200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
A SOC analyst reviews a firewall log with the following entry: action=deny, source IP=192.168.1.100, destination IP=10.0.0.1, destination port=22. The analyst knows that 10.0.0.1 is an SSH server. What does this log entry indicate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the ability to read a firewall log entry literally—candidates may overlook the 'action=deny' field and incorrectly assume any connection attempt to port 22 is automatically successful or that the firewall is misconfigured.
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
✓
An attempted SSH connection that was blocked by the firewall
The log entry shows 'action=deny', which explicitly indicates the firewall blocked the packet. Since destination port 22 is the default port for SSH, this log entry represents an attempted SSH connection from 192.168.1.100 to 10.0.0.1 that was denied by the firewall. The analyst's knowledge that 10.0.0.1 is an SSH server confirms the nature of the traffic.
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 DNS query resolved to 10.0.0.1
Why it's wrong here
DNS queries use UDP port 53, not TCP 22.
- ✓
An attempted SSH connection that was blocked by the firewall
Why this is correct
Deny action indicates the firewall blocked the packet.
- ✗
A successful SSH connection from 192.168.1.100 to 10.0.0.1
Why it's wrong here
The action is 'deny', so connection was blocked.
- ✗
A misconfigured firewall allowing SSH traffic
Why it's wrong here
The log shows deny, not allow.
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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.