200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
An analyst receives a YARA rule that includes the string 'MZ' at the beginning of a file. What does this indicator typically help identify?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the concept of file magic numbers to see if candidates confuse the 'MZ' signature of Windows executables with other common file headers, such as '%PDF' for PDFs or 'PK' for ZIP archives, leading them to select a plausible but incorrect option like malicious documents or PDFs.
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
✓
Windows executable files
The string 'MZ' (0x4D 0x5A) is the magic number for the MS-DOS header, which is present at the very beginning of all Windows Portable Executable (PE) files, including .exe, .dll, and .sys files. A YARA rule that checks for 'MZ' at offset 0 is specifically targeting the PE file format, which is the standard executable format for Windows. This indicator helps an analyst quickly identify that a file is likely a Windows executable, regardless of its extension.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Windows executable files
Why this is correct
'MZ' identifies PE executables.
- ✗
PDF files with embedded JavaScript
Why it's wrong here
PDF files start with '%PDF'.
- ✗
Linux ELF binaries
Why it's wrong here
ELF binaries start with '\x7fELF'.
- ✗
Malicious documents containing macros
Why it's wrong here
Documents like .docx do not start with 'MZ'.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 979 original 200-201 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.