mediumMultiple Choice
200-201 Practice Question: An analyst discovers that an employee has been…
An analyst discovers that an employee has been using company-issued laptops to run a personal cryptocurrency mining software. Which policy violation has occurred?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is conflating a policy violation with an incident response or change management issue — candidates may pick Incident Response because mining is 'an incident,' but the question asks which policy the employee violated, and that is the Acceptable Use Policy.
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
✓
Acceptable Use Policy
An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) defines how company-owned assets and networks may be used, and typically prohibits personal or unauthorized activities such as cryptocurrency mining on corporate laptops. Running mining software on company hardware violates the AUP because it misuses corporate resources for personal gain and can degrade performance or introduce security risk. The other policies address incident handling, change control, and data handling — none of which directly govern employee use of company devices.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Incident Response Policy
Why it's wrong here
Incident response covers detecting, containing and recovering from security events, not the underlying employee conduct. It is tempting because mining is a security event requiring response, but the question asks which policy the employee violated; acceptable use of company assets is the applicable policy.
- ✗
Change Management Policy
Why it's wrong here
Change management governs controlled modification of production systems through approval and scheduling, not employee misuse of an endpoint. It is tempting because installing mining software is an unauthorised change, but the violation is acceptable use of company-issued equipment, not a change-control breach.
- ✓
Acceptable Use Policy
Why this is correct
Cryptocurrency mining on company hardware falls outside permitted business use, breaching the Acceptable Use Policy that defines authorised employee behaviour with organisational assets. The policy explicitly governs how company-issued laptops may be used, so unauthorised personal mining constitutes a direct violation of its usage constraints.
- ✗
Data classification policy
Why it's wrong here
Data classification governs labelling and handling of information assets, not acceptable use of corporate hardware. It is tempting because mining consumes resources and touches data, but no classification label is breached; the acceptable use or asset usage policy is the correct violation.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 200-201
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A security analyst discovers that an employee has been sharing login credentials with coworkers. Which policy violation is this?
medium- A.Remote Access Policy violation
- B.Incident Response Policy violation
- C.Data Classification Policy violation
- ✓ D.Acceptable Use Policy violation
Why D: Sharing login credentials violates the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which defines how employees may use company systems and data. The AUP typically prohibits password sharing because it undermines non-repudiation and access control, as each user should have unique credentials for accountability. This is a direct breach of acceptable behavior, not a failure of remote access, incident response, or data classification procedures.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
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.