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200-201 Practice Question: A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise…
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise notices that an employee's workstation has been sending outbound traffic to a known malicious IP address at irregular intervals. The analyst runs a scan and finds no malware signatures. What should the analyst do next?
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
✓
Escalate to the incident response team for further investigation.
The situation—outbound traffic to a known malicious IP without detected malware signatures—suggests an advanced threat such as a zero-day exploit or fileless malware. Escalating to the incident response team ensures a thorough investigation, preserves evidence, and coordinates a proper response. Blocking the IP alone (A) does not address the underlying compromise. Reviewing history (C) is part of the investigation but escalation is the immediate next step. Disconnecting and reimaging (D) could destroy evidence and is premature.
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 malicious IP at the firewall and continue monitoring.
Why it's wrong here
Blocking the IP alone does not address the underlying issue and may miss other indicators.
- ✓
Escalate to the incident response team for further investigation.
Why this is correct
Escalation ensures proper handling of a potential advanced threat that may require specialized skills.
- ✗
Review the employee's recent web browsing history and email attachments.
Why it's wrong here
This is a valid step but delaying escalation could allow further malicious activity.
- ✗
Immediately disconnect the workstation from the network and reimage it.
Why it's wrong here
This action may destroy forensic evidence and is not the first step without confirming a compromise.
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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.