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200-201 Practice Question: A network administrator configures an IPS to drop…
A network administrator configures an IPS to drop packets that match a signature for SQL injection. However, legitimate web traffic is being blocked. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between false positives and false negatives, and the trap here is that candidates may confuse 'blocking legitimate traffic' with a false negative, not realizing that a false positive is the correct term for incorrectly flagged benign traffic.
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 false positive
A false positive occurs when the IPS incorrectly identifies legitimate traffic as malicious based on its signature. In this case, the SQL injection signature is matching benign web requests that contain patterns resembling SQL syntax (e.g., 'SELECT', 'DROP'), causing the IPS to drop valid packets. This is a common issue with signature-based detection systems that lack contextual analysis.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
IPS hardware failure
Why it's wrong here
Hardware failure would likely cause device fault, not consistent blocking of traffic.
- ✗
Network congestion
Why it's wrong here
Congestion issues are unrelated to IPS signature matching.
- ✓
Signature false positive
Why this is correct
The signature incorrectly matches legitimate SQL-like patterns in normal traffic.
- ✗
Signature false negative
Why it's wrong here
False negative means the signature misses actual attacks, not blocks valid traffic.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.