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200-201 Practice Question: A SOC analyst is reviewing alerts from a…
A SOC analyst is reviewing alerts from a network-based intrusion detection system (NIDS). An alert indicates a potential SQL injection attempt, but the destination server is a web application that accepts SQL queries as part of its normal function. What should the analyst do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that any NIDS alert indicating a known attack pattern must be acted upon immediately with a blocking action, without considering the application's normal behavior or the need for log correlation.
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
✓
Correlate with web server logs to determine if the request was malicious.
The NIDS alert alone cannot confirm malicious intent when the destination server legitimately accepts SQL queries. Correlating with web server logs allows the analyst to examine the full HTTP request (e.g., parameters, payload, referrer) to distinguish between a benign feature usage and an actual SQL injection attack, such as detecting unexpected SQL keywords or syntax in input fields that should not contain them.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable the alert to reduce noise.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling alerts can lead to missing actual attacks.
- ✗
Tune the NIDS signature to ignore that server.
Why it's wrong here
Tuning may omit legitimate detection on that server.
- ✗
Immediately block the source IP.
Why it's wrong here
Blocking without confirmation could be too aggressive and affect legitimate traffic.
- ✓
Correlate with web server logs to determine if the request was malicious.
Why this is correct
Correlation provides context to differentiate between normal and malicious SQL queries.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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