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200-201 Practice Question: A company's security policy requires that all…
A company's security policy requires that all servers have host-based intrusion detection (HIDS) installed and configured to send alerts to the SIEM. During a routine check, you find that a critical database server has HIDS installed but is not sending alerts because the agent service is stopped. The server administrator says he stopped the service because it was using too much CPU. The policy requires that any deviation from baseline must be approved by the security team. What should you do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is choosing the seemingly pragmatic option (B or C) that addresses the administrator's concern but ignores the policy requirement for approval; candidates must prioritize compliance and proper change control.
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
✓
Restart the service on the server and submit a change request for CPU optimization.
The security policy requires HIDS to be running and sending alerts to the SIEM. The server administrator stopped the service without approval, which is a policy violation. The correct action is to restore compliance by restarting the service and then submit a change request for CPU optimization if needed. This ensures the security baseline is met while addressing the administrator's concern through proper channels.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Restart the service on the server and submit a change request for CPU optimization.
Why this is correct
Restarting the HIDS agent restores the mandated monitoring baseline, ensuring alerts reach the SIEM, while the change request documents the CPU deviation for security approval. This satisfies the policy requiring approved deviations without leaving the critical database server unmonitored.
- ✗
Accept the server administrator's justification and document it.
Why it's wrong here
Accepting the justification leaves the deviation unapproved and the database server unmonitored, breaching the policy that requires security team approval. Documentation alone does not restore HIDS coverage. This is tempting because the administrator's CPU concern is legitimate, but the correct route is escalation for formal approval or remediation.
- ✗
Recommend setting the HIDS process priority to low to reduce CPU impact.
Why it's wrong here
Lowering process priority does not restart the stopped agent, so alerts still never reach the SIEM and the baseline deviation persists unapproved. The policy requires security team approval for any deviation. This is tempting because it addresses the CPU complaint technically, yet it leaves the server non-compliant and blind to intrusions.
- ✗
Report the non-compliance to the security manager and disable the server until compliance is restored.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling a critical database server is a disproportionate outage; the policy requires restoring HIDS or obtaining security team approval for the deviation, not taking the host offline. Reporting is right, but the shutdown is not. This is tempting because it enforces compliance decisively, yet it causes avoidable business disruption.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
This 200-201 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 200-201 exam.