350-701 Network Security Practice Question
What is the primary difference between signature-based and anomaly-based intrusion detection?
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
✓
Signature-based uses patterns of known attacks; anomaly-based uses behavior baselines.
Signature-based detection compares traffic against known attack patterns; anomaly-based detection establishes a baseline and flags deviations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Signature-based has higher false positive rate than anomaly-based.
Why it's wrong here
Anomaly-based often has higher false positives due to baseline deviations.
- ✓
Signature-based uses patterns of known attacks; anomaly-based uses behavior baselines.
Why this is correct
Correct.
- ✗
Signature-based detects unknown attacks; anomaly-based detects known attacks.
Why it's wrong here
It's the opposite: signature-based detects known, anomaly-based can detect unknown.
- ✗
Both methods are identical in operation.
Why it's wrong here
They are fundamentally different.
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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.