This 200-201 practice question tests your understanding of security monitoring. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
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?
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.
Option D is correct because 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.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
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.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NIDS signatures for SQL injection often use pattern matching against common SQL metacharacters (e.g., ' OR 1=1 --) or regular expressions. However, a web application that accepts SQL queries as part of its normal function (e.g., a database management interface) will trigger these signatures on benign traffic. Correlation with web server logs (e.g., Apache access logs, IIS logs) provides the full URI, query string, and POST body, enabling the analyst to apply context-aware analysis, such as checking if the SQL input appears in an unexpected parameter or contains obfuscation techniques like hex encoding.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Security Monitoring — This question tests Security Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Correlate with web server logs to determine if the request was malicious. — Option D is correct because 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.
What should I do if I get this 200-201 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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