200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
A security analyst is investigating a potential data exfiltration incident. Which TWO of the following network behaviors are indicators of data exfiltration?
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
✓
Frequent DNS queries to a known malicious domain
Data exfiltration often involves large outbound transfers (volume anomaly) and communication with known malicious IPs. DNS tunneling can also be used, but it's not the only indicator. The two best are unusual large outbound traffic and connections to known malicious IPs.
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 high number of ICMP echo requests
Why it's wrong here
ICMP flooding is often DDoS, not exfiltration.
- ✗
A single host scanning multiple internal IPs
Why it's wrong here
Scanning indicates reconnaissance, not exfiltration.
- ✗
Multiple successful login attempts from a single IP
Why it's wrong here
This indicates brute force or account compromise, not necessarily exfiltration.
- ✓
Frequent DNS queries to a known malicious domain
Why this is correct
DNS queries to malicious domains may indicate C2 communication for exfiltration.
- ✓
Unusually large outbound traffic from a single host
Why this is correct
Large data transfers to external destinations suggest exfiltration.
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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.