Question 241 of 507

Security Policies and Procedures →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

200-201 Security Policies and Procedures Practice Question

This 200-201 practice question tests your understanding of security policies and procedures. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 large enterprise has a security policy that mandates data classification and strict access controls. An IT administrator, John, has been granted temporary administrative privileges to resolve a server issue. During the maintenance window, John accesses a file server and downloads a spreadsheet containing customer PII (Personally Identifiable Information) classified as 'Confidential'. John then emails the spreadsheet to his personal email account to work from home. The security team receives an alert from the DLP system indicating the email transmission. According to the company's incident response policy, which of the following is the FIRST action the security team should take?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.

Question 1hardmultiple choice

Full question →

A
Block the email transmission and restore the file from backup
Why wrong: Blocking and restoring are remediation steps that should follow evidence collection to avoid destroying evidence.
B
Revoke John's network access immediately and escalate to HR for disciplinary action
Why wrong: While disciplinary action may be warranted, immediate revocation without preserving evidence could compromise forensic integrity.
C
Interview John to determine his intent and whether it was accidental
Why wrong: Interviewing a suspect before securing evidence can lead to tampering or destruction of digital evidence.
D
Preserve evidence, isolate the affected systems, and initiate the incident response process
This aligns with standard incident response procedures: first preserve evidence, then initiate the formal process.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Preserve evidence, isolate the affected systems, and initiate the incident response process

The correct first action is to preserve evidence, isolate affected systems, and initiate the incident response process. This aligns with NIST SP 800-61 and ISO 27035, which mandate that containment and evidence preservation precede any investigative or disciplinary steps. Jumping to revocation or interviews risks spoliation of logs, email metadata, and forensic artifacts critical to determining the scope of the data exfiltration.

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.

✗
Block the email transmission and restore the file from backup
Why it's wrong here
Blocking and restoring are remediation steps that should follow evidence collection to avoid destroying evidence.
✗
Revoke John's network access immediately and escalate to HR for disciplinary action
Why it's wrong here
While disciplinary action may be warranted, immediate revocation without preserving evidence could compromise forensic integrity.
✗
Interview John to determine his intent and whether it was accidental
Why it's wrong here
Interviewing a suspect before securing evidence can lead to tampering or destruction of digital evidence.
✓
Preserve evidence, isolate the affected systems, and initiate the incident response process
Why this is correct
This aligns with standard incident response procedures: first preserve evidence, then initiate the formal process.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Cisco often tests the distinction between reactive containment (e.g., blocking/revoking) and the mandated first step of evidence preservation and incident initiation, causing candidates to confuse operational urgency with proper forensic procedure.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, DLP systems generate alerts with metadata such as sender, recipient, file hash, and timestamp, which must be captured in a forensic image (e.g., using FTK Imager or dd) before any network changes. In a real-world scenario, failing to isolate the file server could allow John to delete the downloaded file or modify audit logs via his temporary admin privileges, compromising the integrity of the investigation. The incident response process (e.g., SANS PICERL model) explicitly prioritizes 'Preparation, Identification, Containment' with evidence preservation as a sub-step of Identification.

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 junior network technician can log in to a core router but cannot reach the enable prompt or configuration mode. The AAA server is authenticating the login — but the authorisation policy only grants privilege level 1, not 15. Authentication (who you are) is working; authorisation (what you can do) is not.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this 200-201 question test?

Security Policies and Procedures — This question tests Security Policies and Procedures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Preserve evidence, isolate the affected systems, and initiate the incident response process — The correct first action is to preserve evidence, isolate affected systems, and initiate the incident response process. This aligns with NIST SP 800-61 and ISO 27035, which mandate that containment and evidence preservation precede any investigative or disciplinary steps. Jumping to revocation or interviews risks spoliation of logs, email metadata, and forensic artifacts critical to determining the scope of the data exfiltration.

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: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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