This 200-201 practice question tests your understanding of security monitoring. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses Cisco Firepower NGFW with intrusion prevention. The security team notices that some legitimate traffic is being blocked by the IPS, causing application outages. The analyst reviews the IPS signature events and finds false positives. What is the best approach to handle this without reducing security posture?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a custom rule to exclude the affected traffic based on source/destination, while monitoring the signature for true positives.
Option C is correct because it allows the security team to selectively exclude only the specific legitimate traffic causing false positives, using source/destination criteria in a custom rule, while keeping the IPS signature active for all other traffic. This approach maintains the overall security posture by still detecting true positives from the same signature against other traffic flows. Disabling or lowering the signature's severity would globally reduce detection capability, and updating the database may not address a signature that is inherently too broad for the environment.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Lower the severity of the signature to informational.
Why it's wrong here
Doesn't prevent blocking.
✗
Disable the IPS signature that is causing the false positives.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling reduces security.
✓
Create a custom rule to exclude the affected traffic based on source/destination, while monitoring the signature for true positives.
Why this is correct
Allows traffic while enabling detection.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Update the IPS signature database to the latest version.
Why it's wrong here
May not fix false positive for that specific traffic.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the misconception that disabling or lowering the severity of a false-positive signature is an acceptable quick fix, but the correct approach is to use custom rule exclusions to preserve detection for true positives.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Cisco Firepower NGFW, IPS signatures are evaluated against traffic flows using rule-based pattern matching, and false positives often occur when a signature's conditions (e.g., protocol anomalies, payload patterns) inadvertently match benign traffic. Creating a custom rule with an access control policy (ACP) that uses source/destination IP, port, or VLAN allows the analyst to apply a 'trust' or 'monitor-only' action for that specific traffic, while the signature remains in 'drop' or 'alert' mode for all other flows. This granular tuning is essential in enterprise environments where signatures like 'ET TROJAN Possible Malware Download' might false-positive on legitimate software updates from a known vendor server.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Security Monitoring — This question tests Security Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a custom rule to exclude the affected traffic based on source/destination, while monitoring the signature for true positives. — Option C is correct because it allows the security team to selectively exclude only the specific legitimate traffic causing false positives, using source/destination criteria in a custom rule, while keeping the IPS signature active for all other traffic. This approach maintains the overall security posture by still detecting true positives from the same signature against other traffic flows. Disabling or lowering the signature's severity would globally reduce detection capability, and updating the database may not address a signature that is inherently too broad for the environment.
What should I do if I get this 200-201 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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