200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
A security analyst is reviewing Zeek connection logs and sees the following entry: '192.168.1.10:12345 > 10.0.0.1:80 (tcp) duration 0.001 sec, service http, bytes 60, state S0'. Based on the state 'S0', what does this indicate about the connection?
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 SYN packet was sent but no reply was received.
In Zeek, S0 indicates that a SYN packet was sent but no SYN-ACK was received (connection attempt without completion). This could be part of a port scan or a half-open connection.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Data was transferred successfully and the connection closed normally.
Why it's wrong here
That would be state SF (normal close).
- ✓
A SYN packet was sent but no reply was received.
Why this is correct
S0 specifically indicates a 'SYN seen, no reply' state, typical of half-open scanning.
- ✗
The connection was established successfully.
Why it's wrong here
Established connections would have a state like SF (normal close) or OTH (other).
- ✗
The connection was reset by the remote host.
Why it's wrong here
Reset connections show state 'RST'.
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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.