200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
A security analyst is examining web server logs and finds an entry with method 'POST', URL '/login.php', response code '200', and user-agent 'Mozilla/5.0'. The log shows 100 similar entries from the same IP within 5 seconds. What is the most likely activity?
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
✓
A brute-force attack on the login form
Multiple POST requests to a login page from a single IP in a short time suggests a brute-force password guessing attack.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A brute-force attack on the login form
Why this is correct
High frequency POSTs to login indicate brute-force.
- ✗
A SQL injection attempt on the login page
Why it's wrong here
SQL injection would typically involve special characters in the payload, not just many requests.
- ✗
A DDoS attack targeting the web server
Why it's wrong here
DDoS would often use GET requests and multiple sources.
- ✗
A user repeatedly clicking the login button due to a slow connection
Why it's wrong here
Unlikely to generate 100 requests in 5 seconds.
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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.