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350-701 Practice Question: An administrator notices that some users receive…
An administrator notices that some users receive spam messages even though the ESA policy is set to 'Quarantine' for suspected spam. The messages are not found in the user's spam quarantine. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between global policy settings and per-listener service enablement, trapping candidates who assume that configuring a quarantine action in the mail policy automatically applies to all incoming mail paths.
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
✓
Incoming mail is received on a listener that does not apply the anti-spam engine.
If incoming mail is received on a mail policy (listener) that does not have the anti-spam engine enabled, the ESA will not apply any spam filtering to those messages. Even though the global or default policy may be set to 'Quarantine', the listener configuration determines which security services are invoked. Without the anti-spam engine on that listener, messages bypass spam detection entirely and are delivered directly to the user's inbox, never appearing in the spam quarantine.
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 sender's IP is in the allow list.
Why it's wrong here
Allow list bypasses spam filtering, so they would not be quarantined.
- ✗
The spam threshold is set too low.
Why it's wrong here
Lower threshold increases detection, not bypass.
- ✗
The anti-spam engine signatures are outdated.
Why it's wrong here
Outdated signatures may miss spam, but wouldn't cause bypass of quarantine.
- ✓
Incoming mail is received on a listener that does not apply the anti-spam engine.
Why this is correct
A listener with anti-spam disabled will deliver without scanning.
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