reputation is set to 'Block' for scores below 0, it will block traffic regardless of the category allow action, resulting in the block page showing 'Web Reputation: Low Reputation'.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The Web Reputation action is set to 'Block' for scores below 0, overriding the URL filtering allow
Why this is correct
Reputation actions can override URL filtering, blocking sites with low reputation even if the category is allowed.
- ✗
The 'Education' category is not included in the allowed list for the specific identification profile
Why it's wrong here
The category is allowed per the stem.
- ✗
The users are not authenticated properly and are assigned a default policy that blocks education
Why it's wrong here
The block reason mentions reputation, not authentication.
- ✗
The HTTPS decryption is failing for those sites, causing a block
Why it's wrong here
HTTPS decryption failure would show a different error.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 978 original 350-701 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 350-701 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco 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 350-701 exam.